Let us
pray, Lord Jesus Christ, You carried to the Cross of Calvary the griefs and
cares of the entire world. As You were
nailed to the cross for our sins, the innocent Blood stricken from Your head,
hands, feet and side You shed to set us free from our sins. May we be enabled to understand You chose
this for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning. AMEN.
Recently Michele and I embarked upon a movie
marathon because of the coming Avenger’s movie from Marvel Comics. We watched, Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2,
Captain America and even Thor. In Thor,
the main character has been banished from his home world to earth, because of
his disobedience of King Odin, his father, and dishonoring the family name by
inciting the potential of a cosmic war.
After falling to earth through a portal, befriending a Physicist who
accidently hit him with a van twice and explaining that science and mythology
are one and the same, Loki, Thor’s brother sends a ‘Metal Fire Creature’ to
destroy Thor and the entire town and cement his place as the next King. But Thor, mere mortal man walks up to the
creature and implores Loki to only kill him. Thor, stripped of his powers and
birth right places himself in between the wrath of Loki and the destruction of
the town, willing to sacrifice himself for the people he no longer can protect. And the metal fire creature deals the final
death blow and Thor suffers the fatal mortal blow of sacrifice.
Just as Thor sacrifices himself, in today’s text
from Isaiah, we hear more of the suffering servant, Jesus Christ Who sacrifices
Himself for me and for you. Hear
Isaiah’s prophecy:
4 Surely
our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He
carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God,
and afflicted.
Bearing the entirety of the griefs and cares of
the world, Jesus Christ shouldered the burden without a second thought. For those with little knowledge of scripture,
nor a personal relationship and knowledge of Jesus Christ, they wonder if Jesus
Christ could actually feel grief. Yet
Holy Scripture by inspiration of the Holy Spirit upon the scripture writers are
clear, Jesus Christ feels grief that is sharper than any knife that can cut or
sword that could pierce. Jesus feels our
personal grief, whether it is the loss of a child, spouse, friend or loved one,
whether it is a fight between friends or families or even if it is a betrayal
of a trust of confidence. The range of
compassion that Jesus Christ feels for in each and every situation was
magnified and endured while He was on the Cross of Calvary.
For Jesus Christ was afflicted for our sins. Not only did He endure the grief and cares of
the world for that time, but Jesus Christ endured the griefs and cares for all
time and all place. Jesus felt the pain
for everyone as He hung from the Cross of Calvary. Jesus Christ was afflicted and endured our
sins because He chose to remain hung on the cross and endure the worst torture
and inhumanity that could be dished out upon anyone.
Jesus Christ endured everything upon the cross for you and for me so we
would not have to. Jesus Christ in the
greatest act of love, compassion and commitment carried His own Cross to
Calvary and chose to die on the Cross to set us free from our sins. Jesus Christ frees us from the bonds of sin,
death and the devil that bind us and cause us to have grief beyond
measure. Jesus sets us free to see, not
that which binds us, but the freedom found in and through His Cross for each
and every one of us. Jesus Christ chose
to be lifted up, marred, despised and forsaken in order for us to believe the
message of salvation that would quiet kings and bear for you and me our griefs
and cares. Jesus Christ chose to be
afflicted to give to all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning
eternal life. That is the message of
salvation and sacrifice that Jesus Christ, our suffering servant offers all of
us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning. AMEN.
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