I marvel at God’s love.

I don’t think I could offer one of my children to be tortured and crucified for the persistent, willful, ugly sins of those who had trampled on all the good things I had given and planned for them.

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him [Jesus] and cause Him to suffer” (Isaiah 53:10). One translation renders the verse, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.”

I cannot comprehend God’s pleasure in the crushing of His Son. As a parent, I agonize when I know any of our children or grandchildren are hurting. The pain is exponentially greater when I am aware that my own failures have caused or contributed to their pain. I cannot imagine taking pleasure in the pain of my child.

I am made in God’s image. That is why I have emotions. When I feel my children’s pain, I learn about the pain God must have felt as He observed His Son’s suffering – suffering beyond anything we can imagine. His willingness to endure that pain and allow, even plan, the pain of His Son reveals the extent of His love.

How could God be pleased in His Son’s bruising? I can only guess that His eternal perspective sees so clearly the wonderful and eternal results of Jesus’ suffering that He is able to have pleasure even in His Son’s pain that produces such great results.

I suppose that if my faith in God’s inexorable plan for His children to turn all of their pain into good -- eternal good – then I would be more able to deal with the pain of those I love. I must learn, by faith, to view pain through the lens of the future when God will not merely wipe away all tears, but grant the crown of life to those who endure trials (James 1:12).