On Sin and Grace

In Mark 14, we see the natural outcomes of sin. Sin is rebellion against God. It is rebellion against God's authority. It is rebellion against God's ways. It is rebellion against God. And when sin is allowed to run unchecked, to act freely in its rebellion, sin will lead to an attempt to bind God's hands and silence God's words.

In Christ, God makes himself available to sinful human beings. There are no other kinds. And eventually as God is with us in Emmanuel, the full outcome of human sinfulness is revealed. People lay hands upon God, refusing to believe that he is God, perhaps uncaring that he might be God. In their rebellion against God, they are interested only in silencing an opposing voice of authority and rendering him impotent.

So Jesus is bound and blindfolded and beaten. And it is not exceptionally wicked people who undertake this act, but religious people - upstanding citizens of the community. These men could be anyone - and they represent everyone. They blindfold and beat Jesus, rejecting the authority of God in their lives, while at the same time demanding a sign of his power: "Prophecy!" they shout at him.

It is convicting to think of my own sin in the light of Mark 14. How often do I wish to blindfold God so he does not see what I am about to do or say? How often do I attempt to bind his hands in my life? How often would I, if I could only lay my hands on him, be willing to kill him to silence him forever? Mark 14 uncovers the depth of my own rebellion against God.

And it reveals the amazing depths of God's love for sinners like me. God made himself available to sinners - and he still does. God lived among them. God became reachable and vulnerable for our sake. And God willingly bore the outcome of our rebellion - allowing our rebellion to run its full course. He was bound and blindfold, beaten and bruised, pierced and murdered.

And he came back.