Ninth Day of Lent

Ninth Day of Lent

Friday, March 10, 2017

See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him –
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and his form marred beyond human likeness.
Isaiah 52:13-14

The danger of becoming too familiar with Scripture is that we will just read without really hearing what God is saying. I think that Isaiah 52 can be one of those Scriptures.

Matthew tells us that after Barabbas had been released to the Jews at Passover, Pilate had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:26) That is easier to read than the Isaiah verses above. Flogged sounds somehow less difficult to accept than beaten beyond any human likeness or disfigured beyond that of any man. Isaiah’s description demands that we recognize the brutal death our Savior endured.

I have been told many times that anything – everything – is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. People pay millions of dollars for paintings. They spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on houses. They even spend tens of thousands to buy a car.

But God went further than that. He spent the life of Jesus to purchase us – to purchase me – back from a fallen state in sin. God thought we were worth that enormous price! That’s Good Friday! Jesus was paying the price demanded to redeem us.

It is so difficult to understand why God would think us worth it. Especially when he knew that we would only on occasion really contemplate what he had done.

Prayer: Father, forgive us for not remembering that we have been bought and at great price. Cause us to remember and to daily serve you gladly in thanksgiving. Amen.

And He Set His Face toward Jerusalem. . . .
A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2007,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator