Before Jesus died for my sins,
\nDid he catch cold for them, too?
\nDid he sniffle for my pettiness?
\nDid he cough for my pride?
\nDid he sneeze for my anger?
\nWhen Jesus stubbed his toe,
\nWho was forgiven, and for what?
\nWhen he scraped his knee,
\nWhose load of guilt was lifted?
\nWhen he cut his finger,
\nWhat little evils were washed away
\nBy that half-teaspoon of his blood?
\nWhat layers of resentment
\nWere peeled away, and from whom,
\nWhen Jesus had a sunburn?
\nDid Jesus sacrificially offer his headaches
\nTo substitute for the consequences
\nFor our willful ignorance
\nOf the sufferings of others?
\nIf he did, I want to be like him,
\nAnd put my miseries to work
\nFor the incremental salvation
\nOf humanity.
\nMy runny nose
\nErases your greedy deed.
\nMy sore back
\nForgives your white lie.
\nMy age spots cover
\nThe stupid stuff you do in your youth.
\nIf all of us dedicated our wounds and aches
\nFor the cause of forgiveness,
\nIf we let our weaknesses
\nOpen doors of compassion for each other,
\nMaybe nobody would have to die for our sins \u2013
\nNot even Jesus.<\/p>\n
JIM BURKLO
\nWebsite: JIMBURKLO.COM Weblog: MUSINGS: www.tcpc.blogs.com\/musings
\nFollow me on twitter: @jtburklo<\/p>\n
Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before Jesus died for my sins, Did he catch cold for them, too? Did he sniffle for my pettiness? Did he cough for my pride? Did he sneeze for my anger? When Jesus stubbed his toe, Who was forgiven, and for what? When he scraped his knee, Whose load of guilt was lifted? When he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":287,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[153,528,615,614],"class_list":["post-4356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-faith","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-redemptive-suffering","tag-substitutionary-sacrifice"],"yoast_head":"\n