Take Heart
Jesus didn’t need to remind His disciples that trouble was coming. They had already experienced plenty of it—rejection, opposition, persecution. They had been shouted at, spat on, and chased out of towns for following Him.
Yet, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus still told them: Trouble is coming. Not just tomorrow, but in all the days ahead.
He wanted them to be prepared. He wants us to be prepared.
But look closer at what else He said: “Take heart.”
Why? Because peace is possible.
The gospel of John is full of Jesus’s most intimate, hope-filled words. He speaks of the Spirit’s presence, of His love for us, of His prayer on our behalf. There is peace to be found in what He says.
But even more than that—there is peace to be found in Him.
Jesus didn’t speak these words with hesitation. He knew what Friday would bring. He knew the weight of the cross. But He also knew that Sunday was coming. That death would not hold Him. That His victory was sure.
He has overcome. He is overcoming. He will overcome.
Your troubles are real—but they are not your master. Jesus is. And He has overcome the world.
His Pain, Our Gain
Isaiah 53 is a stunning chapter in the Bible—in what is now commonly referred to as the “Old Testament.”
Approximately 700 years before Jesus walked the earth, Isaiah prophesied about a suffering servant who would also, somehow and in some way, be exalted. A coming Savior, a future Redeemer, the long-awaited Messiah—whose death would ultimately bring life.
A portion of Isaiah 53 says this:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
So, who was this man who would be pierced, crushed, and wounded because of someone else’s sins? Whose undeserved punishment would be the catalyst for healing? Whose life would be given as an offering—so that others might live?
Jesus Christ not only fits the description of the suffering servant who paid the ultimate price to buy His people back, redeem them, and set them free—He ...
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