“I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” Isaiah 50:6
August 22, 2022
Injustice stings and cries for a remedy. We see it everywhere. Wicked men traffic in the use of children for sexual gratification. Wealthy illegal drug pushers get lawyered up and avoid prosecution. Two hundred years ago slavery was justified because of its economic benefits. Abortion advocates protest limitations on the right to kill babies. Christians suffer around the world at the hands of unjust government officials and unjust laws. Where is God? The promised Servant of God would give His back to the stinging and slashing whips of injustice. He voluntarily submitted to suffering and death. Was not the Servant the one who would triumph over injustice? He was obedient to God every step of the way through His life and yet evil crushed Him in a cruel execution. Where is God? The Servant submitted to injustice because this is what God required of Him. It was obedience to God that cost the Servant everything. They spat in His face, beat Him with fists, slapped Him on the head, mocked Him, knelt before Him, blindfolded Him, insulted Him. Why? Because of justice, God’s justice. Sin has to be punished but it was not due to the Servant’s sin. It was our sin for which He paid the penalty we deserved. The justice of God was satisfied in the injustice which God the Son endured on the cross. O what love has been lavished on us, the undeserving. Our suffering cannot redeem us. Only that of Christ can. However, as those who belong to Christ, obedience will cost us. Let this thought be never far from your mind, if you are a follower of Jesus the Servant, you and I will obey Him. H
A time to pray: “O Lord of all righteousness and justice, I thank you that your Servant, Jesus, was humiliated, ridiculed, sneered at, taunted, and scorned for my sins.”