MattheW 26：57∼68

God is who saves us. Before taking flesh God had sent His message to humans. He opened His words to humankind. And His words were His own love for every human being. “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”(Matthew 1:21).

With these words God practiced His plan to love mankind: He started to carry out His love for us. He substantiated His love for mankind through becoming body so that we can see or experience the reality of His love. Because of His love for mankind He Himself took our problems on His own shoulders. “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” (Isaiah 53:5).

Humans are condemned to be destroyed under the transgressions and sins; we are not able to avoid the punishment of wondering in the forest of pains and troubles with diseases in our flesh. But God did not remain indifferent to the humans who were being ruined both in spirit and body; like a brave soldier He threw Himself into this world to undertake, onto His own body, the merciless troubles his loving human kind is fallen down into.

We humans, however, could never had been able to recognize ourselves destined to be destroyed and to ask the Lord Jesus for our deliverance from that perishment in spirit and body.

Only the Lord God knows, before any human being can realize, the fact that they are to perish in spirit and body by their sins and curse and diseases.

He sent, therefore, himself to the world in order to deliver humans having His own body exhausted out just for the salvation of His loving humans. The Lord came to this world with the mission to save human kind. He had evil spirits driven out of people, healed diseases, forgave sins; He worked at His will in destroying all the works of the evil spirits and the wicked devil on earth. He practiced every method of God the all mighty in order to save the life of humans.

Jesus Christ finished His work of delivering humans when He put Himself on the worst curse being flogged, bled and finally killed on the cross.

When He made, writhing with sorrow, His last prayer on the mountain Gessemane, His exclamation shook the heart of God the Father in heaven and on earth all the hearts of the human beings.

As the righteousness God, He threw up His almighty power only in order to carry out His will to love humans in eternity; instead He took silently all the pains and put Himself under the cruel beating, mocking and many insulting things in Caiaphas. And who would had ever noticed that this suffering was just for all the humans!

Imagine the extreme miseries when Jesus was, in His red clothes, led off from one to another being spit and struck here, slapped and flogged there. Wouldn’t it be a heartbreaking grief for God the Father to see His Son fallen down into the deepest suffering in the world, Could I avoid the earthquaking shock when I saw the Son of God the Father extremely suffering only in order to deliver the sinners like me, With the out bursting impact on my heart I, one of those who share in the benefit of His suffering, can not help feeling my body and spirit trembling; all I can do as a response is only saying, “Oh my Lord.”

Eventually He was put on a cruel execution on the cross; He was killed instead of all the human beings who are to die of their own sins, payed for the punishment of their sins.

No one but God the Father could throw Himself onto the spot of the extreme suffering for clearing up every human’s sins.

God completed His work to open the way of the new life for every human being. His suffering was actually the climax of His love for humans; and His death was the beginning of the new life being born in human beings like erupting volcanos around the world.

In the week of the suffering of Jesus Christ, everyone is required to share in the same suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ: His pains and His love and the new life by Him.

Let’s put ourselves on the spot of His suffering where we witness and give the heartfull appreciation on the holy work done by the Lord Jesus Christ; let’s have, with the same heart of Him, our spirit burst with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank and thank and thank Him! Hallelujah! Amen.

위 글은 교회신문 <48호> 기사입니다.