Resurrection Sunday is a very special time of the year. It always evokes emotions of sadness and joy in me because the wonderful, matchless, and innocent Son of God died on a cruel cross for me. The fact that the innocent died for me (the guilty), causes elongated pauses of contemplation and reflection concerning Him — Jesus, God’s only begotten Son.
Isaiah prophesied accurately about our Savior more than seven hundred and fifty years prior to His ignominious death. His was to bring to mankind salvation, eternal life, and deliverance from sin and satan. All are seen in God’s amazing redemptive process.
Isaiah says in chapter 53, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken […] He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief […] My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death…” (verses 3-12).
In the above passages, we see Jesus “going it alone” while we, His crucifiers, are among the mockers. His death was for such as us, His mockers and crucifiers, lost and separated from God. Imagine the love of a Holy and Righteous God that caused Him to give His innocent Son over to death for such unrighteous people. What an amazing Savior Who would lay down His own life in order to redeem us, to reconcile us to the Father. His death has brought us life and this life is in Him. Receive that life today, and make this Resurrection Day the beginning of a new life marked by His grace, peace, and love. Receive hope because of Jesus!