A Time in the Sanctuary

The sanctuary was quite dim; lit only by several candles in the altar area and one bright lamp at the back of the sanctuary. The youth had already heard the preacher say, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)" He elaborated on the concept by saying that we all were created in the image of God and God chose us before the creation of heaven and earth, that we should be holy and blameless when we stand in God's presence (Ephesians 1:4). But somewhere along life's journey we have missed the mark; we have not met God's design plan.
We were told how God has "forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2:13b-14). And, we were reminded that Christ "himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24).
Preacher even shared the secret of our Christian faith: "Christ is in you" (Colossians 1:27).
As we sang holy hymns and meditated upon what we had heard, the preacher's assistants brought in a large wooden cross. It must have been 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide with splinters and holes caused by many nails having been driven into the wood over several years. A bucket of "nails" and several hammers were set on the floor near the cross. The "nails" were square like horse shoe nails that had been welded into cross-like shapes.
Each of us were given a rectangular-shaped piece of cloth and a felt-tipped marker. Our instructions were to write upon the cloth our sin - or the thing that gets between us and the holiness God has planned for us in his kingdom. Then we were to nail our sins to the cross. We were to give all our sins to Christ and remember how Christ promised that through him we are forgiven. As the song goes, "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
The sounds of hammers hitting nails rang through the air. The thuds of nails being driven through cloth into wood echoed around the sanctuary. It was a haunting, solemn time.
As the last few persons were approaching the cross, the youth were encouraged to pray with each other, rededicate their lives to Christ, and ask the clergy persons for help or guidance (if necessary). When every person had put down the hammer and walked away from the cross, Preacher asked that I help him remove the cloths. He planned to burn them and use the ashes in a future devotional.
As I began pulling out the nails, I pondered the grief and heartache Jesus surely experienced when he took our sins on his body. Or, as the Apostle Paul proclaimed, "For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Oh, the sadness Jesus experienced.
Some of the nails were easy to remove from the wood; I only needed to use my hands. But, others required that I use a claw hammer to remove them from the cross. That was when I thought about what it could have felt like for the man who nailed Jesus to the cross. Surely Jesus looked him in the eyes as a man hammered a nail through the wrists of a man who was known as the chosen one of God and others called King of the Jews (Luke 23:35, 38). It must have taken a very cold, merciless man to drive nails through another man's flesh and remain emotionless. Did he hesitate when he saw Jesus looking at him? Did he have regrets when he heard Jesus say, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34)? When he walked away, did he weep or did he join the mockers at the foot of the cross?
I know that usually the Romans left crucified persons hanging until certain death was evident. Sometimes the body was left hanging for days beyond death. But, at the crucifixion of Jesus some "Jews asked Pilate that [the crucified men's] legs might be broken and that they might be taken away ... so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath" (John 19:31). So, the soldiers took down the crosses, removed the bodies and allowed them to be buried.
I wonder what the soldier felt as he pulled the nails through the flesh. I know what it was like for me to pull nails from the rough wood through cloth. The whole scene was more than an object lesson as my spirit wailed in grief at what Jesus did for me. It was my sin that Jesus carried to the cross! It was my sin that nailed him to the tree!
As I used the hammer to pull out another nail I noticed many of the youth were indeed holding each other and praying for each other. They cried and prayed and blessed each other. I remembered a part of the Book of James: "Is anyone among you sick? ... Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (James 5:14a, 16).
Until next time, God bless.