When Jesus went through His trials, suffering beatings and scourging and ridicule, then being nailed on that cross – those participating and watching actually thought He was being punished by God for His sins.  This was foretold by Isaiah.

(NASB) Isaiah 53:4b “…Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

What about you?  If you had been an observer in that crowd that day, would you have thought that also?  People then and people today do not understand what was really happening…

(NASB) 1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

It was your sins and mine for which He was being punished…not His sins (for He was without sin!).  It was for His executioners’ sins for which He died.

Can you imagine such a thing?!

This God of the Bible has higher thoughts than you or I do…our limited understanding so often is actually misunderstanding of God’s purposes and plans.

Easter is on April 24th this year, how will you approach this holy season?