Substitute
7 min read
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
John 19:1-5
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.— Isaiah 53:1-6
The world still pretty much operates according to the mob “justice” that led to the crucifixion of our Lord. The crucifixion of Christ was the greatest injustice perpetrated in the history of humanity. Jesus was not just one man suffering that injustice. He is God. He is the Son of Man suffering that injustice. He is all of humanity suffering that injustice.
Maybe one of the most merciful things that our God could do is to bring us to a place of being mocked, beaten, and scorned—to have someone pointing at us with the worst kind of pity saying, “Look at this pathetic creature!”
Maybe, then, we could understand the devastation of sin, and why our Father hates sin so much.
But our Father in heaven would spare us that shame and poured it out on His Son instead.
How could I ever repay such love?
Thank You for my life
Thank You for the cross of Calvary
The blood of Jesus Christ
From sin and death You set me free
Thank You for Your love
Thank You for rejoicing over me
Your love song sacrifice
The love of Jesus Christ
How can I repay such love?
A love so lavish, so undeserved
How can I repay such love?
I cannot repay such love
So I enter Your gates with thanks
And cross Your courts with praise
Approach Your throne and worship You
So I enter Your gates with thanks
And cross Your courts with praise
With all I am I worship You.
