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"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

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This is that day

Carmen Fowler LaBerge

4/21/2011 11:15:17 AM

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice; He will not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice on earth ...” – Isaiah 42:1-4

 

This is that day.

 

This is what God the LORD says – the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

 

“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” – Isaiah 42:5-9

 

This is that day.

 

“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed – I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am He. No one can deliver out of my hand.  When I act, who can reverse it?” – Isaiah 43:12-13

 

This is that day.

 

“... you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” – Isaiah 43:24-25

 

This is that day.

 

See, my servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at Him – His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and His form marred beyond human likeness – so He will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

 

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem.

 

Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, Yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.

 

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away. Yet who of His generation protested? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

 

Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life an offering for sin, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand. After he has suffered, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. – Isaiah 52:13-53:12

 

This is that day.

 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.

 

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

 

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

 

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

 

Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

 

Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

 

But you, LORD, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

 

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him – may your hearts live forever!

 

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him – those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it! – Psalm 22

 

This is that day.

 

Indeed, the gravity of this day is impossible to articulate. Let the Word of the Lord saturate your life, infect your thoughts, trouble your spirit, arouse your faith, deepen your devotion and attune your heart to just what happened in the life of Jesus Christ – and through Him, your life – on this day.

 

This is the day that Peter and John prepared the Upper Room.

 

This is the day that Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples and instituted the Lord’s Supper.

 

This is the day that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and commanded them to do the same.

 

This is the day that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

 

This is the day that Jesus sang and prayed with and for His disciples.

 

This is the day that Jesus predicted Peter’s denials.

 

This is the day that Jesus comforted and instructed His disciples.

 

This is the day that Jesus promised His disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit and told them what the Spirit would do in and through them.

 

This is the day that Jesus prepared His disciples to be hated, maligned and martyred.

 

This is the day that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

This is the day that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, arrested, bound and beaten.

 

This is the day that the Jews and the Romans tried Him.

 

This is the day that Peter denied Him, the guards flogged and mocked Him, and the crowds condemned Him to be crucified.

 

This is that day.

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Comments  4

  • Loren Golden 21 Apr, 01:00 PM

    I was there that day.

    I was there with Judas in my every greedy thought and deed, betraying the Lord of Life for a handful of silver coins.

    I was there with Peter and the disciples in my fear, denying the Lord of Life for fear of my own.

    I was there with Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin in my envy and jealously, leveling accusations against the Man who knew no sin.

    I was there with the crowd in my anger, calling for the crucifixion of the One who gave me life.

    I was there with Herod and Pilate in my cowardice, condemning the Man who had done no wrong.

    I was there with the Roman soldiers in my complacency, nailing my Lord and Master to the Cross because I was just following orders.

    I was there with the multitude in my scorn and derision, mocking the One who formed my tongue.

    I was there that day, and I watched Him suffer and die in my place.

    It was for my sin that He came down from on high, was born to parents of low estate, and was raised in poverty.

    It was for my sin that He suffered the envy and jealousy of the religious leaders of His day.

    It was for my sin that He surrendered Himself up to those same authorities.

    It was for my sin that He endured the unjust beatings by the Roman guards.

    It was for my sin that He allowed Himself to be nailed to the Cross.

    It was for my sin that the Father forsook Him at Calvary.

    It was for my sin that He drank the cup of His Father's just anger and righteous retribution.

    It was for my sin that He died the death of a traitor, an insurrectionist, and a rebel -- for that is what I am on account of my sin and iniquity, and that is the death that I deserve on account of my wicked disobedience to His righteous Law.

    Behold the Man upon a cross,
    My guilt upon His shoulders.
    Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
    Call out among the scoffers.

    It was my sin that held Him there
    Until it was accomplished.
    His dying breath has brought me life;
    I know that it is finished.

  • Kenneth Maurice Reitman 22 Apr, 01:46 AM

    I will close with the knowledge of what i have read inspired me. I know my purpose and the order in which it must go. May my father look upon you and give you all the wisdom and knowledge that is there for you to indure.

  • Scott Jeffreys 22 Apr, 09:44 AM

    Very moving.

  • Aundre 27 Apr, 08:27 AM

    Wow! That's a really neat awsner!
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