Jewish historian Josephus called the crucifixion, “the most wretched of deaths” Roman philosopher Cicero asked that decent Roman citizens not even speak of the cross because it was too disgraceful a subject for the ears of decent people.

With the picture of a girl posing in a sexual manner at the cross during holy week going viral , people of faith and even those who are not Christians are outraged with the lack of decency and respect of some people.

My friend and I got into a discussion because of the picture and the reactions of people with this picture. So what are my thoughts?

1. I think what the girl did was not wise and was  very disrespectful but I think she didn’t have a clue that it is so.

She might have thought it was cool to do such stunt without really thinking about what her actions implied or how others would feel. I think her picture represents us. When this picture was posted in FB and Twitter – a barrage of curses was hurled against her. You could feel the hatred and the anger of the people for such an act. They wanted this girl to be punished for what she has done.

The people wanted justice for the sin that was committed. We were offended. I was offended but at the same breath I realized that…

2. The real offended party here are not the people who are ready to nail the girl at the cross because of her “blasphemous” act but Jesus and all of us are guilty of sinning and rebelling against Jesus.

Once you understand the message of the cross and what Christ accomplished at the cross, you wouldn’t even do something like the what the girl did. On the other hand, if you understand the cross, you will also not heap hatred on the girl who posed on the cross. Why? Because what the girl did is just the representation of our sinful nature. It is actually a picture of me without God’s grace.

And my friend Dodge observed,

“And what the people who cursed at her did is also a reflection of the sinful nature.  Kasi, we tend to see things in this dichotomy, the offender and the offended. Nakakalimutan natin tingnan ( we forget to see) if the offended offended the offender too? Because we want things fair, when we get offended, we want the offender to get punished. Whether or not we offend him/her too. That’s the difference, kasi God is just — He sees each of us, independently of whether we are offenders or offended. Kasi ang nakikita niya yung sin. ( Because what we see is the sin).

At the end of the day, only one has the right to be offended and that is Christ. And he has the right to be offended with the girl, the people who cursed the girl, the unrighteous and the self-righteous, the religious and the irreligious.

And this is where the love and the grace of God comes in. It is when we realize that we are even at our best no heavenly good and that God in spite of our rebellion choose to send His son to die for us and forgive us is what really transforms me.

Romans 3:25-26 ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, ²⁶ for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

The more I read and re-read this verse it makes me cry because of God’s amazing love for me. Thank you Jesus for choosing to save a sinner like me. Thank you because you first loved us.