Have you ever watched someone die? It can be disturbing and troubling. But in some situations death can be peaceful and beautiful. Some die well through their peace with God. Some demonstrate unwavering trust in Jesus’ divine plan and timing. Some overflow loving words overflowing even through their final breaths.
Watch Jesus. Hear the prophecies from Isaiah, written over 700 years ahead of Easter. Listen in to and watch Jesus as He fulfills these prophecies, walking with intentional courage to His own death out of love. May Jesus’ death guide us in each day, but also into our final days.
May we learn the wisdom of silence. Let’s be slow to speak and quick to listen, that our words may be few but powerful.
Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth” (ESV)
Matthew 27:14 “But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.”
May we live in holiness and righteousness. Let’s speak, act, think, and feel in ways that the presence of God within us is undeniable.
Isaiah 53:9 “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”
Matthew 27:23 “And he (Pilate) said, ‘Why? What evil has he done?' But they shouted all the more, ‘Let him be crucified!’”
May we trust in God’s plan and timing for our suffering and death. Let’s find God’s grace and power sufficient to sustain us in the trials of life and death.
Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt”
Matthew 27:50 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.”
May we live and die out of a love for God and the salvation of others. Let’s humbly consider the needs of others as more important than our own.
Isaiah 53:11 “the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
May we petition the Lord for His forgiveness to fall on our family, friends, coworkers, and community. Let’s aim for our lives and our deaths to point everyone around us to the amazing Good News of Easter Sunday: we find hope and life through the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus!
Isaiah 53:12 “he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Luke 23:34 “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’”
1 Timothy 2:5 “there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (ESV)
Easter is coming. Eternity is coming. May we be ready to meet our Lord and Creator!
p.s. If you enjoyed these, I think you would really love John Piper’s Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die (free here: www.desiringgod.org/books/fifty-reasons-why-jesus-came-to-die )