What if the cross had been empty?

I don’t know about you but I always find the experience of Holy Week so intense. It’s such a pivotal point in the history of mankind, when our destiny could have taken a very different route. Which is why on Good Friday as I prayed my way through the three hours that Christ spent on the cross, I found myself pondering some really big questions.

For example, when exactly did Jesus know that he was the son of God. Did he always know from the moment of his birth, or was it only as the young adolescent who went missing only to be found in his father’s temple? And what was it really like when he prayed?  When he obeyed the command to ‘be still and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10), did he do so in full awareness that was indeed the great I AM? And as God incarnate, who was there at the beginning of creation, the initiation of space and time as we know it, did he remember of the beginning, even at a subconscious level?  

What about the incarnation?  Did God create humans in such a way that our feeble frames could one day carry His glory? Did God create not only exactly the right conditions for life on earth, but also the exact conditions to enable his entry into the world he created. And if human eyes are a window on the soul, what did those who encountered him see when they looked into his eyes? Did they see depths beyond our imagining?  And what did it feel like when he walked upon the water? Did his feet connect with something solid, or is it the experience beyond our understanding?

I wish I could ask Jesus, when did you know you would die such a terrible death? And as a someone who was fully human, how did you live with that knowledge, the kind that would tear apart the minds of most of us? And, as you are part of the Trinity, three persons of one substance, did God the Father and the Holy Spirit also see and feel what you felt?  Did they also feel the agonising pain when your flesh was torn from your back and the nails driven through your hands and feet? And when you were in the midst of pain, did you still feel your divinity or only your humanity? Was this why you cried out “My father, my father, why have you forsaken me? “(Matt: 27:46).

And where did you go when you died? You told the robber who was crucified alongside you that today he would be with you in Paradise, so what did you experience in the period between your dreadful death and the glories of your resurrection? When humans die they often seem to meet those they have loved who have passed over, and I know that when my mother died, she also saw you? So who was there to meet you at the moment of your death? Or, as humans hadn’t yet been granted your resurrection life, did you just descend to the terrifying nothingness that existed before the beginning?

Most of all though, I wonder what if you hadn’t been crucified? What if you had succumbed to the temptation to turn away from the proffered cup? What if you had allowed the very human fear of such a painful death to turn you from your destiny? And even if you hadn’t rejected such a terrible end, what if Pilates’s wife, with her dreams of your innocence, had managed to convince her husband to halt the execution and let you go? What if the cross had been empty? 

It's such a terrible thought – a world where your crucifixion had not taken place, a world where we would live out our mortal spans and then be forever separated from God; our eternity forfeit.  Which is why as we towards Easter, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I cannot imagine the pain you suffered, and that you would suffer for us in this way is extraordinary. When I look around at the glories of your creation, when I consider the works of your hands, the moon and stars that you have made, I like the Psalmist can only stand in awe and ask with profound gratitude “What is humanity that you are mindful of them?” (Psalm 8) and say “Thank you Lord from the bottom of my heart and soul. Thank you”.

Kate Nicholas is a preacher, Christian author, broadcaster and consultant. Visit Kate’s website www.katenicholas.co.uk to find out more about her books, TV show and online courses.

Photo by CRISTIANO DE ASSUNÇÃO on Unsplash