He has risen! Yes, indeed!

What Jesus endured while on the earth is incredibly stirring because what he suffered on that cruel Roman cross should have been the fate of every one of us. Pierced, bruised, and crushed—an innocent lamb led to slaughter.

The compassion of God is truly greater than anything we’ll ever know. The more we dwell upon the flogging…the stripes upon his back…the nails in his hands…and the crown of thorns on his head, along with all of the mental grief and anguish of being briefly separated from his Father, the more we can appreciate the magnitude of what Jesus endured. Within the selfless act of dying for all of mankind, he also said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” ~ Luke 23:34.

It’s a case for us as human beings to sometimes neglect to forgive someone over an infraction we may have endured—a cross word or a misunderstanding. Maybe we bury the pain and ignore the situation, or perhaps forgive only when it suits us. But Jesus looked beyond the scope of what suited him and fulfilled his Father’s command to die, insufferably. All for you and me.

The greater meaning of it all, we’ll understand in heaven, but for now, we can rest in the truth of God’s word that these things were designed from the beginning for good. The prophet Isaiah tells us:  By His stripes we are healed.

We take medicine for our physical ailments, but the only medicine to cure our sinful souls is the blood of the perfect lamb.