03/31/2019
Some hold a crucifix, or gaze upon a painting of our Lord hanging in agony or death upon the cross, and shield themselves from the intensity of His suffering, and thus of the true extent of the price that was paid... they miss the sweet peace we should accept from His dying hand. Heaven forbid that we, like them, should look dismissively upon our salvation, or take it ever so lightly into our lives. Have you taken your gift of redemption, and turned your face from the wound of that moment, and the life it took to secure it; do you drink the watery sap from His side without weeping in a combination of sorrow and gratitude at the spectacle? Do you miss what should come to be the syrup of your faith?
“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.”
Isaiah 53:5 ESV
Easter is approaching ever so steadily, and like the changing season, the blossoms and the buds, which are our understanding of Christs’ suffering, should be swelling, filling with life from the very roots of our faith. His blood adorns us, and His flesh feeds our root... how sweet is the sap of the Holy Promise that flows from the wounds He has endured, and yet each tear comes with such pain, and from its misery a steady stream pouring out upon us, His blood mixed with His Holy essence... sweet and clear like water.
“But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.”
John 19:34-35 ESV
With the end of winter and the onset of spring the sap rises in the plants and trees, and with great pressure carries its sweetness into the uppermost branches as they reach towards heaven. We should approach Easter with the same upwelling and intensity. From the sound of fist-falls, the whipping post, the road of suffering, and the cross, flows the strength and renewal of our faith as witnessed by what gushes forth from every wound inflicted upon our Savior.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 ESV
In late winter and early spring sap is collected from thousands of maple trees across America. Each tree is wounded and from that wound a flow of thin sap runs like water into a bucket. It is clear with only a slight taste of sweetness and maple, but the buckets are carried from the trees and the sap rendered down over a fire until an intensely sweet and flavorful syrup remains. This is our faith, and this is a representation of the sweet flow from the side of Jesus... our vine... our trunk which supports us. Then over the course of our lives we refine His sacrifice from the cross through fiery trial until at last we have a syrup so intensely sweet that every hardship, and all of the suffering, is made worthwhile by the taste of the flavor and sweetness He has provided us. Yet in all the joy and satisfaction we find in the syrup, we should never forget that it all began with a wounded tree, and that when we look at the trunk of the great tree, there will be a scar that will forever remain... a reminder of what was suffered.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:24 ESV
So do we remember the wounds of Jesus, the price, the blood and water that flowed forth amidst His pain? Do we see the sacrifice and weep for Him? Do we taste the sweet love in His tribulation, and in our own trials find His sacrifice to be refined into a syrup that becomes all the sweeter as we too suffer?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the blood and water that pours from the wounds of your Son Jesus Christ, and for the sweet taste of the syrup we render from it... the rich flavor of your mercy and grace. Thank you Heavenly Father for the fruit of our branches which is fed by the vine of Christ, and for the strength you give us to bear the load of its sugary sweetness. Help us Holy Father to keep our eyes forever focused on the wounds of Jesus, and to understand the price that He paid to bring us to your table. Teach us to collect every sacrificial drop which flows from His body, and to refine it, as the sap of His sacrifice, into a delightfully flavorful syrup of redemption and grace. Witness our suffering, and how we treasure it as being the heat of our fire... more valuable than gold and jewels. In our suffering Merciful Father, remind us of the thickness and flavor we are being formed into, and place a taste of Christ upon our tongues as a reminder of what we will one day be... a jar of sweet pleasure within your hands.
“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.”
The Song of Solomon 2:4 ESV
Rich Forbes