I love Thy cross, Your surgeon’s knife cleans deep each poisoned wound
By suffering all our maladies, sin’s cursed thorns You prune
Take heed, disciple, bear thy cross, by His stripes we are healed
And in those wounds we carry still, His glory is revealed

I hope to shepherd the hurting with this verse and the Cross’s restoration. The profound significance of the cross’s impact is vitally important to the Gospel because every one of us has been wounded beyond our own repair, and not one of us has been wounded as deeply as Jesus. This is difficult to accept, especially for those who are still going through the anger, depression, and soul-sickness that our wounds bring. Here, I hope to offer you a light for your journey in this dark tunnel.

When Jesus died upon the cross, He took upon Himself all the brokenness and wounds of all the world—the verbal, emotional, and physical abuse of close and distant enemies who were supposed to love him. In a moment in time, He showed what the Father has endured for millennia. The more you look at the grotesqueness of what He endured there, the more comfort there is in what you endure. But like those bit by the serpents in the wilderness in Numbers 21, the only way you can be healed is by choosing to look up at Him on that cross, and look hard.

Every blow He took was for your healing, and the healing of the ones who wounded themselves by hurting you. He experienced the depth of life’s sorrow and loss to be with you in the depth of your own loss and sorrow. He did not cheapen it, like some who pass over the cross to the resurrection. He didn’t let what He experienced be forgotten. His glorified body still bore the marks of His betrayal, His agony, and His humiliation. But now victorious, these scars bear a greater glory in life eternal. His story is immortalized not only in our memories but in His own body at the Father’s right hand, interceding for us still.

And for the suffering to come, He also offers greater grace. Sin’s cursed thorns tear at every aspect of our lives—relational, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, but they are no longer rampant or unchecked. There is a bottom to the abyss from which He arose. There is a refuge in the thicket where the animals hide in safety. There is a cleft in the rock. And because Christ’s suffering came to mean so much forever, there is joy and hope for us that our stories will result in something greater, something more truly glorious that presently makes no sense at all. But this can only be if we are willing to commit our wounds on our own, our suffering for others’ sake, our unconscionable memories to the Lord, and trust Him to bring about something good. As Joseph told his retribution-fearing brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” We won’t be told why, but we will be shown His glory when we see and touch His wounds in person at last. Until that day, let our hearts be kept tender by recognizing His suffering, so we can recognize and sympathize with others in their suffering, so that they might see the glory of total trust in Him ablaze in our still-beating hearts.

Reflection Questions:

• What have you suffered that you feel like nobody else can understand?
• What makes it hard to look to God when you’re hurting?
• In what ways have you seen God bring good out of the terrible things you have suffered so far?