Police Devotion 10-28-2018
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:3-6)
When you hear the name “Jesus Christ,” what comes to mind? A man with a soft face, long hair and a beard, with a light around his head, and wearing a white robe and red sash like some “hippie picture,” as one preacher used to call them? We don’t know what Jesus looked like, but He probably didn’t look like that.
He probably didn’t have long hair. 1 Corinthians 11:14 says, “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?” He was a carpenter -“Is not this the carpenter” (Mark 6:3)—so He probably looked rugged from hard work. He had a beard because it was ripped out after His arrest: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair” (Isaiah 50:6).
What Jesus looked like doesn’t really matter, though. What matters is what Jesus did. John 21:25 says, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”
So the world can’t contain all the info about Jesus, but here’s one thing that will help you immensely as a cop: the fact that Jesus was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Before His birth, Jesus existed as God and was worshipped by angels: “And let all the angels of God worship him” (Hebrews 1:6). But when He came to earth, He was “despised and rejected of men.” People despised and rejected Him.
Our passage says Jesus “hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” So whatever makes us sad, Jesus has gone through it. The Bible doesn’t tell everything Jesus did. If it did, the Bible would be a lot thicker than it is. It tells some things, like how He healed people and raised the dead and “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38) and how the religious leaders kept trying to trip Him up and destroy Him, and some tried to kill Him, in spite of all the good He did. Jesus wasn’t some effeminate sissy. He was a real man who knew plenty about trouble and sorrow. He “hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.”
Ultimately, He endured a brutal death to pay for our sins: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Yet Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose again: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen” (Revelation 1:18). He later “was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19). So even though we can’t see, hear, or touch Him, Jesus is alive.
How does that help you on the job? Well, cops deal with grievous things that most people will never see. When something happens that you have trouble dealing with, it helps to talk with someone who gets it, who’s been through it, and can strengthen and help you with his counsel. Jesus is Someone you can go to. He’s alive. He gets it. He can help. You go to Him by prayer. He gives you counsel with His Word, the Bible.
You may go through grievous times most people don’t understand, but there’s nothing in the world that Jesus doesn’t understand and can’t help you with. Most importantly, He wants to give you forgiveness of sins and eternal life. To see how, please click “Helpful Links” and then “How Do I Go to Heaven?” on the main menu.
Brian Miller
10/28/2018
Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822