"The Suffering of Christ"

Everything Jesus did, all His suffering was for you and I. Every victory Jesus accomplished by his suffering was accomplished so that you and I can now live in victory.

Growing up I had some really bad (nasty) jobs. I had to wash dirty dishes at a few different restaurants. I also had to empty out the dirty grease from the fried foods which was really gross. Then there were the jobs in college where I had to work the grave yard shift cleaning dirty carpets, and scrubbing the dirty floors. My first church I worked at as an intern I had to crawl under the building and pull out a dog that had died under the building. I will never forget that. But the thing that made those jobs tolerable was knowing that I wouldn’t being doing them forever. They were hard, uncomfortable, unattractive, and physically exhausting, but I knew they were temporary.

Have you ever noticed someone doing a really dirty job and felt bad for them? Have you ever noticed or witnessed someone suffering? A homeless person or someone who is down and out? I naturally have a tendency to feel bad for people who struggle in this life, people who have tough jobs. I want to help them out. I have a deep appreciation for people who work at nursing homes or folks who do things to make our lives better because of what they do. I also think about one other person, a perfect person who lived his whole life to eventually die for my sin. Think about that for a moment. What if you knew that you would not just do dirty uncomfortable work for a season or have a hard labor job for your whole life, but that the ultimate purpose for your existence was to die a cruel and unjust death? Yeah that was Christ! That’s why He came, to suffer and die for us.

We see a lot of suffering in our world today. We see people in Ukraine suffer, we have seen down through history Christians persecuted for their faith. Over the past several years people have suffered from sickness, we see people suffer from depression and worry and fear. Not all of us suffer, but there are many who do. So, why is there suffering in the world today?

Paul David Tripp says, “God intends suffering to pry open our hands so we let go of the things of this earth and hold more tightly to Jesus.”

Are you holding tightly to Jesus? In other words suffering often comes so that we will lean unto Christ more and more and lean less and less on the things of this world.

Let me ask you today, Is there anything you need to give up in your life that has become more important to you than your relationship with Christ? How often do we search for happiness, satisfaction, and identity? Let’s be honest we all search for physical things, even good things that can take the place of our Creator. Is it possible today that something or someone else has the affections of our heart? Is there something today that has comforted you too much? Good things can become bad things when they become ruling things. So, let’s check our hearts to see if there is something we need to leave at the foot of the cross so that we may fall in love with the Lord and live for Him until He calls us home.

There are several passages in Scripture that address the suffering of Christ. In most of the gospel accounts we see what the Lord went through for us. However, I want to take us back to Isaiah and look at what the prophet foresaw before Christ showed up. This is a picture of the Suffering Servant. Eventually this prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus came, suffered, and died for mankind. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 53. Let’s start in verse 1.

Isaiah 53:1 ESV

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

The first thing I want us to see here is that in spite of the prophecies and the prophets only a few would actually recognize the Servant (Jesus) when he appeared. When Christ appeared his own people didn’t recognize him and welcome him. Here is how John explains it.

John 1:9–11 ESV

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

Here in verse 1 we see mention of the “arm of the Lord.” In other words, at the first coming of Christ the nation of Israel (His own People) did not recognize the mighty incarnate power of God in the person of Christ. What power? The power to heal and do wonderful miracles, the power to transform lives, the power to deliver his people from their sin. They missed it all together!!! So my point is this. Let’s take a look here from Isaiah 53 to see just how and why Jesus suffered.

1. Jesus was despised and rejected.

Isaiah 53:2–3 ESV

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Has there ever been a time in your life where you have been rejected? If so, then you understand that this is not a funny matter. It’s not a place that any of us want to be in. Rejection flat out stinks!!!

Here in verse 2 we see the author mentions that the Servant had no form or majesty. He had no beauty that we should desire him. This doesn’t mean Jesus was and ugly man. What this does lead us to see is that Jesus was unrecognized by the world. The Servant would be born in a lowly manger. He would hang out with sinners and tax collectors. He would choose to hang out with the not so lovely of the world. He would generally not associate with those of royalty. All of this leads us to see that His true identity was only visible to those who had faith in him. There were many people who thought the coming Messiah would be a Noble figure, a majestic warrior who would save Israel from Roman oppression. So, there were many who missed the Messiah, but Jesus was not the man they were looking for. He came humbly to earth, despised and rejected.

Isaiah the prophet foresees and writes about the hatred and rejection by mankind toward the Messiah/Servant in verse 3. Jesus suffered outward abuse but he also suffered internal grief over the lack of faith from those whom he came to save. Over and over again we see that there was a lack of respect for the incarnate Son of God. The people did not believe that Jesus was who he said he was. How sad this was. Many people witnessed the miracles and power of Christ and yet they hardened their hearts and choose not to believe. Eventually they asked him who He really was because didn’t see him, they had already rejected him.. Jesus tells them plainly I am the Son of God and because of this they nail him to a cross. My prayer for us today is that we don’t miss Christ. That we recognize who He is and what He has done for us.

2. Jesus willingly suffered and stood as our substitute.

Isaiah 53:4–6 ESV

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah is telling us here that the Messiah would bear the consequences of the sins of men, namely our griefs and sorrows of this life. In typical ancient Near Eastern understanding the main reason or source for suffering, or if a person is suffering, is because he or she had done something to deserve it. (The book of Job is a classic example of this.) So, if a person is suffering than it is because they are a sinner. But here we see that Jesus the Servant is stricken or smitten because we are sinners. I want you to know this today, because we clearly see how Christ suffered on our behalf.

Sadly, as the Jews watched Christ die they thought he was being punished by God for his own sins. They missed the fact that Jesus loved them and wanted them to know Him.

In verse 5 here we see that Jesus was wounded or pierced for our transgressions. This verse is filled with language about substitution. I know the term substitute today sometimes implies inadequacy. But the substitutionary function of everything Jesus did is one of the chief glories of his work here on earth. We think of substitutes as being inadequate when compared to the one they are standing in for (like in sports or even a substitute teacher) but the opposite is true in the case of the second Adam, Jesus. In this case, the substitute was greater than anything or anyone. Jesus suffered not for his own sin because he was sinless, (Heb. 4:15) but for our sin. Christ took on himself, God the Father’s wrath, in order for us as believers to have peace with God. We see this here in verse 5.

Verse 6 helps us to see that sheep are known to be single-minded and unaware of their circumstances. Their minds are only thinking about the grass right in front of them. When they get frightened they have the tendency to wonder off in any direction. So, as a result sheep get lost. Like them, we as humans seem to not be aware of the consequences of our choices and we get ourselves into some dire situations. We as sheep turn to our own selfish ways and desires not realizing how desperately we need the Shepherd. Jesus our Shepherd took our griefs, sorrows, and sin so that we may have peace and joy not only in this life but in the one to come.

3. Jesus suffered by being submissive to those who oppressed Him.

Isaiah 53:7–9 ESV

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. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

This is the portion of Scripture that was read by the Ethiopian eunuch as explained to him when Philip was trying to help him see who Jesus was in Acts 8:32-33. In verse 35 of Acts 8 Philip told him the good news about Jesus.

Jesus the suffering servant was truly oppressed and afflicted. He was unjustly brought to trial and almost died by severe beating and yet he uttered not word of protest because he was submissive to his oppressors. Jesus never had to say anything because he was innocent of what he deserved, but still went through with all the suffering because he knew what was at stake. He knew that without his death and resurrection there could be no salvation from sin and death. So, Jesus assumed the role of a sacrificial lamb that was led to the slaughter. This role of a lamb atoning for the sins of the people was started back in Egypt and then practiced as the Israelites left Egypt. This was done for Passover. In Exodus 12:3,6 we see that the lamb was to be brought into the house, then on the 14th day at evening time they were to kill their lamb. They would then place the blood of the lamb on their door posts so that the angel would pass over their home and spare their first born child.

My point in explaining this to us today is that Jesus, the suffering servant lost His life to be the substitute object of wrath in our place. Jesus died a disgraceful death in between two thieves and was supposed to be buried with them, but we know that Joseph of Arimathea donated a tomb so that Christ could be buried there instead.

Ultimately Jesus took all of our sin upon Himself so that we may be set free from the bondage of sin and death.

Verses 10-12 help us to see why the Suffering Servant (Christ) came to suffer and die. Jesus didn’t deserve any of this. Jesus didn’t deserve the injustices that came his way, however this all happened because it was God the Father’s will and design. Verse 10 explains it this way. “Jesus was our offering because of our sin. In other words, Jesus knew why He must come. Jesus understood that His suffering and sacrifice was the complete satisfaction is settling our sin issue. Without it we would die and spend an eternity apart from Christ. So, Jesus knew exactly what he must do to justify us before a holy and righteous God. Verse 12 explains it like this. Jesus made intercession for us. He interceded on our behalf. When we see Christ’s suffering and all that he went through my prayer is that it would cause us to take a look inward, for each of us to take a look at our lives and be more thankful for what the Lord has done for us.