15 Amazing Verbs

I wasn't going to blog today. I finished the 8 Colors of God's Grace and hadn't decided what to do next. Then I read Isaiah 53:3-7

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on

him the iniquity of us all. 

I read the verbs in these verses and they affected me like never before.

Despised                         Rejected                       Man of Sorrows

Suffered                          Ignored                         Dishonored

Took my infirmities      Carried my sins           
Stricken

Smitten                           Afflicted                       Pierced

Crushed                          Punished                      Wounded

These are just any old verbs. They describe the horror that Jesus endured for me - for you!

And the most astonishing thing of all is the last part of verse 7. Look at it again and let the words soak in:

And the LORD has laid on

him the iniquity of us all.   

The LORD - the great I AM - allowed this suffering.! In fact, He planned it. It was His sovereign will. Why??

His love for us was greater than saving the life of His Son. 

Does that fact astound you?
How does it give you total assurance of His love?