2nd Sunday after Pentecost - Romans 5:6-15
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| While We Were Still Sinners (Digital), 2017 |
Lectionary Sketch of the Week
Romans 5:6-15
"6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many" (Romans 5:6-15, ESV)
I have always been struck by the great contrasts of this text. Christ's mercy and love is so great that it is poured out for us in the midst of our enmity against Him. Humanity's crucifixion of Jesus has actually been revealed to be God's salvation for humanity. The innocent victim is the willing Savior of the world who takes our sin upon Himself and redeems us. This computer drawing picks up on a tradition in some Western crucifixes that show Christ's hand in the gesture of blessing used to make the sign of the cross (Here are some examples here and here. Though not necessarily the sign of blessing, I also found this image after I had started my version. You might also be interested to see this sculpture on Fuller's campus by Christopher Slatoff). Paul writes, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith" (Gal. 3:13-14). Through Christ becoming a curse for us, He gives us the blessing. From the perspective of this drawing, we are the ones nailing Christ to the tree. But, we are also the ones receiving the blessing. Christ loves and forgives us by His cross. "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).
