“Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.” [1]
Christmas has traditionally been a time of festive joy. Families gather to feast and to exchange gifts, friends are invited to share in joyous, even raucous celebration, and offices host multiple parties as employers show their appreciation to employees by hosting a party and gifts are distributed to the workers. Christmas will likely be quite different this year. Provincial health officers and various provincial and federal ministers have determined that we dare not be festive. We must retreat to the inner confines of our houses, wear a piece of cloth over our face so that we can no longer identify one another, and cower in fear that an unseen enemy will shortly kill us all. Rather than considering the grace of God in sending His Son, many of us will be questioning whether we’ll see another year. We’ll sit in silence, wearing the mask of shame as commanded by our power-hungry politicians who appear convinced that they must not permit the populace to be joyful.
Christmas should be a time of reflection, an opportunity to contemplate all that Jesus, the Living Son of God, the promised Messiah, has accomplished on our behalf. Instead, the season had become an opportunity for festive parties, the indulgence of unbridled emotions and raucous celebration. It is impossible for any mere mortal to understand what the Saviour endured on our behalf. Contemplating the affliction of our Saviour is something of a downer, even for Christians.
We wanted to focus on the brightness of the season rather than allowing ourselves to be sobered by thinking of Christ’s suffering. Yet, early in the life of this One who was born a King and laid in a manger, the threat of suffering pervaded His life. Soon after His birth, Mary and Joseph were compelled to flee to Egypt to preserve the Child’s life [see MATTHEW 1:13-18]. When Joseph and Mary took the child to the Temple to fulfil the religious custom of children born into Jewish families, godly Simeon met them. Taking the child into his arms, the old man blessed them before saying to Mary, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” [LUKE 2:34-35].
Now, that is a sobering message from a servant of the Living God! Think about that! “Mary, and you, also, Joseph, are chosen by the Lord … to know incomprehensible sorrow. You will experience heartbreak and grief that is unbelievable; but you will also know the power of the Living God, because He has chosen to use you to bless the world.” That is the way God’s blessing works. We are chosen by Him to do His will, but serving Him can bring pain—unimaginable pain! Serving the Lord God has such rich rewards, but accompanying His rewards is sorrow such as you have not experienced heretofore.
If we actually thought about God’s blessing and the price the world would demand of us because we are thus blessed, I suspect that we would beg the Lord, “Whatever you do, Father, don’t bless me! Let me be; leave me alone!”
In no way do I wish to pile another damper on the festive joy of the Christmas Season; I am as excited as is anyone by the opportunity that is presented by the Season to rejoice. Neither do I want anyone to imagine that I am opposed to parties, or that I am against meals shared with friends and family—I enjoy a good meal as much as anyone, despite restrictions designed to steal our joy imposed by governments. What I do want to accomplish is to remind each of us who follow the Risen Saviour that He is the reason we celebrate. I want to introduce a sense of reason into what we should do during this season, encouraging us to remember why Jesus came. With this message, I especially want us to remember the cost of the salvation Christ brought.
HE HAS BORNE OUR GRIEFS. In Scripture, we read the account detailing Jacob reviewing his life when he had been brought into audience before Pharaoh. He testified, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning” [GENESIS 47:9]. Jacob, whose name God had changed to Israel, stood before Pharaoh and looked back over one hundred thirty years. The old man summarized those years as “few and evil.”
Though it was 130 years, Jacob considers those years which now lay behind as being too few. In the old man’s view, rather than the joys he had experienced, the trials of his life stood out. No doubt the old man recalled the necessity of fleeing from his home because of the manner in which he had deceived his brother. The pleasures of earlier years were erased by one act. He would have remembered his labour to win the woman he loved, recalling how he had been deceived by his father-in-law. The actions of his sons that dishonoured his name among the people of the land in which he settled were no doubt remembered. He recalled again the horror precipitated by their murderous rage against the people of the land. He would have remembered the years of grieving for the son he thought had been slain by wild beasts, only to learn that his other sons had sold the lad into slavery. In his joy at discovering that Joseph was alive, Jacob forgave his sons. However, that could never have erased the years of grieving at the thought that his boy had been killed by wild beasts. Jacob had long borne the grief of thinking that he was responsible for Joseph’s death. Jacob had, of course, sent the lad to see how his brothers were doing. Though God worked through Jacob, and though God guided him despite his own deceitful ways, he realized that the years that were now past were exceedingly evil.
My thoughts turn to my own life. I have had a good life, and by the standards of this age, it has been a reasonably long life. I was in a devastating truck crash when I was sixteen. Physicians assured me that I would be in a wheelchair by thirty years of age. They were apparently wrong in their learned assessment of my condition. Despite the fact that I dodged that fate, I am forced to agree with Jacob’s assessment concerning the brevity of my years. Even should I manage to be productively engaged in service before the Lord for another two decades, there is so much that I wish could be brought to fulfilment; there is so much that will undoubtedly be left unfinished.
I know my days are short, the flower is withering and the plant is growing sere. As Byron has so elegantly written, “My life is in the yellow leaf.” [2] Or as Macbeth complains, “My way of life is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf.” [3] I don’t despair, but I do pray that God will raise up a godly servant to take my place, one who will continue the work I’ve begun, pushing it to completion. I pray that this church which I have been privileged to have pastored from earliest days will prosper, continuing faithfully to trumpet the Gospel until the Saviour returns. I pray my legacy is that this congregation will always be known for proclaiming the message of life and building up the saints as members confront the lost, calling them to receive life that is offered in Christ the Lord. Though I do make an effort to focus on the joyful aspects of the days of this journey, my life is defined by what has brought me grief as much as by what has brought me joy. I choose not to focus on the negative, though I assure you that I have experienced sorrows.
I am not a particularly negative person, though some may judge the reverie in which I have just engaged as being negative. My life has been filled with good things—a lovely wife, three children who graced our home with laughter and joy, good friends who have stood by me in every imaginable situation, opportunities to serve the Lord that have brought joy to my heart. Nevertheless, as I move ever closer to my twilight years, I’m aware of multiple lost opportunities; it is inevitable that any of us should think of such things. I’m conscious of times when I have failed to live up to the potential for greatness, just as each of us approaching the days when the sun is setting in our sky recall missed opportunities—we remember the strained friendships, the efforts that failed to produce the positive results we sought, the moments when we bruised the souls of those we love.
Nevertheless, and despite acute awareness of failures and lost opportunities, my soul is buoyed by Christ Jesus in these days defined by a setting sun. Jesus my Saviour has redeemed my soul and given me life. He has walked with me through every trial serving as my support and giving me strength to serve Him. I heard the Lord say, and I can testify to the veracity of His words even in these days late in the pilgrimage of life,
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God.”
[ISAIAH 43:1b-3a]
I am well aware that these words were intended as God’s consolation given to encourage God’s people, Israel. I understand that the Living God was testifying of His love for His people, reassuring Israel even as they were facing divine discipline. Nevertheless, I am naïve enough to believe that Jesus loves me, to believe that He died because of my broken condition, and to believe that He was raised for me. I can testify that the Son of God has supported me throughout the years of my pilgrimage. He promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” [MATTHEW 28:20b].
With the Psalmist, I testify of my confidence in the Saviour:
“My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.”
[PSALM 63:8]
I hear the voice of the Living God speaking comfort to my soul,
“Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
[ISAIAH 41:10]
I suggest that we who believe in the Son of God need to hear the divine message, “Fear not,” especially in this present situation.
Because the Saviour has been with me throughout the days of my walk, I am able to testify that He has “borne [my] sufferings” [see ISV]. The missed opportunities that haunt the darkened corners of my memories, the grief arising from friendships that were abruptly terminated, the pain as brothers in the Faith turn from pursuing the will of the Lord, all are shared by a Saviour who sticks closer than a brother [see PROVERBS 18:24]. Surely He has borne our griefs, surely He has borne our sufferings. Sorrow has never overwhelmed me, though an agony of soul has often washed up against the Rock on which I stand. Suffering, sickness of my soul, has never driven me to despair because the Living God has comforted me in every trial. Christ is faithful, and He cannot fail His beloved child. Each follower of the Risen Saviour is able to testify to this.
HE HAS CARRIED OUR SORROWS. Some recent translations of the Bible have endeavoured to add clarity to the weight that the Messiah carried on our behalf, translating this portion of the verse as, “He carried our pains.” [4] Despite the emphasis within some communions, as you read that particular translation, it is not likely that you are thinking particularly of the physical pains you may have experienced; rather, you are envisioning the emotional pain, the mental anguish, the grief and the sorrow you are called to endure. I am not suggesting that the Risen Saviour is unconcerned with our physical pain, but we know that the sorrows we experience, the griefs we endure, the emotional trauma and the stabs which leave us mentally scarred are especially traumatic, they are especially long-lasting. And let’s face it—we do experience pain because of our faith in the Son of God! And among our brothers and sisters are some who experience unimaginable pain and loss because they dare believe the Risen Son of God.
I don’t mean to discourage anyone who hears the message this day, but it is important that we who follow the Master, and even you who are considering following the Master, realize that suffering inevitably marks the path of the one who dares follow the Risen Son of God. Jesus encouraged His followers, “In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage—I have conquered the world” [JOHN 16:33b NET BIBLE].
The Saviour did not attempt to shield those who would follow Him from reality—Jesus was open about what those who follow Him could expect from the world. Earlier, the Master had testified to His disciples, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause’” [JOHN 15:18-25].
Paul warns all who wish to follow the Saviour, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” [2 TIMOTHY 3:12-13]. From his earliest days in the Faith, Paul was warned that opposition and suffering would mark his path. When Ananias was sent to bring Paul into the fold, the Risen Saviour instructed His servant, “I will show [Saul] how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” [ACTS 9:16].
Jesus warned, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life” [MARK 10:29-30]. There will be rich rewards, and the rewards will be accompanied by persecutions. Jesus was warning those who dare follow Him that the cost would be great because the world is offended that someone would think to adhere to the Saviour’s will.
The words of the Master were echoed by the Apostle to the Gentiles when he visited those converted during his first missionary journey. Paul testified to those saints, “We must endure many hardships to get into the Kingdom of God” [ACTS 14:22b ISV]. The Christian life is a challenging life—if it is real. There is nothing casual, nothing easy about the life of one who follows the Risen Son of God. The apparent concept that reciting some magical words will deliver someone from judgement and into the Kingdom of Heaven is folly-wide-the-mark.
It is important for us to note that the focus of this verse is the One of whom Isaiah wrote. That One of whom the Prophet wrote is identified as One who has borne our griefs. That One of whom the Prophet wrote is identified as “One who carried our pain” [see NET BIBLE]. That One of whom Isaiah prophesied would be smitten by God, according to the testimony given. That One would be struck down by God and afflicted [see CSB]. As we read the passage, what is written will shortly make it evident that the One of whom Isaiah wrote was not being punished for anything He had done we will eventually discover that we are the reason this One would suffer as He did. However, for the purpose of the message today, focus on the fact that Isaiah compels us to look at this One who suffers the wrath of Holy God. The Prophet compels us to look upon this One who suffers; and because we are versed in what is written in the Word we know that we are the reason He will suffer.
Of course, with the advantage of hindsight for us who are walking in the Spirit, we know that the One of whom the Prophet wrote is the Anointed One of God. This One Who would suffer is the Messiah Who was promised to deliver Israel. Isaiah was writing of the work of Christ Jesus Who would bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. It is always a joy for the follower of the Christ to witness the unifying theme of the Word from the first verse in Genesis to the final verse recorded in the Apocalypse. And that theme is Christ Jesus as the Redeemer of fallen humanity. Certainly, the First Advent of Messiah is the reason that God delivered this prophecy to His prophet, Isaiah.
As the Apostle Peter draws the first of his general epistles to a close, he urges readers, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” [1 PETER 5:6-7]. This admonition is nothing less than a plea for practical implementation of the truth Isaiah penned in our text. If Messiah has been given to bear our griefs and to carry our sorrows, then should we not cast every anxiety on Him? Is there any greater evidence that He cares for you than that He carries your sorrow?
Yes, Peter urged us to cast our cares on the Master, knowing that we Christians would be called to bear heavy burdens. However, he appended this word of comfort for all who follow the Master. “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” [1 PETER 5:10].
Early in his service to the churches, the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote to the saints in Salonica, “We sent Timothy, our brother and God’s co-worker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this” [1 THESSALONIANS 3:2-3]. How did they know they were destined for afflictions? Because the Apostle had told them when he was with them! In the very next verse, this becomes apparent as the Apostle continues, “When we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know” [1 THESSALONIANS 3:4]!
I’m stressing a truth that is too often neglected from the pulpit in this day—the Faith of Christ the Lord is a costly proposition. We do not suffer in order to be called by the Name of the Risen Saviour, but because we are identified with Him, we are hated and thus, we will be persecuted. This is the basis for the Apostle’s words delivered to the saints in Rome. You will recall that Paul has written, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” [ROMANS 8:16-17].
This is the same testimony Paul delivered as he wrote the Christians of Salonica in his second letter. Listen as he commends the persecuted saints in that congregation. “We ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring” [2 THESSALONIANS 1:4].
Recognizing that walking in the path with the Saviour brings opposition, and that opposition will entail pain, the Apostle of Love opened the Apocalypse with a description of what he was experiencing as he wrote the great unveiling of what God is doing in this age. The Revelator wrote, “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” [REVELATION 1:9].
The Revelator presents himself as our brother. We are excited to have this identification of kinship with the man of God. However, he doesn’t stop with that statement of identification! He continues by claiming that we share in all that accompanies that kinship. We are thrilled at the thought of sharing in the Kingdom, but did you notice that John says he is partner with us “in the tribulation” and in “the patient endurance that are in Jesus.” There is no “patient endurance” if there is no tribulation.
When John writes of “patient endurance,” he uses the Greek word, hupomoné. The concept speaks of steadfastness, of fortitude, of endurance under adverse conditions. The one possessing patient endurance is able to remain expectant despite the passage of time. The one who patiently endures is focused on deliverance rather than focusing on the circumstances. And that is the point that we dare not miss—we must patiently endure precisely because we will know pain because we dare walk in the path of the Saviour. There will be joy and rich reward, but pain will precede the reward. And we will need One to carry our burden.
Messiah would be compelled to carry our sorrows because sorrows would come as result of our faith in Him. He would need to bear our griefs because following Him would bring deep pain. This is why Messiah is prophesied to serve us as He does. We will know pain and trial; but because He carries our burden, we will be richly rewarded at the conclusion of our journey. There is an end! And throughout the journey, He will carry our sorrows because He carries us.
It was at the turn of a prior century when an ordained Methodist minister penned a song that comforted many, and that comforts believers to this day. Johnson Oatman, Jr. wrote the words to the hymn, “No, Not One!”
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no, not one! no, not one!
None else could heal all your soul’s diseases, no, not one! no, not one!
No friend like Him is so high and holy, no, not one! no, not one!
And yet no friend is so meek and lowly, no, not one! no, not one!
There’s not an hour that He is not near us, no, not one! no, not one!
No night so dark but His love can cheer us, no, not one! no, not one!
Did ever saint find this Friend forsake him? no, not one! no, not one!
Or sinner find that He would not take him? no, not one! no, not one!
Was e’er a gift like the Savior given? no, not one! no, not one!
Will He refuse us a home in heaven? no, not one! no, not one!
And the refrain of this delightful song that is so richly encouraging for the people of God reminds all who follow the Saviour,
Jesus knows all about our struggles; He will guide till the day is done.
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no, not one! no, not one! [5]
Have you thought of the comfort given by this One who carries our sorrows? Have you considered all that He took upon Himself in order to deliver us? We cannot begin to understand all that Jesus took upon Himself for our sake, but we can experience all that He has provided as we look to Him day-by-day.
• He became poor that we might become rich [JAMES 2:5].
• He was born that we might be born again [JOHN 1:14].
• He became a servant that we might become sons [GALATIANS 4:6-7].
• He had no home that we might have a home in heaven [MATTHEW 8:20].
• He was made sin that we might be made righteous [2 CORINTHIANS 5:21].
• He died that we might live [JOHN 5:24-25].
“WE ESTEEMED HIM STRICKEN, SMITTEN BY GOD, AND AFFLICTED.” Whatever could Isaiah have meant when he wrote the words found in this verse? One recent translation has addressed what was written in this fashion:
“We thought He was being punished,
Attacked by God, and afflicted for something He had done.” [6]
This particular translation is more of a dynamic equivalent than it is a literal translation. A dynamic equivalent attempts to capture the thought that first readers would have garnered as they read or heard what had been written. The translation provides us with some insight into what the Prophet may have meant as he wrote this particular verse. It is as though the Prophet looked upon the scene and is now confessing that he misinterpreted what he witnessed as he saw the suffering the Messiah would experience. The Prophet saw the grief piled upon the suffering one, and he saw the sorrows this one would bear, and he found it impossible to believe that anyone could experience such pain because of what another might have done. However, the Prophet is simply confessing the common misunderstanding of all mankind as we look upon the cross.
I watched “The Passion of the Christ” when it was released in 2004. The focus was on the trial and death of Jesus of Nazareth. The movie caused quite a stir worldwide. There were reports from around the world of people who were converted to the Faith through watching the movie. Muslims in Jordan and in other Middle Eastern nations were astonished to hear the account of Jesus’ death in Aramaic. At the time of the movie, I was less enthusiastic than many who watched the movie and reviewed what they watched. I witnessed a glorification of brutality, but it appeared to me that there was little of the message of the Gospel concerning the guilt of mankind or concerning the salvation provided by the sacrifice of the Master. The movie was two hours of torture with an almost casual reference to the resurrection. It was as though the movie was saying, “Wow! Look at how brutal this torture was.” And after two hours, Mel Gibson seemed to allow his movie to say, “Oh, yeah, Jesus rose from the dead.” The movie served as a pitiful confirmation of Isaiah’s assessment of the Messiah’s sacrifice.
In fairness, it has been recently reported that a sequel to the film is to be released in 2022. [7] Perhaps those creating this movie intend to focus on something more than what Christ suffered. In the initial movie, Mel Gibson focused on physical suffering. Candidly, it is quite possible that he was incapable of portraying anything else. However, the Prophet says that we who witnessed the suffering of the Christ concluded that He was attacked by God; we thought that He was being afflicted for something that He had done. The punishment He endured could never be portrayed by mere mortals because no mere mortal could ever understand the agony inflicted when the Saviour took our sin upon Himself. We cannot begin to understand the pain the eternal Son of God experienced when He was separated from His Father.
Suspended between heaven and earth, the sun refusing to shine and the sky darkened with an unnatural, eerie blackness, the Son of God cried out in Aramaic, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” He cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” [MARK 15:34]? We can never understand the pain, the horror that lay behind that anguished cry. No mere mortal can ever understand that tormented cry because no mere mortal has ever been forsaken by God.
For we who believe, our Saviour has promised, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” [JOHN 6:37]. At one time we were among those who refused to look to God Who loves us. People do walk away from the Lord Christ even as He offers grace and mercy, but God has never deserted His child. Until that final awful sentence, the love of God is extended to the vilest of sinners. Until that day when the lost hear those dreadful, frightful words, “Go away from Me, you lawbreakers” [MATTHEW 7:23 NET BIBLE], the promise of God remains, the promise that declares, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” [JOHN 3:16].
And for the individual who has come to Christ for salvation, that one can never understand the grief that flooded over our Saviour as He surrendered His life on the cross because God will never forsake His child. We are promised in Scripture, “[God] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” [HEBREWS 13:5]. Only Christ knows what it is to have been loved by the Father and then forsaken. All that He suffered, He suffered so that I need not know what it is to be forsaken by the Father.
Is that not a comforting word which the Master has spoken when He testified, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” [JOHN 10:27-30].
The words the Master has spoken comfort us! What rest His words give His child! You will no doubt remember that Jesus has promised, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” [JOHN 11:25-26].
We have treated Christmas as though it is a family fête—and it is! However, rather than being a celebration of our own families at Christmas we who know the Saviour celebrate the eternal family that results because Jesus our Lord was smitten by God so that we could be spared from condemnation. Christmas is a reminder that the Son of God was born so that we might have opportunity to be born from above and into the Family of God. Thus, Christmas is celebration of God’s great, eternal family into which each follower of the Christ is born. Christmas is a celebration of all that God has done to create the Family of God! This is especially important in this present situation. We need the hope that comes from knowing that Christ has purchased salvation and that He lives!
I’m not suggesting that we should not enjoy this festive season. I don’t believe we should cease exchanging gifts, especially if we shower others with rich gifts that bless them because we are filled with the joy of the Living Saviour. I don’t recommend that we cease hosting lavish dinners at Christmas, or that we somehow cease inviting family and friends to enjoy the bounty of our lives as we rejoice in the grace of God. I do recommend, however, that we focus on what has been born out of the sacrifice of the Son of God. I do recommend that we ensure that we and all who share these festive days remember the grace of God as revealed in the creation of the Family of God. Surely, this means that we will spend time in the house of God during these days of rejoicing.
I am not being sarcastic, nor am I cruel when I ask what you intend to celebrate. If you do not believe that the Son of God was born to suffer in your place, what are you celebrating? I don’t mean do you believe that an infant named Jesus was once born. I am asking whether you have embraced His sacrifice because of your broken, sinful condition? What are you doing when you exchange gifts if your generosity does not flow from a heart that is filled with joy because you have received the grace of Christ our Lord? Why bother being seated at a table groaning under the weight of carefully prepared dishes to be shared with others if you have no valid reason for the celebration?
Scripture testifies, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” [HEBREWS 2:8b-9]. If you have no faith in the Son of God who tasted death in your place, what do you intend to celebrate?
It should be obvious that I’m speaking to those who are outside the household of faith when I ask such questions. We who are in the Faith, we who are twice-born, we who have believed the message of grace that the Son of God took our sin upon Himself will celebrate the grace of God that has been revealed in Christ the Lord. We will rejoice in the knowledge that God loves us and that He gave His Son as a sacrifice in our place. We will rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus, the Son of God, received in Himself the punishment we so richly deserved.
But if you are one who has never received the grace of God in Christ the Lord, our plea is that this holy season will be for you a time of eternal newness. To this point you have been under sentence of death. The Word of God is quite clear when it says of you, “Whoever does not believe [in Jesus] is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” [JOHN 3:18]. Your situation is described in stark terms when the Word of God warns, “Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” [JOHN 3:36]. Because you have not believed, you are not obedient; and because you have not obeyed, you are under the wrath of God.
Yet, this need not be your situation. The Living God calls you, testifying, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” [ROMANS 10:9-13].
The gift of life, the gift of the forgiveness of sin, the gift of adoption into God’s eternal Family, is offered to all who will receive it now. Why would you wait? Let this be the day you receive the life offered in Christ the Lord. Believe His promise; receive Him and the salvation He offers. Do it now. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Lord Byron, “On This Day I Complete My Thirty-sixth Year,” 1824
[3] Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 3
[4] E.g. NET BIBLE and CSB
[5] Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 1996) 77; Johnson Oatman, Jr., “No, Not One!” (hymn), 1890
[6] NET BIBLE
[7] Lesli White, “‘Mind-Blowing’ Passion of the Christ 2 Resurrection Sequel Teased by Screenwriter,” beliefnet, https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/idolchatter/2020/06/mind-blowing-passion-of-the-christ-2-resurrection-sequel-teased-by-screenwriter.html, accessed 26 September 2020; Neeraj Chand, “The Passion of the Christ 2 Will Be the ‘Biggest Film in World History’ According to Star Jim Caviezel,” movieweb, September 22, 2020, https://movieweb.com/the-passion-of-the-christ-2-resurrection-update/, accessed 26 September 2020
