Someone once suggested that when Jesus Christ bowed his head in death, that gave us the opportunity to kiss his face. This would be a tender and loving gesture that expresses both sorrow for his agony and thanksgiving that He died for us. It is something of a whimsical idea to kiss our Saviour at such a moment. The fact is, of course, that Jesus Christ bowed his head because He was dead – He could not hold up his head anymore. He did not bow down his head so that we could kiss Him; He bowed down because when one dies pinned by hands and feet to an upright cross, the head naturally slumps down. However, the notion of kissing Jesus Christ at that moment is not foreign to us; at least it should not be. We may think of Psalm 2 where the rulers of the earth are exhorted to “Kiss the Son.” The very fact that Jesus Christ was covered in sweat, tears, blood, and grime, and that He was naked, does not deter us in the least. The fact that He was now dead does not deter us either. That should have been our sweat, our tears, our blood, our grime, our nakedness, and our death. We sinned, not He. But He took our sins on Himself and He paid the price.

Jesus Christ died a hero. He died a Saviour. As such He becomes the object of our undying love and thankfulness. Think of a young mother who stands outside her burning house becoming hysterical because her baby is inside. She watches a brave fireman rush in and come out moments later with the baby safe in his arms. After taking hold of her baby, she hugs the fireman as well – even though he may be covered with smoke and grime. Thankfulness is not turned off by such things but sees them as badges on a hero. So the blood and sweat and grime of Jesus Christ do not turn us off. On the contrary, when we understand full well what is going on, it makes us love Him more. Yes, if we could, we would step forward on tipped toes, to kiss the Son.

Depth of Sin⤒🔗

To underestimate the suffering of Jesus Christ is to minimize the seriousness of our own sins. A good question to ask ourselves and to reflect upon is whether we have a real sense of how deeply we have offended God by our sins. Think of Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount where He stated in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I understand these words in the light of a passage such as Isaiah 57 where the Lord says,

I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

In other words, the poor in spirit are those who recognize and confess how impoverished they are as they stand before God with their sins. Now the word used by the Lord Jesus for “poor” is a word that underlines a real, deep impoverishment. This is the kind of word that would be used of a beggar seated at the side of the road with his arms stretched out to any passerby, crying piteously for mercy. Such a poor man is the most destitute even among the destitute. But does God see that in us when we come to Him in prayer, confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness? Does He see hearts that agonize over sins and hands stretching out to God, pleading for mercy? Does He see people who have at least some sense of how deeply their sins have hurt Him? Does He see in us something of the tax collector in one of Jesus’ parables, who could not even look up to heaven – so acutely did he feel the weight of his sin and unworthiness – but he beat his breast, and cried out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”?

Full Satisfaction←⤒🔗

When we contemplate Jesus Christ hanging, suffering, and dying on the cross, we do that with a full sense of the seriousness of our sins. At least that is what we should do. But how certain are we that Jesus Christ paid for our sins in full by his suffering and death? Clearly there was nothing halfway or inadequate about it. As an example, we think of the three hours of darkness on the cross and his piteous cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Since God made Jesus Christ to be sin on our behalf, the full burden of God’s justice and wrath against our sins was poured out by God on Jesus Christ. He experienced the agony of hell and the fullness of eternal death. He experienced what it was to be entirely forsaken by God. He even had to experience physical death – the tearing apart of his spirit from his body. And for three days, his body lay in the grave.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We may be sure that Jesus Christ suffered to the maximum the full burden of God’s wrath against our sins, to the point that we would never have to suffer in this way. In fact, in Jesus Christ’s suffering and death, we are healed. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are declared righteous and heirs of life everlasting.

Tangible Implications←⤒🔗

This has real, tangible implications. Perhaps a marriage has grown cold and unfaithful because there is no love and respect; a family is in disarray because parents have not set a good example for their children; time spent on TV or the Internet has led to pornography or just a colossal waste of time; business practices become unethical; gossip is a way of life. And so we could go on and on. Is there no hope for us as we struggle with our daily sins and experience devastating consequences of enslavement to sin? Is there no way to have those sins removed and to be made free from sin? To know what our Saviour has done for us on the cross – how deeply He loved us and how deeply He suffered for us – is to be assured that his precious blood is more than sufficient to pay for all our sins. We are encouraged in the closing line of Hebrews 4,

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

A Kiss←⤒🔗

There were many people standing around the cross the day Jesus died. Some were there because of curiosity; some were jeering; some wanted to be entertained; some went home disturbed; some stayed around for a while. But after almost everyone left, and the body of Jesus Christ still hung for a few more minutes before they took Him away, would it be unimaginable to move a little closer, to lean back your face as you stood on tipped toes, and kiss the face of this awesome Saviour? In his suffering and death He has delivered us from our sins and secured our adoption as sons of God! He has saved us!