Ground Zero

 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:28-30 ESV).

 

“Ground Zero” may bring to mind the September 11 attacks, often referred to as 9/11. They were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Of course, there are other cites which call to mind histories great tragedies. I am also drawn to other events. One of those was the genocide of the European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, across German-occupied Europe, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. Unfortunately the history of humankind is peppered with these unspeakable horrors.

 

However, there is one time when the term “ground zero” brings to mind a specific time and place that marks a beginning. For Christians, our ground zero was about 2,000 years ago on a hill outside Jerusalem. Because he is holy, God had to punish sin. On the cross where Jesus died, God poured out his full wrath against human rebellion. There his justice was satisfied through a sacrifice. The cosmic paradox of the cross, however, is that in the moment of God’s greatest anger against sin, we also see his supreme act of love and grace. At the cross, we see that the Father gave his only Son to save us, though we were the ones who deserved to die.

 

And the Father’s sacrifice of his Son is only half of the grace we see at Calvary. Jesus wasn’t forced to be a sacrifice for ­human sin; he freely chose to offer himself to pay the price for our sin. The death sentence he endured was ours, but he willingly died for us.

Not a single one of us could have endured God’s wrath for our sin. Nor could any one of us have chosen to hang on the cross for all sinners. At Calvary, our ground zero, we see the immeasurable depths of salvation by grace alone.

 

Wherever you may be at this moment, reading this devotional, be reminded that Jesus’ last words, “It is finished” (v. 30), were not the words of defeat, but victory. All He came to accomplish was done. We have nothing left to do for our eternal debt to be forgiven and the granting of an eternal reprieve. Eternal life is ours! Thanks be to God!