“The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, broken for you.’” 1 Corinthians 11:24
Broken. We ALL understand this word. We see it. We feel it. We ARE it. All of us, no matter how rich or poor, powerful or powerless, no matter our age, our gender, our status, or situation in life…we all have tasted the bitterness of brokenness.
A broken marriage
A broken family
A broken heart
A broken life
And it’s here, in our brokenness, where the good news of Christianity sets it apart from all the other religions of the world and even from all rational expectations of human thought and understanding; The Son of God, the Creator of the stars and planets, galaxies and universe, the all-powerful, all-knowing, Almighty Savior was BROKEN for you and me.
Think about that. Let that sink in for a moment.
“Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-7
Why did Jesus allow Himself to be broken for us? So He could help us put the pieces of our broken lives and souls back together again.
This is the life Jesus Christ encountered one morning while he was walking through the city of Jerusalem. The roosters hadn’t even finished their morning calls when a group of men - more like a mob - came dragging a shocked and disheveled woman right into Jesus’ path. According to her accusers, she had just been caught in the sinful act of adultery. She didn’t try to deny it. The men didn’t really care about justice, and they certainly didn’t care about the woman and her eternal soul. They just wanted to see if Jesus would uphold the law and condemn her. He forgave her instead and she embraced it. (Of course, the men didn’t realize who Jesus was and that He was fulfilling all of the law with his sinless life and satisfying God’s wrath against all sin with his death on the cross.) The irony of this moment is that the broken woman was made whole from her encounter with Jesus, while all those self-righteous and judgmental men walked away with their souls still fractured and incomplete.
Forgiveness and restoration are available to ALL who will simply confess that they have gone astray and need it. This is why pride is really the most dangerous position of all.
”If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
Bring your brokenness to God. He already knows all about it anyway. Bring it to Him and lay it down. Let Him take it all. Let Him show you things about Who He is and who you are that will change the way you view the world and your place within it - that will take your deepest pains and most troubling thoughts and beliefs and replace them with His peace - that will transform the broken pieces of your life into a freeing, purposeful, and deeply satisfying way of living. Only God can turn the tragedy of sin, brokenness, and death into the triumph of forgiveness, wholeness, and abundant life!
“And Jesus said to the man, 'Arise and go your way; your faith has made you whole.’” Luke 17:19,
Comments