Weight of the Cross

“They took Jesus therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.” John 19:17, NAS.

There is one port city on the island where I work. On occasion I’ll leave the village to spend time in the city. Often times I’ll stop at a coffee shop to get a drink, rest and reflect. As I sat with my coffee and my thoughts, a 30 year old local man came up to me and sat down without invitation.

He said, “I’ve had dreams about Isa (the Arabic name for Jesus).” He certainly had my attention.

“Tell me about the dreams,” I replied as casually as I could.

Without hesitation he launched into his story. “In my dream I’m laying down and Isa comes up to me and puts a big cross on my chest. The weight of the cross is too heavy for me to lift, and I feel as if the weight of it will crush me. Then I wake up.”

For the next hour I shared with this man about the weight of sin being too much for any of us to carry on our own. No matter how much good we do, it is still not enough to pay for our sins. I told him that Isa was showing him that he was trying to carry his own sins by doing good, but that wasn’t going to work. The penalty of sin is too heavy. Instead, Isa can lift the cross from you if you will just allow Him to pay for your sin.

He thanked me, and said he’d like to meet me again to discuss Isa. I agreed and he left. I took another sip of my coffee and thanked God for the work He was doing in the people around me. I also thanked God that Jesus carried the weight of the cross so I didn’t have to be crushed by the weight of my sins.

Pray that:

God will send dreams and visions to this Muslim people group, and they will meet believers to interpret their dreams and visions so that they will understand the truth.

Believers will be continually filled with gratitude and wonder over what Christ accomplished for them on the cross.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.