Day Twenty-Three

Day Twenty–Three // March 15 // The Wounded Feet of Christ

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens –

Isaiah painted a picture that captured the essence of Jesus’ life:

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isaiah 52:7).

How beautiful are the feet that traveled the dusty roads of Palestine announcing the good news of salvation. Those feet did not stay in the synagogue, debating with the wise ones of the day. Those feet traveled to the homes of tax collectors and into scenes of great grief over the death of a child. They walked

70 PERFECTLY WOUNDED

with the outcast and the downtrodden. They walked where others feared to tread: into cemeteries, with the demon possessed, and caves, with people shunned with leprosy.

Every step was a choice. Every step was a way of announcing that “our God reigns.” To those cut off from religion, He opened the doors. Jesus literally was the Good News in the flesh. And the most compelling moment of His life was when those feet showed us salvation. There on Rome’s gnarled cross, those feet were nailed. His mobility was not taken from Him; He gave it willingly. There, on that instrument of torture and execution, was the greatest choice, the greatest sacrifice of all time. He could have uttered one word and angels would have rescued Him. He suffered in that hour so that those wounded feet could lead the way to heaven. For faith, too, is always a choice. We choose to commit our lives to Jesus as Savior. And then, we choose to spend the rest of our lives following Him as Lord.

During World War I, some Turkish soldiers tried to drive away a flock of sheep on a hillside outside of Jerusalem. The shepherd who was sleeping was suddenly aroused to see the sheep being driven off. Single-handedly, he could not hope to recapture his flock by force. Suddenly, he had an idea. Standing up on his side of the ravine, he put his hands to his mouth

71

and gave his own peculiar call which he used each day to gather the sheep to him. And his sheep heard it. For a moment they listened; and hearing it again, they turned and rushed down one side of the ravine and up the other – making it quite impossible for the soldiers to stop them. The shepherd took the sheep to a place of safety before the soldiers could make up their minds to pursue them.

Likewise, the Good Shepherd whistles for us. The same places His feet traveled are the roads that beckon us. The same people that He loved are the ones to whom we are sent. The same message of salvation is the one we must proclaim. Lent calls us to go. To see life as an adventure. To follow our Shepherd all the way home. How beautiful are the feet that choose to answer that call!