Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Way of the Cross (30)

Is God forgetful? That's the question that Zion, the city of God was asking. To all intents and purposes, it looked as if God had forgotten them. When the prophet Isaiah writes chapter 49, he is looking ahead to the time of the exile and return from exile. Jersualem, his city, could soon be destroyed. It would look as if God had forsaken and forgotten.

So how does the LORD reply? What is the answer to this charge of forgetfulness on God's part?

Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
(Isaiah 49:15-16)

The Lord had them inscribed or engraved on his hands. Similarly, when we ask if the Lord Jesus could ever forget us or forsake us, we're brought to the same reassurance - the palms of his hands bear the engraving of his love for us. Those wounds of love are a permanent sign of his unchanging love for us.

Amazingly and wonderfully, the resurrection body of Jesus continues to bear those scars. Those marks of sacrifice are our comfort; the wounds of the cross are for our joy and peace. I will never leave you nor forsake you, declares the Lord (Heb 13:5)

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