Good Friday

Last night during prayer, the Lord led me to Isaiah 53. I had never read it before.

I thought it would speak to what I’d been asking Him about—wisdom for raising a teenage boy. But instead of parenting advice, God gently reminded me to simply focus on His love, His mercy, and His sacrifice.

Isaiah 53 describes Jesus as “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” It even says, “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance”—and that struck me. Every portrayal of Jesus shows Him as handsome, with perfect hair. It even offended me briefly to think of Jesus as anything but perfectly stunning in his human form. But scripture shows that He was humble in every way—even in appearance.

Jesus was (and still is) gentle, patient, and pure. And yet He drank from a cup that would've tasted so vile to His perfect nature—a cup full of the blackest sins poured over His holiness.

I can scarcely imagine what that must've tasted like for Jesus. But one thought comes to mind: when I first smelled death. I was a teen when our garage deep freezer, packed with meats, veggies, and a large turkey, stopped working. It was weeks before we noticed! Then, to try and mask it, my mother poured bleach all into the soupy meat container and it only amplified the putrid smell. (Don't we tend to do that in our life? In our own power we try to cover our sins with earthly things & cure the stench of our wrongdoings; but it can amplify the issue). My father and I were the only ones willing to clean it out. The stench of bleach and rotting flesh was so thick, I couldn’t breathe or see. To this day, the memory alone is enough to make my eyes water.

That's the kind of cup Jesus drank. Death.

Our Lord of Hosts was beaten with brutality, humiliated, and shamed for our sake. Then, for the first time in eternity, He was separated from the Father. God had to turn away because His holiness could not look upon the sin Jesus bore.

And Jesus cried out:
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
That is, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

My Jesus—the same Jesus who wants to befriend you, love you, and rescue you—
“...bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12)

Many people were crucified in those days. But only Jesus drank from the cup of our sins & endured being forsaken by God so that God would never forsake us.

Thank You, Jesus, for exchanging Your life for mine.
Thank You for the reminder that Your sacrifice was enough.
Your love is enough to cover us in times of uncertainty, worry, and tribulation.

The work You did on the cross was and still is the answer—
even when some prayers in this life feel unanswered.

May we live in reverence of what You’ve done—and respond to Your open invitation to know You as Lord, Savior, and Father.