Only A Little Sin

'But, Sir,' said man, 'it was only a little sin.' Clang came the sound of metal hitting metal as he said it again: 'Only a little sin. You know, I was wondering what would be necessary were it a sin of greater magnitude?'

'The same sacrifice would be required,' said the voice of Him crucified.

Again the metallic crash!

'But, sir,' questioned man, 'why such intense suffering for so little wrong?'

The reply came through tightly clenched teeth and laborious breathing, 'Is any wrong small?'

'I cannot answer, for I am not certain that an adequate definition of wrong can be established,' bantered man, stepping aside to avoid the falling flecks of blood.

In a faltering whisper the Crucified answered, 'Wrong is anything that is opposed to truth.'

'Ah,' said man, 'but what is truth?'

Between gasping breaths for air comes a hoarse reply, 'I AM!'

'Huh?' responded man, turning to leave. 'Look where it got You. Crucified! And for what? All this suffering for what?' And man, shrugging, turned his back to depart.

In a voice barely audible the Crucified pleaded, as tears mingled with the blood, 'For you, man! To make eternity possible for you, I AM!'

A flash of lightening. A rumbling and roar of thunder. A last cry, 'It is accomplished!' Silence.

'I wonder,' said man, looking back at the slumped and stricken form, 'Was all that really necessary? After all, it was only a little sin...He had such a way with people, too.'