a symbol of change

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Richard Bandler is an author on “Modern Psychological Techniques”, which is an area of study intended to understand and change human behavior patterns. He tells one story about visiting a mental institution and dealing with a man who insisted he was Jesus Christ - not metaphorically, not in spirit, but in the flesh.

One day Bandler walked in to meet this man. "Are you Jesus?" he said. "Yes, my son," the man replied. Bandler said, "I’ll be back in a minute." This left the man a little bit confused. Within three or four minutes, Bandler came back, holding a measuring tape. Asking the man to hold out his arms, Bandler measured the length of his arms and his height from head to toe. After that, Bandler left. The man claiming to be Christ became a little concerned. A little while later, Bandler came back with a hammer, some large spiked nails, and a long set of boards. He began to pound them into the form of a cross. The man asked, "What are you doing?" As Richard put the last nails in the cross, he asked, "Are you Jesus?" Again the man said, "Yes my son." Bandler said, "Then you know why I’m here."  Somehow, the man suddenly recalled who he really was. His old pattern didn’t seem like such a good idea. "I’m not Jesus. I’m not Jesus!" the man started yelling.

This illustration is a wonderful example to us of how the crucifixion of Jesus Christ dramatically changes things. The crucifixion of Jesus has the power to expose what is true from what is false. The crucifixion of Jesus also has the power to change a persons beliefs, and behavior.

When we read through God’s Word we come to the realization that the Death of Jesus Christ is the single most important event that could ever happen to us. The reason I say this is because this is the one and only action that God chose to take in order to display His love for us. Jesus tells us, “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). We see here that Jesus tells us it is the Cross that displays God’s love for us. It is the death of Jesus that God chose to demonstrate His great love for us with (Romans 5:8).

In fact, I will go so far to say that without the Cross the Resurrection would be meaningless to us. Both of them are equally important to our salvation of course. However, without the Cross, we would still be dead in our trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1). And without the Cross, Christ could have never died (1 Cor. 15:3-4), and then resurrected from the dead (1 Cor. 15:5). It could accurately be said that the Cross displays God’s Love for us, while the Resurrection displays God’s Power.

Furthermore, as the confused mental patient that Richard Bandler interviewed (who believed he was Jesus incarnate) had a complete paradigm change as soon as he was faced to choose between a cross and the truth, so too does each and every person have to make a choice when they are facing the cross of Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us in Romans 6:10-12;
“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”

The choice we are called to make is simple, we choose Jesus. We choose to follow Jesus with our entire life. That is what the cross does. It changes everything for us.

The cross of Jesus Christ symbolizes change. From death to life. From guilty to free. From disobedient to obedient. From helpless to hopeful. From miserable to joyful. From condemnation to justification. On and on and on we see the difference that Jesus makes for us because of His great act of love on the cross at Calvary.

The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23;
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

May this Good Friday be a day that you remember that Jesus Christ died for you, so that you would fully live for Him.

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