A Gentle Thunder, Max Lucado
A Cinderella Story
The God Who Gave His Beauty Away, Chapter 13, page 83
God between two thieves. Exactly the place He wants to be….
But let’s image this scene from another perspective. Rather than stand on ground level and look up, let’s stand at the throne of God and look down. What does God see? What is the perspective of heaven?…
From God’s angle the tragedy of these men was not that they were about to die, but that they were dying with unresolved sin. They were leaving this earth hostile to God, defiant of His truth, and resistant to His call. “When people’s thinking is controlled by the sinful self, they are against God” (Romans 8:7). Sin is not an unfortunate slip or a regrettable act; it is a posture of defiance against a holy God.
Such is what heaven sees.
The figure on the center cross, however, has no such shadow or sin….
Suddenly someone tells him (second criminal), “You should fear God!” It’s the voice of the first criminal. “We are…getting what we deserve for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41).
Finally someone is defending Jesus. Peter fled. The disciples hid. The Jews accused. Pilate washed his hands. Many could have spoken on behalf of Jesus, but none did. Until now. Kind words from a lips of a thief. He makes his request. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
The Savior turns His heavy head toward the prodigal child and promises, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)….
Did an angel move, did a demon stir as they witnessed the answering of the prayer? The sins of the thief (and all us thieves!) leave him and go to Jesus. Tiny specks at first, then large flakes, and finally layers of filth. Every evil thought. Each vile deed. The thief’s ravings. His cursings. His greed. His sin. All now covering Jesus Christ. What nauseates God now covers His Son.
At the same instant, the purity of Jesus lifts and covers the dying thief. A sheet of radiance is wrapped around his soul. As the father robed the prodigal, so now Christ robes the thief. Not just with a clean coat but with Jesus Himself! “Baptized into union with him, you have all put on Christ as a garment” (Gal. 3:27 NEB).
The One with no sin becomes sin-filled. The one sin-filled becomes sinless.
A beautiful illustration of this came my way….I received a call from a friend named Kenny. He and his family had just returned from Disney World…..
He and his family were inside Cinderella’s castle. It was packed with kids and parents. Suddenly all the children rushed to one side. Had it been a boat, the castle would have tipped over. Cinderella had entered.
Cinderella. The pristine princess….A gorgeous young girl with each hair in place, flawless skin, and a beaming smile. She stood waist-deep in a garden of kids, each wanting to touch and be touched.
For some reason Kenny turned and looked toward the other side of the castle. It was now vacant except for a boy maybe seven or eight years old. His age was hard to determine because of the disfigurement of his body. Dwarfed in height, face deformed, he stood watching quietly and wistfully, holding the hand of an older brother.
Don’t you know what he wanted? He wanted to be with the children. He longed to be in the middle of the kids reaching for Cinderella, calling her name. But can’t you feel his fear, fear of yet another rejection? Fear of being taunted again, mocked again?
Don’t you wish Cinderella would go to him? Guess what? She did!
She noticed the little boy. She immediately began walking in his direction. Politely but firmly inching through the crowd of children, she finally broke free. She walked quickly across the floor, knelt at eye level with the stunned little boy, and placed a kiss on his face.
“I thought you would appreciate the story,” Kenny told me. I did. It reminded me of the one you and I have been studying. The names are different, but isn’t the story almost the same? Rather than a princess of Disney, we’ve been considering the Prince of Peace. Rather than a boy in a castle, we’ve looked at a thief on a cross. In both cases a gift was given. In both cases love was shared. In both cases the lovely one performed a gesture beyond words.
But Jesus did more than Cinderella. Oh, so much more.
Cinderella gave only a kiss. When she stood to leave, she took her beauty with her. The boy was still deformed. What if Cinderella had done what Jesus did? What if she’d assumed his state? What is she had somehow given him her beauty and taken on his disfigurement?
That’s what Jesus did.
“He took our suffering on him and felt our pain for us….He was wounded for the wrong we did; he was crushed for the evil we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to him, and we are healed because of his wounds” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
Make no mistake:
Jesus gave more than a kiss—He gave His beauty.
He paid more than a visit—He paid for our mistakes.
He took more than a minute—He took away our sin.
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