"It Is Finished"

 Easter is fast approaching.  It is on Sunday, April 20th this year.  On that day, our LORD and savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  But the event that Kevin McCollough writes about today happened 3 days before Easter, on Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified and died on a Roman cross.  Though sinless, yet he became sin that He might dies to save the whole world.  McCollough describes one of the significant events that took place that day in a column at Townhall.com entitled No One Is Too Far Gone, Not Even Me.

It is a moving story, one that brings me to tears. I have only one little tweak to make to it. But, that one little tweak changes the story in mountainous ways. You see, no matter how far down the slope we have fallen, Christ can forgive us. That is the meaning of the thief on the cross. We all deserve to be there, to be crucified for our deeds, but Christ can save even the worst of us. My little tweak is that McCollough thinks we must do something, take some action. I disagree. We must, in McCollough's telling, make a decision for Christ. This is wrong. In fact, Christ has done everything required, and all we have to do is...nothing...do not to reject it. Christ's last words before he died were "It is finished" meaning everything was done that needed to be done.

If my salvation depended on me, I would be lost. The good things I would do, I do not, while the bad things I would not do, I do. I am absolutely unreliable. Fortunately, I do not have to depend on myself, with my doubts and fears. I can, and do rely on the word of Him, who is faithful, even if I am not. That is the meaning of the story of the thief on the cross. One rejected Jesus, one did not and was saved.

I urge gentle readers to read McCollough's article, then read the story of the thief on the cross. You probably have a Bible somewhere in your house, or you can go to Bible Hub Online and read the account in Luke 23. Who knows, it may inspire you to read the whole of Luke, a good place to start.