Old School Jesus in Isaiah

Greetings Fairy Followers,

I'm sure all of you have been following the tragedy unfolding in Haiti as survivors struggle to make their way to the top of the rubble and struggle to grab a breath while crushed under buildings that fell in the wake of the 7.0 earthquake that shook the region.

Several conservative commentators have gotten flack for their words about the tragedy

I can't pretend to know the mind of God in this matter. Was the earthquake the result of a long ago deal made with a representative of Satan as an old Haitian legend says? Was it a result of the thousands of years our earth has been under the bane of sin? Or was it, in some inconceivable way, the will and purpose of God?

My brain can comprehend more easily that it was somehow a result that had an inciting event. When I read the Old Testament it is much easier to understand "These people sinned so God sent this plague upon them" than it is to understand a situation like poor Job who was righteous but God chose to test in some horrifying ways.

Jesus pops up in the book of Isaiah in some unusual ways but the entirety of chapter 53 gives a summary of Christ...long before he came to earth. Verse 10 says, "Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand."

A much more righteous man than Job was caused to suffer and make his life a guilt offering because it was "the LORD's will." Ouch.

We aren't always able to see the greater plan and greater purpose and sometimes we can be properly outraged and frustrated and discouraged because we can't see. But God is far and above anything we can understand and deserving of our praise for bringing suffering to Christ so that we didn't have to face it ourselves.

No matter the purpose of the tragedy in Haiti, we can all send prayers on behalf of the families of those who lost their lives and are struggling to survive.

Blessings, The B.D.F.