Lent Day 25: Forsaken

On this twenty-fifth lenten morning, I woke up with a strong sense of my sinfulness. The past comes to me like a percussionist drumming my head with strike after strike of failures and mistakes associated with my heart, my mind, my spirit, and my body. My own conscience reminds me of wrongs I have committed in thought, word, and deed -- the accuser is determined to use such remembrances as strong arms pinning me to the ground.

Thoughts of guilt and remorse abound:

I don't fit in.

I don't measure up.

I don't know how to live rightly.

I don't belong in the community of the saints.

Yet, there is grace.

I am loved by Christ.

I am chosen and washed clean.

I am His alone and He is mine.

I am a treasure in His strong arms.

"Oh praise the One

Who paid my debt

And raised this life

Up from the dead."

-- Extracted from Jesus Paid It All, Kristian Stanfill

I remember the day when I was introduced to the following song, 

“I’m forgiven because You were forsaken

I'm accepted, You were condemned

I'm alive and well, Your spirit is within me

Because You died and rose again.”

-- Extracted from You Are My King, Chris Tomlin

With no doubt in my mind, I picture a horrendous sight—a middle Eastern looking man whose skin is ravaged by thirty-nine lashes, whose forehead is dotted with drops of sweat and blood, whose eyes are filled with tears of sorrow and loving pity, whose ears are bleeding from insults and heavy blows, whose puffy cheeks are crimson red from repeated slapping, whose face reeks of human spittle and rancid vinegar, whose hands and feet are heavily scarred by rusty nails, whose flesh is cruelly mutilated, whose sides are pierced . . . Indeed, Jesus, my precious Lord was forsaken on that old rugged tree.

“He was despised and rejected by mankind . . . 

like one from whom people hide their faces 

He was forsaken, 

and we held Him in low esteem.” 

Isaiah 53:3

He was denied a quick, clean, clinical death by lethal injection; instead, He was forsaken for seemingly interminable hours of agony, hemorrhage, and unimaginable suffering. He was denied an advocate; no protestors begged for repeal of the death penalty after Pontius Pilate washed his hands. Rather, loud cries, angry shouts, taunting jeers, and discolored dribbles were hurled at Him. He was denied the seemingly glorified home-going of a smooth, dignified martyr’s face; in its place, He sported a grotesque appearance causing sensitive folks to hide their faces and rough individuals to ridicule His humiliating death.

Of course, we who believe in the power of the Cross have been called to forsake as well—we are to forsake everything else but Christ Himself. 

We are called to recognize the head that was once capped with thorns and briers as being now crowned with the glory of the Father. Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord invites us to “seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and evil folks their thoughts” (54:6-7).

Therefore, as we approach the Father’s throne today, let us lay at the cross:

     -  every foul word

     -  every evil thought

     -  every known wicked way

     -  every compromising touch

     -  every greedy aspiration

     -  every impatient turn

     -  every ungrateful sigh

     -  every lustful command

     -  every adulterous glance

     -  every slanderous accusation

     -  every besetting sin

Let us ask the Lord for strength to forsake them on that rugged tree to be mutilated, ravaged, and absorbed into Christ’s sacrifice. Let us pray that we may be unburdened there so that we may worship in the Father’s manifest presence.