The Old Rough Cross
The Exchange on the Threshold of Death
Just Mercy
Last night, my wife and I watched the moving story in the movie Just Mercy. The story revolves around the trial of Walter McMillian, who was wrongfully accused and ultimately acquitted. But another person in the film touched me deeply: Herbert Richardson.
Herbert is on death row awaiting execution. To understand his situation, you need to know his past. As a Vietnam veteran, he suffers severely from PTSD. His entire battalion was killed, and he was the only survivor. He struggles with enormous trauma without any help from the government. No attention is paid to his broken soul. When you live with a damaged heart, terrible things sometimes happen. These events cannot be defended in any way, but still…
It went terribly wrong
This took place when a woman broke off their relationship. This breakup caused a short circuit in his head. What he did next cannot be justified in any way. He wanted to win her back and convince her that she needed his protection. He came up with a bizarre plan to place a homemade bomb on her porch. It went terribly wrong.
A ten-year-old girl found the package and touched it, causing the bomb to explode and killing the child. Herbert was sentenced to death, even though he never intended to kill anyone.
The film shows the way to the execution chamber where the electric chair is waiting. At his own request, a song is played. It is the poignant The Old Rugged Cross, sung by Ella Fitzgerald. For Herbert, who was raised in a religious household, this song has enormous significance. It is one of the most emotional moments in the film. You see how someone in his final minutes seeks support from the cross of Jesus.
The Power of the Cross
This made me think about my own favorite songs. One of them is The Power of the Cross by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. This song celebrates the sacrifice that Jesus made. Just as Herbert clings to that old rugged cross, this song describes that same surrender. Jesus walked a painful and humiliating path to ultimately be nailed to the wood. He was sentenced to death.
That is where the power of the cross lies. Jesus Christ became sin for us. Where Herbert bore a punishment he deserved, Jesus took on a punishment He did not deserve. He endured the pain for us and took our place on that cross.
During this season of suffering, we reflect on the words from Isaiah 53:5: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Thanks to Him, we receive forgiveness and stand free before God. It is an exchange. He took our bitterness and our evil deeds upon Himself so that we could live in freedom.
The moment Jesus cried out in a loud voice and gave up His spirit, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. This happened from above. People could not do this; it was an act of God Himself. Everything that stood between heaven and earth—the curtain that represented sin—was removed. A connection was made between heaven and earth, through which we receive eternal life through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.
This is how it sounds in my favorite song: “O, to see my name written in the wounds, for through Your suffering I am free.”
We can know that our name is written in the wounds of Jesus. The Bible teaches that the blood of the Son of God cleanses us from all sin. That is why, like the condemned man in the film, we can cling to that cross. It is the cross on which the price for our freedom was paid.
You may not yet know that you are a child of God. You may feel the burden of guilt, or you may not feel it at all. A life without God means distance. God has opened that curtain so that there is a view from heaven to earth. We owe this not to our own efforts, but to Jesus Christ. He took the place of all people.
Jesus received a punishment He did not deserve in order to take ours upon Himself. Herbert deserved his punishment, but in his final moments he reached for the cross. We can do the same.
@wimvanputten