Tomorrow, in "real time", the prime minister of Israel will visit the USA. His visit has been criticized by the radical, political Left. I have prayed for his safety while here, as it would not surprise me at all if someone were to attack him with evil intent; and, I don't mean with mere words. That type of attack is a "given". Historically, the USA and Israel have been political friends, going all the way back to 1948, when President Harry Truman became the first national leader to affirm a proclamation (The Balfour Declaration) recognizing Israel as a sovereign country. Now, the USA is pulling farther and farther away from its friendship with Israel, which alarms me, since the Bible makes it plain that the friend of the Jew is the friend of God, and vice versa.
Today's central scripture is Zechariah 13:6.
If someone asks him, "What are these wounds on your body?" he will answer, "The wounds I was given at the house of my friends."
This was spoken by the prophet, Zechariah, under the inspiration of God's spirit, in reference to Jesus Christ, who was mortally wounded by his "friends", his own countrymen, the Jews. We see the fulfillment of this prophecy in the gospel accounts of the scourging and crucifixion of Jesus. I am intrigued, however, that those gospel accounts are quite plain about the facts that it was the Jewish leadership who were driving the prosecution of Jesus, not the ruling Roman government. Recall that, in John 19 and Luke 23, we see Pilate try to release Jesus because he found "no fault in Him"(19:6; 23:4). Yet, the Jewish leaders whipped the common folk into a frenzy, whereupon they screamed, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"
Have you ever wondered why God decreed that Jesus had to suffer so? Why was Jesus subjected to one of the cruelest deaths ever to have been devised in the depraved hearts of men? In the Old Testament, when animal sacrifices were made, the deaths of the animals were engineered in a certain way to minimize the animal's pain and suffering. Death was swift and sure. Not so, with Christ Jesus. He suffered mightily. God had designated Him, and He had agreed, to become our blood sacrifice, our substitutionary appeasement of God's wrath. We read that all of God's wrath over all the sins of mankind was poured out upon Him, the undeserving One. It is the blood spilled that appeases our Holy God. Yet, we read in Isaiah 53, that prophetic chapter describing the crucifixion, that "it pleased God to bruise Him" (Isaiah 53:10). WHAT? WHY?
If you go back and read Leviticus 4 and 5, you will see that, after a leader brought his most spotless animal for the required sacrifice, but before the actual sacrifice, he would lay his hands on the animal's head and confess not only his sins, but also the sins of his family or people. When Jesus began to carry out His Father's will in becoming our blood sacrifice, no men or women laid their hands on Him in confession of sins. Instead, they laid their hands on him in violence. However, Isaiah 53:4-6 tells us that the Lord God Himself laid on Jesus the sins of all of us.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Consider the absolute magnitude of the sins laid on Jesus - - - all the sins of all mankind, from creation through to the new Heavens and new Earth - - - past, present, future.
Remember Abraham, with the knife raised, ready to strike Isaac, offering him, preparing him for a sacrifice to God? Nowhere in that passage do we read that Abraham was "pleased" to offer his son back to God. Looking at Abraham as a human, a human father, I would imagine he was resolute, despite his grief. Which of us would be pleased to offer one of our sons or daughters to save all of mankind. We might be willing to do it, but I doubt we'd be "pleased".
I keep coming back to the "pleased" aspect of this. The Father deemed it important to demonstrate the magnitude of our collective sins through the scourging and suffering of Jesus. And, although He in His humanity prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for "this cup to pass from me" (what human would want to undergo the suffering He knew was ahead?), in the end His humanity became again subject to His divinity (Matthew 26:39), as had happened His entire, earthly life: Perfect Human/Perfect God - - - Jehovah's sinless, spotless sacrifice. Jesus Christ and His Father were agreed millennia before: that Jesus Christ would be that Lamb, "slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8).
The Hebrew verb form, "ha-pes", appears many times in the O.T. It is most often translated "pleased", "delighted" or "desires". This aspect of God's character is hard for us to comprehend. Remember that, when God was putting all of this sin on His own Son, He was putting it on Himself. The Godhead is triune: Three-in-One. This is why in the creation story of Genesis, God refers to Himself as "we". All three Persons of the Holy Trinity were present at creation.
The holiness of God's character and the love that is His character are co-equal. We tend to emphasize one aspect over the other, to suit our own sinful purposes. Usually, that means an over-emphasis on His love. But, God knew that the ONLY way - - - listen! The ONLY way to rescue and redeem His fallen creation (us!) was through the suffering, death, burial and triumphant resurrection from the dead of Himself (His Son).
Beloved, nothing pleases God more than having your heart, your love, your allegiance, your worship. He was willing to give all, in order to buy you back. Yes, it was Jesus' blood that bought you back, that made it again possible for you to have the type of close relationship that God enjoyed millennia ago with Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, before they chose to disdain it, to throw it away.
Jesus paid it all, so that we could become His friends. " in the house of my friends...." Oh, dear God!
Although most of my readers are already Christians, I have to ask my non-believing readers: what will you do with Jesus? That is the singularly most important question that you must answer in this life. It is an unavoidable question. You have heard the gospel message. Now, you must decide. To postpone answering this question is to answer it. If you attempt to defer, you have said, "no", rejecting Him and His offer of eternal salvation. You are not promised a "later", in his earthly life. What.will.you.do.with.Jesus?
Well, this is not the post I intended to write this morning. I guess it is, however, the post Abba intended me to write. Tomorrow, we'll return to Zechariah.
Good morning, Incomprehensible Lord! To say that You are amazing is ... inadequate. No English word exists to fully describe You. I've attempted, in my faltering way, to explore your motivations, your character; and, I know I fall dreadfully short. I pray that someone, reading this, will get a glimpse of Your glory and will choose You today, forever. I pray that they will gaze upon Your face and choose You. In Jesus' name, amen.
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