At the cross we see the most outrageous love of all. We all deserved God’s wrath, but what did He give us instead? He became one of us. He came here not to be served as He deserved, but to serve. In fact, He came knowing we would reject him, hate him, and finally take His life on the cross.

Have you ever tried to do an act of kindness for a person, and they rejected you? Perhaps, you wanted to keep them from harm or give them some gift. Yet, instead of the love or gratitude you expected in return, they insulted you or hated you? How did that make you feel? You might have said, “Well, if you are going to act that way, I am leaving.”

However, that is not what Jesus did. The scriptures say He could have called thousands of angels to rescue Him. He chose to stay. Not only that, He chose to take the punishment that His enemies deserved. He became our sin, and the Father treated Him as a sinner, showing him the rejection that was our due. Jesus cried out, “Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?”

Yet, that is only half of the exchange that occurred at Calvary. Jesus took all of our spiritual poverty and in return gave us every blessing He has. The book of Ephesians tells us that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Because of Christ, we have a kindness so great that it will take all eternity to comprehend.

Outrageous? Many would say so. In fact, the Muslims have written a different ending to the story of Jesus. In their version Judas gets crucified for betraying Jesus, and Jesus goes up to heaven. To them it is unthinkable that God would let men humiliate Him like that. There is only one explanation for it. Outrageous love. God loves us with outrageous love.

Considering these things, I believe we Christians are left with two challenges. One is to receive God’s outrageous love for us. I think at times we think God wants to be in our lives and bless in some small way. Or perhaps we think He is there in a way that is adequate. Yet, how many of us trust Him to be there in a way that is outrageous? I believe we have a second challenge and that is to show outrageous love to others. We are to give people the opposite of what they deserve in the same way God did so for us. In doing so we will come to understand His outrageous love for us all the more.