Beyond Recognition

     Have you ever been in a fight or seen one? I mean, a good one with blood and everything. It is amazing. I saw my first bloody fight when I went away to college. Two men were hitting each other, HARD! Both of them were bleeding from the nose and mouth when. Sweat poured from their faces and mixed with the blood that smeared like red paint onto their shirts and pants. The brawl went from standing position to the ground a couple of times as people tried to break them up. Even still, with friends pulling at them and begging for them to stop, they continued with determination.

     Finally, their friends were able to get them stop once exhaustion and lack of energy became obvious through their near inability to stand. Noses were broken. Lips were swollen and cut. A cheek and upper eye area had cuts. A forehead had cuts. Arms had scratches with gravel from the street. Yet, with all the blood, cuts, bruises, swollen parts and dirt. They looked pretty much the same from when the fight first began. They were recognizable. I wonder what would have happened had one of them chose not to fight back and be struck over and over again. Would they have been beaten beyond recognition as the Lord?

     I am watching the DVD set of the most recent television rendition of the Bible. It got me thinking about the Lord and the day he was beaten and whipped. The Lord did not fight back. By the time the Romans were done with the preclude before the actual crucifixion, the Word says that Jesus, Yeshua, was beaten beyond recognition. Imagine.

     “But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured, he seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.” – Isaiah 53:14 (a prophecy of the coming Messiah) NLT

     Now, then, what are we going to do about it? How are we going to live in response to this? When I stand before the One who was pierced will my life be a “thank you” and praise of adoration for what He did? I hope so. The gross images of Christ beatings in film may help us defeat the flesh. The next time temptation comes let's visualize our Lord in that state – a man that does not look human. Would we dare to choose Satan?