A Night Like No Other

As the world and all of her inhabitants settled in for the night—You walked into a garden.
As mothers tucked their children into bed, You fell to your knees in prayer.
As fathers locked their doors to keep evil out, You prepared to face it head on.
As infants cried tears of hunger, You cried tears of holy surrender.
As humanity stood lost and defiant, You humbly laid down your life to save ours.

What was occurring in the heavenly realms as you willingly submitted to the Father’s  will?
Did the same angels who heralded Your birth, now stand in silent horror watching You sweat drops of blood?

What about the physical world?
How did creation respond that sacred, holy night?
Did a full moon illuminate Your face as You prayed? Or did the moon’s light surrender to the  darkness pressing in around You?
What about the animals?
Were they drawn to you? Did they sing out in worship of their Creator and King?
Or did the weight of the moment silence their sounds?

Was the weight of the sin-burden You had come to carry beginning to fall over you?

That night.
That precious, sacred, holy, heartbreaking, life-giving night.
How does one even begin to express gratitude?
How can we possibly thank You for giving Your perfect life to save such un-perfect people?

Jesus, there will never be enough words or enough time to come close to thanking You. What You did is beyond human words or thought.

You looked at us—sinful, defiant, broken, lost us—and said, “I love you this much.”

And then you—perfect, righteous, holy you—spread your arms wide open and willingly gave your life for us.

On this night of remembering, may we pause to think about that night so long ago, and say thank you to the One who gave his life for ours.

Thank you, Jesus.