“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7
September 29, 2023
Pain and suffering can easily draw us to complaints, self-pity, and fear. But if we allow ourselves to be swallowed up in victimhood, we are diminished. The Servant of God was no victim and at the same time His death was undeserved. Verbal abuse was heaped upon Him, yet we are taken by His gentleness and silence as a sufferer. The Messiah did not plea bargain or resort to self-defense. His silence, why? “He was conscious of the Father’s sovereign control of all affairs of life.” Take notice, if you read on into 53:8, the thoughtlessness of His generation is breathtaking. His death would hardly have made it to the evening news. No one was thanking Jesus for His death when He died. No one saw the events of the Servant’s death and burial as God the Father saw them. Write it in the skies. Etch it upon all reflective thought. The entirety of Jesus Christ’s atoning work occurred on the cross. So He cried, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). Jesus was no victim. He submitted to His undeserved punishment We are not to feel sorry for Jesus on the cross. Rather we should feel sorrow for ourselves – our sin.
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“He who suffered not as God, but He suffered who was God.” John Owen