Stand in the Gap

Though fully God, Jesus took on the same humanity as you and I in order to offer Himself as the ultimate sacrifice. (Hebrews 2:17) He felt all the same emotions we do and even was faced with temptation. But on Good Friday, He faced worse suffering and pain than we can imagine. And Jesus knew full well what He was facing. (Mark 14:34 Luke 22:44)

Jesus endured extreme physical torture. He was spit on, whipped, nailed to a cross, lifted up for all to see and then speared. (Isaiah 52:14 Mark 15:17 John 19:1 John 19:18 John 19:34) He endured humiliation and taunting. (Matthew 27:40 John 19:3)

But the worst suffering of all for Jesus must have been spiritual. A man who was without sin, yet on that day bore the weight of the sins of the entire world upon Himself. Separated completely from God the Father as He died a criminal’s death upon that Cross. (2 Corinthians 5:21 1 John 2:2 1 Peter 2:24) It was our sin that caused Jesus to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). (continue reading…)

God doesn’t look at the outward appearance of a person. God sees the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7) A relationship with Christ transforms us from the inside out and changes everything.

‘So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord–who is the Spirit–makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.’ 2 Corinthians 3:18

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‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ Romans 5:8

I love this verse! It assures us that even at our very worst, Christ loves us enough that He took the punishment for us. Salvation is offered to us as a free gift, not because we are deserving, but just because God loves us. (continue reading…)

“Then Jesus shouted out again, and He released His spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened.” Matthew 27:50-51

The tearing of the Temple Veil from top to bottom was no small feat. (continue reading…)

‘He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses He carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed Him down.
And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for His own sins!
But He was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on Him
the sins of us all.’

Isaiah 53:3-6

Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust, said, “Forgiveness is to set a prisoner free, and to realize the prisoner was you.” When a person is unable to forgive someone who has wronged them, the suffering is theirs because of the anger, bitterness, resentment and hurt harbored in the heart. This kills joy and disrupts peace of mind. But with forgiveness comes freedom. (continue reading…)