One of the.greatest thing about being a Christian is knowing your own worth. That worth is not measured in gold or silver. It is measured in divine blood. Isn't it a conundrum that the almighty God could bleed, or that He would take on the vulnerability and the mortality to provide us the assurance of eternal life. But that is exactly what Jesus did on the Cross. He replaced our self loathing with His love. That is even more real on Good Friday. Growing up I always thought why the day when someone died is celebrated as good. The day is definitely not good when you are led in public after severe flogging, humiliation and subjected to capital punishment without having a fair trial. I did not know God's plan. I only knew the punishment. It was too much for me to understand at that point of time that the punishment that Jesus bore was mine and yours.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isa 53:5)
All throughout His life Jesus had a one point agenda and it is enviable because Jesus knew the purpose of His life. It was to do the will of the one who sent Him. That was His sustenance. I often wonder how it would be if we all knew the exact purpose for what we were created. But then again that would take away something fundamental. It would take away free will which is a gift of God. Life would be very easy if God did not make us choose Him. But Jesus knew His purpose and goal because He enjoyed a relationship with God that we do not. His day started with God and finished with God.
And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. (Luk 21:37)
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mar 1:35)
Jesus knew that He was the price that God was ready to pay for His love for us. and He was ready to pay that price. He was the scapegoat for our faults. How would you feel if you were made to be a scapegoat? I can assume that it won't be a good feeling. But Jesus took upon him that responsibility for our redemption, reconciliation and restoration. Because of His death I have been redeemed from the death I was put in by the Original Sin. I am reconciled with God and I am restored into the promise of eternal communion with God. The pronoun 'I' here takes a special significance. God is personal and Jesus is personal. He is not abstract or philosophical. The Word of God speaks to everyone indvidually and the Word made flesh too speaks to everyone individually.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Joh 1:14)
And when that all powerful Word of God became a curse because of our redemption that price cannot be measure in any physical quantity because that is a fraction of the infinite glory of God and a fraction of infinity is infinity. We are priceless and we have been paid for in full so that when Jesus says that 'It is finished' the Greek reads τελε´ω which means to pay. Jesus paid the price in full so that we may be redeemed.
We being His disciples need to bear our own crosses, go through our own lives, knowing that He died for us we need to live for Him.