“He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth.
Unjustly condemned, He was led away.
No one cared that He died without descendants, that His life was cut short in midstream.
But He was struck down for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone.
But He was buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man’s grave.”
- Isaiah 53:7-9
If you’re following along you know we are preparing our hearts for Christmas with an unconventional passage, Isaiah 53. Traditionally this may be a text used on Easter or preached at other points of the year. It’s a sad and dreary passage, so not a text typically chosen for such a joyous month as December. I wanted to take a different approach to the manger this season. While it's just as amazing to focus on Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy; I wanted us to come humbly like the shepherds. Those who lived hard lives and much more rugged, certainly not someone you would want with you when having just delivered your baby. Yet, these men humbly and joyfully came.
I want us to come to Jesus this December like Isaiah. For when God appointed him to be a prophet, he immediately proclaimed how unclean and unworthy he was to stand before God in such a way. Humbly we should come, with no less joy, but acquainted with our sorrow and fragility, let's go forth to this baby known as the Suffering Servant.
Silently Suffered:
Last week we focused on our fragility, the depth of our brokenness and sin, and how it pervades our spirits, minds, hearts, bodies, wills, and is redeemed by Jesus. This week is all about how those fragilities are cast upon Jesus.
I don’t know about you but it's pretty hard to silently suffer. Think about when you get sick. You have to let those in your life know what you’re going through. Sometimes we are even tempted to portray the illness as even worse than what it is, not only for attention but to receive care. Maybe it's just my thing but whenever there is illness or injury, I feel like I’m the center of attention.
Jesus though quietly endured the injustices being brought to Him. Yes, there was a spiritually deep reason for His suffering, but in the eyes of all those around He was a revolutionary trying to overthrow the religious leaders and boot Rome in the butt, for some, that’s even what they wanted Him to be. He carried His cross and took the beatings we all deserved. No one has taken the same punishment the same way ever since. Injustice is usually met with pushback or fleeing. Jesus stood His ground and never once revolted, accepting the sins of the world to His body, as perfect and sinless as he was. Silently He suffered, that you may rejoice loudly in freedom.
Struck Down for Us:
I hope you get the Passion of the Christ type of vibes when reading Isaiah 53. It's almost hard to picture just how cruel this text is describing His suffering because most of us can only compare it to something we have seen on TV or a film, but rarely can we relate to what Jesus has endured on our behalf. I don’t want to say any of us because I know people who are abused, or have suffered from things a lot of their life and to an extent relate with Jesus.
What is so beautiful about this text though is how powerful His death was and that it covered every injustice through His experiencing of injustice. Every war ever fought with every life ever lost in those. Every slave ever captured, sold, born into it, stuck in it, and never let go, Jesus suffered for. Every life ever lost to illnesses, viruses, cancers, and more, Jesus paid for. Every people group that was ever oppressed and terrorized, Jesus paid it all.
Jesus’ life was cut short just like all those groups above, by all the evil that exists in this world. At least to me, this points to His righteousness. It’s out of His righteousness that He could silently endure all the punishment brought to Him. It’s out of His righteousness that He can sympathize and bear on His shoulders all the suffering that has ever existed and ever will exist in this world. Every evil ever struck Him down, His righteousness beaten for us.
Innocent Criminal:
Got to love a good oxymoron and Jesus helps to provide a ton of them. He is the God-man after all! The Son of God who has always existed. Yet, He’s also the innocent criminal. In the eyes of the world around Him, Jesus was a lot of different things. He was a good man, a miracle worker, a rabbi, an enemy, a threat, a revolutionary, a leader, a Messiah, and to some, a criminal. After all, He was the Jew who talked with a Samaritan woman, He was the rabbi that invited children to be close to Him, He spent His time with tax collectors and prostitutes, He touched the unclean and sick. He was a social order criminal but never broke a law.
Instead, He came to fulfill the Law. The Law was never to be about a huge checklist but was always meant to be about ushering connection with God. Jesus’ perfect innocence was just what the world needed. He never misled anyone nor ever lied about who He was. He never lost His God-hood when He became a baby. He was Holy, ever-good, and perfect in every way which enabled Him to be the perfect sacrifice to fulfill the Law.
Final Blessing:
Jesus is the Suffering Servant and Righteous Criminal who bore all our sins and injustices upon His back. He was wiped for it and carried the cross. Though we saw Him with the evil of our eyes He was the purest person to walk this earth. Though dying a criminal's death, He was buried in a rich man’s grave. Yet, that is not the end of the Suffering Servant.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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