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Shouldn’t Church be Happy?
I wasn't raised in the church. When I first attended church, I remarked at how often Jesus’ suffering and death were mentioned.
Isaiah 53:5
I wasn’t raised in the church. In fact, it was my now wife who invited me first to go when I was in high school. When I first attended church, I remarked at how often Jesus’ suffering and death were mentioned. I thought to myself, why are we talking so much about death and suffering? Isn’t church supposed to be a place that’s joyful and happy?
But it is only through the lens of the crucifixion that we see our true peace with God and know that Jesus has borne all of our sins for us. Isaiah wrote how Jesus the Messiah would suffer,
But it was because of our rebellion that he was pierced. He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5 EHV)
Why did Jesus go to the cross? He didn’t go because he was under some sort of a punishment. He had done nothing wrong. He only went for one purpose. He went to pay for sins. Sins are what separate us from a holy, just God. No actions we can do can pay for our own sins. Only the perfect life and innocent death of Jesus, who was both God and man, could do that for us.
Isaiah wrote, with his wounds we are healed. But healed from what exactly? We are healed from the sickness of sin that so permeates us. The Bible teaches that we are born in sin and that we sin from day number one, that we have done evil things and have failed to do good things. Jesus came to take away that sin, that sickness of sin that so lives within us. He has taken it and nailed it to the cross. And he went there willingly and joyfully, knowing that by his chastisement he would bring us peace.
Yes, the image of the crucifixion can be an uncomfortable one. It can be one that makes you wonder why? But the reason is because Jesus knew that with his wounds, just as Isaiah wrote, we would be healed from the great sickness that lives within us. That there will be nothing that separates us from a holy, just God. Jesus has given us peace by his sufferings and death. Amen.
