He Loved You So Much!

Jesus died what might be the most excruciatingly painful death ever endured by a man. A crown of thorns was crushed into His head, blood running into his eyes, nose, and mouth, blinding and choking Him. Nails were driven through His hands and feet. As the cross was dropped cruelly into its socket in the ground, His flesh tore with searing pain. A spear pierced His side. Blood emptied from every wound until each cell in His body screamed for water and nourishment.

But, incredible as it may seem, He endured still greater pain than this.

Remember, though fully man, He was also perfect God. He could not endure to look on sin with any semblance of approval. Now, he actually bore our sin in His own body on the tree. He became sin for us.

All mankind’s awful sins were placed on Jesus’ perfect person so that Father God had to turn His back on Jesus the Son, through no fault of either of them.

From eternity past the Son had always been in perfect loving harmony with God the Father.

Now, He had to cry out in the most awful distress, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34) We can’t begin to fathom the terrible agony that all this entailed for both of them.

Jesus experienced immeasurable moral imperfection replacing the absolute moral perfection that had always been His from eternity. This was pain beyond imagining and God the Father’s limitless love for Him was reduced to total rejection. This was inner pain unfathomable.

Such suffering beyond understanding or expression, He suffered for you!

Who (Jesus) bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed. (I Peter 2:24).

He has made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (I Corinthians 5:21).

Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. . . How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation. (Hebrews 2:1-3).