Not a victim—Easter Series Part 7
He was oppressed and levitra online pharmacy He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. Isaiah 53:7
Way back toward the beginning of His ministry, Jesus stirred the ire of religious strategists and the leadership of His day. Multiple references describe the wrath consuming these men when confronted by His power, teaching, authority, and independence from their control. (See Matthew 12:14 and 22:15; Mark 3:6 and 12:12-13; Luke 11:53-54, 20:20, and 20:26; and John 11:53.) They sought to entrap Him and plotted His death. Eventually, they had their way.
But this Man was not a victim.
When they converged upon Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, He did not resist them. Peter sought to protect Him and sliced off the ear of one of the servants apprehending the Lord. Jesus responded, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” (see John 18:10-11). He did not want to be defended.
He was brought before the Sanhedrin. False accusers were a dime a dozen, but none of their accusations were able to stick (see Matthew 26:60). Two witnesses then accused Him of declaring that He could destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. When He was confronted about this, He did not open His mouth. Then the high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God” (see Matthew 26:63).
And then Jesus replied, “You have said so. But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (see verse 64).
At this, the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?”
His colleagues answered, “He deserves death!” Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him, and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?” (See verses 65-68.)
Neverthless, this Man was not a victim.
He was sent to the governor. Pilate questioned Him, demanding to understand His crime. Jesus remained silent (see Matthew 27:14). Uncomfortable with the prospect of condemning an innocent Man, Pilate gave the gathering mob a choice: Release Jesus or the notorious prisoner Barabbas. They chose Barabbas.
Pilate washed his hands of the blood of this Man before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood” (see Matthew 27:24); however, the crowd shouted in response, “His blood shall be on us and viagra era-inter.com on our children!” (see verse 25).
Yet this Man was not a victim.
Matthew 27:27-30 describes what happened next.
27Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.
But this Man was not a victim.
“Behold the Man,” Pilate announced to the throng as the Son of Man stood, crowned with thorns, His naked, battered, and bleeding body draped by a robe (see John 19:5). After this, they took the robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him (see Matthew 27:31).
Nonetheless, this Man was not a victim.
He bore His own cross until another, Simon the Cyrene, was pressed into carrying it for Him (see John 19:17; Luke 23:26) until they came to Golgotha. There they nailed His hands and feet to the cross and raised Him up on it, crucifying Him between two thieves.
Yet this Man was not a victim.
Jesus had undergone false accusations, mockery, public humiliation, mob mentality, beatings, flesh-tearing scourging, and then, crucifixion, but like a lamb that is led to slaughter, He did not utter one word in defense. He did so on purpose: to pay the penalty for man’s sin, thus satisfying justice, and to redeem lost humanity back to a holy God. This was why He came.
He was not a victim; on the contrary, He accomplished the mission He came to fulfill.
And because of Him, Heaven’s gates have been opened wide.
Dorothy
I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. John 10:11
No one takes [My life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. John 10:18, NIV
Read MoreGone astray—Easter Series Part 6
All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:6
In the middle of this chapter about the suffering Servant and His agonizing passion on our behalf, focus shifts momentarily to you and levitra geoffedelsten.com.au me. And it’s not flattering.
All of us like sheep have gone astray…
This statement sums up the whole lump of humanity: Every last one of us is exactly like a sheep that has wandered off on its own. It doesn’t matter if you are educated, brilliant, a prodigy, street smart, wise beyond your years, or just a smart cookie—every single one of us is like a grazing sheep, oblivious to the dangers we’re munching our way toward. Not one member of our race is excluded—concerning the things of God (the way things really are), all of us come into this life as dense as…well…a planet full of bleating sheep!
… each of us has turned to his own way…
Every one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made (see Psalm 139:14), and we all have a set of gifts, talents, skills, and interests that distinguish us one from another. Although God created us to be unique, this verse is not referring to the diversity of individuals. When Isaiah stated that each of us has turned to his own way, he was writing about the conundrum of sin within each wonderfully-made individual. Sin is the “force” within all of us that plays havoc with conscience and draws each one toward every kind of concern but God. Even religiously-inclined individuals seek to “save” themselves—which is itself just another dead-end. Since the garden, the truth has been that each of us has turned to his own way.
Due to the wayward condition of our race, a huge gulf existed between God and man. Despite His great love for us, God couldn’t just “get over it” and let us enter eternal life as fallen beings. He knew that His holiness would consume sin in His presence—the two cannot co-exist—and His holiness would destroy us if we stood face-to-face before Him. Therefore, as things stood, unless He stopped being holy, we would be forever separated. But He could never and would never cease to be holy. And men would always be sinful…
This was unacceptable to God.
Because you and I were like sheep, munching our way off the edge of the cliff; because you and I couldn’t help but blindly careen down our own path into oblivion; because sinful men and women cannot co-exist in eternity with a holy God (no matter how loving He is), God developed a plan to counteract and overturn all of that.
…but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
Sin. Because of it, no man or woman can see God, let alone live forever in His presence. That’s why God chose a Substitute from before the foundation of the world to bear the iniquities of us all. If a Man could live an entirely sinless life and be willing to take on everyone else’s sins and the punishment for all of it, then humans, through faith invested in that Man’s sacrifice, could be cleansed of unrighteousness and receive a new nature, qualifying them to enter into fellowship with God—as His sons and daughters.
The problem was this: every human being was sinful. Therefore, as Isaiah prophesied, “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” (see Isaiah 7:14). Matthew explained this further when he wrote, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23). Jesus, the sweet Baby of Bethlehem, was conceived by the Holy Spirit for the express purpose of being the sinless One upon whom the Lord would place the iniquity of us all.
God in the flesh—in the Person of Jesus Christ—came to earth to do the job.
God caused our iniquity to fall upon the suffering Servant, His Son. In this way, without ceasing to be holy, God dealt with the sinful condition of mankind by taking it on Himself in the body of Jesus as He hung on the cross. And as He bore the judgment for every bit of our sin, He opened up the way for all of us to enter into His presence and be restored to fellowship with God.
That day eternal life was opened up for all of us.
Dorothy
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John 5:11
Read MoreAll for our well-being—Easter Series Part 5
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
According to the prophet Isaiah, the suffering Servant bore our sicknesses as well as our griefs; He carried our pains at the same time He carried our sorrows (see Isaiah 53:4).
But here Isaiah, prophesying more than seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, described the torturous death of the Servant, complete with piercing—indicative of crucifixion. Interestingly enough, crucifixion was not used by the Jewish people as a form of execution; it was considered by them to be “one of the most horrible, cursed forms of death (Deuteronomy 21:23)” (see http://christianity.about.com/od/goodfriday/a/crucifixionhist.htm). In fact, the cross was rarely used as a means of capital offense until the time of Alexander the Great, four hundred years after Isaiah’s prophecy (ibid).
But He was pierced through for our transgressions…
The suffering Servant bore our diseases and griefs and carried our sorrows and pains; but He was pierced through for our transgressions. When those nails penetrated the Messiah’s hands and feet, fastening Him to the cross of His execution, it was due to our transgressions and rebellion. Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth (see Revelation 13:8b), and crucifixion was the manner by which God had foreordained this redemptive act to take place on our behalf.
He was crushed for our iniquities…
Just as He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. Whereas “transgressions” implies outward, willful wrongdoing, “iniquities” refers to the inward condition of “perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity” (see http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H5771&t=KJV ) which is the condition into which all people are born. The piercing was external for our outward acts of rebellion; He was crushed within under the weight of man’s inborn sinful condition as He bore it on the cross.
… the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him…
Each of us deserves to bear the consequences for our own sin and rebellion, but God provided a way for that punishment to fall upon Someone else—His Son. In exchange for our chastisement, He offers us well-being—the total package that includes completeness, soundness, welfare, and peace (see http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H7965&t=KJV).
How many times has God been accused of being unfair? The exchange that occurred at the cross of Calvary—your punishment and sin for completeness, soundness, well-being, and peace—is absolutely unfair—with all the benefits heaped up on your side of the deal. In fact, when you were dead in sin and rebellion, the Bible says God made you alive in Christ, having forgiven all of your transgressions (see Colossians 2:13). The certificate of the debt that you owed—consisting of angry decrees against you—He canceled that out. He nailed the pile of compounded offenses credited to your account to the cross, writing across them with the blood of His Son, “PAID FOR IN FULL” (see Colossians 2:14).
… and by His scourging we are healed.
As if all of that was not enough, the God who is more than enough added this clause: “by His scourging we are healed.” He had borne our sicknesses and carried our pains, had been pierced through for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, but not one moment of His passion for us that dark Friday was wasted. Early after His arrest, He was scourged—beaten with a cruel Roman flagrum. (For an explicit description of this form of punishment, see http://truthmagazine.com/archives/volume44/v440106010.htm [David McClister, Truth Magazine, 2000].
This brutal flagellation was for our healing. Every vicious tear into the flesh of the Lord made life-giving virtue available to you and me—by His scourging we are healed.
This is the Man who beckons you: Follow Me. This is the One to whom you can run and be safe. This is Jesus—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
This is Jesus. He died for you so that you could live through Him.
Dorothy
…and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24
Read MoreHe bore our griefs and carried our sorrows—Easter Part 4
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4
Surely our griefs He Himself bore…
Not only was this One acquainted with human grief (see Isaiah 53:3), but He also bore our griefs—our very real and personal griefs. FreeDictionary.com defines “grief” as a “deep mental anguish, as that arising from bereavement; a source of deep mental anguish.” He took on all of that, surely. However, the Hebrew word for “griefs” is choliy, and shockingly, this word quite simply means “sickness” (see http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H2483&t=KJV).
When Isaiah wrote “our griefs He Himself bore,” he was prophesying that the Suffering Servant would bear our sicknesses and not just those things that bring deep mental anguish. Since some folks have difficulty with that interpretation, take a look at three other verses which use the word choliy:
- Moses taught the Israelites concerning the promises of God for obedience: “You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. The Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you” (Deuteronomy 7:14-15). “Sickness” in verse 15 is choliy. The suffering Servant bore our sicknesses.
- The widow of Zarephath who fed the prophet Elijah during a time of severe drought had a son who became mortally ill. “And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him” (1 Kings 17:17). “Sickness” in verse 17 is choliy. The Messiah bore our sicknesses.
- King Asa was a good king who sought God throughout much of his reign. Until the thirty-fifth year of his reign, there was no war (see 2 Chronicles 15:19). However, after this, Asa began seeking out human counsel and not the counsel of the Lord. Chaos and war ensued. “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12). “Disease” in verse 12 is choliy. Jesus bore our diseases.
He bore our sicknesses. The Hebrew word for “bore” very graphically describes this act of the Servant. “Bore” is nasa’ and means “to lift, bear up, carry, take”. The Servant bore our sicknesses—He lifted them up, and carried them away. Is it a coincidence that the USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration is called NASA? For decades Americans watched as NASA’s rockets were launched into the stratosphere and beyond. Very few things are as spectacular to view as a spaceship taking off: five…four…three…two…one…zero…ignition…LIFT OFF!
According to Isaiah’s prophecy, the day our Messiah bore our griefs was “lift off day” for our sicknesses. How far did He remove your sins? As far as the east from the west (see Psalm 103:12). How far away did He carry your sicknesses? If you can picture a NASA blast off, that’s how far away He bore your sicknesses.
… and our sorrows He carried…
“Sorrows” refers to pain, both mental and physical (see http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H4341&t=KJV). The Servant of God was a Man of sorrows (see verse 3), and He carried our sorrows—every sorrow and pain experienced by the human race.
Cabal is Hebrew for “carried”, and indicates the heaviness of the sorrows He carried, for it means “to bear a load or drag oneself along” (see http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H5445&t=KJV). You can witness the heaviness of our sorrows and pains piled upon Jesus as you envision Him shouldering the cross, struggling under its weight, and dragging it up to Golgotha.
…yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
More than once Isaiah contrasted the wholehearted commitment of the Suffering Servant to the clueless, self-absorbed assumptions on the part of those He died for. The media of our day, instead of seeking for facts, so often polls for opinions. What people think about what happens far too often trumps the naked truth in our culture. Guess it wasn’t much different in Jesus’ day.
However, despite the erroneous estimation of those in His day or the skewed consensus of today’s popular culture, the truth stands firm: Jesus bore our sicknesses and griefs; He carried our sorrows and pains.
And I love Him for it.
Dorothy
When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” Matthew 8:16-17, NKJV
Read MoreLike one from whom men hide their face—Easter Series Part 3
He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah 53:3
This is a picture of the Messiah as He prepared to take on the sins of the world and to rescue mankind from its murderous grip. It’s courageous enough to risk your life to save someone when folks on the sidelines are oohing and ahhing at your heroic bravery. It’s light-years beyond that when you willingly lay down your life for the very ones who scornfully mock, jeer, and abuse you. But that is exactly what our Savior did—one indelible rescue mission on behalf of the entire human race.
He was despised and forsaken of men…
Jesus was despised. He was disdained. He was held in derision. A quick survey of current thought reveals that many still despise Him. He was forsaken by His family and many of His closest friends and was rejected by the world He came to save. Neither you nor I would be able to sustain such blatant contempt or rejection from those we sought to help. Jesus, on the other hand, held tightly to the mission given to Him by the Father from the beginning of time to seek and to save the lost…even when they rejected Him with utter disdain.
…a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…
Who was this Man to whom lepers, prostitutes, fishermen, tax collectors, priests, and children flocked? How could one Man—so despised, yet so magnetic—draw from such a diverse swath of society? He was not merely kind—although kindness and compassion permeated all that He did. He was not merely powerful—although wherever He went, signs, wonders, and healings followed.
He was, to His core, a Man of sorrows and pain. He was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, fully acquainted with sickness and grief. He was a Man, not only of kindness and power, but a Man who seemed to understand the very depth of each man’s sorrow, pain, sickness, and grief. He never scolded nor demeaned anyone suffering under its cruel grip; instead He stepped in to heal each one with compassion and power. He was not like the religious leaders of the day who couldn’t sympathize with the weaknesses of the people, but He was One who had been tempted in all things just like everyone else—yet without ever sinning (see Hebrews 4:15). There was within Him something so unnervingly deep and unsearchable that made it impossible for His detractors—or His followers—to peg, trap, or figure Him out.
…and like one from whom men hide their face…
Many despised Him and sought to ensnare Him; multitudes followed Him and sought to touch Him. And yet this Man could gaze into each one’s heart and know the thoughts, fears, and dreams within. He read people’s mail; He knew when they were trying to trap Him; He knew when they were lying; He knew their history and the motives of their heart—and that made them uneasy. More than once, Pharisees and Sadducees walked away from an encounter with Him, their heads hanging in silence. Nathanael was awed at the Lord’s ability to read his mail (see John 1:47-48). Zacchaeus the tax collector experienced Jesus’ penetrating insight (see Luke 19:1-6), as did the woman at the well (see John 4:15-19). The rich young ruler, after expressing a zealous desire to follow Him, slunk away, grieved and saddened, after Jesus gently exposed the young man’s attachment to his wealth (Mark 10:20-22). Peter, more than once, was cut to the core when Jesus confronted Him; after he denied the Lord, one look from Jesus made him turn and weep bitterly (see Luke 22:61-62).
Have you ever experienced awkward silence when the topic of Jesus comes up in public? It’s uncanny; even now so many seem to hide their faces from Him.
But this Man’s redeeming work was not merely for those who would embrace Him quickly or for the hesitant ones who would take the plunge after giving it much thought. No, He also died for those who purposefully sought to hide their face—and their heart—from Him. And He died for those who are still in hiding.
…He was despised…
He was loved and He was despised—and often, both love and hatred toward Him raged together within the same heart. It’s still that way for many; men and women battling in the secret places of their souls sneak furtive glimpses His way in the valley of their decision. They sense the truth and long for it; but they resent it as well. The only way they know how to deal with such a Man is to either embrace Him or despise Him. Some of you underwent the same inner warfare—I certainly did—yet despite the tumultuous conflict, the Lord led each of us into the truth. Pray for those still gripped by this war to see Him through the smoke of battle and to find the grace to follow Him to the safety of the cross and the blood He shed for them.
This was why He came: to be high and lifted up onto the cross of judgment. Without His atoning death, no one would see God; no one would inherit eternal life.
In His eyes, you and I and all the rest were worth every agonizing moment of the suffering He endured. But despite this…
…we did not esteem Him.
Many still do not esteem Him. However, the fact remains that this Man took our place that day two millennia ago to free each of us from our captivity to sin, self, and sorrow.
And He never once regretted it.
Dorothy
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2, KJV; emphasis added
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