The Image of Grace

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