Run to the Cross

The problem with the two disciples on the Emmaus Road was they were trying to get away from the cross. The Crucifixion was not a beautiful sight; it was a horrific one.

Jesus’s body was so traumatized that you wouldn’t have been able to tell He was a man. In other words, Jesus was unrecognizable. The two disciples on their way to Emmaus afterward never thought they would see Jesus alive again. So, they wanted to get away from that bloody cross.

But every step away from the cross is a step in the wrong direction. We don’t want to run away from the cross; we need to run to it.

That simply means come to God. Realize that Jesus died on the cross for a reason. He died there for our sin. And as I’ve often said, it wasn’t nails that held Him to the cross; it was His love for you and me.

That’s because there was no other way to satisfy the righteous demands of the holy God whom we all have offended. But Jesus was uniquely qualified to bridge this gap. So with one hand He took hold of sinful humanity, and with the other hand He took hold of a holy God. They drove nails through those hands, and He died in our place.

Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV). God the Father not only sent His Son to the cross, but His Son willingly went.

Jesus went because He knew this was the only way for us to be forgiven of our sin, for us to know that we’ll go to Heaven when we die. That’s why He made such a great sacrifice.