A weathered man wandered down a dusty road heading to nowhere. Indifferent trees loomed overhead as he trudged uphill silently, and the bitter ground gnawed at his bare feet. At night, the wind would whisper in his ears, reminding him that he was alone. During the day it was even worse – it was silent.
One day the Wandering Man stumbled across a man nailed to a tree. The man simply hung there, beaten and broken, blood dripping from his mangy hair. His somber eyes were filled with fire, and a crown of thorns christened his brow.
“Who are you?” asked the Wandering Man.
“Who am I?” replied the Man of the Tree.
“I am The Forsaken Man who, for the sake of man, forsook heavenly glory to hang on a tree that dead men might live. I am the Known Unknown who knew no sin, that you might be known as a child of God. I am the Eternal Word who spoke all things into creation, then became a creation to speak grace to the saints. I am the King of filthy beggars whose dirty rags are cleansed white in my crimson blood. I am the Son of God who died for men, that men might become sons of God.”
“It was long ago that man plucked sin from that tree, so now I hang here on this tree that you might put your sin back up on a tree. Man’s debt was infinite, so infinity became finite to pay the impossible price. Man had sinned against God, so He sent the God-Man to reconcile creation to Creator. Now nail your sin to this tree, and you shall be cleansed.”
The Wandering Man heard this, pondered it for a moment, and then he replied with sorrow, “My travels have left me filthy, I cannot be cleansed. I was born of the dust, I have walked in the dirt, I have wallowed in the mud, and I will die in my filth.”
The Man of the Tree replied, “Your wretchedness runs deep, but my blood runs deeper still, and now in your death you will find life, and in your life you will find breath. I came to be sin for the unholy, that sinners might be holy. I have tipped this world upside down; the lost are found, the blind can see, the dirty are cleansed, and those who kneel will be exalted.”
“I have become your unrighteousness, now go, O man, and be righteous. Put your sin back up on this tree, and wander no more.”
