It was the darkest day.

The sun was blacked, and shadows crept upon the noontime hustle and bustle.  The shouts had quieted by this point, as the crowd drew nearer to the spectacle. Some still hurled insults and jokes and other blasphemies, while a mother cried, clinging to her newfound family.

The pain was evident. It was smeared in blood all over His face, running from His head and hands and feet, dripping down the jagged wood that wouldn’t let Him go.

It was the darkest day, all because of me.

The sins I’ve committed – the angry words, impulsive actions, lustful desires; the wealth, popularity, freedom from backlash. These are the things I chose, much like the ones that day chose the murderer. And by our choices, He was sent. Marched to His death, His humiliation, His suffering. He became the spectacle because what was convenient for me was more important than Him.

The veil was ripped, the graves were opened. The cry He made was heard by all. The cry of pain and hurt, of a willing sacrifice for my sinful self. It was the darkest day, but the darkness wouldn’t remain.

Three days later, He rose for me. He conquered death to free me from my chains; to give me life after all I’d put Him through. And why? Love. Unending, ever abounding, always conquering love. A love that extends a gift to the very ones who deserve it least.

But that gift – the gift of eternal life and freedom from bloodguilt – it’s a gift we must choose to open. God is willing for all of the sinners who placed His Son on the tree to have salvation (2 Peter 3:9), but not all will be saved (Matt. 7:21). Why? Because some don’t accept the conditions of the gift.

Jesus Himself, the One offering the gift, said we would be saved from the sin of killing Him if we would believe in His Deity and would be baptized into His blood, willingly sharing in the death we put Him through (Mark 16:16, Rom. 6:3-4). It is only through contact with that blood that we partake in the gift; not a moment sooner or later.

We know that to be true because Peter preached it on the first day the gospel was ever told – the day of Pentecost. He looked directly into the eyes of the ones who chose Barabbas, who cried “Crucify Him, Crucify Him!”. He told them they were guilty, and the ones who were convinced that they were asked Peter what they could possibly do now that they’d murdered the Son of God. The remedy was unfathomably simple: repent and be baptized in order that you may receive forgiveness (Acts 2:38). Surely God would require more than that, since we sided with Satan and delivered Jesus to His agonizing death. But that was it. Simple obedience was all that was required, and then the requirement to live as the One whose life you cut short (Gal. 2:20).

Today, the same rules apply. Our sins put Jesus on the cross the same way those first century hands nailed Him there. And the same loving, forgiving, merciful Father extends the same simply remedy. Will you relieve your bloodguilt through obedience, or let your hands remain stained with innocent blood on the day of Judgment?

Thanks be to God that the darkest day was overshadowed by the brightest day the world has ever seen, and that we don’t have to live in the darkness anymore! If you aren’t out of the darkness yet, do as the Holy Spirit through Peter instructed and repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins. And if you have been forgiven? Praise God for allowing you to be light to the dark world He rescued you from, and always shine brightly.