Saturday, July 20: “Compassionate Greatness”

Matthew 26: 28: “This is My blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus knew His blood would be poured out, not merely shed. He knew He would be stricken down, not just wounded. He knew how ugly it would be; yet, He never stepped back. Rather, He stepped toward His betrayer and His accusers in Gethsemane (John 18: 3). How? His incomprehensibly great compassion for the human race, of which He became a part for the sole purpose of its salvation and reconciliation, even though He was initially “despised and rejected of men (Isaiah 53: 3). This, too, He foreknew. Yet this Man of Sorrows became acquainted with grief, that He might bear ours. If He did all that, will He stop loving you now?