Transparency #1

The light shines out of darkness

The result of

True Transparency

Last evening I was confronted with the reality of the most transparent person ever to be. I viewed for the first time "The Passion of the Christ."

Jesus said that He was "...the light of the world..."(Jn. 8:12) Peter told God's children that the were "...called out of darkness into His marvellous light."(I Pet. 2:9)

The cost of that blessing was so vividly depicted to me last night. I could not help but think of our recent trip to Jerusalem. We were taken to the Praetorium, a place with a stone wall and block floors, and we were told that this was the place where Jesus was scourged. So the Romans soldiers, we were told, beat Him beyond recognition, put a cross on his mutilated shoulders, and led Him out and crucified Him. The movie depicted a horribly lacerated Savior, but I am sure the producers could not imagine what actually happened to him that day in that bleak hour of His earthly existence.

Why did He do that I have often thought. He didn't have to. I will never understand completely why He suffered like that for such a worm as I. God really is love. And yes even God Himself must have suffered loss as the hands of that uncaring mass of people who killed His Son.

Why did they do what they did? I am convinced that it was because He told the truth. He was open and completely transparent. He was not a sinner as we are. But he dared to level with them and tell the truth about them and they crucifed Him.

Should we be transparent and what will be our treatment? That will be something we will look at for a while. I think it will surprise us the options that others have with respect to our lives and we theirs as we study the scriptures.