Today's Scripture
One Year Bible Daily Reading – Haggai 1-2; Luke 14:1-24
Scripture: Isaiah 53:7-12
Who can believe what we have heard,
and for whose sake has the Lord’s arm[a] been revealed?
2 He grew up like a young plant before us,[b]
like a root from dry ground.
He possessed no splendid form for us to see,
no desirable appearance.
3 He was despised and avoided by others;
a man who suffered, who knew sickness well.
Like someone from whom people hid their faces,
he was despised, and we didn’t think about him.
4 It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
and our sufferings that he bore,
but we thought him afflicted,
struck down by God and tormented.
5 He was pierced because of our rebellions
and crushed because of our crimes.
He bore the punishment that made us whole;
by his wounds we are healed.
6 Like sheep we had all wandered away,
each going its own way,
but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
Contributed by Stephanie Dickenson
We struggle with the possibility that God might allow, even will, suffering to take place. It is painful to accept that part of God’s person is punitive – wrathful. It’s appalling enough to read about the slaughter of the Canaanites so Israel would have The Promised Land. But how could it be that it was the Lord’s will to crush His beloved begotten Son. This was the Son who obediently came down from heaven and was “incarnate – made flesh.” He was the Son always at His Father’s side while we humans were – the Prodigals. I wonder… I wonder if Jesus was like that older son in the parable. Could it be Jesus had to overcome resentment of His brothers and sisters? It was the Father’s will to have His children with Him. The only One who could bring them home was His obedient Son who was so bound to HIM that He was the embodiment of God. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer….. to make His life an offering for sin. It wasn’t because Jesus wasn’t precious to His heart of hearts, but because we are precious to Him as well.
Jesus suffered for you and me because God does not abandon His creation. Jesus cried, “My God, My God why have You forsaken ME?” God sent Jesus to demonstrate the wide breadth of God’s love at the cost of suffering, and rejection of his obedient Son. We find it so easy to love God for His mercy, gentle patience, and kindness as we see through Jesus. How much more should we love HIM for suffering with Jesus so this obedient Son’s sacrifice could make a way for His straying and lost children to come home.
Prayer
Shepherd Jesus, Thank You, thank You for overcoming the dread of Your mission and laying down Your perfect life for our sins. Thank You for coming to bring us home. In Christ Name, we pray, Amen
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