HE CHOSE THE NAILS PART 1 (MAX LUCADO)

ONE: YOU DID THIS FOR ME? 

"And God has reserved for His children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And God, in His mighty power, will make sure that you get there safely to receive it, because you are trusting Him. It will be yours in that coming last day for all to see" (1 Peter 1:4–5 TLB). 

1. Having pressed the grapes of service, we drink life’s sweetest wine—the wine of giving. We are at our best when we are giving. In fact, we are most like God when we are giving. Have you ever wondered why God gives so much? We could exist on far less. He could have left the world flat and gray; we wouldn’t have known the difference. But He didn’t.

2. If we give gifts to show our love, how much more would He? If we—speckled with foibles and greed—love to give gifts, how much more does God, pure and perfect God,  enjoy giving gifts to us? Jesus asked, “If you hardhearted, sinful men know how to give  good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask Him for them?” (Matt. 7:11 TLB).

3. God’s gifts shed light on God’s heart, God’s good and generous heart. Jesus’ brother James tells us: “Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light” (James 1:17 MSG). Every gift reveals God’s love…but no gift reveals His love more than the gifts of the cross. They came, not wrapped in paper, but in passion. Not placed around a tree, but a cross. And not covered with ribbons, but sprinkled with blood. The gifts of the cross.

4. Divine gifts intended to stir that moment, that split second when your face will brighten, your eyes will widen, and God will hear you whisper, “You did this for me?” Dare we think such thoughts? Could it be that the hill of the cross is rich with God’s gifts? Let’s examine them, shall we? Let’s unwrap these gifts of grace as if—or perhaps, indeed—for the first time. And as you touch them—as you feel the timber of the cross and trace the braid of the crown and finger the point of the  spike—pause and listen. Perchance you will hear Him whisper:

“I did it just for you”.

TWO: "I WILL BEAR YOUR DARK SIDE"

GOD'S PROMISE IN THE SOLDIERS' SPIT

"Oh this propensity to evil, how did you creep in to cover the earth with treachery?" (Ecclesiasticus 37:3 APOC). 

1. What would have happened to the Beast if the Beauty hadn’t appeared? Because the Beauty loved the Beast, the Beast became more beautiful himself. The story’s familiar, not just because it’s a fairy tale. It’s familiar because it reminds  us of ourselves. There is a beast within each of us.

Jesus was beaten with whips and handed over to the soldiers to be crucified. The governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s palace, and they all gathered around Him. They took off His clothes and put a red robe on Him. Using thorny branches, they made a crown, put it on His head, and put a stick in His right hand. Then the soldiers bowed before Jesus and made fun of Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on Jesus. Then they took His stick and began to beat Him on the head. After they finished, the soldiers took off the robe and put His own clothes on Him again. Then they led Him away to be crucified. (Matt. 27:26–31)

2. The soldiers’ assignment was simple: Take the Nazarene to the hill and kill Him. But they had another idea. They wanted to have some fun first. Strong, rested, armed soldiers encircled an exhausted, nearly dead, Galilean carpenter and beat up on Him. The scourging was commanded. The crucifixion was ordered. But who would draw pleasure  out of spitting on a half-dead man? Spitting isn’t intended to hurt the body—it can’t. Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does. What were the soldiers doing? Were they not elevating themselves at the expense of another? They felt big by making Christ look small.

3. Ever done that? Maybe you’ve never spit on anyone, but have you gossiped? Slandered? Have you ever raised your hand in anger or rolled your eyes in arrogance?Have you ever blasted your high beams in someone’s rearview mirror? Ever made someone feel bad so you would feel good? That’s what the soldiers did to Jesus. When you and I do the same, we do it to Jesus too. “I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,  you were doing it to Me!” (Matt. 25:40 NLT). How we treat others is how we treat Jesus.

4. “What got into me?” The Bible has a three-letter answer for that question: S-I-N. There is something bad—beastly—within each of us. We are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3 NASB). It is not that we can’t do good. We do. It’s just that we can’t keep from doing bad. In theological terms, we are “totally depraved.” Though made in God’s image, we have fallen. We’re corrupt at the core. The very center of our being is selfish and perverse. David said, “I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5 NLT). Could any of us say any  less? Each one of us was born with a tendency to sin. Depravity is a universal condition. Scripture says it plainly:

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way" (Isa. 53:6 NKJV)

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"  (Jer. 17:9 NIV)

"There is none righteous, no, not one.… All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:10, 23 NKJV)

5. God could have deemed otherwise. In God’s plan, Jesus was offered wine for His throat, so why not a towel for His face? Simon carried the cross of Jesus, but he didn’t mop the cheek of Jesus. Angels were a prayer away. Couldn’t they have taken the spittle away? They could have, but Jesus never commanded them to. For some reason, the One who chose the nails also chose the saliva. Along with the spear and the sponge of man, He bore the spit of man. Why? Could it be that He sees the beauty within the beast? But here the correlation with Beauty and the Beast ends. In the fable, the beauty kisses the beast. In the Bible, the Beauty does much more. He becomes the beast so the beast can become the beauty. Jesus changes places with us. We, like Adam, were under a curse, but Jesus “changed places with us and put Himself under that curse” (Gal. 3:13). What if the Beauty had not come? What if the Beauty had not cared? Then we would have remained a beast. But the Beauty did come, and the Beauty did care. The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint.

THREE: "I LOVE YOU ENOUGH TO BECOME ONE OF YOU"

GOD'S PROMISE IN THE CROWN OF THORNS

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14 NIV). 

1. Our asking “Where is God?” is like a fish asking “Where is water?” or a bird asking “Where is air?” God is everywhere! Equally present in Peking and Peoria. As active in the lives of Icelanders as in the lives of Texans. The dominion of God is “from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Ps. 72:8 NIV). We cannot find a place where God is not. Yet when God entered time and became a man, He who was boundless became bound. Imprisoned in flesh. Restricted by weary-prone muscles and eyelids. For more than three decades, His once limitless reach would be limited to the stretch of an arm, His speed checked to the pace of human feet.

2. I wonder, was He ever tempted to reclaim His boundlessness? In the middle of a long trip, did He ever consider transporting Himself to the next city? When the rain chilled His bones, was He tempted to change the weather? When the heat parched His lips, did He give thought to popping over to the Caribbean for some refreshment? If ever He entertained such thoughts, He never gave in to them. Not once. Stop and think about this. Not once did Christ use His supernatural powers for personal comfort. With one word He could’ve transformed the hard earth into a soft bed, but He didn’t. With a wave of His hand, He could’ve boomeranged the spit of His accusers back into their faces, but He didn’t. With an arch of His brow, He could’ve paralyzed the hand of the soldier as He braided the crown of thorns. But He didn’t.

3. Throughout Scripture thorns symbolize, not sin, but the consequence of sin. Remember Eden? After Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the land: “So I will put a curse on the ground.… The ground will produce thorns and weeds for you, and you will eat the plants of the field” (Gen. 3:17–18). Brambles on the earth are the product of sin in the heart. This truth is echoed in God’s words to Moses. He urged the Israelites to purge the land of godless people. Disobedience would result in difficulties. “But if you don’t force those people out of the land, they will bring you trouble. They will be like sharp hooks in your eyes and thorns in your sides” (Num. 33:55).

4. I emphasize the “point” of the thorns to suggest a point you may have never considered: If the fruit of sin is thorns, isn’t the thorny crown on Christ’s brow a picture of the fruit of our sin that pierced His heart? What is the fruit of sin? Step into the briar patch of humanity and feel a few thistles. Shame. Fear. Disgrace. Discouragement. Anxiety. Haven’t our hearts been caught in  these brambles? The heart of Jesus, however, had not. He had never been cut by the thorns of sin. What you and I face daily, He never knew. Anxiety? He never worried!Guilt? He was never guilty! Fear? He never left the presence of God! Jesus never knew the fruits of sin…until He became sin for us.

5. And when He did, all the emotions of sin tumbled in on Him like shadows in a forest. He felt anxious, guilty, and alone. Can’t you hear the emotion in His prayer? “My God, My God, why have you rejected Me?” (Matt.27:46). These are not the words of a saint. This is the cry of a sinner. And this prayer is one of the most remarkable parts of His coming. But I can think of something even greater. Want to know what it is? Want to know the coolest thing about the coming? He did it for you. Just for you.

FOUR: "I FORGIVE YOU"

GOD'S PROMISE IN THE NAILS

"He forgave all our sins. He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross" (Colossians 2:13–14)

1. Looking at the list of the builder’s mistakes caused me to think about God making a list of mine. After all, hasn’t He taken up residence in my heart? And if I see flaws in my house, imagine what He sees in me. Oh, dare we think of the list He could compile? The door hinges to the prayer room have grown rusty from underuse. The stove called jealousy is overheating. The attic floor is weighted with too many regrets. The cellar is cluttered with too many secrets.

2. Why didn’t Jesus resist? “Because He loved us,” we reply. That is true, wonderfully true, but—forgive me—only partially true. There is more to his reason. He saw something that made Him stay. As the soldier pressed His arm, Jesus rolled His head to the side, and with His cheek resting on the wood He saw the hand of God. It appeared to be the hand of a man. Long fingers of a woodworker. Callous palms of a carpenter. It appeared common. 

3. Is it any wonder the psalmist celebrated liberation by declaring: “You drove out the nations with Your hand.… It was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance” (Ps. 44:2–3 NKJV). The hand of God is a mighty hand. Oh, the hands of Jesus. Hands of incarnation at His birth. Hands of liberation as He healed. Hands of inspiration as He taught. Hands of dedication as He served. And hands of  salvation as He died.

4. Through the eyes of Scripture we see what others missed but what Jesus saw. “He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross” (Col. 2:14 NLT). Between His hand and the wood there was a list. A long list. A list of our mistakes:  our lusts and lies and greedy moments and prodigal years. A list of our sins.

5. This is why He refused to close His fist. He saw the list! What kept Him from  resisting? This warrant, this tabulation of your failures. He knew the price of those sins was death. He knew the source of those sins was you, and since He couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without you, He chose the nails. The nail is the nail of God. And as the hands of Jesus opened for the nail, the doors of heaven opened for you.

FIVE: "I WILL SPEAK TO YOU IN YOUR LANGUAGE"

GOD'S PROMISE THROUGH THE SIGN

"Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" (John 19:19)

1. The framer of our destiny is familiar with our denseness. God knows we sometimes miss the signs. Maybe that’s why He has given us so many. The rainbow after the flood signifies God’s covenant. Circumcision identifies God’s chosen, and the stars portray the size of His family. Even today, we see signs in the New Testament church. Communion is a sign of His death, and baptism is a sign of our spiritual birth. Each of these signs symbolizes a greater spiritual truth. The most poignant sign, however, was found on the cross. A trilingual, hand-painted, Roman-commissioned sign.

Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. The sign was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the people read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. The leading priests said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man said, am the King of the Jews.”’” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:19–22)

2. Why is a sign placed over the head of Jesus? Why does its wording trouble the Jews, and why does Pilate refuse to change it? Why are the words written in three languages, and why is the sign mentioned in all four Gospels? Of all the possible answers to these questions, let’s focus on one. Could it be that this piece of wood is a picture of God’s devotion? A symbol of His passion to tell the world about His Son? A reminder that God will do whatever it takes to share with you the message of this sign? I suggest that the sign reveals two truths about God’s desire to reach the world:

• There is no person He will not use

Please note that the sign bears immediate fruit. Remember the response of the  criminal? Moments from his own death, in a maelstrom of pain, he turns and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). The thief knows he is in a royal mess. He turns his head and reads a royal proclamation and asks for royal help. It might have been this simple. If so, the sign was the first tool used to proclaim the message of the cross.

Don’t be surprised. God used a bush to call Moses and a donkey to convict a prophet. To get Jonah’s attention, God used a big fish. There is no person He won’t use. 

• There is no language God will not speak

There is no language He will not speak. Which leads us to a delightful question. What language is He speaking to you? I’m not referring to an idiom or dialect but to the day-to-day drama of your life. God does speak, you know. He speaks to us in whatever language we will understand.

3. God speaks all languages—including yours. Has He not said, “I will … teach you in the way you should go” (Ps. 32:8 NIV)? Are we not urged to “receive instruction from His mouth” (Job 22:22 NASB)? What language is God speaking to you? And aren’t you glad He is speaking? Aren’t you grateful that He cares enough to talk? Isn’t it good to know that “the Lord tells His secrets to those who respect Him” (Ps. 25:14)?

4. Your father has learned to speak your language as well. “It has been given to you to  know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 13:11 NKJV). Think a word of thanks to Him would be appropriate? And while you’re at it, ask Him if you might be missing any signs He is sending your way.

SIX: "I WILL LET YOU CHOOSE"

GOD'S PROMISES THROUGH THE TWO CROSSES

"There Jesus was nailed to the cross, and on each side of Him a man was also nailed to a cross" (John 19:18 CEV)

1. Abel and Cain, both sons of Adam. Abel chooses God. Cain chooses murder. And 

God lets him.

Abraham and Lot, both pilgrims in Canaan. Abraham chooses God. Lot chooses 

Sodom. And God lets him.

David and Saul, both kings of Israel. David chooses God. Saul chooses power. And 

God lets him.

Peter and Judas, both deny their Lord. Peter seeks mercy. Judas seeks death. And God 

lets him.

In every age of history, on every page of Scripture, the truth is revealed: God allows  us to make our own choices.

2. And no one delineates this more clearly than Jesus. According to Him, we can choose:

a narrow gate or a wide gate (Matt. 7:13–14)

a narrow road or a wide road (Matt. 7:13–14)

the big crowd or the small crowd (Matt. 7:13–14)

We can choose to:

build on rock or sand (Matt. 7:24–27)

serve God or riches (Matt. 6:24)

be numbered among the sheep or the goats (Matt. 25:32–33)

“Then they [those who rejected God] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matt. 25:46 NIV).

3. God gives eternal choices, and these choices have eternal consequences. Isn’t this the reminder of Calvary’s trio? Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Why not six or ten? Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center? Why not on the far right or far left? Could it be that the two crosses on the hill symbolize one of God’s greatest gifts? The gift of choice. The two criminals have so much in common. Convicted by the same system. Condemned to the same death. Surrounded by the same crowd. Equally close to the same Jesus. In fact, they begin with the same sarcasm: “The two criminals also said cruel  things to Jesus” (Matt. 27:44 CEV). But one changed.

One of the criminals on a cross began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Christ? Then save yourself and us.” But the other criminal stopped him and said, “You should fear God! You are getting the same punishment He is. We are punished justly, getting what we deserve for what we did. But this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39–43)

4. Does not the shepherd leave the ninety-nine sheep and pursue the one lost? Does not the housewife sweep the house until the lost coin is found? Yes, the shepherd does, the housewife does, but the father of the prodigal, remember, does nothing. 

The sheep was lost innocently.

The coin was lost irresponsibly.

But the prodigal son left intentionally.

The father gave him the choice. Jesus gave both criminals the same.

There are times when God sends thunder to stir us. There are times when God sends blessings to lure us. But then there are times when God sends nothing but silence as He honors us with the freedom to choose where we spend eternity.

5. And what an honor it is! In so many areas of life we have no choice. Think about it.  You didn’t choose your gender. You didn’t choose your siblings. You didn’t choose your race or place of birth. Sometimes our lack of choices angers us. But the scales of life were forever tipped on the side of fairness when God planted a tree in the Garden of Eden. All complaints were silenced when Adam and his descendants were given free will, the freedom to make whatever eternal choice we desire. Any injustice in this life is offset by the honor of choosing our destiny in the next.

6. You’ve made some bad choices in life, haven’t you? You’ve chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong spouse. You look back over your life and say, “If only … if only I could make up for those bad choices.” You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. The choice is yours.

7. How could two men see the same Jesus and one choose to mock Him and the other choose to pray to Him? I don’t know, but they did. And when one prayed, Jesus loved him enough to save him. And when the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him. He allowed him the choice. He does the same for you.

SEVEN: "I WILL NOT ABANDON YOU"

GOD'S PROMISE IN THE PATH 

"Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation" (Romans 5:11 NIV)

1. Jesus once asked, if we humans who are sinful have such a love, how much more does God, the sinless and selfless Father, love us? But what happens when the love isn’t returned? What happens to the heart of the Father when His child turns away?

2. We have spurned the love of our Father. “Each of us has gone his own way” (Isa. 53:6). Paul takes our rebellion a step further. We have done more than turn away, he says;  we have turned against. “We were living against God” (Rom. 5:6). He speaks even more bluntly in verse 10: “We were God’s enemies.” Harsh words, don’t you think? An enemy is an adversary. One who offends, not out of ignorance, but by intent. Does this describe us? Have we ever been enemies of God? Have we ever turned against our Father?

Have you …

ever done something, knowing God wouldn’t want you to do it?

ever hurt one of His children or part of creation?

ever supported or applauded the work of His adversary, the devil?

ever turned against your heavenly Father in public?

If so, have you not taken the role of an enemy?

So how does God react when we become His enemies?

3. “I know where you are,” it read. “I know what you do. This doesn’t change the way I feel. What I’ve said in each letter is still true”.

EIGHT: "I WILL GIVE YOU MY ROBE"

GOD'S PROMISE IN THE GARMENT

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18 NIV)

1. Seats at God’s table are not available to the sloppy. But who among us is anything but? Unkempt morality. Untidy with truth. Careless with people. Our moral clothing is in disarray. Yes, the standard for sitting at God’s table is high, but the love of God for His children is higher. So He offers a gift. Not a lime-colored jacket but a robe. A seamless robe. Not a garment pulled out of a cloakroom but a robe worn by His Son, Jesus.

2. Garments can symbolize character, and like His garment, Jesus’ character was seamless. Coordinated. Unified. He was like His robe: uninterrupted perfection.

“Woven … from the top.” Jesus wasn’t led by His own mind; He was led by the mind of His Father. Listen to His words:

“The Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise” (John 5:19 NRSV).

3. We’re not talking about an ill-fitting, leftover jacket. He offers a robe of seamless purity and dons my patchwork coat of pride, greed, and selfishness. “He changed places with us” (Gal. 3:13). He wore our sin so we could wear His righteousness. Though we come to the cross dressed in sin, we leave the cross dressed in the “coat of His strong love” (Isa. 59:17) and girded with a belt of “goodness and fairness” (Isa. 11:5) and clothed in “garments of salvation” (Isa. 61:10 NIV). Indeed, we leave dressed in Christ Himself. “You have all put on Christ as a garment” (Gal. 3:27 NEB).

It wasn’t enough for Him to prepare you a feast.

It wasn’t enough for Him to reserve you a seat.

It wasn’t enough for Him to cover the cost and provide the transportation to the banquet.

He did something more. He let you wear His own clothes so that you would be properly dressed.