Friday

Isaiah 53:1-6

Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

Lent is different from Advent. Preparing to remember the death of God -- even when we know the Resurrection follows -- is not like preparing to remember God coming to live with us.

We sang, "O come let us adore Him" at Christmas, remember?

But who wants to look at, let alone adore, a man who's been beaten until he's bloody and bruised with nails driven into his hands and feet?

We, just like Jesus' followers and family, look away from Him in horror.

But all He suffered, all the ugliness that makes me hide from the crucifixion, is for me, for you. His punishment...the punishment we deserve for our many turnings away from God ... is for our sakes. Its purpose is to bring peace and healing to us. From the foggy dark of Ash Wednesday to the sunshine and flowers of Easter, the season of Lent helps us recognize our sin, His suffering and the redemption His suffering has won for us.

MLA