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).                          

They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing (Psalm 22:18).

Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet (Psalm 22:16).

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.  They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for a firstborn son (Zechariah 12:10).

I’m jumping ahead a little in the narration today.  You see, as Jesus went through this final week of his earthly life, he knew what was coming.  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 slapped him around. They laughed at him.  They dressed him up to look like a petty king, complete with crown of thorns. They took his clothes. They spat on him.

And he took it.  For you. For me.

The key is to remember 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 with this.” 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, Beloved, are worth dying for.

Happy Tuesday