Some Thoughts On Bruising

It has become my practice to include a small portion of Luther's Small Catechism in my personal devotion time and today I found myself in that portion that speaks of redemption. One of the verses that Luther quotes concerning the benefits of redemption is found in Isa 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. The fact that Jesus was “bruised for our iniquities,” caught my attention because I am currently recuperating from knee replacement surgery. One of the ugly after affects of major orthopedic surgery is the bruising that is left behind. A great deal of violence has been done to my body and those deep purple splotches that appeared from the tip of my toes all the way up the back of my leg serve as a reminder of just how violent this surgery is! The good news of course is these bruises are temporary and with time will fade away. In like manner, sin, bruises our soul. Every iniquity, past, present, and future does violence to a soul that was meant to be pure, white, unblemished. These bruises don't fade away with time and they need to be dealt with. So Jesus comes along and He suffers a tremendous amount of violence to His body in the process of scourging and the crucifixion. How bruised His body must have been from the violence done to Him on our behalf! For it wasn't just my iniquity, but yours, and yes, the iniquity of the whole world! Even as we go through life today, we will commit sin. But we need not be bruised by it. Because Jesus died on the cross and was bruised for our iniquities we can confess our sins, knowing that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9) Imagine that! Sin violently bumping into my soul today and no mark left behind because of Jesus! How can we not bow down in thankful worship of such a wonderful Savior! I am so sorry Jesus for my sins that caused you such pain on the cross, and the thought occurs to me that the purple colors of the Lenten season are less connected to the color of royalty and more connected to the bruising that Jesus suffered on my behalf! It is the purpled, bruised body of Christ, hanging on that tree that allows God to see my soul sinless and white as snow!