Blood & Tears

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7 NKJV

I spent grades one through three as one of the walking wounded. Blood and tears were a constant in my daily routine, as were tape, bandages, and stinging red Mercurochrome.

If I wasn’t falling from a flying swing, losing my grip on the monkey bars, or stumbling and being dragged through rocky, dried ruts encircling the spinning playground merry-go-round, I could find plenty of harsh surfaces on which to fall spontaneously. I was a clumsy kid. I admit I turned into a clumsy adult, and I’ve got the scars and concussions to prove it. Even now, my linen closet stays stocked with bandages, tape, and medicated ointment good for scrapes, burns, or cuts.

Blood and tears—signs of my careless play, oblivious wanderings, and uncoordinated footwork. I wish I could say I eventually grew out of it, but as I’ve already confessed, you know that would not be true.

Two Sundays ago, we sang “Son of Suffering” during our morning worship. It was a powerful time of worshiping our Savior. It wasn’t the first or even second time that we’ve sung the song, but for some reason it impacted me more deeply this time.

Since then, I’ve woken up every day with the words of that song playing in my heart and mind—specifically these words to the chorus:

“Blood and tears, how can it be?

There’s a God who weeps.

There’s a God who bleeds.

Oh, praise the One,

Who would reach for me.

Hallelujah to the Son of Suffering.”*

Each time those words sing out in my head, I am simultaneously amazed, overwhelmed by gratitude, humbled, filled with praise, and flooded by a wave of other emotions.

This morning, as the words filled my mind, I found the song and played it all the way through. As I listened, I turned to Isaiah 53, which has been my favorite Bible passage since I was a little girl.

I wasn’t yet five years old when Momma first read it to me. She told me that Isaiah was talking about Jesus and how He left heaven to come into the world to become our Savior—to be my Savior. She said that He willingly suffered all kinds of meanness and cruelty before He was hung on a cross to die for my sins—to pay for all the times I misbehaved, acted badly towards someone, or had hateful, mean thoughts in my heart. Momma told me that after Jesus was buried, He rose from the dead, left the grave behind, and, after a while, returned to His Father in Heaven.

I do not doubt that Isaiah Chapter 53 played a big part in me becoming a believer at the ripe old age of almost five years old.

Over the decades, I have read Isaiah 53 countless times from numerous translations. And almost every time it brings me to tears, when I consider who Jesus is and what He did for me and for you—and for all who come to Him in faith believing.

Despised and rejected. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His own people, the Jews, turned their backs on Him, like so many people around the world do today.

Jesus took on Himself the sins, griefs, and sorrows of humankind—He carried them all on His shoulders, because He loved us and knew we could not carry them ourselves.

He was wounded to the death because He took the punishment that we deserved. And because He did, God opens His mighty arms to us when we come to Him asking for forgiveness and confessing that we need a Savior.

“But He [was] wounded for our transgressions, [He was] bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace [was] upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 NKJV

Blood and Tears. In the bloody punishment Jesus took in our place, we find healing, forgiveness, wholeness, new life, unimagined peace, and immeasurable joy.

Verse Four tells us that Jesus took our griefs upon Himself. He knows we are only flesh; we cannot carry the weight of so heavy a burden on our own. Jesus willingly, lovingly took upon Himself the load of affliction and the disease of sin that could have easily crushed and destroyed us.

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” Isaiah 53:4 NKJV

The verse continues. In Jesus’ blood and tears, He relieved us of the heartaches and sorrows that we had tried to carry in our own strength for far too long. His strong arms have limitless capacity. All the sorrows and heartaches from the beginning of time to this moment are not too heavy a load for our Savior.

And still, many have chosen not to accept the soul-healing gift of Jesus’ shed blood and the tears He spilt on behalf of a sin-broken creation. They prefer to struggle alone, seeking their own answer to self-salvation—an answer they will learn too late does not exist.

Others are drawn to the Savior, but hesitate, waiting for the right time—the opportune moment to surrender themselves unreservedly; but in the meantime, they falter and stumble under the overwhelming burden of guilt, shame, and pain. Perhaps they will eventually decide to follow Christ, but too often the moment passes. There may be other opportunities, but we have no guarantees of another tomorrow.

Still others surrender, asking for the new life that is in Christ alone. But, even after taking that momentous step to follow Jesus, they hold on to shadows of the burdens, griefs, and sorrows that now rest in Jesus’ hands. They refuse to let go and allow Jesus to bear the full weight of their problems.

As long as believers try to fix themselves, they will never fully participate in the peace of heart and mind that God intends for His children. The full joy of the Christian life will always be just beyond their fingertips.

Friend, when God reaches out to you…whether it is an invitation to become His child or with open hands asking a stubborn believer to surrender the load they are carrying…say “yes” to the Son of Suffering.