Friday, August 19th
Jesus prayed, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do".
Luke 23:34

In obedience to the command given them the Roman soldiers hammered in the nails which bound My hands and feet to the cross of suffering and redemption. The act was duty , the spirit in which the act was done was personal.. So there was guilt or outraged innocence in every blow of the hammer. But even where the outrage was felt and hated as an act of inhumanity to man, the awful truth of the truly terrible act was not even dimly perceived.

Every act of inhumanity is a nailing to the cross of the Son of Man. He suffers doubly in each and every one, first for the pain inflicted and secondly for the deep spiritual hurt sustained by the one inflicting the hurt. No human who has ever lived can even begin to comprehend the suffering encountered by the Son of Man in His suffering world

But the whole process of suffering and of sin, innocently and vicariously borne has been worked and lived through even to resurrection and risen life. So joy is the obverse side of suffering and the suffering can be borne , for it is temporary, swallowed up in the glory of eternal life.

As the Master so the servant. Pain and suffering, incurred for whatever reason , accepted (where it cannot be relieved), and lived through in trust and in love can turn the crown of thorns into a triumphant crown in union with the purpose and victory of Him who lived and suffered all through to eternity.