Today, as we remember all that our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, endured before He uttered His final words, “It is finished” (John 19:30), we may experience all kinds of emotions. We may feel awe, sadness, hopelessness, and maybe even anger as we reflect on the trials He endured before Pontus Pilate and Caiaphas, the torture He experienced to His sinless body, and the ultimate betrayal He experienced from Judas Iscariot (one of His twelve disciples who were his intimate friends) and others whom He came to save. All of these emotions (and so many more) are completely understandable as we feel the weight of His sacrifice, and as we try to imagine what it might have felt like to have witnessed these horrific events.
Thankfully, since we know the end of the story, that Jesus was resurrected on the third day – just as He said He would be – we can see that His sacrifice was wrapped in His immense love for humanity! We can then move into the emotion of extreme gratitude because His sacrifice purchased our freedom! Freedom from ALL forms of addiction – alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, self harm, pornography, etc. – , shame, guilt, depression, anxiety, fear, COVID-19, cancer, diabetes, and all other physical and emotional healings, too!!! Anything that the devil can throw our way has already been defeated by Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection on the cross!!! Praise the Lord!!!
Jesus fulfilled everything that the prophets had prophesied about Him including this beautiful section of Scripture in Isaiah 53:4-6:
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (emphasis mine.)
So, no matter what our infirmities, sorrows, or afflictions might be, Jesus came to take those burdens from us by enduring unimaginable suffering in our place! Because of the flogging that Jesus experienced before his crucifixion, there were physical stripes on his back, so when Isaiah 53:5 says, “…by his stripes we are healed,” we can stand on that Scripture by speaking it and believing it with all of our hearts, and expect that because of Jesus’ sacrifice our healing is on it’s way!!! Now that’s something to be thankful for!
One Minute Miracles 