Good morning. No person ever had more reason to be miserable than this one, and yet no person was ever more joyful. His home had been the greatest palace, and servants were always gathered around him to answer every request. His very name was revered and uttered with respect.
He had it all, and in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye, he had nothing.
Students of the event continue to ponder it. Historians stumble as they try to explain it. How could a king lose everything in one instant? In that moment he went from royalty to poverty.
His bed would, too often, become the cold hard ground. When hungry he relied on the kindness of others , or he picked raw grains or wild fruits to satisfy the need of that moment.
His palace had been defined by glory and was enjoyed in perfection, spotless. He was now surrounded by filth, by sickness, and by evil.
He had gone from being worshipped to being despised, from absolute security to knowing that many desired his death.
Ultimately, they did kill him. His body was executed in the most horrible of ways.
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:1-5
The king of kings willingly gave it all away for the singular purpose of ensuring the eternal safety and blessing of the people He loved.
Praise God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit for the wonder of His love.
Fix your eyes upon Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorned its shame, and has now regained His place at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Vern