- He who could have used his divine powers to trump the
enemy’s wilderness temptations endured them instead in the
flesh. - He who had spent his time in the company of saints and angels
embraced the friendship of fishermen, tax collectors, prosti-
tutes, and children. - And men made him whom the heavenly host had worshiped
and adored a spectacle and a mockery before the crowds
who stood before the cross. They captured and questioned
him, beat him until his back was raw, then robed him in a
“royal mantle.” Men scorned him, spat upon him, crowned
him with thorns, and made him carry his own cross down a
long, unrelenting road. He took nails in his hands and feet
while his own blood streamed into his eyes. He spent three
hours in the blistering sun, gasping for a breath. And worst
of all, he felt as though his Father had turned away.
What was he thinking as he breathed those final words, “It is fin-
ished”? Was he aware of the victory? Did he feel grateful that he was
going to his Father? How much did he understand?
I don’t know. I know only that I praise him now for staying the
course and finishing his race—for suffering and bleeding and dying
for me. And as I hear his final prayer in my heart I praise him that
when my life is over, because of his sacrifice, I will be able to stand
before his Father with joy.
Thank you, Father, for the cross, for the shed blood of my Savior, and
for your perfect plan of salvation. Thank you for seeking me when I
was hiding and forgiving me the minute I repented. Thank you that96 CLAIRECLONINGER