When we are meditating upon the agonies of Christ upon the cross it may be helpful to revisit the narratives of judgment upon Israel that are found in the Old Testament.
One of the things we say (quite rightly) is that Jesus suffered the punishment our sins deserved – but what exactly was that?
Ezekiel 22 may be helpful here. God lists all the sins and iniquities of the covenant people:
- Shedding of blood
- Disrespect for parents
- Mistreatment of immigrants
- Disregard for worship
- Slander and character assassination
- Gross idolatry
- Sexual immorality of all kinds
- Bribery and graft
- Extortion and mercenary lending
- Neglect of personal religion
Then he describes how he will deal with those sins:
“As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have poured out my wrath upon you.” (Ezekiel 22:20–22 ESV)
This is what we Jesus experienced for us on the cross!
Hell.
Fire.
Judgment.
Wrath.
And he did it lovingly!
Hallelujah!
What a Savior!
Thanks be to God!
SDG,
Pastor Paul Carter
To listen to Pastor Paul’s Into The Word devotional podcast visit the TGC Canada website; you can also find it on iTunes.