Monday, December 29, 2008

Why?

Isaiah 53

I don't know how I can narrow this chapter down to one verse. It is obviously a specific prophecy concerning the life and death of Jesus. Frankly, I don't see how anyone can miss it. I mean, how do Jewish people deal with this? I know that the Jews have a rich heritage. They are religious people. I just went to a Jewish wedding and it was filled with spirituality and symbolism. The problem is, they miss the whole point - Jesus. I am not going to write about this prophecy, however. I am going to write about what Jesus did as it is outlined in this chapter.

He grew up. He wasn't handsome. Just an ordinary guy. Then everything hit the fan. He was despised. He was rejected. He was sorrowful and had grief. He was wounded. He was bruised. He was punished. He was whipped. He was oppressed. He was afflicted. He was slaughtered. He was stricken. He labored. He was made a part of sinners. He was killed...and He did not say a word through it all.

Why? Why would a guy do this? Let's assume it was just an ordinary guy, not the Son of God. If He was just a man this would make no sense. It would make no sense for a guy to die like this. To take this punishment because of a lie that He had been promoting. That is stupid. I mean, if Jesus was just an ordinary man He could have said: "Guys, its been a fun ride, but I am not going to go through all of this and die for a hoax that I have been playing these three years. Let me go. I won't be a pain any more."

But He didn't. Why not? Because He was the real deal. Because He was who He said He was...God in the flesh. The Messiah.

So again, Why? Why would God in the flesh do this? This really makes no sense either, does it? Yes it does. He did it because He realized that we were, I was, in need. We have griefs. We have sorrows. We have sin. We have rebellion. We have guilt. We are in need of peace. We need healing. We are lost. We need to be declared righteous when we are inherantly dirty. The only way that all of these needs were going to be met was by cleansing through blood. (Reference Old Testament sacrifices.) There had to be a substitute. The blood of bulls and rams could never take away sins forever so Jesus was that substitute. He did it because He hates the ugly state that we are in. He hates our need. He hates what we have to deal with. And He loves us. He loves us so much that He did something about it. He took all of our garbage on Himself and died. For you...for me. This is why.