I realize this won’t be read until after Good Friday is past. But, as I’m writing this, today is the day we remember Jesus’ death. And by the time this goes online, life’s details will be taking up my brain space and the suffering of Christ will probably be a foggy memory. Here is my attempt to remember what He has done.
This week I spent time in Isaiah 53. The phrase that jumped out brightly was, “NO ONE CARED.” It’s mentioned twice, along with these details: He was
Pierced
Crushed
Beaten
Whipped
Oppressed
Treated harshly
Slaughtered
Unjustly condemned
Humiliated
Struck down
Buried like a criminal
Crushed
Grieved
Anguished
Exposed to death
And Isaiah says twice “NO ONE CARED.” I was confused as I read that. The women who took care of His daily needs in Galilee stood there, watching Him die in agony. Did they suddenly not care? What about His closest friends, the disciples? His own mother?
Another detail is mentioned twice: Jesus was CRUSHED. “…it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief.” (Is 53:10) But didn’t the prophecies about the Messiah say that not one of His bones would be broken? How could God the Father crush His son without breaking a single bone? I forgot what I was taught:
Verse 5: “he was…crushed for our sins.”
Verse 6: “…the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.”
Verse 11: “…He will bear all their sins.”
Verse 12: “…he bore the sins of many…”
His bones weren’t broken. It was far worse. Think of the regret and shame that weighs us down inside when we sin. Even from one sin. What if we could remember every sin we committed for a year? Or a lifetime? How heavy would that weight be on a person’s heart?
Jesus “personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.” (I Peter 2:24)
He carried all my sin, shame, regret, sorrow, sickness, suffering, separation from the Father, and death in His physical body on the cross. He experienced crucifixion and suffocating and bleeding to death. He lived the nightmare of nakedness in front of a jeering crowd. He carried ALL the sins from me, my husband, my children, Hope Church, Rhode Island, America, the billions of people living around the world right now, everyone from the past going to back to Adam and Eve, and everyone who will live going forward until the Last Day of the world. ALL OF IT. I don’t understand how, but He carried it all.
He was crushed and no one cared. The crowd mocked him, and even his loved ones did not understand what He was doing. The most saintly person standing vigil by the cross with a broken heart was still to blame for His death! No one got it. NO ONE CARED.
But we can care now. We are those who are “counted righteous” (Is 53:11), even on our worst day. “…now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” (Colossians 1:22) Praise the Lord!
We have new life through Jesus’ resurrection. May this truth fill my mind and yours and affect every part of our daily lives.
