Tears Turned To Triumph (By Gary Patterson)

 

Tears Turned To Triumph (By Gary Patterson) 

 "He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." (Isaiah 53:3) 

 How could the Son of God be described by the prophet Isaiah, in this way? This divine person who came from the place where we hope to live someday. A place of eternal peace and joy. A place that as the writer of Revelation says: "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4) 

 Why would the Son Of God, coming from this blissful, blessed place, be a person of rejection, sorrow and grief? Well, He became this person, because of how the world received Him. The first part of Isaiah's description is that "He was despised, and rejected by men." 

 I hate to say it concerning our nation, but many in our country have received this type of treatment as well. We don't just disagree with one another, we despise, and reject one another. That's why our nation is so divided. It is not just been observed in the presidential campaign for the White House, but in many areas of our social society. 

 We can relate to how our Savior felt when He came into the world, and wept over Jerusalem because He came to gather the people to Him, "as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."(Matthew 23:37) It tore Him up to see the condition of man-kind because of selfishness and sin. But even more so, that He came to bring salvation, and the world would not have any of it. 

 So you ask, why are you making us feel bad, why are you telling us this? Because the Lord knows the feeling we have, as we see our Country in a very sad, divided, desperate condition. He weeps, as we weep over America. Our words of help and encouragement may not be accepted, and our discouragement may be deep. But Jesus tells us this: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) 

 The man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, became our very victorious, and triumphal Savior. May our tears be turned to joy, because for us, and for America, in Jesus there is hope! GP 

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