while we were yet sinners...

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:9-10 ESV)

I read Psalm 22 tonight and it was kinda milling around in my head a bit... My thoughts wandered to the idea of God the Father willingly crushing his Son, his perfect Son whom he had enjoyed for eternity, all for a pack of good for nothing God-hating sinners. It's truly an incredible thing. I have kids, and they're by no means perfect - actually lots of times very frustrating. But I definitely don't entertain the thought of crushing them. Especially not on behalf of someone who hates me (of which, unfortunately, I'm sure there are a few). And those kids are both little sinners who whine and cry about the dumbest stuff, I love em, but some days they push it.

God the Father spent eternity being perfectly infinitely happy with Jesus before creating the world. And then he created the first man, who promptly failed to lead his wife and plunged all of humanity into death and darkness. God of course knew that this was going to happen and already planned to send his Son, his perfect Son, to die on a cross to redeem some of these wretched miserable humans. And he crushed him. Devastating punishment on the perfect Lamb of God to atone for the sins of a bunch of rebels who don't even think they need atonement. Incredible. I can't do it justice with words. So here I sit in awe of the wonderful mercy of God Most High. Moments like these make everything else seem to fade just a bit. In the light of eternity my day to day cares and tasks seem so pale.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8 ESV)

God the Father crushed God the Son for sinners. I'm ashamed that that doesn't affect me more than it does.