Last night I played the part of a Roman soldier in a Easter production my church is doing. When a friend of mine asked me to do this, he told me I'd be a Roman soldier and later revealed that I'd actually be grabbing "Jesus", ripping his clothes off, jerking him around, and leading him off to be crucified. I almost said no. Even now, it's not easy to "get into character." Although I know I'm not transubstantially roughing Jesus up when I play this part, it's still difficult for me to get into 100%. Some may laugh at me, but I genuinely asked God as I went through dress rehearsal a few days ago and even as we did the first presentation last night, "Are you ok with me doing this? Am I in trouble?" I did finally get to sleep last night, but woke up with a thought that directed me to a passage of Scripture. I asked myself and maybe you'd like to ask yourself, "Are there times that I re-crucify Christ in my daily life? Do I beat his body with a rod, spit in his face, pluck out his beard, mock him, drive nails into his hands...re-crucify Him?" God led me to a passage of Scripture, Hebrews 10:26-29, For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
As He so often does, God dealt with me through this passage in a way I didn't really see coming. I sensed He told me that my playing a part in an Easter program that ultimately brought glory and honor to Him wasn't going to forefeit my relationship or standing with him (whew, what a relief). What He's shown me is that I live and minister in a culture which has often rejected Him and what Christ did on the cross. God changed my burden of feeling uneasy about "roughing Jesus up" in an Easter program to a heavy burden over so many I interact with each day who may have "trampled underfoot the Son of God" by intentionally rejecting Him, what he has done for us through the cross and the resurrection, and refusing to repent and follow Him. If you read this and you've resisted/rejected Christ, look at the many crosses you'll see this Easter weekend as the ultimate expression of love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and God's only plan for our salvation. I may have roughed Jesus up while playing a part in a program, but I am burdened that so many I see each day continue to symbolically "rough him up" in the way they live and their rejection of Him. I pray that many will submit to Christ and the cross this Easter....maybe some reading this.
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