Isaiah 50:6: “I gave My back to those who struck Me, / And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; / I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.”

September 13th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Although none of the gospel writers record that Jesus’ beard was pulled out, we believe it happened based on this prophecy made about the Messiah, 600 years before the event took place. Isaiah 53 says that the Messiah would be so beaten that he would be unrecognizable as a human being and that people would turn their face from Him. What could compel God the Son to leave heaven and submit Himself to such horrific treatment at the hands of His own creation?

During the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sentenced a young soldier to be shot to death for a crime he had committed. The execution was to take place at the ringing of the evening curfew bell. However, it did not sound because the soldier’s fiancée had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell, preventing it from sounding. When she was summoned to Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept before him, her hands bruised and bleeding. Cromwell’s heart was touched and he said, “Your lover shall live because of your sacrifice. Curfew shall not ring tonight!”

God the Son submitted Himself to a painful and humiliating death because He loves us so much. He took the whole penalty for our sins on Himself and paid for them. Jesus the Messiah took away the sins of the world; and He bears the marks of His love for us in His side, His feet, and His hands.

“LORD, we can only express our thanks by serving You faithfully, and we choose to do so this day.”