John 10:14-18 "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (15) As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. (16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (17) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (18) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
I could not have planned this Devotional Text
any better than how it worked. Today, we remember the death of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. Today, we stop to remember the excruciating pain that
Jesus, our Saviour, endured. His flesh was torn as the scourge was laid to His
back. His humiliation as He was being paraded down the street as a common
criminal. The unimaginable pain as the nails were driven through His hands and
feet. And then, if that was not enough, the people began to hurl insults at Him
as they filed past Him as He hung on that cross. This is not a pretty sight, is
it?
All of this suffering had been foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament.
Isaiah was inspired by the Holy Spirit, not only to describe in great detail
the suffering, but also the reason for His suffering. He spoke of the Father
turning His face away. He described the beard being plucked from the face of Jesus
and how astonishing, how sickening, it was for the people to even look upon
Him. He described the bruises and the torn flesh. He described people rejecting
Jesus, though He had done no wrong whatsoever. But then, He tells the
results. "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. (4) Surely he hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted. (5) But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
"Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
(11) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be
satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:10-11) "The pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in His hand... for He shall bear their
iniquities." Do we understand that today? Can we fully grasp
the great truth that God's love for us is so great that He was pleased to
design redemption being accomplished through this terrible devised method of
execution? Do we understand God's hatred for sin and our depraved nature
that He required such a death in order to bruise the head of Satan? Can
we fathom such love that He would give His only begotten Son, the One in Whom
He was well pleased? What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
Jesus said, "I lay down my life... no man taketh it from me, but I lay it
down of myself." Understand Sunday's coming! He's going to take it
up again! But for today, let us think about the debt being paid for our
sin. Jesus' love for me is so great that He willingly endured the suffering of
the cross. Oh! How I love Jesus, because He first loved me!