The “ pain” before the healing….

 The “ pain “ before the healing…

Sometimes things have to get worse before the better…

Cases in point…

1. Recently I had some renovation done to my kitchen…well, that meant the kitchen had to be cleaned out, stuff stacked around, construction paraphernalia and clean up, then everything put back together…but much better…

2. Experiencing a bit of pain in one hand from traumatic arthritis stemming from caring and lifting my husband during his cancer, I finally had surgery this week…have been putting it off because I knew there would be a lot more surgery pain to deal with before the healing…even though I knew it would make it better….had aLready had one done…

(I know my kitchen and hand are nothing compared to the third case in point, but are tiny reminders of the pain before healing)… 

3. Jesus….this week of commemoration of Jesus trials, his ridicule, his torture, his death, burial and resurrection…he knew the pain was coming, he knew the whole scenario but chose, for our sake, to face it because he knew the reason, the outcome….the victory….because He loves us…

Thank YOU….

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 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. 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, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:6-12 

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Luke 22:39-44

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 

And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 

Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 

And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 

Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 

And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 

So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 

He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 

He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. 

For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 

And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. 

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 

And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 

But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 27:31-50,28:6,19-20

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:54-58 

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Hebrews 12:2-3