The picture show many different traditions of Easter week. Most have to do with Catholic traditions of burning candles to the Virgin Mary and worshiping depictions of Jesus.
What really disturbed me were the pictures of men whipping themselves as penance. Or the man who was actually nailed to a cross. Why would you do such a thing? I understand that they think it is a way of paying for their sins, but wait. Aren't they celebrating the death of Jesus and with Him, their sins? Aren't they celebrating the resurrection of the living Christ? Aren't they celebrating the fact that He died for their sins so that they do not have to?
It says explicitly that Christ died for sins in Matthew 20:27-28:
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
Though I can understand that people might interpret this as just being metaphorical about the covenant, it is not. It literally means his blood being poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. In His sacrifice, His death, the new covenant is sealed. But it is literally that He will be a sacrifice for us. Literally. Like He was nailed to a tree, bloody and dripping, dying of asphyxiation, bearing the weight of the sins of the world, even the ones not committed yet. It was so terrible that God had to turn His back upon His Son. He could not look at that sin.
Paul reiterates this in his letter to the Corinthians:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he ws raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
(1 Corinthians 15:3-5)
Now we are to remember that Christ died for our sins, so we do not have to. We all deserve a gruesome death for the things we have done, the sins we have committed. And yes, sins is an over-used word, so let me rephrase. We all deserve death for the depraved, disgusting, stomach-turning, despicable, repugnant, icky, wrong things we do. We are only human, but because Christ died for our sins and has forgiven them, we are covered by His blood. And we do not have to die! Our punishment has been taken by someone else. Praise Jesus!
What we have to do is accept His grace. It is a free gift:
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God....And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:12-13; 16-17)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
This is a gift of God, something He freely offers to those that believe in Him. He took the punishment for our sins, all our yuckiness. He fixed us up and is now refining us in the fire, but only if we accept His gift of grace.
And this is why it saddens me to see people beating themselves out of penance. The sins have already been paid for. All you have to do is believe!
If you have any questions about what I have said, drop me a message (no doubt, you are reading this on facebook.). I would love to talk to you about it all. God is good, even in hard times, and He will always love you more than you can even fathom.
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