And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men." (Luke 9:43-44 NASB)A demon-possessed boy had been dramatically healed. The people were amazed, and rightly so. It was an amazing task. While the people were standing around, talking to each other about all the marvelous things Jesus was doing, He spoke to His disciples about something even more amazing than what they had just seen. The Son of Man who was the Son of God was about to do something utterly breathtaking, something totally incredible. He would be "delivered into the hands of men". The march to the cross was under way, and it was an astounding thing.
Two thousand years later, the cross has, in some ways, become a decorative item to us. We wear it as jewelry and attach it to household items. This symbol of execution has been diminished by the casual way in which we treat it. The cross was a horrendous thing, made much worse, made unthinkably worse, by the sin Jesus bore in our place.
Jesus was right. Healing a child is an amazing thing, but the cross is unspeakable in its greatness. If we are amazed by healing, how much more should we be amazed by the cross? We have a tendency to embrace the miracles of healing and feeding, yet reject the miracle of mercy that held our Lord on that cross. That cross is the miracle that gives meaning to all the other miracles. It is the miracle that brings hope and healing to a lost and dying world.
In this season of thanksgiving, let us focus our attention on the one blessing that supersedes all others. The cross. It purchased our pardon, bought our redemption, set us free. Thank God it did! We are redeemed, but only by the greatness of the work that was done at Calvary. That, dear ones, was a miracle we should never forget!
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