Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
As I was singing this song this Lent, I realized that I was there when my Lord was crucified. How? Because when I sin I crucify my Lord.
I have had a really hard time taking in the message about the seriousness of my sins. I have always wanted to believe they were not a big deal, I go to confession and they are forgiven. For many years I didn’t even do that. I thought how could such a small, unthoughtful act really be that big of a deal. I mean really, that sin only took a moment, how could that kill my Lord or necessitate His cruel death on a cross?
This was reinforced by an accident I had when I was seventeen. I was driving one evening, daydreaming about a girl I was infatuated with and I drove through a stop sign and t-boned a newer car. No one was seriously hurt, thanks be to God. I walked about only slightly hurt because I wasn’t wearing a seat-belt. I was annoyed but didn’t really want to take responsibility. The whole accident cost me about $500 but the cost of the accident on the tax payer was far greater. They had to pay for the car and perhaps emotional and physical damage of the elderly couple that I hit. Maybe my accident sped up their deaths, who knows. The accident was entirely my fault. I should have been paying attention when I was driving, something that could do serious harm. I didn’t pay the cost of my accident but I was entirely responsible for what I did. My actions crucified that poor couple. I give this as an example to show how a little thing can turn into a big thing really quickly.
We have been trained that sin is not a big deal. Not by Jesus, of course, but we see sin daily paraded as good or simply delightful yet these sins crucified our Lord. Take a sex scene in a movie. Many people think it is no big deal, it is just entertainment. It is not. It is the crucifixion of our Lord and you and I stood by and watched it happen, we were the reason it happened. Because one way or another, we paid for it to happen. That person paraded there is a child of God, made for a great purpose and we have joined in using them for sin and that crucified my Lord and even made it easier to use another person.
Yes, we were there when our Lord was crucified. He paid the price for our sin. Did you ever think that the Lord’s passion and crucifixion was a hell, a perfect hell, that our Lord went through to save us from Hell? Our Lord loved perfectly and suffered perfectly so that we would not have to suffer for all eternity in Hell.
Our Lord’s Passion will mean nothing to us as long as we continue to think that we didn’t do this, that we like Pilate had no part. But that is a lie, just like it was a lie for Pilate to say he had no part. And it will be a lie for us to say we had no part. We did and we have been there when our Lord was crucified and we crucified Him.
Thank God the story doesn’t end here because we would be all damned. There is no one here who can save themselves. Do not believe the lie that you are good enough to save yourself, that you have balanced out your actions with the work of God. We have not even come close. Our actions killed God’s beloved Son and nothing we can do could pay for that. We must turn to God and repent and thank Him for salvation because that is all we could do. We must ask God to reveal the true face of sin. And as well, to show us the love with which He paid the price for it. Make that prayer: Lord, let me not be deceived by the glamour of sin and let me understand the depth of your love.