RAISING THE CROSS
by Peter Paul Rubens
circa 1610
Isaiah 53 - Meditate on these verses, as they describe the work of Jesus, predicted hundreds of years before the event. The suffering of Jesus was not an accident, and it was foreordained by God the Father. Through Christ, God takes the blame for all that has gone wrong in the world. He takes upon himself the sins of everyone, so that we might get a new chance to begin again. Jesus left no unfinished business between humankind and God hanging over our heads. All things have been resolved. All sins have been forgiven - past, present and future. This is how great the magnitude of his sacrifice was. You are free. I am free. The only question that remains is, "Will we advantage ourselves of this freedom and show gratitude for our freedom, by letting this gracious Redeemer into our lives?" I pray all of our answers will be YES to Jesus Christ.
The Prophet Isaiah predicted the crucifixion beautifully in this way:
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. NIV
