Devotion: Hope manifested
These weeks before Resurrection Sunday are a great time to reflect on the life and ministry of Jesus.
Spending time every day in one of the Gospels reminds us that 1) Jesus came to earth as a human baby; 2) He grew up an average Jewish boy; 3) At thirty years old, He walked into the dirty Jordan River and asked to be baptized by a man who was not only his cousin but who had been prophesied as the one who would come before the Messiah; 4) Jesus picked twelve men, taught them by doing amazing miracles then sent them, empowered by God, into a dark world; and 5) After three years of ministry, He was arrested, falsely accused and executed.
We read these accounts every year at this time, but did you ever stop to consider just why Jesus was sent to love us, to teach us and to die for us?
The answer is in Genesis 3 where God’s beloved creation, Man and Woman, disobeyed God and sinned against Him. Our Father God had no choice but to throw them out of His Garden but He vowed to send One who would be the perfect payment and redeem us all.
When Dr. Eugene H. Peterson translated the Bible into “The Message,” he interpreted this passage from his experience as a Hebrew and Greek professor. This is powerful.
Isaiah 53:1-6, reads, in part, “Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?
“The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away ...
“The fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us ... We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him.”
Jesus warned His followers about what was to happen to Him to give them hope. That hope was manifested on Resurrection Sunday!