February 13, 2014: He Loved Us to Death

Matthew 26:51-75

Amplified Bible (AMP)

51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached out his hand and drew his sword and, striking the body servant of the high priest, cut off his ear.

52 Then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

53 Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions [ more than 80,000] of angels?

54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must come about this way?

55 At that moment Jesus said to the crowds, Have you come out with swords and clubs as [you would] against a robber to capture Me? Day after day I was accustomed to sit in the porches and courts of the temple teaching, and you did not arrest Me.

56 But all this has taken place in order that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples deserted Him and, fleeing, escaped.

57 But those who had seized Jesus took Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had assembled.

58 But Peter followed Him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest’s home; he even went inside and sat with the guards to see the end.

59 Now the chief priests and the whole council (the Sanhedrin) sought to get false witnesses to testify against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death;

60 But they found none, though many witnesses came forward [to testify]. At last two men came forward

61 And testified, This Fellow said, I am able to tear down the sanctuary of the temple of God and to build it up again in three days.

62 And the high priest stood up and said, Have You no answer to make? What about this that these men testify against You?

63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, I call upon you to swear by the living God, and tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.

64 Jesus said to him, You have stated [the fact]. More than that, I tell you: You will in the future see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of the sky.

65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and exclaimed, He has uttered blasphemy! What need have we of further evidence? You have now heard His blasphemy.

66 What do you think now? They answered, He deserves to be put to death.

67 Then they spat in His face and struck Him with their fists; and some slapped Him in the face,

68 Saying, Prophesy to us, You Christ (the Messiah)! Who was it that struck You?

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and one maid came up to him and said, You were also with Jesus the Galilean!

70 But he denied it falsely before them all, saying, I do not know what you mean.

71 And when he had gone out to the porch, another maid saw him, and she said to the bystanders, This fellow was with Jesus the Nazarene!

72 And again he denied it and disowned Him with an oath, saying, I do not know the Man!

73 After a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, You certainly are one of them too, for even your accent betrays you.

74 Then Peter began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not even know the Man! And at that moment a rooster crowed.

75 And Peter remembered Jesus’ words, when He had said, Before a single rooster crows, you will deny and disown Me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly.

My sweet Jesus could have called 80,000 angels down from heaven. And they would have rushed to His side and destroyed his accusers. Instead He humbled Himself and allowed the abuse. I never want to complain again about someone treating me wrongly. I want to respond like Jesus responded when He was was treated horribly.

Isaiah 53

The Message (MSG)

53 Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?
    Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?

2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
    a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
    nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
    that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
    Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
    on him, on him.

7-9 He was beaten, he was tortured,
    but he didn’t say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
    and like a sheep being sheared,
    he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
    and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
    beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
    threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he’d never hurt a soul
    or said one word that wasn’t true.

10 Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
    to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
    so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
    And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

11-12 Out of that terrible travail of soul,
    he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
    will make many “righteous ones,”
    as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly—
    the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,
    because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,

 he took up the cause of all the black sheep. 

"Dear, sweet Jesus, How I love You. I hate reading about what they did to you. Hate it. I used to skip over it, You know. You literally loved us to death. Please don't ever let me forget what You did for me. I want to share Your story everywhere I go. I want the hurting and the broken to know Your healing power. All because of Your Great Sacrifice. You did it all for them. And me. I worship Your great name, Jesus. AMEN."