Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Matthew 26:67-68 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"
SORROW FOR JESUS, PEACE FOR US
Among the sorrows our Savior endured as He carried through the work of our redemption is being punched by His captors and slapped in the face. How hard this must have been for Him to take! What bitter anguish it must have inflicted on His holy soul! Yet, nowhere along the pathway of Jesus' passion do we see Him balk in the slightest or show even a hint of anger, impatience, or indignation. No one forced Him to the cross against His will. He went there with glad heart, inspired by His love for His heavenly Father and for us.
Because Jesus willingly endured this vile treatment, we are assured of kind treatment from our holy God. We enjoy the blessings of rest for our souls (knowing that the dark record of our sins has been erased), peace of conscience (in the certainty that we are God's ransomed children), and deliverance from the curse of death (nothing shall separate us from His love in this life or the next).
Thou hast borne the smiting only That my wounds might all be whole;
Thou hast suffered, sad and lonely, Rest to give my weary soul;
Yea, the curse of God enduring, Blessing unto me securing.
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, Dearest Jesus, unto Thee.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 151:3)
