December 13: Isaiah 53:4-6 / Mark 10:32-34

I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the more inclined I am to avoid pain. My personal comfort drives me to sit in a favorite chair, avoid foods that I used to love and wear sensible shoes over fashionable ones. The idea of purposely inviting pain on myself seems one step from insanity.

But isn’t that exactly what Jesus did? The plan was cemented the moment Adam and Eve chose to be independent from God. Isaiah describes the Messiah agreeing to be born as a sinless baby, ultimately dying for the sins of people by allowing Himself to be delivered over to the worst of human cruelty. That the God of heaven would die as a man is scandalous enough, but that humiliation, agony and isolation were a necessary part of the plan is beyond imagination.

No wonder God “turned off the lights” halfway through Jesus’ crucifixion. His innocent baby received on himself all our pain and suffering, and all our sin and iniquity. Darkness hid the gross reality of God’s judgment on human depravity borne by the Son. What a mystery! Who could have imagined?

With every creche you observe this Christmas, picture the hands, feet and side of that baby pierced for your eternal security with Almighty God and then sing “Joy to the World.”


Pastor Nancy Bontempo

Friends Community Church – Sturgeon Bay



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