I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting (Isaiah 50:6).                          

He knew what was coming.  

It was no surprise.

He knew he would die to pay the price for our sins.  He also knew that more than death would be involved. There would be pain, and humiliation, and loneliness. The soldiers would slap him around. They would laugh at him. They would dress him up to look like a petty king, complete with crown of thorns. They would take his clothes. They would spit on him.

And he would take it.  

For you.  

For me.

The thing to remember today is that Jesus was not surprised by any of this. He didn’t accidentally let his guard down. He didn’t get caught up in circumstances beyond his control.

There are no circumstances beyond his control.

As he spent this day teaching in the temple, he was moving purposefully and steadily toward the pain that waited for him.   At any point along the way, Jesus could have said, “I’m done.” He chose to wait until he could say, “It is finished.”

The spiritual accomplishments of the Cross are so monumental that sometimes we forget about the physical agony Christ endured both after his arrest and on the Cross.  Remember it today, Beloved. Remember what he suffered, and why. And don’t ever, in all the days ahead, wonder if you are worthy of any good thing.

You are worthy of every good thing.

You, Beloved, are worth dying for.

Happy Thursday