They flogged Him. They put a crown of thorns on His head. They put a purple robe on Him. They punched Him in the face. They put Him to death.. on a stake. On a cross.
I recently read an excerpt from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon that has stuck with me...
"After the first humans sinned, God cursed the Earth.
When Christ came into the world, evil people twisted a crown
made of cursed thorn, put it on his head and made him
the king of the Curse, and in that day he purchased
the redemption of the world from its curse."
John takes care to explain that the things that Jesus did, even in His last hour.. His last minutes...before and after His death.. . were done to complete the Word:
His clothes divided. ( Psalm 22:18)
The sour wine offered for His thirst. ( Psalm 61:21)
His bones not broken. ( Psalm 34:20)
His side pierced. ( Zechariah 12:10)
Joseph and Nicodemus took His body, prepared it, and placed it in a new tomb.
Jesus.. "knowing that all things had accomplished their purpose" ... said, "It is accomplished " and gave up His spirit.
The cross.. we call it "wonderful".. we are thankful for it.. we come to it... for there our Savior accomplished the will of the Father, so that we might be redeemed, forgiven, cleansed, and made complete.
"Praised be Adonai, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah,
who in the Messiah has blessed us
with every spiritual blessing in heaven.
In the Messiah he chose us in love before the creation of the universe
to be holy and without defect in his presence.
He determined in advance that through Yeshua the Messiah we would be
his sons - in keeping with his pleasure and purpose-
so that we would bring him praise commensurate with the
glory of the grace he gave us through the Beloved One.
In union with him, through the shedding of his blood,
we are set free -
our sins are forgiven;
this accords with the wealth of the grace
he has lavished on us... "
Ephesians 1: 3-8
Father in heaven, we love You and adore You. We are awestruck by this amazing plan that You prepared and carried out.. that we might know Your glory and grace. Hallelujah!
Thank You. Amen.
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