Today’s reading is from Isaiah 55
Easter is still on my mind. I remember watching the Passion of The Christ when it came out at the movie theaters in 2004. I was so emotional as I watched, instead of read, all that Jesus endured to get to the cross. So overwhelming. Reading the words on the page I can easily skim over the flogging and the beating, but to watch it acted out in real time is another experience entirely. Half the time I had to look away. It was too much. I wanted to yell at it to stop and then get up and leave. But knowing that it was “My Jesus” made me not able to get up and walk out. This is the Jesus I said yes to many years ago but I had never put a visual connection to His sacrifice until that movie. I couldn’t walk away from that moment and forget about it because it wasn’t just a movie for me. It is the core of my belief about God and Jesus and His plan for this world. I wasn’t a spectator to some fairy tale but rather watching the very thing that I believe and center my life upon.
I am amazed when I think about Isaiah prophesying about this moment before it even happened. He spoke of the Messiah being beaten and sacrificed, but also the hope and the beautiful plan for our forgiveness through Christ. A plan that was so beyond what we would expect. In Isaiah 55 he starts out by saying that this message is for EVERYONE! It is for those who are thirsty yet have no money to buy anything and it is for those who have plenty but aren’t satisfied. He urges them to seek the Lord while there is still time and to listen. Isaiah 55:3 says, “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake”. He was preparing the way for the Messiah, but why would God save the world and our souls this way? Surely there was a better option that didn’t require so much pain.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Who am I to question the divine plan of the almighty? Instead I will humbly accept the sacrifice that I do not deserve. The ultimate sacrifice paid on my behalf. I am humbled and thankful and overwhelmed.
Shelly