No Revenge, Only Love

O Worthy is the Lamb Who Was Slain.  
You are the One we love.  
You are the One we bow before.  
How can we not?  How dare we do otherwise? 

Isaiah 53 says it was our weaknesses You carried.  Because You were pierced for our rebellion, we can be in Your presence, and You make us blameless and holy. 

It is by Your stripes that we are healed. 
Scandalous! 
You were beaten so we could be made whole. 
Staggering!  
You were crushed for our sins.  This is why, You are the one we love.

You were oppressed and treated harshly,
    yet You never said a word.
You were led like a lamb to the slaughter.
    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
    You did not open Your mouth.
Unjustly condemned, You were led away.
No one cared that You died without descendants,
    that Your life was cut short in midstream.
But You were struck down,
    for the our rebellion.
You had done no wrong    
    and had never deceived anyone.
But You were buried like a criminal;    
    You were put in a rich man’s grave.*

Lord Jesus, we don’t deserve Your love.  
We don’t deserve the incredible act of sacrifice You did on our behalf... 
Your glory reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.  
Your power and authority are absolute and unshakable.  
You simply spoke, and unnumbered galaxies were set in place.  
No one can measure such greatness.  
What is man that You would even think of us, let alone die for us? 

Father God, O Elohim, there are many, many aspects of the crucifixion story that make us cover our mouths in shock and awe.  One of the most mind blowing details? When Your Only Begotten Son's sacrifice was complete, You tore the temple veil in two.  (Matthew 27)

We cannot comprehend such love!  Your Beloved Only Son was just killed, and You went and extended an invitation to the entire world, His killers included!, to come to You for fellowship!  

What kind of a god would do that??  

Only one who loves without limit, who forgives the penitent without condition.  

We worship your holy name, El Elyon, dear God Most High!

Isaiah 53 continues:
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Wait, what?  O Wondrous King....  this simply does not compute:
       "And because of his experience,
             my righteous servant will make it possible
        for many to be counted righteous,
             for he will bear all their sins."

There is no desire for revenge here!  Here you are, an innocent man not merely condemned to the death penalty, but also viciously and cruely tortured in order to bring about that death penalty, and Your reponse is what??  "I'll make you pay for this!!"  

ABOSLUTELY NOT!!

You... You make us righteous and bear our sins?!  O King!  
Righteous and True, Pure and Holy, again we are flattened to the ground before Your feet.  
How, how, how can you be so massively good??  
Hugely...kind!  
Totally loving!  
O Bright Morning Star, You shatter our understanding of love.  

We bow before You, because, O Conquering, Victorious King, You have set us free from our sin once and for all.  You fought the fight we could not win.  You defeated the enemy we could not overcome.  You vanquished the enemy we were enslaved to.  
And you did it with your own blood!  
With your own life, you laid down like a lamb to the slaughter.  
Willingly.  
Lovingly.  
Confidently.  

You knew that what You were about to go through was going to rip Your heart into two.  
Was going to be a kind of pain we will never understand, for You would be forsaken by Your Father- eternal perfect love, pure unity, was violently severed.  

All the wrath 
from all the sin 
from all time 
would be poured upon you 
and He would turn his back on you.  

You did all that, because You would "see all that [was] accomplished by Your anguish,
    [and You would be] satisfied." (verse above)   

And You did it so that we could know you.  Why would You even let us live?  
We just don't deserve such love!  
But You love and You forgive, so that we can have a devoted relationship with You.  
You clothe us in your righteousness, therefore Your Father would see us perfectly holy and righteous, because You are.  

For protection?  Yes, but not protection from Him.  

Protection from our deserved punishment for our sin.  
That's what You were doing that day.  
You were being our Jehovah Jireh, the Provider of our salvation.  
And we absolutely do not deserve it.  

You are our King.  Our conquering, victorious king, and O how we love You.  O Hallowed be Your Name!!  May Your Kingdom come quickly!

*Isaiah 53:7-9, NLT

^{Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.}