Isaiah wrote, “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” We
know that Isaiah was speaking about Jesus, the Son of God. Nevertheless, if we
were to read that statement with just a human understanding, it would almost
sound as if God derived pleasure from the torture of His Son. However, that was
not the case at all. Jesus had prayed while on earth that the will of the
Father be fulfilled in His life through obedience.
Since Jesus was willing, obeyed every command of the
Father, and chose to suffer and die for the sins of the world, His offering
pleased the Father. While Isaiah was writing under the leading of the Holy
Spirit, he declared that the Messiah would come as an innocent Lamb of God and
upon Him God would lay the sins of the entire world. It is inconceivable for us
as humans to fully comprehend what Jesus had to undergo and suffer in order to appease
the wrath of God and please the Father.
It’s inconceivable to us because Jesus was beaten and
shamed like no other man. In addition to the things that we know through the
written accounts of Jesus’ public flogging, beating, crucifixion, and burial,
He endured all of this while the weight of every person’s sin and shame was
upon Him. He was innocent of all false accusations and trumped-up charges, yet
He accepted the punishment for our sin without revile or revenge.
Why is it so hard for us to fully understand the depth
of love that Jesus had for His Father? Allow me to share some thoughts about
the limitations of our humanity. As humans, we can only handle so much
falsehood spoken against us and not want to defend ourselves. We are limited in
our humanity as to the degree of suffering we can incur and endure without
lashing out at the perpetrator.
When you take both of those thoughts and add in the
truth that we are the ones who were guilty, and He was innocent, this exceeds
the realm of human love or strength. Lest you might tend to believe that He
was God on the cross, and this gave Him the power to overcome sin, let me
remind you of the scripture, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?” To
me, this is the powerful thing about what Jesus was willing and empowered to do
while on the cross.
Since Jesus said “yes” to God in the Garden of
Gethsemane, God empowered Him to suffer for our sins as an innocent Man. Please
note that Jesus allowed, not the wrath of man, but the love of God to flow
through His heart while He hung on the cross. He made a conscious decision to
love, and God gave Him the power to love as “a Man” on the cross. I pray that
this Word in some way helps you to better understand the depth of love that
Jesus had for His Father, as well as the depth of love that the Father has for
the world.
While Jesus was in His greatest moment of agony, He
summoned enough strength and love to say, “Father, forgive them for they do not
know what they are doing.” When the Father heard these Words proceed out of His
Son’s mouth, it pleased the Father, and He has now forgiven all who have been
found guilty before Him for Christ’s sake. All the Father requires is that we
acknowledge the work that Jesus has already done on our behalf, believe on
Jesus as the ONLY WAY to the Father, and turn from our sin; then, He will
abundantly pardon us.
No Greater Love,
Pastor Asa
Pastor Asa
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