He Suffered for Us

Jesus suffered for us. His death on the cross wasn’t a quick death. He
wasn’t alive and healthy and happy one moment and then dead the next. Jesus
went through pain. Before He was arrested, He knew what was coming, and He
had the power to stop it. But He chose to move forward anyway. In order to
save us, He had to struggle. He did it all for us.

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Some of us might have had someone in our life sacrifice something to help
us. Maybe a parent gave up a good job so we could stay in the school we
were used to, or maybe they went without some of the things they wanted so
they could buy us new clothing. Yet, none of the sacrifices humans make for
us can even begin to compare to the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

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Jesus was arrested in the middle of the night, and He didn’t die until
about 3:00 PM. All of His followers abandoned Him. The religious leaders
spit in His face and beat Him with their fists. The guards blindfolded Him
and struck Him. He was flogged severely, and the whip was probably studded
with broken glass and nails and shards of bone, ripping His skin to shreds.
Then the soldiers stripped off His clothes and pressed a crown of thorns
into His head. They took a staff and struck Him on the head over and over
again. When Jesus was finally brought to Golgotha, they drove two enormous
nails through His wrists and one through both of His feet. He had to push
Himself up by those nails just to breathe, all while people hurled insults
at Him. Finally, He cried out in a loud voice, and breathed His last.

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Jesus gave His all, and He did it out of love. We mean so much to Him that
He wanted to deal with sin once and for all, to save us from death and
bring us near to live with Him forever. His blood was given so that we
could live. When we think about what He has done, may we fall to our knees
in gratitude. The suffering He faced was a gift to us. His blood was a
gift. We can be saved because of Him. • Emily Acker

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• Have you ever stopped to think about just how much Jesus suffered in
order to save us? How does His suffering and all He gave for us reveal
God’s love?

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• Jesus’s death was not the end. He rose from the grave, so now everyone
who puts their trust in Him can be saved! If you want to know more about
this good news, check out our “Know Jesus” page. (If you want to dig
deeper, read Matthew 26”“27; Mark 14”“16; Luke 22”“24; John 18”“20.)

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For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the
Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Isaiah 52:14; Isaiah 53:4-Isaiah 53:11; Matthew 26:47-Matthew 26:56; John 19:1-John 19:30; 1 Peter 3:18