The Impact of Going Through the Fire

In George Bernard Shaw’s play about Joan of Arc, as Joan faces her execution by burning, she addresses those in power who have condemned her: “I will now go to the common people and find comfort in the love I see in their eyes, for it will ease the pain of the hate in yours. You may rejoice at my death, but as I pass through the flames, I will reach their hearts—now and always.”

Doesn’t that perfectly capture what has happened with Jesus’ crucifixion over the past two thousand years? Time and again, people have looked to the cross and seen the love of God—a love so profound…