“The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?””
Acts 8:32-34 NLT
I was in fourth or fifth grade and we were outside on the playground playing softball. It was my turn at bat. I swung at the ball and hit it! In my excitement I threw the bat, causing it to hit a nearby metal building. The bat then bounced back, hitting one of my best friends in the head. Now, she did not lose consciousness; but she immediately sported a big “egg” sticking out on her forehead.
I can still remember how devastated I felt, knowing that I had done this to her. In fact, I was so beyond consolation that—sadly—she ended up trying to comfort me.
Why was I so bereaved? Because this was MY fault. Had my friend suffered this injury in any other way, I would still have been extremely sorry that she was hurt; but the fact that I had done this, the fact that she was suffering because of me, was almost more than I could bear.
Now, many well-meaning ministers, in describing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, seem to be aiming at provoking sympathy for the Lord. However, a while back the Lord instructed me that He is not looking for sympathy, nor does He want it. In fact, responding to His suffering with sympathy, misses the point of what He did and why He did it.
What the vision of His suffering should provoke in us, is what I experienced having been responsible for hurting my best friend’s head: extreme guilt and remorse (owning His suffering), and ultimately, repentance (sorrow for my sins that put Him there).
“He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:24 AMP
As we shared yesterday, there are three lenses through which we must look to truly see and know Jesus.
The first of these lenses we employ today.
When we see our suffering Lord, we must see that He is suffering for our sin. We are responsible for His suffering. That suffering should have been ours.
No one forced Jesus—the I Am—to suffer and die. No, He chose to suffer in our place and give His life to provide for our salvation, a fact He made clear to His disciples.
“”I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.””
John 10:11, 15, 18 NKJV
Not only did Jesus suffer and die for us, He endured that suffering by thinking of what His suffering would accomplish.
“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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.“
Hebrews 12:2 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see that the Ethiopian eunuch is asking Philip who was being referenced in the scripture about the lamb to the slaughter. He was reading from Isaiah 53 where the prophet prophetically paints a picture of our Lord and Savior as the Suffering Servant. Indeed, it is this very passage that contains one of our most beloved scriptures:
“He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.“
Isaiah 53:3-5 NKJV
Yes, in order to rightly see our Lord, we must see Him suffering for OUR sins.
Having appeared to His disciples soon after His resurrection, the Lord instructed them to look at His hands and feet.
“And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”“
Luke 24:38-39 NKJV
Here, Jesus was having them look at His hands and feet to recognize that He truly was the One Who had suffered and died, and was now alive.
We also must look at the wounds in the Lord’s hands and feet. We must see that He—in the flesh—suffered for our sins and now carries the sign of that suffering.
Ownership of the Lord’s suffering (in terms of causality) is the first step toward seeing Him clearly. As the Lord expressed to me several years ago, “In order to have a Savior, you must know you need one.”
Yes, we needed someone to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. And that’s what our Savior did in becoming the perfect Sacrifice, the perfect Lamb of God!
Friend, today, if you are suffering in some way, see Him willingly suffering on the cross for your sin. Let His suffering for you eclipse whatever you are feeling; let it lead you to the very relief and deliverance for which He suffered! Do it today!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
Kommentarer