We Are Protected
The Text
Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
The Devotion
The doctrine of the propitiation of Christ--the complete protection and excruciatingly perfect engulfment of the wrath of God upon the Son of God by the Son of God-- is a difficult doctrine to expound. The only way I could approach this is to start at the beginning, at the high altitude, and work our way down. To understand propitiation, we must understand God, his law, his love, and his holiness.
What can incite the wrath of God? It is when we decide we don't need his way, but we insist on our own. We are talking about dismissing God's words for life entirely and trying to save ourselves. So keeping that in mind, the world thinks that surely, because God is love, he can overlook such, in our opinion, minor disagreements and give us a free pass, perhaps even grade on a curve and let us into heaven.
You might laugh, but sometimes Christians think that. They profess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, but still work as though all of their salvation rests upon what they do. Either the heart is unsettled or the mind unconvinced.
Have you ever heard, perhaps in a church, bible study, or even a Christian conference, the question asked, "Are you saved?" to which someone has responded, "Man, I sure hope so." Brothers and sisters, don't be surprised! I overheard that exchange not 10 feet away and waited with bated breath to hear the punchline. But there was none. He was serious.
That exchange happened at a pastor's conference.
This unsettlingness is why we must understand His holiness. Yes, the holiness of God can be overwhelming, but if we grasp and understand it through the Spirit alone, we can rest assured of His goodness and salvation.
In the beginning, God gave us just one command: Follow this one simple rule, and God will take care of it all. Let's see how that unfolds:
Genesis 3:1–7 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, 'You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.' ""No! You will certainly not die," the serpent said to the woman. "In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
In other words, "Hmm, I want my way. It sure does feel like God is holding out on me. If I do this thing, sure I will get what God has been keeping from me."
What did God say would happen? Go back and read:
Genesis 2:15–17 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."
Ergo, the wages of sin are death. (Romans 6:23)
Did God kill them right away? No. But what cannot be denied, evident by the entire history of humanity, is that when sin came into this universe, all of the cosmos shattered and broke into a million pieces.
Because of sin, God's wrath and judgment fell in three ways: eventual death, sudden death, and a giving over to what we want. All three ways lead to separation from God.
Genesis 3:15–24 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you. And he said to the man, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'Do not eat from it': The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust." The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them. The Lord God said, "Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever." So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.
In other words, life is going to be hard and at the end, you are going to die.
But let us take a quick look at the sudden execution of God's judgment:
Genesis 13:13 (Now the men of Sodom were evil, sinning immensely against the LORD.)
Genesis 18:20-21 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to me. If not, I will find out."
So based on Genesis 2 and Romans 6:23, what do you think is going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah? The judgment here is obvious: "Well, that is easy, they were wicked and they deserve to die."
Let's go to other places where it is not so obvious.
In Exodus, God commands, "Let my people go." Pharaoh disobeys. Pharaoh pretends to confess his sins, but as soon as the current plague disappears, he sins and hardens his heart.
God warned Pharaoh of his judgment and wrath. God's people believed, and yet Pharaoh did not believe.
The people of God are the people of God because they take God's word and him at face value. We believe God, and we know he is not a liar. Unbelievers, like Pharaoh, do not trust God and his word.
Exodus 12:29–32 Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock. During the night, Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn't a house without someone dead. He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, "Get out immediately from among my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship the Lord as you have said. Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me."
More examples for your daily devotions.
Judgment and wrath of idol worshippers? Exodus 33
Judgment and wrath of a family that stole from God? Joshua 7
Judgment and wrath of the nations that surrounded Israel? Ezekiel 12-35.
Judgment and wrath upon the world? Book of Revelation.
I am not going to sugarcoat this at all. Sometimes, the women and the children were judged. Upon hearing that, our minds instantly click and think, "Those are women and children, they are innocent. They have done nothing wrong. They have not been tried and judged."
Perhaps they were innocent of the laws of their land. But did they sin against God? Strike that—did we not all sin against God?
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.
If this is your first time hearing this or your millionth, it is not easy to hear. The judgment and wrath are not soft chew candy. This teaching is tough, gristly meat cooked burnt to a well-done crisp that you have to chew on for days, and even then, it's painful to swallow.
John 6:60 Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, "This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?"
It is hard for us to swallow because we were all born sinners:
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?
Let's hammer this point, and let us see how you, me, my kids, my future babies, your babies, even my sainted grandma, all were born into this sin:
Ephesians 2:1–3 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the Spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath, as the others were also.
We were all born by nature children of the wrath of God. To put it simply, we were born dead.
Beyond sudden judgment and eventual judgment, there is a wrath that is not so obvious, but it is where God gives us over to what we want. We keep suppressing His truth, and we keep doing what we want. God simply goes, "You think your way is better, fine, go. Have it your way."
That should scare the living daylights out of you.
So what then? What is the answer to the apparent problem of sin?
In other words, this all sounds like death. Who is going to save us from this death?
Here is the greatest news that the world has ever known or will ever know:
For those who would believe in the Son of God, then all the wrath, hatred, and judgment do not fall on those sinners elected by God, but rather, fall entirely upon the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
His perfect obedient life, called out to us by the Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit, as he gives his life over, nails himself to the cross, and takes on the full wrath of the Father and the forsaking of the Spirit, so that those who believe in Him would never experience that.
God loves you so much. Before the creation of the world, he loved you. He looks upon all eternity and declares, "I must have you in my family. You are my son. You are my precious daughter. Yet you are running from me and you are so far from me. I cannot count on you to come back to me. You have no power to do so. Yet, I have all the power. I will send my Son and he will close that gap with his own life."
Isaiah 53:10 Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord's pleasure will be accomplished.
God the Father loved you so much that it pleased Him to send His Son to live and die so his children could die and be born again.
Psalm 103:1–22
1 My soul, bless the LORD, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.2 My soul, bless the LORD, and do not forget all his benefits.
3 He forgives all your iniquity; he heals all your diseases.
4 He redeems your life from the Pit; he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.
5 He satisfies you with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle.
6 The LORD executes acts of righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He revealed his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.
9 He will not always accuse us or be angry forever.
10 He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
14 For he knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
16 when the wind passes over it, it vanishes, and its place is no longer known.
17 But from eternity to eternity the LORD's faithful love is toward those who fear him, and his righteousness toward the grandchildren
18 of those who keep his covenant, who remember to observe his precepts.
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, all his angels of great strength, who do his word, obedient to his command.
21 Bless the LORD, all his armies, his servants who do his will.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all the places where he rules. My soul, bless the LORD!
Likewise, Christ loved you so much that for His glory, he saved you to Himself:
Isaiah 43:25 "I am the one, I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more.
And Christ save us with all humility.
Philippians 2:5–8 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
And Christ save us with all joy:
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
How do we know this? How do we know God the Father saves us through the life and death of Christ Jesus through the power of the Almighty Spirit? The answer is God.
The Produce of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22–23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.
Matthew 7:15–20 "Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You'll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you'll recognize them by their fruit.
Who produces this fruit? Not us, but God in us.
The Leadership of the Spirit
Look at what God does for his people. First, there is absolutely no condemnation for those who believe and trust in his Son:
Romans 7:24–8:1 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,
Look at this! We have been set free because we are in the Christ!
Romans 8:2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Look at this! God has condemned our sin in his only begotten Son as the blood sin offering. Jesus Christ, the Worthy Lamb Who was Slain, was the perfect sacrifice for us!
Romans 8:3-4 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
And look at this! God did not just save us to neutrality. God will lead and guide us all the way home back to him!
Romans 8:4-6 For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.
Here's some excellent news: there is no way possible we could have obeyed God on our own:
Romans 8:7-8 The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
We need God to obey God, who has commanded us all to obey him perfectly.
Romans 8:9–10 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
That is okay because he has resurrected from death to life! If you believe and trust his Son, you have been born again.
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him.
John 3:6–8 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
John 10:9–10 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
It is God who violently, continuously, gradually, eventually will kill off every bit in us! God will always give you the gift to repent of your sin and the power and the full-on ability to fly back, over and over again, into the arms of our loving Savior.
Romans 8:12–13 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Mark 9:47–49 And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire.
Do you think that the end of the glorious benefits of the Infinite God, whose steadfast love never ceases and whose mercies never come to an end?
Romans 8:14 For all those led by God's Spirit are God's sons.
We are the sons of God!
Romans 8:15-16 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children,
Jesus Christ, by his perfect obedience and life to God, has inherited everything.
Daniel 7:13–14 I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
Hebrews 1:2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
And because we are his blessed children, we are fellow heirs with the Son of God who has everything!
Romans 8:17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
I mean, everything in the universe is incredible. Yet, the most gracious God does not stop there. For the Infinite God who alone is good and right and lovely gives his children only what he can give them: himself.
John 14:23 Jesus answered, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
The Father and the Son make their home in us! We are the temples of God!
And then the gift of the Holy Spirit! When God saved us, in that moment, when he swapped our hearts for his, renewed our minds, opened our eyes, opened our ears, unmuted our tongues, he gave us the fullness of his Holy Spirit, once and for all.
John 3:34 For the one whom God sent speaks God's words, since he gives the Spirit without measure.
John 14:15-17 "If you love me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn't see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
John 15:26–27 "When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
John 16:13–14 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
John 16:7–11 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don't go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, not because we lack faith, but reminds us of our righteousness because of everything that God has done in us.
The Lord's furious righteous anger against sin is meant to make all things right. All things right are joy, love, and happiness forever and ever.
Jesus Christ being our sacrificial lamb (propitiation) and scapegoat (expiation) is that singular righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled. In a nutshell, the law required for you and me to be in the presence of God, you will have to sacrifice a spotless lamb and take all the sins of the people, place them on a goat, and release the goat into the wilderness, never to return. Those rituals in the Old Testament were a foreshadowing of who Jesus Christ is and what he does. But those were just that: foreshadowings. Never the real thing. The real thing is that man must shed his blood to atone for his sins. Herein lies the problem: Man is not perfect. Man cannot atone for his sin.
There is only One who is not only willing to save and able to save, but he is the only one who has the power to save.
God came down from heaven, His Son, the Word of God, and became flesh and entered into our jacked up, messed up, broken world as God, but yet as a son, stepson, citizen, missionary, priest, and king. And by the word 'king', He did not appear as an all-powerful warrior-king figure. He did so, humbly and mildly, as a tiny infant. He didn't come into a wealthy family with all the resources at his fingertips. He was born into a poor working-class family of an out-of-wedlock pregnant junior girl and a stepdad. He didn't live in a big, huge metropolis where he could easily gain fame. No, he begins his life in a little rural small town, and he begins his life on the run, like a fugitive, because the ruler of that time wanted him dead.
He faced the same temptations that we did, yet he did not sin.
He faced the same brokenness, heartache, sadness, loneliness, poverty, loved ones being sick, loved ones with terminal diseases, and loved ones dying. He faced betrayal, distrust, fair-weather friends, and people who would cheer for him one moment, only to turn around and want to murder him the next. Just like any of us, but he did not sin.
He lived the life that we should have lived.
In doing so, he was the only one qualified to die the death that we should have died.
He was then stripped naked and then severely beaten, flogged, and whipped to within an inch of His life. His body was so shredded to a point that you could see bones, muscle, and guts underneath where there was skin, as His body was covered in blood. A crown of thorns shoved upon His head, His beard yanked off His face. He was spat upon, slapped, and mocked. His clothes and belongings were seized by the soldiers and bid upon in a game of craps. To top of all that, He was made to carry a wooden cross up a hill. There, upon that same, He would be nailed to that cross with spikes about 12 inches long through both wrists and one through both of his feet. They raised the cross into a hole in the ground.
Jesus Christ is then crucified.
His body drained out of his blood, sweat, tears, urine, and feces that gathered into a pool at the bottom of His cross. He faced the scorching heat of the day and the freezing coldness of the night. His bones never broken but just to be sure that Jesus was surely dead, a soldier stuck a spear through his ribcage straight into His heart where blood and water poured out.
It was at that moment that Jesus became every single sin ever committed by anyone who has put their faith and trust in God alone. Since the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God, to every sin that is being committed today, to every sin that will ever be committed, to the end of time by those God calls His people. In essence, He became a murderer, a rapist, a child molester, a thief, a hacker, a liar, a pornstar, an extreme fundamentalist, and a tax evader. He became religious, bitter, deceptive, gluttonous, lustful, lazy, idolatrous, and prideful. Not only did He bear the weight of all of the sins for all of His people, but He also bore all the sins ever committed against His people.
It was in that exact moment that His only begotten Son was indeed the only True Perfect Sacrifice, and that His Son had become all of our sins, God the Father unleashed His wrath upon His Son and killed Him. That wrath was meant for you and me. We were meant to die that way. But because God loves us so much, Jesus Christ stood in our place and took the full force of God's wrath that was meant for His people. It was in that moment that God the Father and God the Spirit turned their backs and forsook God the Son, for Christ alone was capable of bearing the weight of His people's sins, those who would believe and trust Him for eternal life.
Hebrews 2:17–18 Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
1 John 2:2–3 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands.
1 John 4:10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God made Jesus to be the bearer of all the wrath that was in store for us. Listen, if you think that the wrath of God is contained in fire out of the heavens that takes our temporal life on earth, think less of that and think about being separated from the love of God forever. That is called hell.
But with God's will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ knew us so intimately and loved us so dearly, gave his life up and faced the wrath of the Father and the forsaking of the Triune God, and allowed his body to be broken so that we would be with Him forever.
This work was done once. Only once. We don't need to crucify Christ again.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.
For those who are in Christ, God is not out to get you. God is not out to pour his wrath on you. Will God discipline you if you try to go astray? That is to be sure. That is because He is your Father in heaven who loves you and would only do what any good Father would do, but do so without shame, condemnation, abuse, torment, or affliction. He would do so in perfect love, gentleness, and kindness, never leaving you nor forsaking you forever.
But Christ, with his life and his love, protects and saves His people so that God can make all things right-standing with Himself.
If I love thee, my soul shall seek thee,
but can I seek thee unless my love to thee is kept alive to this end?
Do I love thee because thou art good,
and canst alone do me good?It is fitting thou shouldest not regard me,
for I am vile and selfish;
yet I seek thee,
and when I find thee there is no wrath to devour me,
but only sweet love.Thou dost stand as a rock between the scorching sun and my soul,
and I live under the cool lee-side as one elect.1
The Scriptures
Leviticus 6:28 A clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled is to be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it is to be scoured and rinsed with water.
Isaiah 53:1–12 Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the LORD has punished him for the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully. Yet the LORD was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the LORD’s pleasure will be accomplished. After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.
Psalm 22:1–31 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest. But you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted in you; they trusted, and you rescued them. They cried to you and were set free; they trusted in you and were not disgraced. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by people. Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads: “He relies on the LORD; let him save him; let the LORD rescue him, since he takes pleasure in him.” It was you who brought me out of the womb, making me secure at my mother’s breast. I was given over to you at birth; you have been my God from my mother’s womb. Don’t be far from me, because distress is near and there’s no one to help. Many bulls surround me; strong ones of Bashan encircle me. They open their mouths against me— lions, mauling and roaring. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed; my heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength is dried up like baked clay; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You put me into the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people look and stare at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. But you, LORD, don’t be far away. My strength, come quickly to help me. Rescue my life from the sword, my only life from the power of these dogs. Save me from the lion’s mouth, from the horns of wild oxen. You answered me! I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters; I will praise you in the assembly. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! All you descendants of Israel, revere him! For he has not despised or abhorred the torment of the oppressed. He did not hide his face from him but listened when he cried to him for help. I will give praise in the great assembly because of you; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear you. The humble will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him. May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before you, for kingship belongs to the LORD; he rules the nations. All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down; all those who go down to the dust will kneel before him— even the one who cannot preserve his life. Their descendants will serve him; the next generation will be told about the Lord. They will come and declare his righteousness; to a people yet to be born they will declare what he has done.
Lamentations 3:1–24 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light. Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand against me all day long. He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken my bones. He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have been dead for ages. He has walled me in so I cannot get out; he has weighed me down with chains. Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer. He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked. He is a bear waiting in ambush, a lion in hiding. He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces; he left me desolate. He strung his bow and set me as the target for his arrow. He pierced my kidneys with shafts from his quiver. I am a laughingstock to all my people, mocked by their songs all day long. He filled me with bitterness, satiated me with wormwood. He ground my teeth with gravel and made me cower in the dust. I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. Then I thought, “My future is lost, as well as my hope from the LORD.” Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison. I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, “The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.”
Luke 18:13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
Luke 23:44–49 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three, because the sun’s light failed. The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle. And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what happened, he began to glorify God, saying, “This man really was righteous!” All the crowds that had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, went home, striking their chests. But all who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Romans 3:21–26 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
1 John 4:10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Revelation 19:11–12 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself.
Bennett, Arthur, ed. "Love to Jesus". The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975.