Abba's Dearly Beloved

“By his wounds, we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)

The Enfolding Embrace of Christ

I heard a true story shared by a Canadian pastor that moved me to tears and seems fitting to repeat here in thinking about the wounds that marked Jesus, each one an evident reminder of his love for each one of us as we shall explore.

One evening the pastor whose name was Rick was out in his local town centre sharing about Jesus (unfortunately the specifics of whether he was handing out leaflets or chatting to passers-by eludes my memory!) with the folk that passed by. At some point during the evening, Rick was suddenly confronted by an intimidating burly man who began unleashing an angry tirade at him and the Jesus he was sharing about. This was not shouting directed from a distance but rather the broad-shouldered man got right up in his face. Rick was preparing to square up and defend himself in case things turned ugly, however he found himself instead reaching with both his arms around this guy and held him in a heartfelt embrace. The man’s angry words slowly subsided and gave way to tears and sobbing as the full weight of his wounded pain that had been expressed just seconds ago in anger came gushing forth. After several minutes Rick’s muscled companion seemed spent in pouring out his cries of pain. Nothing much more was said, but he simply left.

In a similar way, in hostility and confusion born out of our brokenness and pain we may be walking through, we can confront Jesus, displaying at our most raw anger, frustration and exasperation of hurt perhaps even accusing God of being absent during our most pressing times of need. Jesus’ response is not to silence this outpouring of raw emotion but rather to reach out his loving arms around to embrace us. In letting him do so, we permit our wounded saviour to liquify our hardened wounded heart by the healing balm of his love; a love that was wounded much for our sake that we might be redeemed, healed and divine intimacy restored.

Jesus is neither ignorant of our suffering, nor is he unmoved, on the contrary he is the one who understands exactly what we are going through for our wounds are his own and were made his own as he has himself carried it them with us and bore them as his own at the cross. His heartfelt, divine embrace is born of someone who knows the depths of our trials and suffering intimately, as the prophetic scripture of Jesus as the suffering Messiah in Isaiah says:

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised and held him in low esteem. Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:3-5 (NIV)

Jesus: The Suffering Saviour

Not only do we have a compassionate and understanding advocate in our saviour Jesus, when we behold Jesus’ own intense road of suffering to the cross of Calvary, it has the power to soften our own hearts in humility and worship amidst our trial and pain. As the son of God, Jesus made himself an emptied vessel or “nothing” as Paul describes in Philippians (see Philippians 2:6-9), he was executed with thieves, stripped almost naked, flogged to the bone and hammered with nails to a wooden cross with the visible scorn of men who placed him there. In response to the insults he received he displayed heartfelt compassion and mercy to the last: “Father forgive them, they know not what they do!”

Such a picture of the profound suffering of our saviour whose love for each of us was worth the cost of his suffering, separation and humiliation brings tears to my eyes as I think of such a response by God incarnate to our naive and angry beliefs that he does not care or present with us in our suffering. We are fully known by God (1 Corinthians 13:12), but there is something profoundly touching and heart melting about a God who is willing to take on the sufferings as well as the very rebellion and wrong doings of his fallen creation; who has shared the very feelings and emotions we are experiencing in those dark valleys, for he shouldered them at the cross and shoulders them now with us. Requoting the last verse of the above passage:

“The punishment [or suffering] that brought us peace was [laid] on him and by his wounds we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)

Jesus’ suffering was not the end of the story and it is not ours either. The resurrection by Jesus from the dead three days after his death underscores this and through such his  subsequent victory and triumphant adoration through the resurrection, we are welcomed home to God whom we can relate to intimately as a perfect loving and sovereign divine father.  

Reflecting on all this does not necessarily change mine or your circumstances, yet I do not know about you, but thinking on this makes me want to fall at his feet in worship and praise for the God that he is. It reacquaints me and you with the one who endured much for the deep love born for you and me. By his wounds alone, an outpouring and ultimate display of divine love, we are healed. Yes, this can be physical, emotional and spiritual healing but ultimately it is being healed and restored into loving and eternal fellowship and intimacy with our God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.