Tribute to an Innocent Man

An innocent man stands before a crowd. They scream and yell at him, calling for his execution. He has done nothing wrong, committed no crime, yet his fate is sealed. Now high on a hill they drive nails through his flesh into the boards of his cross and then raise it in the air. As his blood begins to drain from his body, the man thinks back to the life he led; a life of ministry, of love, of helping and healing the very people that condemned him to death. Hanging on that cross slowly dying, He lifts his head towards heaven and, of all things, he says “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Forgiveness, he asks God to forgive the people who crucified him. In essence he said “This Blood is for you!”

This story is probably familiar to everyone here whether you believe it happened or not. It is the story of Jesus’ sacrifice for each and every one of us. But it’s not the whole story. Whether or not you choose to believe in Jesus’ life or what happened after his death is irrelevant, the fact is, Jesus died on that cross and 3 days later He was resurrected into a glorified body. He then spent time with his disciples and finally ascended to heaven. Believe them or not these are the facts.

Jesus led a fairly short life, about 33 years, and his personal physical ministry was only 3 years. However, after his death and resurrection a movement came out of Israel by his disciples and spread throughout the world; a movement of hope for the future and love for one another.

Jesus’ teachings have survived the test of time and they change more lives everyday than one can imagine. He taught two simple ideas. One is to love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And the other is to love your neighbor as yourself. The word neighbor refers to the whole human race, regardless of color, gender, or sexual orientation. Jesus Christ is an equal opportunity Messiah.

It was these teachings, although kind and loving, that inevitably led to his execution. It seemed that He was too nice and the people loved him so much that jealousy arose in the church leaders and they sought to kill him. What was it about his ministry that people found so offensive? Today we have seen a rise in this trend of being offended by Jesus once again. His name has been X’ed out of Christmas, the holiday devoted to his birth. His image has been pushed aside and replaced by Santa Claus. On the day of his resurrection we see the image of a mythical egg laying rabbit instead. It is not even politically correct to wish someone a Merry Christmas anymore because the word Christ might offend them. I say that if Jesus offends you then you need to search your soul because that is not offense but conviction pulling on your heart.

Jesus was innocent, he had committed no crime and no fault was found in Him; yet he was slaughtered none the less. A man whose life was devoted to helping and loving others and he was executed for it. But remember, whether you believe it or not Jesus is alive today and his message is the same, hope and love. Ten years ago when I graduated from high school, I was on a path to destruction down the highway of drug and alcohol abuse. My life had no direction and no purpose my only goal was for my next buzz. Then, one day I found Jesus and his ministry came into my life. Now I have been drug free for 7 years, I have been happily married for 8 years, I have 2 wonderful kids, I survived 7 months in Afghanistan, a year in Iraq, and I’m finally in college where I should have been 10 years ago. All this is thanks to Jesus Christ, the sacrifice he made, and his ministry that continues today.