Cast of Characters

While I sat through Bethany Assembly's The Easter Song tonight it hit me.  Jesus wasn't the only one fulfilling the will of the Father.

It took so many people to put the Savior on the Cross.  The plan was set in motion when Satan engaged God and ultimately got himself removed from God's presence.  We had a hero to oppose our villain.  However this story would have many supporting characters that would all be instrumental in fulfilling God's plan to restore man to himself.

There was an entire crowd of people who called for Jesus' death when Pontius Pilate and Caesar couldn't overrule them.  They caved in to the peer pressure and gave in to the crowd.  There were the Roman soldiers who inflicted the physical pain and offered up the verbal abuse.  There was the person who supplied the lumber that ultimately became a cross.  There was the whip maker.  Someone fastened together a crown of thorns.

Jesus died for the each and everyone of them.  He offered redemption to the soldier who nailed him to the cross.  He forgave the soldier who pierced his side with a sword.  He loved every one in the crowd who stood and watched.  He died for the actions of Adam & Eve.  He died for the sins that had been committed and all the sins that would be committed.

Sometimes our actions can appear wrong when really they are part of God's Will.  We can't condemn the soldiers or the crowd because without them Jesus would have found another way to the cross.  They were called to take part in the greatest sacrifice ever made.  I wouldn't want to be them but just as surely as their actions put Jesus on the cross my sins contributed to His presence.

I believe that men & women would find it easier to get along if they just accepted the differences instead of trying to find the reasoning, an explanation, or an understanding behind them.