I can't take credit for any of the
ideas in this post. This clarification of the Word came to me through Chuck
Missler's teachings; these teachings that maybe I'd like to forget, but can't.
And that's a good thing.
Why is it that nobody recognized
Jesus after he rose from the dead? (John 20:11-16, Luke 24:13-35)
There is a beautiful, terrible verse
in the Bible that really helps answer this question. Isaiah 50:6 says, "I
offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my
beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting."
Another verse in Isaiah 52:14 reads,
"Just as there were many who were appalled at him - his appearance was so
disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human
likeness-"
So, our Lord Jesus was beaten so
badly that his body did not even appear human. Let's take a minute to draw that
picture in our minds.
Crowds surrounded and mocked him. He
was silent. He allowed it. And while they mocked him they ripped out his beard.
They didn't pluck it out one hair at a time. No. Imagine them grabbing his
beard and ripping it off into their hands, his flesh ripping off in chunks
along with it. Imagine his bloody, bare muscle showing through and the pain of
them spitting into those wounds and the continued beatings he suffered on top
of those wounds until that thin layer of muscle just under his beard began to
show hints of bone.
He was their king, and imagine how
he looked. It’s no wonder they mocked him.
Do we mock him today?
Every single one of us deserves the
treatment, pain, and humiliation Jesus suffered on our behalf. WE deserve to
die. Because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). And so when we live in
sin either flamboyantly or in secret, we mock what Jesus has done for us. Every
sin is another blow, and they belong to us.
Hebrews 10:26 reads, “If we
deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and
of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”
What do we need to confess?
“If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
(1 John 1:9)
This image of Christ that I have
tried to create for you is much different than the one I used to envision. The
many beautiful paintings of Christ hanging on a cross are not realistic. He was
“marred beyond human likeness-” for YOU.
“Greater love has no one than this:
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13
