accusations hurled at Him, He says nothing.
when i think of Jesus on the cross, i think of Him as God.
but this is the day we should most be aware of His humanity.
they say 100% God, 100% man.
was He at war within Himself?
was His whole being surrendered to the Father?
what thoughts entered His head?
we saw Him, tormented in the garden. He asked His Father
to take this cup from Him, and then, conversely, surrenders His will.
we can imagine Him taking on this task as God...
but what about as a man?
putting myself in His shoes...
having insults hurled at me...
accusations i was innocent of...
being found guilty of everyone else's sin but my own...
i can't imagine resisting the urge to defend myself.
resisting the urge to set the record straight.
resisting the urge to point the finger at everyone else!
i am tempted to defend myself daily...
and i give in. i point the finger at others.
in the smallest, most insignificant situations.
i can't imagine the temptation on that friday.
can we imagine putting those who hate us
before ourselves in that situation?
they tempted Him...
come down from that cross!"
...We'll ALL become believers then!"
and He could have.
He could have chosen "now" over "eternal"
but He didn't.
"He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he'd never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn't true.
Out of that terrible travail of soul,
he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
will make many "righteous ones,"
as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—
the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch,
because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep."
our Savior is THE picture of a man, perfectly surrendered to His God.
it makes what He did for us all the more incredible.
i stand in awe.
When the Roman captain standing guard in front of Him
saw that He had quit breathing, he said,
"This has to be the Son of God!"
rethinking Good Friday.
rethinking the Gospel.
rethinking surrender.
rethinking His sacrifice.
thank You.
No comments:
Post a Comment