THE MOST IMPORTANT SCARS WERE FOR ME…

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At the beginning of Holy Week, we are reminded of the most important scars. We are all familiar with them, at least on an intellectual basis. We have heard the story about Jesus’ death and have chosen to believe it or not as a historical fact.

But the most important thing is whether we have chosen to believe it for ourselves. Was He the Son of GOD, meaning the embodiment of GOD Himself in human form? (That is what the expression meant in that culture. It didn’t mean someone who was less than, like it often means in ours.)

Is it really true that He was fully GOD and fully man? That by being both He was able to fully pay for sin for all time? I can’t make all the arguments here, but they are easy to find.

Is it really true that Jesus, the GOD-man, fully GOD and fully man, took the weight of the sin of all mankind of all time on Himself? That He paid the blood sacrifice required to pay for sin with His own blood? That He voluntarily was separated from GOD for a period of time while He paid the penalty of that sin? That after three days, He rose from the dead to show the world that He had won the victory over sin and death? That He bears the scars of what He did on His resurrection body for eternity?

Often, I have felt guilt when watching movies of Jesus death or thinking about it. But my understanding of the Bible leads me to believe that guilt (a horrible motivator) is not what GOD would want us to get from thinking about His death and resurrection. He conquered sin, guilt and death when He died for us…especially false guilt. If all we feel when we think of His death is guilt, we will go nowhere.

He died and offers life, forgiveness, and freedom to anyone who will accept that gift. There are no restrictions. If we sit in a corner and are overcome with our guilt, we miss out on the wonder and joy of this season. All we have to do is to repent of our trying to find life and meaning in our ways of doing life and ask Him for the gift of forgiveness. We have nothing to offer HIm. It is sometimes hard to believe that, but our offenses are so many, that we will never be able to pile up enough good deeds to overcome them. Only He was able to pay for our situation before a holy GOD.

So this Easter, as we think about what He did for us, yes, it is good to remember what He went through physically. But that was only a tiny piece of what He suffered. I can’t imagine what the broken relationship with the Father was like for him during that period of time when He carried all the sin of the world on Himself. That was an eternal relationship. And the holy Father couldn’t look on Jesus! They were separated.

He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:3-6 ESV

Here are the words to the following song on the video, sung by Fernando Ortega. I love his beautiful, easy style when singing hymns, old and new. If you like it, share it. It helps the people who do the video and the writers of the music, all you have to do is click the share button. Nothing will explode in your face or anything.

The third verse of this song reminds me that although the gospel is free to me because of Jesus work on the cross, it didn’t come cheap. Every time I take my repeated sin lightly, I am also taking lightly what He did for me there. It is a serious thing. Again, sitting in my guilt won’t help, hiding out from Him won’t help either. But going to my heavenly Father openly, confessing for the 100th time what He already knows,..and believing Him when He says He forgives me. Then taking seriously that sin that keeps tripping me up. I’m sinning because on some level, that is what I want to do. Ugh!

Wonderful words here to think about.

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted
Words by John Kelly
Tune by F.H. Barthelemon