Who Is A God Like You!

December 19

Jesus incurred the wrath of the religious leaders of His day. We who believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord and who know Him to be the Second Person of the Triune Majesty cannot fathom the reasons for their rejection of Him, yet a bit of scrutiny on our part will reveal the basis of their ire.

They were angry because He told the truth about who He was. That truth flew in the face of all they had expected their Messiah to be. They wanted a conquering hero who would set them free from the tentacles of their Roman masters but Jesus came healing sicknesses of the body, mind and spirit and setting men free from bondage to sin.

We see a straight-forward assertion of their disdain in Mark 2:5-7 where Jesus has just forgiven the sins of the man sick of the palsy when the scribes reasoned against Him by saying among themselves, “Who can forgive sins but God?” Instead of rightly concluding that this One who did miracles before them was indeed God incarnate, they chose to deny Him.

May we, instead, say with the prophet Micah in Chapter 7, verse 18 of his book, “Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of the remnant of His people! You do not stay angry, but delight in mercy.” Indeed, Jesus extended mercy to those who hated Him; even as He hung on the cross, He asked for their forgiveness (Luke 23:34). May we lay our offenses at His feet and receive His forgiveness.