Alan Fong
3 min read
Alan Fong
3 min read
Alan Fong
3 min read
The Suffering Servant
Today’s Verse:
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. ~Isaiah 50:6
Suffering is when we go through intense difficulty that can include unbearable pain, sorrow, distress, humiliation, and torment. There is not a human experience we go through that our Lord Jesus did not go through. In our devotion this morning, we see the one of the verses that describes the intensity of adversity that our Lord went through as the suffering Servant.
We see the voluntary.
Jesus said, “I gave my back... and my cheeks... I hid not my face.” Jesus endured brutal physical suffering for our sins. Hebrews 12:2-3 tells us that He "endured the cross, despising the shame…. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners." Jesus voluntarily suffered for us. There was no resistance. There was no unwillingness. He could have called ten thousand angels to help Him, but He did not. He was completely hands-off in regard to His personal safety so that God’s will could be done through Him.
We see the vicious.
What He endured was outright vicious and inhumane. He was flogged on His back thirty-nine times. So severely was His back beaten that it is likely His skin was torn to shreds, His rib cage exposed, and even His bodily organs could be seen. He lost massive amounts of blood in addition to the blood He shed after nails were driven through His hands and feet. The persecutors plucked His beard off His face and sorely injured Him. He was slapped and pummeled with the fists of the centurions. He was spat upon in the face by soldiers and the mocking crowd. Such disrespect and disdain was exhibited to our Lord.
We see the valor.
“For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” The Lord God gave Him strength to sustain Him to the cross. In spite of the horrific pain and suffering, He set His face like a flint and faced His persecutors with much courage and determination. Jesus demonstrated incredible resolve, courage, and steadfastness. An ordinary man would have recanted and renounced his faith. Jesus would not bend nor be broken in spirit or will. No matter how tough we might have it in this life, we do not go through anything anywhere near the magnitude of what He went through.
We see the valuable.
Jesus' suffering teaches us the value of endurance. His suffering teaches us how to face our adversaries and adversity with grace and in the strength of the Lord. We learn that the Lord is with us every step of the way to help us. He helps us in our courage and conviction. He helps us to stand, even if others fail. He teaches us how to stay upon the Lord God. Most importantly, Jesus went through this painful suffering as part of God’s plan so that our sins could be paid for in full and the sin debt forgiven when we accepted the Lord as our Saviour. His life for ours is pricelessly valuable. He is the suffering Servant of God Who went through the extreme of terrible tribulation for us. What He did for us is inestimable! Let us give glory to the Lord for what He did for us.
Have a Christ-magnified God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Philippians 1-4
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