By Lee Roy Anderson
For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15. Isaiah 53:4, says, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of god, and afflicted. His world is filled with all kinds of suffering Calvary was no exception. It has been said that death by crucifixion is the most painful mode of torture ever conceived by man. Jesus knows what it means to suffer physical pain. He suffered every kind of physical pain that is possible to suffer. He suffered pain from the wounds of course contusion when they smite him from the wounds laceration when they scourged him, from the wounds of penetration when they crowned him with thorns, from the wounds of perforation when they drove spikes through his hands and feet and from the wounds of incision when they thrust the spear in his side. In addition to suffering physical pain, Jesus knows what it is like to be lonely and forsaken. His own people forsook him. His hometown forsook him. The nation he came from forsook him. His disciples forsook him. But the hardest thing he ever had to endure was to suffer those dark and lonely hours at Calvert when even god the father forsook him.
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cries with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ Matthew 27:45-46. You say, why did God forsake him? This has to be difficult for many to understand. However, I think the scriptures give us that answer. The prophet, Habakkuk, tells us that God’s pure eyes cannot look upon sin. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity, Habakkuk 1:13. It was during these painful hours of suffering that our sin was laid upon Jesus, but that he was actually made to be sin for us. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we read, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. So you see, since a Holy God cannot look upon sin, he turned his back and forsook his only begotten son during those dark and lonely hours while he bore our son in his own body upon the cross. Are you suffering today? Why not take to Jesus? The one has suffered most knows how to sympathize with us when we suffer.
The next you feel forsaken and all lone, remember he knows what it is to be forsaken. The next you feel ashamed to take a stand for him, remember the shame he must have suffered for you when they stripped him of his garments and mocked him and put him to shame. Are you suffering today? The Bible says, for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor or help them that are tempted, Hebrews 2:18. Remember, lands greatest need is the need of forgiveness. Thank God Calvary is a place of forgiveness? Jesus prayed from the cross Father forgive them for they know not what they do, no matter what our circumstances maybe we can still trust the Lord. The Bible is different from every other book in that it not only tells me where I came from but it also tells me where I am going. Only the Bible tells us about life after death and what lies beyond the grave. I like to study the guide book the Bible. Are you using it as your guide book?
A place of suffering
