Go on up to the mountain of mercy,
To the crimson perpetual tide.
Kneel down on the shore,
Be thirsty no more,
Go under and be purified.
Follow Christ to the holy mountain,
Sinner, sorry and wrecked by the fall.
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flowed
For you and for me and for all.
At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree,
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night.
On the hillside, you will be delivered,
At the foot of the cross justified,
Your spirit restored
By the river that poured
From our blessed Savior's side.
At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree,
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night.
Go on up to the mountain of mercy,
To the crimson perpetual tide.
Kneel down on the shore,
Be thirsty no more,
Go under and be purified.
At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree,
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night.
(Robbie Seay Band,
© Whenever it was published ;D)
Anyway... I've heard this song many times... It's one of my favorites. And it's always seemed so awesome and so passionate... I understood what it meant in a way... Sort of a different take on Christ's death, but still, very true. But yesterday, at Hope Point, after the band finished playing/singing it, Richard started talking about it, getting at the meanings of the words beautiful and scandalous.
And that got me thinking...
First off, disclaimer, if you didn't know, I'm a foreign language concentration (Secondary Ed-Spanish to be exact) and so, words, language, etc., holds a great deal of interest for me...
So, what exactly do the words beautiful and scandalous mean, and why do they apply to the death of Christ?
I think the word Scandalous really stands out to me, so let's do that one first, because I'm the kind of girl that eats desert first. I hate waiting for my favorite part of movies, etc. So, yeah. Scandalous first, because I said so. lol.
For this defining deal, I'm going to refer to my good friend, the handy-dandy dictionary.com.
Scandalous:
disgraceful; shameful or shocking; improperalso...
giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation
So, yeah. The death of Christ... How does that fit together?
Disgraceful... It was the climax of human sin and depravity. Killing the only holy One who ever lived. Shameful... Christ suffered for all to see, in a way that caused ultimate shame. Imagine being slaughtered in front of your family and friends almost naked and hung up high for everyone to see. That's what Jesus did. That's how He died. Improper... No joke. This was a death reserved for criminals of the basest kind. This is not the kind of death one would expect for the Son of God Almighty, who'd just lived 33 years of absolute perfection. Giving offense to moral sensibilities... If moral sensibilities had come into play. The sad fact is that people were cheering, yelling, spitting on Him. "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" When given the choice between Jesus and a terrifying bloodthirsty criminal, the wanted Jesus to die. If that doesn't offend one's sense of right and wrong, I don't know what will. Injurious to reputation... Well, honestly, when you saw someone die on a cross in the Roman Empire, I seriously doubt you thought, "That poor guy was probably innocent." It was extremely hurtful to Jesus's reputation. But then again, the Bible said that Jesus made Himself of no reputation (Phil 2:7, KJV). ESV says "[He] made himself nothing." The Lord, Jesus Christ, made himself nothing, threw away His reputation, and with all the love and tenderness of the best big Brother ever, saw His little brothers and sisters suffering and dying around Him and said, "No. Take me instead." He saw us in the filth of our own sin, and rescued us from it, before being buried in it on the cross.
I'd say scandalous, while not a word I would have used at first, is definitely appropriate.
As for beautiful...
having beauty; wonderful; very pleasing or satisfying
Having beauty... I'd say so... There is something incredibly beautiful in dying for loved ones or for an ideal. Wonderful... I'd say. The Son of God dying for the sins of man... Wonderful doesn't seem enough. It's amazing. It's unbelievable, really. I hate to say it, but I don't think I'd want to die for some rapist or something in prison. But what Christ did was even more amazing than that. He was holy. I could never be holy. But I think I'm too good to die for someone who seems worse than me to my way of thinking. Jesus knew that He was too good for us. That's why He died. Very pleasing or satisfying... Well, the death of Christ brought great satisfaction to God's holiness and inability to see us for our sin. It was pleasing to the Father to see the Son carry out His plan of salvation for His people. Which, by the way, was incredible in and of itself. I just said I wouldn't die for a rapist. Jesus, as I said, did more than that. But God did a huge thing, too. Sacrificing His Son, His beloved Son in Whom He was well pleased. Like I said, I wouldn't die for a rapist. And I sure as heck wouldn't send any of my gorgeous nephews, Trent, Bryson, and Garrett, to die for a rapist. I can't even imagine a holy God sending His holy Son to die for a depraved world. But that's what happened.
So, yes. Beautiful and Scandalous it was. A mystery I'll never understand.
And a joy for which I am forever thankful.
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