~ By His Stripes ~

...and with his stripes we are healed   (Isa 53:5)

... And when the day finally came... Oh, that day ... my spirit still feels the pain.   Where were we?  Those of us who loved Him so ... Where were we?   Invisible - unseen - hidden in the shadows - fear gripping our hearts and minds.  

From our hiding places we watched ---

They led Him to that awful place, they mocked Him, they spat upon Him - hurling words of anger and hatred through the agonizing - timeless - air. 

I saw the biggest, the most vicious one - he picked up the tool of his trade - the one he so loved to work with.  He walked toward Him - for a moment, gazing upon His face - and for that moment - time stood still - I could see the fear and the awe when he recognized the One who stood before him.  I thought, "It will stop, they will let Him go - they will understand who He is. Surely they will change their minds."  

But - - - no.  It was not to be.

Instead he raised that weapon of pain and suffering above his head and with all the force his muscled arm could gather - he brought it down - down upon the back of the One I had promised to follow - the One who knew me like no other - the One who had comforted me.   Now where was I when He needed me? 

His body automatically wrenched itself away from the blow increasing the damage done to His flesh - flesh torn open - blood flying from the weapon as it was pulled up and readied for the next assault.  Again it came down - even harder than before. I saw the face of the aggressor - twisted into an evil grin - feeling his power, he continued - celebrating the defeat of the One who now was in his grasp! 

I could not bare it.  I covered my eyes as I moved farther back into the shadows - my heart broken with the pain - I had all I could do to keep from screaming out.

But - - I could not.  I could not say a word, I could not stand up for Him. 
I could do nothing.

I remember the look on His face as His body was being torn - as His blood flew in the air - it covered all those close enough to see Him.  How strange, the look on His face - through momentary contractions of pain - there was a peace I had never before seen in a man.  A look that transcended all that was going on around Him. It was a look that revealed the Person He was.  I shall never forget it. Though hidden - I was close enough to see Him clearly.  His eyes - His eyes spoke without a word, the most wonderful love and forgiveness.

Even now - in this time of seeming defeat - I was drawn to Him - I could not leave.  

As I looked upward more and more droplets of His precious blood flew through the air - carried through eternity they landed on me. 

I shall never be the same.

by pj pettit ~1998

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