What kind of parent would be so cruel as to “crush” their son? Even more what kind of parent would actually do this willingly?

     I am an emergency room nurse and I have seen cases where a child is brought in with suspicious bruising or burns that do not match the story the parent is providing. In these instances, I have to swallow my desire to have my way with the child’s parents. It is at these times I need to trust our court system and refrain from inflicting my own thoughts of what justice is. Even in these cases, though, the parents are not in their right mind and something usually has driven them to such extreme measures even they can not control their actions. Sometimes it is stressed induced, as in the parent does not know how to channel their frustration when their child begins to cry. Or they lose control after the use of either illegal or legal substances. In either case, the parent is remorseful or they would not have brought their child to the ED. Now hear me, I am by no means excusing their actions and even though they might have an excuse that is all it is, an excuse. I still see no reason to take any amount of violence out against anyone who cannot defend themselves especially a child. The point is sometimes even these child abusers do not do so willingly.

If we came upon a parent who willingly put their child through some horrible abuses what would you think about that parent? This is not a parent who got drunk and lost his mind or a parent whose stress level was so much they had a moment of poor judgment. I am talking about a parent who planned out the punishment over years and decades of time planning on the worst kind of abuse you can imagine. What kind of parent premeditates the abuse of their own child? What would your response be when facing this abuser? What if I told you that person exists?

I know I am going to lose some of you here but PLEASE stick with me. This abuser is God. In Isaiah 53:10 we read these words.

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.”

Do you see it there before the first comma? “Yet it was the Lord’s WILL to crush him and cause him to suffer…”  How could ANYONE follow a God that would be willing to let their child suffer through such torture as a scourging and immediately nails to a cross? There is an answer to this and if you stop reading here you’ll miss how amazing this horrific piece of tragedy actually is.

Let’s be honest here we have all screwed up at some point. Maybe it was words we didn’t mean, or places we shouldn’t have gone, or things we should have never bought. Our lives are a mess after such mistakes, relationships are ruined, families split, debt leads to bankruptcy, jail time and loss of freedom are just a few things that result from these mistakes. Sometimes we can rebound from these mistakes and sometimes they lead to scars that stay with us forever. One thing these all have in common is they separate us from God. Because He is perfect He can not be in company with anyone who is not perfect. Without these screw-ups being canceled out we will never be able to see, hear, or be with the one who created us.

These screw-ups are so serious to God that the ONLY remedy has always been death. From the very beginning sin = death. So in order for us to be guiltless something or someone HAS to die in our place. No matter how small our screw-ups are death is the price that needs to be paid. To God sin is a very serious matter that we marginalize WAY too much.

Think about that. God loved us so much that from the beginning of time He knew that He would have to see the death of His own son. His death would be the final death needed to cancel the debt we created. This is a debt we couldn’t pay and His death was the only way we would be allowed back into His presence. Since Jesus is all about love for us and wanting us to spend time with Him there was always only one solution, to die so we can be reunited back to God and Jesus Himself.

So keep all that in mind as I paint the next scene.

We see Jesus the night before His eventual arrest praying in a garden with 3 of His closest disciples who are supposed to be standing guard. Jesus finds a clearing and kneels to pray. The first part of His prayer is heartfelt but is focused on others specifically His disciples and the strength they would need in the coming decades without Him around. He continues on to those would are not at that point His followers but one day would be. He takes a break to check on His three disciples and sees they have fallen away as they can not keep their eyes open. Jesus reprimands them a bit but His focus is not on them it is on the events that are about to pass. Jesus goes back to His clearing and is overcome by the impending pain and loneliness He knows He must face. Through tears, he cries with all His heart to His dad and pleads “if there is ANY other way…”.

Here I must pause. How many parents would run to our child’s side and scoop them up in our arms and take their fear and pain away at this moment? How many have rushed to the crying of our children after they have fallen off a bike or broken a bone or suffered a wound that would require stitches? If we were Jesus’ father would this be the moment we would step in? For God, the answer was no so Jesus continues.

Jesus again calls out to His father this time his tears have turned red. He wipes his brow and sees blood. This blood is mixing with His tears and He cries out again Father please please save me do not let your judgment come to me like this. The ground is wet with dew tears and blood this is the last time Jesus will have His father’s ear. He knows that He is about to become the sin we have all committed and He knows He can not remain in communication with His father as long as He is carrying our sin. So he pleads one last time “Father please let this pass from me” but if it must be this way I am willing.  With this last plea, God confirms it is His will to proceed with the sacrifice of his own son. Jesus, at this point, willingly chooses to go along with His father’s will.

Why? Why would a Jesus CHOOSE to endure the worst torture mankind has ever thought of and why would this be God’s will? in short, they LOVE you more than you can ever understand. Here it is: sin is so horrific and is such a big deal that only death can cancel out its effects. No matter how small we think it might be to God no sin is small no “white lie” no hurtful words no idle thought is small to Him and each and every one is such a big deal that God can not ignore even one. However, He loves you WAY too much to allow the end of the story to be our demise. In fact, Jesus WILLINGLY chose the cross as the instrument by which His love for us would be shown! That is right Jesus willingly had you on His mind when those nails pierced His skin. He thought of you when that thorns were thrust upon his head. If given the opportunity He would do it all over too. Just so that your ticket into Heaven would be secure. His only requirement is trusting Him and follow Him.