Trades are a funny thing. As I type this, the Dallas Mavericks have just made arguably the worst trade in professional sports history, shipping away an all-world player and receiving a questionable-at-best return. Only time will tell how truly terrible it is, but for now, their season, and likely their near future, seems to be over.
The thing that makes trades so tricky is that they rarely ever work out for both sides. Whether it’s political world leader’s reaching agreements, a business merger you’re involved in, or your favorite local sports team, trades can create sides that attempt to justify their rationale and their returns. We find ourselves bickering over who won said trade and wondering if they’d ever truly work out.
Spiritually speaking, there was only one trade that could have ever worked. Because of our sin, we found ourselves in a predicament. We knew that Jesus- although perfect- would have to bear the weight of our misdeeds so that we could be reconciled back to God. But that’s not to say he didn’t wrestle with this reality. In Luke 22:42 we see him say:
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me - nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
This is Jesus, member of the Triune God … looking to his father and begging to trade his cup for something else. Pleading for another way, but ultimately submitting to the father’s will. The cross would be the only way.
Honestly, it’s a terrible trade when you write it down on paper. Jesus, perfectly divine, adds humanity to his divinity, comes down into the world, lives a perfect life, is mocked, beaten, and crucified even when he did no wrong, all for what? So that we humans, who have messed up and turned away from God, can be reunited with God?
When God created the world, he created us in the “imago dei,” the very image of God. Sin would serve as an eviction from God’s presence. But Jesus’ death and resurrection would mean that God would no longer see us in our sin, but he would see us through his son. And that is a trade Jesus deemed worthy.
So, as we look forward to the celebration of resurrection Sunday, let’s remember the path Jesus had to take in his final few hours and the trade he would make in giving his life for you and for me.
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