As I make it up the stairs on my way to another class I am greeted by two or three excited little voices saying, "Darin, Darin, Darin!" Before I make it to the top one has come to hug me, another is grabbing my arm, and still another is jumping up and trying to touch my face. This is how it goes everyday at school. Once I make it up the stairs, more kids realize who has come and soon they are fighting for position. My students certainly love me and appreciate my lack of proper Chinese discipline. I did not ask for this love and I don't always appreciate the inability to simply walk from one classroom to the next. Yet, as I was surrounded by children screaming my name I thought of someone else.
He came and was loved by many too. He loved them back and had more than just a temporary relationship with them. These were people he walked with, taught, ate with, healed, laughed with, and patiently dealt with their lack of understanding. Yet, a few days after he humbly rode in to the sound of their cheers and shouts, they shouted, "Crucify!" He was surrounded by those he loved, but they were not returning the love, they were deserting, they were hiding, they abandoned him. Then they led him out and the pain pressed into his head, his hands, his feet. The sin of all people of all time was clinging to him, weighing him down, putting him through hell. Then, the Father left him too. All alone with no one to help. It was for you that he did it alone. It was for you that he endured the mocking, rejection, pain, and abandonment. This is the greatest love of all: the Son of God laid down his life for sinners. Christ died for you. He cleansed you in the blood of the Lamb and now you are free from sin, death, and Satan. By his wounds we are healed. It is certainly a Good Friday!
