The day that Jesus hung on the cross was the day Satan must have felt he had won the battle vs Christ. Clearly the disciples thought that all was lost and humanly speaking death means finality. However, shortly after Christ’s death came the resurrection which proved that the script had indeed been flipped. Satan thought that the death of Christ meant victory but instead it meant victory for you and me for the resurrection validated that Christ was indeed the sacrifice for our sins and the Savior for humanity.
But just how did Jesus flip the script? I believe we find the answer in one of my favorite verses – (Hebrews 12:2): “looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus knew that he would have to endure incredible pain, humiliation, and suffering at the cross but he also understood that without the cross there was no way to forgive humanity of their sin and restore us back into a relationship with the Father.
In a word “joy” provided Jesus with the motivation to go to Calvary. (Hebrews 12:2) shares this awesome thought: “…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross…” You see, I believe, Jesus looked at all of the suffering of humanity and their doomed state and understood that by His going to the cross He could purchase their salvation. This clearly brought our Savior great joy knowing that His death at Calvary meant that we could be restored back to God.
And here is the key to how Jesus flipped the script. Jesus, rather than look at the cross as an instrument of ultimate pain, torture, and suffering, chose to look at it as an instrument of ultimate glorification to the Father.
And here is the exciting application for us. God can help us “flip the script” in our own trying circumstances. We don’t have to believe the lie of the enemy that it’s all over and we won’t be able to overcome the difficult trials we often find ourselves in. We, likewise, when we suffer for the gospel, can experience great joy because we know we are doing something that is pleasing to the Lord. Knowing that by enduring suffering, I can bring glory to God, at least for me, gives me great joy and motivates me to stay in the will of the Lord.
Many others throughout history have suffered physical pain and death in ways more torturous than that of Christ on the cross. One only has to read Foxes Book of Martyrs to see the inhumane and heinous forms of persecution perpetrated on Christian martyrs through the centuries. So, what makes the torture and death of Christ so unique? He had two men next to him on crosses, going through the same punishment leading to death. So we see it wasn’t the method used that was unique to a tortuous death.
It’s who Christ is that makes the difference, the sinless Son of God, God in the flesh. His separation from the Father seen in the Garden as He prays, “Let it pass,” and again on the cross as He heartbreakingly cries out, “Why have you forsaken me?” gives us a sense of the true pain He felt. We will never know or identify with the Savior’s agony on our behalf because He was the sinless lamb without blemish. A sinless life that was killed because He could say, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”
This also means His blood was untouched by sin and was capable of cleansing our sins as it flowed down His body, leaving it lifeless. The resurrection flipped the script but I have to believe that Satan underestimated the fact that “there’s power in the blood!”