Here is the Man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the Lord. It is He Who will build the temple of the Lord, and He will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on His throne. He will be a priest on His throne, and there will be harmony between His two roles: King and Priest (Zechariah 6:12-13).
Like a tender shoot, He grew with no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him. Nothing in His appearance that we should desire. Despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. We esteemed Him not, for He was like one from whom men despised and hid their faces.
Surely, He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows! Yet, He was considered stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. But Jesus, He was pierced for our transgressions! He was crushed for our iniquities! The punishment that brought us peace with God was upon Him! By His wounds we are healed! (Isaiah 53:2-5).
Jesus so loved the Father, He made Himself as nothing, taking the very nature of a servant in the likeness of man. Though the Word by very nature is God, Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. Instead, He humbled Himself under the mighty hand of the Father (Philippians 2:6-8a) to make known the Word of God is right and true and faithful in all He does (Psalm 33:4).
Every time I sit to write or prepare for a podcast, I ask Holy Spirit “What would you like to say?” After I read those verses, Holy Spirit shared this thought, when a catastrophic event like 9/11 occurs people remember what they were doing. Well, the cruelty that was inflicted on Jesus has the same response in heaven. So much is stirred within. So much to reflect on. But what rose above the shock and horror at what the Lord endured – awe, wonder, a complete immersion in the beauty and splendor and glory of Jesus.
The prophets that told this time would come asked a lot of questions about the gift of Life God was preparing (Message). They wondered when and to whom all this would happen. What happened to Jesus has been preached to us in the power of the same heaven-sent Holy Spirit Who spoke to them; and it is all so strange and wonderful that even the angels in heaven would give a great deal to know more about it (1 Peter 11-12 TLB). How people would become immersed in the beauty and splendor and glory of Jehovah Sabaoth – The Lord of Hosts.
How would mankind come to know such overflowing love. To know the depths of such love, that transforms the battered into a company of the elite. God’s love, His mercy and His grace will make a strong nation out of the long lost, a showcase exhibit of God’s Word in action (Micah 4:7 Message), for surely the blood of Christ has the power to transform lives and hearts (Hebrews 9:14 TLB) so those who chose to serve the Lord could join the choir of holy angels to sing anthems to God’s faithful ways (Psalm 89:5 Message).
Yet, this world of vice, of fear and self-centered vanity causes a coldness, a chilling to the bone. A heart destined to continue accusing God and others for the evil it produces. Did our heavenly Father, Whom some believe to be a bloodthirsty God, know how a heart tainted by pride and fear and sin could or would change Paradise into a Dog-Eat-Dog world? Sadly, He did.
God created a human heart from the dirt of the earth, and He knew it would plunder and ravish and rape. He also knew there would be hearts that would follow a different Spirit. God knew before the creation of the world how the blood of Christ would be shed (1 Peter 18-19) to do exactly what His Word said: I will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood (their life) in My sight (Psalm 72:14).
As a man Jesus’s blood transported oxygen and nutrients, it fought infection, it removed waste products and regulated body temperature. As God the blood He shed transports the Breath of Life. His blood provides sustenance from the Bread of Life. His blood releases the power of Holy Spirit to fight against what infects our soul so what is wasteful – everything that lacks faith in God’s Word – can be removed. The blood of Christ regulates the temperature of our soul by changing a hard and calloused heart hell-bent on remaining lawless into a warm and compassionate heart of flesh willing to be governed by heaven’s Wisdom.
People have scoured the earth for the fountain of life, when this discovery could have been made by looking inside. The pump for the fountain of life is the heart. The life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11a), which keeps our bodies alive. What nourishes our soul and gives our spirit Life is the blood of Christ. It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11b), the liquid love of God.
There is much that could be said on this subject of blood. God’s Word assures us the ways and the thoughts of God are not like ours. As a matter of fact, as high as the heavens God’s ways and His thoughts far surpass ours (Isaiah 55:8). Jesus was heard to say, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, they will find out whether My teachings to speak the truth in love come from God, or whether they further the scheming deceitful art of error (Ephesians 4:7 Wuest) by doing as man does, speaking on My own (John 7:17).
All this confusion and disorder occurs because sin separates us from God, And God is Love (1 John 4:16), Who says, “Come! Drink! Yes, drink abundantly of Love, O precious one (SS 5:1 AMP). Sin prevents us from experiencing the sheer purity of Love. So, Jesus did what only He could do. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on the cross (Philippians 2:8) to make known the paths of Life. Jesus explained, “I tell you these things, so in Me (the Word of Truth) you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But, take heart! I have overcome the world,” John 16:33.
How can our heart grow cold, indifferent, complacent, disbelieving, doubting, ignoring God’s Word. When God desires to free us from the agonies of Death as He did for Jesus. Because unlike the Lord, Death will keep its hold on us (Acts 2:24). Paul shared the love of God as Holy Spirit inspired: Out of great sorrow and deep distress of heart, with many tears, I write not to cause you pain but to make you realize how greatly you are loved (2 Corinthians 2:4 AMP).
When a person turns to God, they come to Jesus Himself, the only Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:t), and He presents to us a New Covenant. For the murder of Jesus, unlike Abel’s – a homicide whose blood cried out for vengeance – the blood of Christ became a proclamation of Grace (Hebrews 12:24 Message), of Forgiveness, of unconditional Love.
God has exalted His Word to the highest place of honor, and why should we not do the same? God has given His Word the name that is above every name – such a wonderful name Jesus! And those who deal wisely by also setting the name of Jesus above their own, who heed (listen to, respect, conform to, obey) the counsel of God’s Word shall make amazing discoveries about the One Who is Good! For whoever leans on, trusts in, and is confident in the Lord – happy, blessed and fortunate are they (Proverbs 16:20 AMP).
Lord, stretch out Your hand to heal
And perform miraculous signs and wonders
Through the name of Your holy servant Jesus
Acts 4:29-30