Christ Delighted to Save
Christ Delighted to Save
11/10 Reading Portions: 2 Kings 23; Hebrews 5; Joel 2; Psalm 142
Psalm 141:5
Let a righteous man strike me— it is a kindness; let him rebuke me— it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
After spending His last Passover meal with His disciples, after praying in the garden, when the Lord was arrested, He had been sleepless for nearly 24 hours. He was led before accusers at three Jewish trials: first, at the home of Annas; then at the home of Caiaphas; finally, in the morning, at the Sanhedrin, where the Lord was officially condemned by the Jews. During this time, Jesus was mocked, spat upon, beaten with fists, beaten with rods, and his beard was pulled completely off of His face (Isa 50:6). After these first three trials, Jesus was conveyed to three Roman trials: the first, with Pontius Pilate; the second with Herod; and the last, again with Pontius Pilate. During those last three trials, Jesus was beaten and mocked even more, and then finally scourged until He was unrecognizable as a human being (Isa 52:14). Though we recognize His physical sufferings did not atone for man’s sins, it was a necessary part of His redemptive work. The ravaging of the Lord physically not only demonstrated how depraved and sinful mankind was, but it also demonstrated Christ’s great delight to save souls. Our verse today tells us of this truth. Jesus is the only righteous Man who has ever lived. All others have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23); and the best of our righteous deeds are filthy rags when compared to Christ’s (Isa 64:6). Christ was struck and rebuked by unrighteous men, yet because the truth of imputed righteousness from the cross is so powerful, Jesus cries out through the psalmist as if wicked sinners, like you and me, so we may have His righteousness place on our account. Fulfilling His Father’s will through the salvation of souls by the cross was so glorious to Christ, He delighted in His afflictions and sufferings as a kindness from the Father and as a blessed anointing from the Spirit. Moreover, Jesus despised the shame of sin so vehemently, He endured the cross for the joy of our salvation set before Him (Heb 12:2) and continues to pray against men’s evil deeds to the uttermost in order to save them (Heb 7:25). Hallelujah! What a Savior!
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