Isaiah 53:3-6: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Meditation: We call today Good Friday. What is so good about it? After all, it is a day that Jesus suffered the most brutal beating and death that an innocent man has ever endured. The disciples at the time certainly did not see the day as good. They saw it as a day they were losing someone they loved; their friend and leader. Yet we call it good. You see, the problem that all of us have is that we see things from our perspective and not God’s. So things that he sees as good we do not always see as good. We see the answer to the question in a verse we often quote:
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
God is working things out according to His purpose. Often our purposes are not in line with his purpose. Sometimes, we do not know what His purpose is. In the case of the crucifixion the disciples did not fully understand the purpose of Jesus’ death. So they were devastated.
However, because it has been revealed to us we can look back and say it is good. His death was necessary in order for man to be redeemed by the gospel. Which is, Jesus came to die on a cross to pay the penalty for man’s sin, was buried, and rose from the dead. So although Jesus death came about because of the injustice of man; it fully met God’s justice making the salvation of man possible. That is Good News!
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for giving up your body to be beaten and crucified for us. Thank you for the great love you have that kept you on the cross. Amen.
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