Pierced!

I had one of those crazy, unexpected parenting moments this week. I took my daughter to get her ears pierced. That part wasn’t unexpected. In fact, it took all of my persuasive powers to convince my hubby to let us do it. What was unexpected was my reaction to the whole thing.

I was excited for her to finally be getting “grown up” earrings, and I remembered my own excitement at getting my ears pierced when I was about her age. But, when we got in the room and the lady took the earring “gun” and started to actually clip the earring through my daughter’s ear, all I could think was “How could you do this to my child – You’re going to PIERCE her! It’s going to hurt! It’s going to put a permanent hole in her body! I can’t stand here and watch you do this to my baby!” Of course, I didn’t say any of that – I just stood there calmly and took pictures of the whole thing. But, I keep having flashbacks to that moment – and that word – PIERCED.

That word – pierced – brings so many things to mind, but at the forefront of those thoughts is this scripture:

Isaiah 53:5: “But He was PIERCED for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

I think of this scripture, and then I think of Mary. If I was “freaked out” over watching someone pierce my daughter’s ears, imagine how Mary must have felt watching the soldiers pierce her son, Jesus. In my case, I knew what the end result would be, and I knew that it would be good. In her case, I’m not so sure she fully understood. She must have wanted to grab that spear out the hand of the soldier and scream – “NO! Not my son! There must be another way!” But, there wasn’t another way. A sacrifice had to be made – once and for all. A pure and perfect sacrifice that was capable of washing away all the sins and imperfections of the entire human race.

Imagine standing there and watching as Jesus was pierced – and think for a moment about the fact that He was doing this for you. He knew the end result, and He knew that it would be good. But, the pain He felt that day was real.

Jesus didn’t deserve the punishment He received – we did. But, because of His love for us, He was willing to take that punishment so that we wouldn’t have to experience it. He offers this gift of forgiveness and restoration to each of us, but it’s up to us to receive it. He won’t force it on us. But, how can we refuse a gift that was bought with such a price?

John 3:16: “For God so loved the WORLD (that’s you and me) that he gave His one and only Son, that WHOEVER (that’s you and me) believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”