Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Freedom on Friday Friday, April 2, 2010 Isaiah 53:3-12 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief ... We considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed ... the Lord has laid on him the guilt of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth ... He gives his life as an offering for sin ... he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses. John 18:38-19 Pilate went out to the crowd and said to them about Jesus, "I find no guilt in him ... Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe, and they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him over and over ... Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him ... Pilate tried to release him, but the crowd protested ... then he handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out what is called the Place of the Skull. There they crucified him. Make no mistake, this was a savage whipping. Nails embedded in leather straps, a strong man throwing all his might into every flying, whistling, bloody blow. Most men died. Jesus didn't deserve this, and he didn't deserve to be crucified. He was accused of being too good, too holy, too much like God. He died for his goodness. He filled the bill Isaiah had presented hundreds of years before, and God honored him. Jesus the man brought me freedom when he died and resumed his place as Jesus God. Sometimes I grasp a bit of this in the raw, so to speak, and my knees buckle. The constant edges of dread and fear that accompany me through life on the periphery of consciousness ... those edges are dulled. I know some peace then that does surpass understanding. It doesn't last long; it's as if I see only into a mirror what later I will see face to face. This is the sweet replacement for guilt that Jesus brings home. Still I sin, still I'm guilty, but now I know mercy. I have no right and no time to feel guilty when Jesus walks across the water toward me. My guilt gets washed away by a roaring river of grace. My face, my whole hurting body is flooded with mercy. All I know is forgiveness. Oh yeah, this is a GOOD Friday. Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, Lord, faithful God. - Psalm 31 "; Add      Edit    Delete