Jesus is the Suffering Savior

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He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. … He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:3,5

Greeting cards contain words that are chosen very carefully. They are meaningful words of love and affection. Sometimes when we are sending a card to someone, we might even agonize over which one to select. We want to choose the right words that express the love we have.

How about the words printed above by the prophet Isaiah? Would you include any of his words in a card to your loved one? At first thought you would say, “Absolutely not!” Words like “despised…rejected…sorrows…suffering…punishment” would be the last choices for a such a card! But the Bible surprises us. These words from God are really a wonderful expression of his true love for people.

The first thing to understand is that Isaiah was writing about Jesus. Jesus, God’s Son, was sent to earth to be the world’s Savior. The Bible tells us that because of sin there was punishment looming for all people. But Jesus took that punishment on himself. Jesus is our Savior who suffered for sinners. He took all this suffering on himself, including death on a cross, so that people wouldn’t suffer eternally.

The second thing to remember is that we are talking about something very personal to all of us. We were the ones Jesus came to suffer for. We were the ones who were headed to the punishment of eternal separation from God. Our sinful thoughts, words, and actions condemned us. But as the prophet wrote, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Jesus’ love for us is deep and long-lasting. It’s much more than the love that we might receive from others, or a love that is here today and gone tomorrow. Jesus’ love is eternal. He promises that since he suffered and gave up his life for us, he will continue to love us each and every day.

Every time you open the Bible it’s like receiving a card from One who loves you very much. These are God’s words of love for you.

Jesus is my Risen Savior

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“Because I live, you also will live.” – John 14:19

EMPTY

Finding something empty can leave you feeling a wide variety of emotions. When you have a craving for something sweet, you reach into the cookie jar to satisfy yourself. However, when all you find are crumbs, you feel ________. When you let your teenager use the car for the weekend and on Monday morning, when you are late for work and you see the fuel gauge on empty, you feel ________! When you prepare to pay bills and find your saving account is empty, you feel ________! When death has emptied your life of mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, child or best friend, you feel ________!

Perhaps you filled in the blanks with words such as devastated, disappointed, frustrated, angry. Finding something empty is usually never good. I do not think anyone has ever been happy finding an empty treasure chest. I do not think anyone working in the hot sun has felt overjoyed having an empty water bottle. I do not think waitressing for a table of six and find the tip tray empty has ever caused anyone to cry tears of happiness. To be honest, finding something empty is all of these—devastating, disappointing, frustrating, anger provoking!

That is until we are led to Jesus’ tomb. It is here at Jesus’ tomb where we hear the angel proclaim, “He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:6). From reading the Bible, what do we find when we look into the tomb? We find it EMPTY!

Finding Jesus’ tomb empty can leave you feeling a wide variety of emotions. When your conscience condemns you because of your sins, knowing Jesus’ tomb is empty makes you feel ________! When you are bothered by the thought of dying and being placed in the ground, knowing Jesus’ tomb is empty gives you a feeling of ________! When you know that someday you will meet your Maker, knowing Jesus’ tomb is empty makes you feel ________!

Did you fill in those blanks with words such as at peace, comforted, content, reassured, overjoyed, jubilant, relieved?

To be honest, finding Jesus’ tomb empty brings to me all of the above! May Jesus’ empty tomb fill your heart with the same!

 

Jesus is my Savior from the World

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“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

Do you struggle in life? Are there days when it seems like you’re under siege on all sides? Do you wish someone would save you from your family problems? From your health issues? From mistakes you’ve made and events you regret but can’t change? In this world, everyone needs a savior from something. What, or who, do you need a savior from?

Jesus tells us that he is the Savior: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Maybe at first glance that seems like a somewhat simplistic thing for Jesus to say. How could he possibly hope to cover all the potential issues that could come up in the lives of his disciples in their world, to say nothing of ours today? How can people today trust a promise that was made 2,000 years ago? The world has really changed since then!

But Jesus wasn’t talking about overcoming the world by healing diseases or mending broken relationships, although there were times in his ministry when he did just that. He was talking about something far more timeless than health issues, relationship problems, or regrets from the past. Jesus was talking about breaking the cause of all the suffering and wickedness we have in our world. Jesus was talking about his victory over sin. And whether it’s a sin you committed, a sin I’ve committed, or the sin of those in Bible times, Jesus defeated it. He accomplished a timeless victory, because sin is the root cause behind all pain and heartache, whether caused directly by human activities or indirectly as a consequence of the broken world we live in.

Jesus overcame all of that sin when he lived the perfect and sinless life that God demands. Jesus overcame all that sin when he laid down his perfect life at the cross and died—even though he didn’t deserve it. Now you and I can overcome the world too by putting ourselves aside and placing our trust and reliance in Jesus. He leads us through the hardest of times and finally will take us home to his world—the kingdom of heaven he has prepared for all who believe in him.