What is the Gospel?

Isaiah 53:4-6 (HSCB)

“Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.”

We deserve hell. We deserve God’s anger and wrath. We deserve to be thrown into the outer darkness completely separated from His holy light.

Yet, here we stand, in His grace and forgiveness. We don’t have to face that reality because God chose to save us from ourselves. Jesus came to earth – He left His throne in glory – to die for us. He took our sin, our rebellion, onto His shoulders.

Jesus knew we would reject Him. He knew that we would still choose the world and our sin over the cross. He knew we would regularly tell Him that what He did wasn’t good enough – that we want something else. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him (John 18:2-4), Peter would deny Him (Luke 22:31-34), and the people would free Barabas instead of Him (Luke 23:18&19). He knew the guards would mock Him, spit at Him, whip Him, and beat Him (John 19:1-3).

He knew His own Father would turn His face from Him because of the sin He bore. Because of our sin that He bore.

But, He came down anyway.

That’s what gets me the most. Jesus didn’t walk into the situation blindly. He didn’t have a false idea of how it was going to go. He knew exactly what would happen and how He was going to suffer for the very people sacrificing Him. He knew so clearly that He sweats blood the night before the cross – He begs the Lord to let this cup pass Him by. Because He knows! He knows exactly what’s coming and He knows it’s going to be excruciating.

And then, once again, He does what He doesn’t have to do. He tells His Father, “Not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42-44)

Despite the horrific anxiety and what He’s about to suffer, He chooses to follow God. He chooses to die because He desired our forgiveness.

Jesus desired you.

Jesus desired me.

So He went that night with guards quietly. He faced Pilate without a fight. He didn’t scream and cry when the crowd sentenced Him to the cross. He carried His cross as far as He was able – never looking for a way out. Never cursing the people killing Him. He faced the full wrath and rejection of God because He didn’t want us to have to.

Even though that’s what we deserve.

That is the beauty of the gospel.