So, how does it feel to be crushed? The dictionary describes it as “being deformed, pulverized, or forced inward by compression”. Ouch!! Also, it’s “feeling overwhelmingly, disappointed or embarrassed”. So sad! Throughout one’s lifetime there will be different circumstances that afford the opportunity to be crushed…physically, emotionally, even financially.
Some examples are… how you feel when the girl of your dreams terminates the relationship by text. Or you were trying out for cheerleader or a sport and weren’t chosen. You were waiting to be asked to the prom by a certain boy, and he chose someone else. At the office, you had worked so hard for this promotion, but they gave it to another person less qualified. The real estate or stock market went into a severe recession, and you were wiped out financially. A tragic accident and you lost loved ones. Maybe your marriage fell apart at the seams. One of your children made a gender changing decision. Or you lost a championship in the last second. Crushed, to say the least. There are thousands of others.
But there was a crushing event in history that changed the direction of humankind forever. It was by design because we, as fallen sinners, had rebelled and become enemies of God through our sin nature. Recently, I’ve been really focusing on the cross in what Christ went through as well as the Father’s plan and our involvement. Scripture is very clear. “For our sake, he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5.21 The he is the Father, and him is Jesus, and yes, our is us. Jesus was not just put on a cross as the Son of God and Son of Man and crucified. There’s a lot more to it and we see it in this verse. God made his Son sin.
Think deeply about this. Jesus, who knew no sin, the perfect Son, while on the cross, was turned into the sin of the world…past, present and future. Yours, mine, and everyone else’s. Why? Because God had to crush sin once and for all, for us and his kingdom. Centuries before, Isaiah prophesied what was to happen. “Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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.” Isa. 53.4,5
Stricken, smitten, afflicted, and yes, crushed! Sin had to be destroyed once and for all in order for God’s wrath to be satisfied, and in order for us to be reconciled to him. Just imagine your head lying on an anvil, and a powerful man crushes your head with a sledgehammer. That’s what Jesus endured because he had been made to be sin. And yes, by his Father. “And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.” Isa. 53.9,10a
And the results of him being crushed are eternal. In the resurrected Christ, we have peace with God, we have become the righteousness of God, and we are healed!! What a Lord, what a Savior! May I have a “Yes, and Amen”?