Three Nails | The Nail of LOVE

And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. "HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'  Matthew 27:39-43

The scripture tells us in Matthew 27:39-43 that when Jesus was hanging on the cross, the chief priests, scribes, elders and even passersby mocked him.  They teased him.  They challenged him to save himself, believing there was no physical way that a man who was nailed to a cross could save himself if he wanted to.  After all, he was nailed to that cross.  In the irony behind the irony that the mockers intended, they spoke the truth they themselves did not see. The man who can’t save himself—saves others  But those who know who Jesus is are fully aware that nails and soldiers cannot stand in the way of The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace...of Emmanuel.

The truth of the matter is that Jesus could not save himself, not because of any physical constraint, but because of a moral imperative. He came to do his Father’s will, and he would not be deflected from it.  It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will—and, within that framework, it was his love for sinners. He really could not save himself.  Today and tomorrow we will concentrate on the three nails that held Jesus to the cross.  The first of the three nails that held Jesus to the cross was love.

The Nail of LOVE - His Love for Us Brought and Held Him to the Cross.  

His Love was unusual - It is an ordinary, everyday thing for us to love those who love us, but Jesus loved those who hated Him. "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.  Jesus commanded that we love our enemies and, even on the cross, forgave.  That is what makes the love of Christ unusual. He loved His enemies, and this love bound Him to the cross. 

His love was unending - The love of Jesus never fails. It continued to the cross-beyond the cross, and abounds unto us today. His love bound Him to the cruel tree. 

His love was unselfish  - There is nothing in a material way that we can give to God that He does not already have. The Son of God condescended to die for us, and His unselfish love bound Him to the cross of Calvary.  It always seems like a foolish thing to beg people to receive Jesus, when the giving must be all on His side. All we can do is surrender ourselves.  It is a rare and beautiful thing to see people give and love when nothing can be given to them in return.  When Jesus died upon the cross, bound by the divine love for poor, lost sinful mankind, His love was unselfish.

LOVE in one word is CROSS
When you suffer for others you know what love is, and you know automatically who God is and what God is. God is love.  The Cross and Love are two words but with the same meaning: to give your life, and in doing so to discover the true meaning of yourself and reason of your existence.  As the Cross of Jesus was the supreme proof of His love for us, our cross too, should be the finest proof of our love for Him.

Scripture to Claim:

“When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him ... But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."  Luke 23:33-34