December 25 Daily Devotional

Bible Readings:

Isaiah 53:3-6, 10-12, New International Version:
³He 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.
⁴Surely he took up our infirmities
   and carried our sorrows,
   yet we considered him stricken by God,
   smitten by him, and afflicted.
⁵But 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.
⁶We 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....
¹⁰Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
   and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
   he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
¹¹After the suffering of his soul,
   he will see the light of life and be satisfied ;
   by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
   and he will bear their iniquities.
¹²Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
   and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
   because he poured out his life unto death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors.
   For he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.

Matthew 16:21, NIV:
²¹From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Mark 8:31, NIV:
³¹He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

Luke 9:22, NIV:
²²And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

Luke 24:25-27, 44-47, NIV:
²⁵He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
⁴⁴He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem...."

Hebrews 9:23-28, NIV:
²³It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. ²⁵Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

1 Peter 1:10-12, NIV:
¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, ¹¹trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. ¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Devotional:

That "sacred head now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down" is often the object of admiration in sentimental art and verse. And he who views the Scriptural account of the Saviour's suffering and his death upon Calvary with a mind enlightened by the Holy Spirit deplores the exclusive emphasis of many modern writers on the physical suffering of the lowly "man" of Galilee. Christ Jesus did not die a martyr's death, though He was surely abused for His insistence upon truth in opposition to the established majority opinion of His day. But cheapened and degraded is the Bible's doctrine of the work of Christ when the atonement for the sins of men is omittcd from the explanation of His suffering. In that subslitutionary sacrifice to satisfy Divine justice and reconcile lost men to God lies the heart of the gospel. Eyes of faith rejoice to see in the Lord's passion a completed redemption, salvation from the guilt and power of sin.

Yet once a year, like the daughters of Jerusalem, the world laments the crucifixion but fails to appreciate the central meaning of it all. The historic scene at Golgotha is not forgotten at this season of the year, but the "place of a skull" is pictured not in sombre colors of shame but in pastels of man-made glory. The bitter shame of the Cross, that humiliation endured by Christ, shall never be fully realized by man. But it is that undeserved shame that gives the Cross its God-ordained significance for the sons of Adam. In the midst of our reflection upon our Saviour's sacrifice we may be moved not only to tears but also to rejoicing. There is in Christ's suffering our release from suffering.

However, a forgiven sinner may never exult in his finished salvation without remembering the price paid both in bodily and mental anguish by the Son of God. Saints of all ages have had their eyes melt with tears at the sight of His dear Cross. Cold indeed is that heart which is unmoved by meditation upon the inhuman treatment wreaked upon the Lamb of God. If the earth did shake and the heavens darken in the midst of this awesome spectacle of the God-man's suffering torment inflicted by creatures of time and dust, then woe to that man whose sou! is not stirred to wonder at the meaning of it all. May the hearts of all God's people be "dissolved in thankfulness" for the great deliverance accomplished by His death. He whose heart cries out for relief from the burden of sin will weep at Calvary in repentance and in gratitude. In the words of the poet, Baron Von Huenefeld,

"He who has glimpsed the awful face of Death
  Can but confess Thy mercy and Thy might;
Who never bowed his heart before Thy cross,
  He never saw the unadulterate Light."

Exhaust the meaning of our Saviour's passion we never shall. But we may note some of the striking facts about it. On the "green hill far away" the Creator is maltreated by His creatures. Hands which had tenderly healed wounded flesh are torn by nails. The source of living water cries out in thirst. The nature which has never felt the guilt of sin bears the guilt of the sin of many. The lawgiver is judged by the law. The author and giver of life now submits to death. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the straying sheep. Passively yet most actively the Son of God dies. The new covenant is scaled in His blood.

But drops of grief, pilgrimages, fastings, prayers, or good works will never pay that debt of love we owe. Look long and earnestly at that Cross, beyond to the empty Tomb, and up to heaven and meet the demands of amazing love in the complete surrender of soul, life, and all to the Lover of your soul.

We are very happy to make available to you this month these devotionals by the late Rev. LeRoy B. Oliver. They originally appeared in The Presbyerian Guardian during the late 1940's.

The description of his "Your Family Altar" page in The Presbyterian Guardian also fits this Web page: "The page is designed for both private and family use, whichever is most convenient in your case. If you do not have family worship in your home, we hope you will begin, and suggest using these readings. They should not, however, take the place of reading books of the Bible, or the Bible itself, through in regular course." It is those who abide (continue) in the Word who are truly Christ's disciples, who know the truth, and who experience freedom in Him (John 8:31-32). May these devotionals be used for the building up of God's people and to the glory of God.