Good Friday

Early this morning I was picking up some things at the store. My attention was captured by the rows of "Easter Candy". I walked over and contemplated buying Lynn a chocolate bunny. While I was looking over the candy, a chocolate cross caught my eye. I paused at the cross. Here I was, in Walmart, on Good Friday staring at a chocolate cross. Unexpectedly, I was deeply disturbed. I'm not going to rant about the extreme over commercialization of every holiday and celebration. I could go on and on about how we manufacture holidays to fuel our consumer mentality. But, that's not the point. I was disturbed by this image of the cross that is so far from reality. I began this week with a desire to focus on the cross. The day that Jesus was crucified revealed the extreme ugliness of sin and the sufficient extreme love of our God. On the cross, the Holy One became our sin: every murder, every rape, every genocide, every child molestation and abduction, every lie, every jealous thought. Jesus became our sin. Maybe that's why I am fighting back tears as I think about a cross made of chocolate.