"Then said our good Lord Jesus Christ: Art thou well pleased [well apaid, satisfied] that I suffered for thee? I said: Yea, good Lord, I thank Thee; Yea, good Lord, blessed mayst Thou be.
[Pg 47]Then said Jesus, our kind Lord: If thou art pleased [satisfied], I am pleased [satisfied]: it is a joy, a bliss, an endless satisfying to me that ever suffered I Passion for thee; and if I might suffer more, I would suffer more."Julian of Norwich (Ch. 22)
We have gone through so much pain, sickness, sorrow and hurt since sin entered this world. We have gone through so much confusion, struggle, loneliness, anxiety and fear. We were simply born into this broken and messed up world, and we each have succumbed in some way to the trouble, pain and hurt that can exist here. And Jesus looks on each of us humans not as rebels or evil people, but as children who are hurting and wounded. He sorrows and hurts with us for all the pain that evil has caused us. He sees us not as criminals that deserve punishment but as sick people that need healing. And Jesus wants to make it up to us for all we've been through in suffering in this world. He comes down and suffers our pain and sorrow and bears it upon Himself and takes it away. And He wants to know if we are well-satisfied or 'well-apaid' by what He has done. We think God is offended and needs a sacrifice in order to be paid back for the sin we've done to Him, but Jesus tells us He is not offended but rather compassionate and touched by the pain of our sorrows so much that He wants to satisfy our hearts with His love and comfort and pay us back for all we've gone through, and that is why He offered Himself and gave up His life for us. It was to heal us, to give to us His wholeness and life to make up for all we had lost through sin. He absorbed all the evil, sin, pain, suffering and death into Himself in order to dissolve it and heal us from its wounds. And He brought us the most amazing picture of true love, love that gives up His own life for us, His friends, His family members, His dearly beloveds! We think we owe God a debt of good deeds, or contrition, or repentance for our sin, but God says He owes us a debt of love, as a Father does for His children, for all our pain and sorrow! And He asks, "Are you well satisfied that I suffered for you?" Was that enough to show that He really is on our side, not angry, but instead loves us and only wants to help us? Christ stretching out His arms on the cross is God stretching out His arms to embrace the whole of humanity and to love all our hurts away!
"For His wounds have healed ours!"
1 Peter 2:24 (TLB)
A Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for seeing my pain and feeling all my hurts. Thank You for giving me healing for all those pains and hurts! I am well-satisfied with all You suffered for me!