I once stepped on a nail while working at a construction site. It wasn’t even a particularly big nail. I immediately knew what had happened. I was shocked at how shocked I was by the sensation. My first instinct was to pretend It wasn’t that bad. I suppressed my full reaction to the pain. I immediately started downplaying what had happened and how severe it was. Strange reaction. I was in serious pain from a fairly modest nail, left sticking up from a plank. A careless neglect that can happen on construction site.
This all came back to me the other day when I was taking walk on a nearby trail and something caught my eye. A nail. And not just any nail, but a railroad spike. Huge. The head of the nail was larger than a half-dollar, and the shaft of the nail was about an inch thick. My thoughts turned to the Cross. Our Lord Jesus, hanging by nails that pierced his hands and feet. Many others have done very thorough work in detailing the likely physiological impact of dying by crucifixion so I won’t go into that here. Also, I’m not just suggesting that a common railroad spike is anything like what was used by the government of Rome to crucify people. Just that it reminded me, it turned my thoughts to our Lord and his experience. An experience that was for us. Out of love.
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
~Isaiah 53:2-5
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
From the earliest prophets, we learn that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and die in such a way that when it happened, it was obvious:
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
~Matthew 24:26
Luke’s take on Isaiah 53 and numerous other Old Testament texts is to essentially declare it obvious:
God, through Jesus, understands human suffering all too well. He’s been there. No more self-righteous, “God you don’t know what I’m going through!”, nonsense. He knows. He’s been there. Suffering is not at all new to the life of God or his people.
It was in that suffering that Jesus did his most powerful work. An innocent, sinless victim, died for guilty, sinful humanity. Jesus’ voluntary sacrifice satisfied both the justice of God (sins had to be paid for) and the mercy of God (we could not pay that bill and live to talk about it).
So, a nail. And a reminder of how Jesus both understands us and deeply loves us. No matter what.
See you in the mission field.
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