Apr 10 - Good Friday - "A Prophesy of Love Revealed"

Isaiah 53: 13 - 53:12
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
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The prophet Isaiah was pretty good at his job. At the time he prophesied these events to come, centuries before they occurred, it was unknown as to how accurate his foretelling of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection would be.

Today, Good Friday, is a day of immeasurable sadness. On this day, our Lord, our Redeemer, the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, the Branch from the root of Jessie and David, dies a horrible death. I wonder how Isaiah felt, when revealing this story. Was he sad? It must have been hard for him to serve as the vessel of bringing God’s Word into the world. I imagine people must have doubted this prophesy. Why would God bring our Savior into the world as a man, to be crushed and broken? Why would God not bring His Son into the world as a triumphant warrior, destroying death and pain with a mighty hand? Why would God have our Savior oppressed, afflicted, carrying our disease, bearing our sins and led to the slaughter like a helpless lamb? Why?

Because of one thing and one thing only: Love.

How much do you love your spouse? Your children? Your grandchildren? Your parents? Nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends? When I think of the love I have for our three beautiful daughters, I cannot imagine a love greater than this. It fills me up. It consumes me. It is a thing which is greater than myself.

What would I do to show this love or to fulfill its promise? Would I give away health to restore one of theirs? Would I give away all my material possessions so that they could prosper?

Would I give my life in order for one of theirs to be saved?

For each of these questions, I would answer, as I’m sure would all of us for those we love, with an absolute, unequivocal, emphatic “YES!!”.

When I think about how much I love each of my daughters, I imagine it is like the love God has for me. Yes, it is close to that. But not quite. God’s love for me is greater. And infinitely so. How do I know this? What evidence do I have of this? The expanse of His love was revealed in his gift to me and to us all. The sacrifice of His Son, our Lord, for our sins.

As great as my love for our daughters is, would I give one of them to forgive the sins of someone else?

Would I give one of their lives in order that another’s life may be spared?

I hope I am never faced with that choice. But it is exactly the choice which God made for us. He gave is only Son over to death, so that each of us might live. That is how amazing and infinitely expansive God’s love is for you, for me, for all of us.

So today, relish in the pain and sadness of Christ's crucifixion. Because on Good Friday, through the death of Jesus Christ, that gift of love is given to us and Isaiah’s prophesy of love revealed is fulfilled.