ReaD Isaiah 53:1-5
Read the verses in today’s passage from Isaiah carefully, and lose yourself in their depth. Words such as “despised’, ‘rejected’, ‘sorrows’, ‘suffering’ make their stark appearance, and are amplified by what they resulted in: Jesus being stricken, smitten, afflicted, pierced, crushed, and punished by God.
Jesus (as fully God) would give the last, full measure of devotion for the salvation of that which had been lost.
Jesus (as fully man) would own our tears, and He would shed them for us even when we callously esteemed Him not.
Jesus’ tears are the tears of God.
Do we truly realize what our King has done for us? Do we understand that we were able to walk away from the deserved punishment of the Cross because of what He suffered in our place on the Cross?
As the body of Christ, we need to come to our tears with brutal honesty. How do we get there? We need to understand that the salvation that God offers us is a free gift that is wrapped in the shed blood of the Savior Jesus Christ: we need to come to the point where we understand (and are soaked through and through with tears of gratitude and thankfulness) that God has purchased us at a price that is so high that it cannot possibly be calculated.
What do you weep over? Is it the timeless beauty of our Holy Scriptures? Here is a verse that always brings tears for me:
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (Lamentations 3:19-24).
For Reflection:
- When was the last time you were broken to tears for your sin?
By Tony Impelliteri
