“IS IT NOTHING TO YOU?”
Lamentations 1:12
The death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most
wonderful, astounding, magnificent event in the history of the universe.
Nothing that is, has been, or shall hereafter be can be compared to it. Yet, as
he was suffering the wrath of God, bearing the sins of his people, dying as the
voluntary Substitute for guilty, hell-deserving, hell-bent sinners such as we
are, we hear the Son of God expressing the most woeful, unexplainable
lamentation imaginable. He cried, "Is
it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow
like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted
me in the day of his fierce anger."
When I hear those words
falling from the lips of the Son of God, as he hangs upon the cursed tree, I
simply cannot avoid asking a question. Of
whom does the bleeding Lamb of God speak these words? To whom is the death
of Christ meaningless and insignificant? Nothing
in all the universe is more wonderful and magnificent in the eyes of God the
Father than the death of his dear Son. The Savior himself declares, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I
lay down my life!” The angels of
heaven ever look into the mystery and wonder of redemption by the blood of
Christ with astonishment. God’s
servants, faithful gospel preachers are so overwhelmed with the wonders of
redemption and the glory of the Redeemer that they never cease to study, glory
in, and preach the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Isa. 6:1-6; 1 Cor. 2:2; Gal.
6:14). Redeemed sinners on the earth
cherish nothing, delight in nothing, marvel at nothing, like we do the death of
our Lord Jesus Christ for us (Gal. 2:20; 1 John 3:16; 4:10). The ransomed in glory appear to think
of nothing and speak of nothing except the dying love of the Lamb in the midst
of the throne (Rev. 5:9-12). Hell itself
looks upon the death of Christ as a wonderful, unexplainable, mysterious thing.
I am certain that this is one thing that Satan himself did not understand -
That Christ would triumph over him and crush his head by his death upon the
cross! Else he would never have put it into the heart of Judas to betray the
Master.
Yet, there are some to whom our darling Savior speaks, as it were with
astonishment, to whom his death is meaningless, insignificant, nothing! Who are these people to whom
the death of Christ is nothing? Who is it that thinks little of the sin-atoning
death of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Our Lord is here addressing
himself to everyone who passes by him, passes by his sacrifice, passes by his
death as the sinners’ Substitute in unbelief, to everyone who hears and refuses
to believe the gospel. O unbelieving, Christless soul, it is you to whom the
Son of God speaks! O cold, calculating, heartless, preacher, you who pass by
the crucified Christ and take to your lips the meaningless, insignificant
trifles of politics, social corruptions, moralisms, denominationalism,
historical religion, creeds, and debates about nothing, it is you to whom the
Master speaks! Christ crucified is mundane, meaningless and insignificant only
to unregenerate, unbelieving souls.
It is my
heart’s prayer that you will hear these words echoing in your soul - ("Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass
by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done
unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce
anger.") - until the death of our Lord Jesus Christ is made to be the
most important thing in all the world to you. I pray that you and I may become
totally consumed with the crucified Christ, that our hearts, our lives, every
fiber of our souls may be constantly dominated by the death of Christ as our
sin-atoning Savior. Let us meditate upon and study the great, sin-atoning
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ until it consumes our every thought!
AMEN.