How fickle the crowds were. How fickle I can be. The crowds adored Him on Palm Sunday, and by Friday, they were yelling, “Crucify Him!”  Yet, in my own life, it is easy to praise Him when things go well, and become angry when life goes sour. What I so easily forget is that God has a plan, and sometimes it includes hard things.

Hundreds of years before Jesus entered humanity in a trough cradle, the prophet Isaiah spoke about the Messiah’s purpose and His sorrows:

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:1-6, NIV)

Clearly, God had an intentional plan from the very beginning. A plan to rescue and redeem humanity. A plan of forgiveness for all who believe. Christ’s death wasn’t a mistake or an afterthought, it was a Good Plan. In fact, later in this same passage, Isaiah reassured God’s people:

But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins. (Isaiah 53:10,11, NLT)

God’s good plan included both pain and victory. Jesus’ death on the cross was deliberate and purposeful. Because He loves us, He gave His life on our behalf. Our response is to believe and to trust Him.

This Holy week, as we observe His loving and ultimate sacrifice, let us fall to our knees in worship and thanksgiving. Let us proclaim this good news to all who will hear. And let us recognize that God has a good plan, not only for humanity, but for our lives personally. He can redeem even our biggest troubles.

Reflective questions:

In what area of your life do you need to trust God’s good plan for you?

Do you believe Jesus gave His life on your behalf?