Pain. Abject, horrible, excruciating pain. Unrelenting, unbearable, unspeakable pain. With each slash across Jesus' back and with every muscle-burning step up Golgotha's hill, our Savior received the punishment for our sin.

In our let's-make-everything-okay world we often look at sin and wonder, what's the big deal? After all, our sin isn't so bad. If we lie a little or cheat just a bit—what's the harm? If we gossip some or use coarse language a few times—whom will it hurt? What's so bad about sin?

It's bad because of what it put Jesus through. Yes, our sin was the reason for the torment Jesus suffered as He made His way to the cross—and as He hung on that cross and ultimately died a horrific death.

Of course we can never undo what has been done; that pain can never be reversed. Yet we must understand that if we continue to sin knowingly, we are in effect turning our back on Jesus and His pain. It's as if we're saying that it doesn't matter to us what we put Jesus through, we're going to do what we want. To sin in the light of the cross is to tell Jesus that even His intense suffering has not taught us about the awfulness of sin.

Why is sin so bad? Look what it did to Jesus.
  — Dave Branon