July 13
Isaiah 52:13, 53:1-9

The Messiah

God loved His people, and although they had been taken as slaves to a distant land, God would go with them wherever they went. The Lord promised that He would bring them back to their land, and back to Himself.

There was only one way for God to rescue His people from their slavery to sin: He would send His loving Servant to earth where He would suffer and die to conquer sin. God’s Servant would be beaten and bruised so badly that people would not recognize Him.

Jesus took the suffering that should have been ours, and He was wounded to take away our sins. Even though He was treated harshly and beaten for the wrong things we have done, He did not complain once.

Why did Jesus have to suffer?

It is hard for us to understand why Jesus had to die to make it possible for God to forgive us. But it is even harder to understand why Jesus had to suffer so much pain by being beaten and nailed to a cross in such a cruel way.

While Jesus was praying in the garden the night before He was crucified, He knew that He would have to suffer. He said to His Father, “If at all possible, may I not have to go through with this, but I do not want My way; I want to do what You want.”

Although we cannot fully understand why God the Father allowed people to hurt Jesus, the Bible does tell us some of the reasons. God allowed Jesus to suffer:

  • to show His complete obedience (Philippians 2:8);
  • to show His great love for us (1 Peter 1:18-19);
  • to become a sacrifice for our sin (Hebrews 9:22);
  • to feel and understand our suffering (Isaiah 53:3);
  • to heal us (Isaiah 53:6, Matthew 8:16-17).

Verse for today
