FINDING GOD IN THE CROSS

[cimi]

The award-winning film Schindler's List confronts us
with the horror of the Holocaust. We learn the true story
of Oskar Schindler, who was something of a paradox. A
war profiteer and Nazi party member, he nonetheless
rescued 1,100 Jews from the death camps.

The key moment in the story comes when Itzhak
Stern, Schindler's Jewish accountant, compiles a list of
prisoners for Schindler's rescue. Suddenly stern realizes
that the names on the list--representing people being
rescued from the Nazi ovens--had been purchased by
Schindler with his profits. Stern's comment? "The list is
an absolute good. It is life." The list represented a
demonstration of extreme love and surprising compassion in
the face of extraordinary evil.

Jesus said, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to
save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). It was on the
cross that this happened. And it happened in a way that
brought resolution to the deepest needs of our heart.

The perfect balance of mercy and truth was resolved on
the cross. In divine mercy, the Son of God took our place.
By the sacrifice of His life for ours, He rescued us from
the truth of who we are and the judgment we deserve.

It is on the cross that we truly see "the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). Perfect love balanced
by perfect justice. Perfect truth balanced by perfect
grace. it is the ultimate surprise and gift that all of us
desperately need.