The Sufferings of Jesus (#285 of 365+)

“In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’” (Revelation 5:12)


John the apostle was moved emotionally by the heavenly scenes he witnessed. He “wept and wept” when it was established that no one—no elder, no angel, no living creature—was worthy to open the holy scroll (v. 4). Then his tears stopped as one of the elders pointed out that the murdered Lamb was able to open it because he had conquered the grave and was standing in their midst (v. 5 – 6). The Lamb, still bearing the cruel marks of his sacrificial death, came forward to take the scroll (v. 7). By the end of the chapter every elder, every angel, and “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” worshipped the Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 8 – 14).

Much like this scene in heaven, the tragedies of life are incomprehensible until I realize that my Lord is right there with me.

“He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

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 pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds 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.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:3-7)



Joni said, “You have something eternally precious in common with Christ—suffering! No angel or archangel will ever fully grasp the sweet union that affliction has refined between you and your Savior. In heaven you won’t praise the suffering, but you will praise the wisdom and the power of God in using it to drive you to the cross, as well as showcase his righteousness and mercy for all of eternity.”

Lord, thank you for going to the cross for me. May I never lose the wonder of what you did for me there. Amen.