Jesus came to this world with one purpose: To seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). His goal was to fulfill the Father’s will. He made sure to follow through with God’s plan. Every road, every path, was paved with hardship, yet He healed, cast out demons, fed the masses, listened to the weary, spoke to the outcasts, and went to the cross, as was expected of Him to fulfill the divine plan of salvation.
We too have a plan set before us by God. We don’t all know it. Of those who do, we sometimes take our eyes off the goal. We become easily sidetracked.
As Jesus, the King of the Universe stood before Pilate and the Roman soldiers, He was mocked with questions like, “who spit you, who slapped you? Tell us, which of us yanked out the beard? “Mock, Mock” jokes. He was ridiculed. Prophesy Now!! They probably said. And, Who’s there? Who is this Jesus? Call angels or your followers to save you! Where’s the great king?
As He was led to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, He climbed the steep road paved with cobblestone, lose bricks, and the stories of men who trudged there in the past. That road, is the one we walk on as we serve Him daily carrying our cross. It’s lined with difficulty; steeped with our stories of suffering, guilt, and shame. That’s why He understands us: He walked it before.
We sometimes want to quit life because we can’t bear the shame. Suicides are mostly due to that. We reap unexpected crops. But think of Him! Think of His shame! In movies, books, and on TV He’s covered with a loin cloth. But not so in reality. He was stripped bare. He was disfigured more than any other man. His resemblance was of an unhuman; He was unrecognizable (Isaiah 52:14). “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him” (Isaiah 53:10). * Read all of Isaiah 52 and 53 for clarity of prophecy.
Death was horrendous. It wasn’t beautiful. It wasn’t pleasant. Yet, He chose to die that way to show us that if He could bare shame, humiliation, and unbearable embarrassment, before all humanity, then we could face each arduous step we take on to the road to death, which leads us to the cross. It’s a scary and lonely road where the enemy and his hosts of demons try to trip us. Satan’s hordes attempt to deceive us, and the crowds mock us desiring to squish us like fine powder. But look ahead-Jesus goes before us! We’re not alone! He knows the way, because He is the Way (John 14:6)!
Hosanna!
Sam