STOP!

Several years ago, I was telling a bedtime story to two of my grandchildren, the oldest being 8 years old.  I had done this many times.  But this night I wanted to tell them the story of Jesus, even though I knew that they had heard it in Bible classes. 

I began by telling them that all through the Old Testament there had been promises made that one day a Messiah, a king, would come to save the world.  As we get to the NT, we read of the birth of the king, Jesus.  But He was a disappointment to many, because He was born into a poor family, made His start in a barn with the animals, and wasn't the kind of king they wanted. 

But as Jesus grew up, at the age of 30 He began to teach.  And the people followed Him everywhere.  And He would teach them, and heal them, and feed them sometimes.  Nearing the end of His life, He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people lined the road and cheered Him on. But this wasn't to last....and He knew it.  He knew that He would have to eventually be killed; and He taught this to His disciples.  One time, Peter said, "Lord, this shall not be!"  And Jesus rebuked him saying, "Get behind me, Satan...you don't know the things that are of God." (Matthew 16:23)

It was time for the last supper, the partaking of the Jewish Passover Feast with His 12 apostles.  Jesus knew that He was about to meet His end.  As He sat with them at the table, He knew that one would betray him to those who wanted Him killed. And of course, we know where this story is going, that He would be tried and eventually killed on the cross, only to rise again.

But before I could get to the cruel ending, I started telling the boys of the suffering, how Jesus would go into the garden and pray under great stress.  How He would be taken, tried, lied about, spit upon, beaten with whips that tore His skin.  And suddenly, Andrew said, "STOP!"  I said, "Why Andrew?"  He said, "I can't hear any more......stop!"

I thought it was neat that a child could relate to the death of the Lord, that the pain would be too great.  And I thought about how, if you and I had been there to see how badly He was treated for our sake, that we would have been so sad to witness that great suffering.  We would remember, as He told us to remember Him.  That we would remember Him as we took of the communion, remembering His love and compassion for all men.  And we would never forget......

Thanks for reading.  Have a good week.