Route 55 Lenten Devotional Week 4
Posted on 3/10/2021 12:00:00 AM
THUS IT IS WRITTEN
ISAIAH 53:12 THEREFORE I WILL GIVE HIM A PORTION AMONG THE GREAT, AND HE WILL DIVIDE THE SPOILS WITH THE STRONG, BECAUSE HE POURED OUT HIS LIFE UNTO DEATH, AND WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS. FOR HE BORE THE SIN OF MANY, AND MADE INTERCESSION FOR THE TRANSGRESSORS.
One of the most frustrating experiences in life is being accused unjustly of something that you didn't do. How do you prove your innocence? Saying "It wasn't me" or "I didn't do it" often doesn't carry much weight. So often on the news these last several months have been pictures of mobs of people, involved in violent and destructive behavior. I wonder as I watch if there are innocent demonstrators, acting lawfully, swept along by the mob.
Accusations against Jesus began early in his ministry. Everything from being a drunkard to an insurrectionist to being in league with Satan - charges hurled at the one totally innocent person who ever lived. I have been struck when reading the accounts of Jesus' crucifixion to notice that he was crucified between two thieves, men who deserved their punishment. "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals- one on his right, the other on his left." (Luke 23:32) Just as Isaiah had foretold, Jesus was numbered among the transgressors. Number 2 of 3 executed that day on a hill outside Jerusalem called Golgotha. Was there a part of Jesus that wanted to cry out that he didn't deserve to be there. That his death was not for his own sin. That he was innocent. That he was there because of our sin, our lost innocence. But there he was on a cross between two thieves. To those passing by, they all looked the same: getting just what they deserved. But Jesus knew why he was there. He had made the choice to be obedient to his father to the end. Did the words of Isaiah give him courage as he was numbered with the transgressors, bearing the sin of humanity?