Lightning rod and the cross

1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Lightning is very powerful. There are a lot of mysteries about lightning, but we understand some simple things about it. Charges build up on clouds in the sky and the force of that charge is so destructively powerful that it has to be directed somewhere, either from cloud to cloud or quite often to the neutral ground. But if a tree or a house or a person is standing between that charged cloud and the ground, the lightning releases all its destructive power on that object. This destructive power can kill people, rip trees apart and start houses on fire. In order to keep our houses and buildings from catching on fire, we install lightning rods with grounding wires on those structures. The lightning strikes the building with all its fury, but instead of damaging the building or starting a fire, the lightning rod absorbs all the energy and directs it safely to the ground. Jesus on the cross was the lightning rod for God’s anger over sin. By sacrificing Himself there, He absorbed all of God’s anger and directed it safely away from us, so that instead of killing us eternally, we could now be comforted by God.

Jesus turned God’s anger away, so that God can now comfort you. That is what Isaiah celebrates in Isaiah 12:1-6: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.”

Dear Lord, we thank You that You were the lightning rod for our sin. We thank You for the special gift that You gave to each of us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.