The Prophetic Word - Day 2: See Him suffering for you.

“The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?””

‭‭Acts 8‬:‭32‬-‭34‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I was in fourth or fifth grade and we were outside on the playground playing softball (as an aside, back then there was very little supervision of recess yard activities). Taking my turn at bat, having swung at the ball, I let go of the bat which hit a nearby metal building, causing the bat to bounce back and hit one of my best friends in the head. Now, she did not lose consciousness; but she immediately sported a big “egg” sticking out on her forehead.

I can still remember how devastated I felt, knowing that I had done this to her. In fact, I was so beyond consolation that—sadly—she ended up trying to comfort me.

Why was I so bereaved? Because this was my fault. In this scenario—although I felt very sorry that she must suffer—my primary response was that of the guilt and remorse of knowing I had done this.

Now, many well-meaning ministers, in describing the death of Jesus Christ, seem to be aiming at provoking sympathy for the Lord. However, a while back the Lord instructed me that He is not looking for sympathy. He is King of kings and Lord of lords and does not need our sympathy. What the vision of His suffering should provoke is what I experienced having been responsible for hurting my best friend’s head: extreme guilt and remorse, and ultimately, repentance.

“He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬ ‭AMP‬‬

As we shared yesterday, there are three truths we must grasp as we look at our Lord in order to truly see and know Him.

The first of those truths we consider today:

When we see our suffering Lord, we must know that He is suffering for our sin. We are responsible for His suffering. That suffering should have been mine!

Now obviously, as the creator of the universe, no one made Him suffer; He chose to do so as it was the only way for our salvation.

In our opening scripture we see that the Ethiopian eunuch is asking Philip who was being referenced in the scripture about the lamb to the slaughter. This, of course, is from Isaiah 53 that prophetically gives a picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the Suffering Servant. Indeed, it is this very passage that renders one of our most beloved scriptures:

“But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains; Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Yes, in order to rightly see our Lord, we must see that He suffered for OUR sins.

Having appeared to His disciples soon after His resurrection, the Lord instructed them to look at His hands and feet (Luke 24). The point He was making was that He had truly returned from the dead and was flesh and blood and not a spirit.

When we consider the piercing in the Lord’s hands and feet, we must see that He—in the flesh—suffered for our sins.

Ownership of the Lord’s suffering (in terms of causality) is the first step toward seeing Him clearly. As the Lord expressed to me several years ago, “In order to have a Savior, you must know you need one.”

Indeed, the end of days in terms of the fallen world system, will be triggered by the Jewish people seeing and crying out to the One they now realize was pierced at their own hand.

“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.”

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭12‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If you are suffering today, look at Him willingly suffering on the cross for your sin. Let His suffering, eclipse whatever you are feeling, and let that ultimately lead you to the relief and deliverance only He can give.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#ThePropheticWord