(Is.53:10-11; Ps.33:4-5,18-20,22; Heb.4:14-16; Mk.10:35-45) "We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God." And this is He who is both priest and victim, for "He gives His life as an offering for sin" – He Himself is our sacrifice. Here is one who is able "to sympathize with our weaknesses… one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin." Here is He who has suffered the affliction of our fallen state but to raise us up with Himself from the mire, from the lowly condition we have come to know as our own. Here is He who "give[s] His life as a ransom for many." But why? Why is the Lord "pleased to crush Him in His infirmity"? Why is our high priest so humbled in the sight of all? Why is there such suffering in the world…? Why need you ask? Why need you question the will of God? Do you not believe that "upright is the word of the Lord, and all His works are trustworthy"? Do you not realize that the Lord looks with kindness upon all "those who fear Him… to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine"? Do you trust your own eyes more than the vision of God? But if you must know, the Lord God tells you, "Through His suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt He shall bear." If you must inquire, hear that it is for your sin there is suffering in the world and the Lord and His followers must carry the cross. You need look no further than the blood on your hands… But seeing this, do not fear – rejoice. Rejoice, for now we may "confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help." Now the Savior does "lord it over" us by His sacrifice. Now this "slave of all" has "authority over [us]" by the suffering He has undergone. And now we must join Him on this cross. "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized" – His words to James and John are spoken to us all. Glorious is the sacrifice to which we are called. For He who is both priest and victim would now lift us with Himself through the veil of pain to the holy heavens, that knowing the fruit of "His affliction," with Him all might "see the light in fullness of days." "Our soul waits for the Lord"; it suffers with Him. And it is not disappointed by the sacrifice it shares. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "The Sunset Bleeds Me Clean" (2nd half) from Bearing the Birth Pangs, tenth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, He who is slave of all, He who has shed His blood to save our souls – with Him let us be one. YHWH, your Son has given His life as a ransom for sin, that we might approach the throne of grace and find mercy, and find the blessing of your kindness upon our souls. He has borne our guilt, and so from it we are freed. But we must bear the Cross with Him if we are to find our way to Heaven. This is the greatest grace, is it not, O LORD – that we are called to share in the suffering of your Son, to drink of His cup and be baptized with His baptism? We are called to serve as He has served, to give our lives with Him, and so to come to the place He has come, to your right hand in the kingdom. O if we could only be as slaves of all! By His death He has ransomed many. Sharing in our weakness, suffering for our sakes – bearing His affliction, He shall see the light in fullness of days. And we poor souls who trust in Him find our hope fulfilled, dear LORD, in that same light of your face.