Tag Archives: Deserved

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 25

25. Shalom and Grace

scourging3

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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 53:4-5)

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him. This is a significant change. In all four of the previous substitutions, every single one of them dealt with acts or attributes which were willingly committed by us, were inherent in our nature, and as such, the consequences were well deserved. And yet Christ interceded. But this substitution is not deserved, and Christ still pays for it.

We have moved from that which is intrinsic to us—grief, sorrow, transgressions and iniquity—to that which is not: well-being. But how often do we seek things which we do not deserve? And how often do we seek to avoid that which we rightly deserve?

What is translated as well-being is a familiar word: shalom. The vast majority of translations of this word is peace; it accounts for about seventy-five percent. But it is more than peace; and it is much more than the simple cessation of hostilities; indeed it is the removal of hostilities. Other meanings are: friends, prosperity, well-being and health.

The word chastening is really discipline, correction, or instruction. Within this chapter, here is the most benign consequence. But when discipline is heaped upon the other more serious judgments, was it felt as a bit of a reprieve, or just one more “punishment” piled on to an already overwhelming and devastating avalanche of pain, sorrow, and suffering.

Two intersecting paths are revealed in Hebrews showing us the discipline that was placed upon Christ: one was what He went through for Himself and us, the other becomes the example and encouragement for what we will go through, to help others.

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. (Heb 2:17-18)

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. ( Heb 5:8-10)

 “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. ( Heb 12:5-7, 10-12)

HelpingHand2

Note, the direct outcome of discipline is not to turn within yourself, but to turn towards others. It’s discipline that strengthens the hands that are weak, and strengthens the knees that are feeble. It’s discipline that makes paths straight, and allows the lame limb to be healed. As He did it for you, so do it for others.

This is the fifth substitution: for our peace, our well-being, He was chastised and disciplined.

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 22

22. Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted

scourging2

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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 53:4-5)

In the midst of the great works of mercy and grace Christ does for you and me, this phrase reveals our thoughts, our intents and actions, which run contrary to what He is doing. Once again we see how broken we are: He bears our sins and carries our sorrows, and yet we have the arrogance and audacity to presume that He was smitten and afflicted by God?

We are indeed broken. I am reminded of the aphorism: No good deed goes unpunished.  There were those at the site of the cross who actually believed that Christ got what was coming to Him. That He deserved this sentence of death. These would be called the religious people, and even though the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Scribes of the Law are no longer personally with us, their mindset is alive and well.

The first time we saw the word esteemed, we calculated (remember it was an accounting word) that He was not worth calculating. In a sense we ignored Him. Like all sins though, they have an eroding and degenerative effect, thus our view of Him has deteriorated as well, for rather than estimating Him as One with no worth, He is now One Who has been found worthy of the evils that have been set upon Him. Therefore He is deserving of the following:

Stricken, smitten and afflicted.

Stricken is a very personal word and is often translated as touched. It requires personal contact. We first see this word is in Genesis 3:3—“But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ It also incorporates the aspect of intent, being translated as some form of reach. It is also defined as to bear and defeated.

Smitten has much more violence associated with it. Here are some of other translations for it: attack, beat, destroy, killed, slay, struck down and wounded. We must note that the most violent of the three words here is directly credited to God’s action: smitten of God.

Afflicted is an action which results in being humbled or bowed down, forced, debased, and violated. This word ties easily into our pride, for pride exalts itself and debases all others around it. We have determined that Christ really is less than He says He is and on top of that, was deserving of whatever ill-treatment was given.

As horrific as these actions were we must acknowledge that, “Well, yes He was.” He was indeed smitten of God, as well as stricken of God and afflicted of God. But the fatal error we make is that these actions were taken because Christ was deserving of such, not because He chose to pay the price and accept the consequences.

I am reminded of the disciples’ question: As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” ( John 9:1-3)

It is far too easy to assign blame rather than seeing the works of God. Christ was not stricken, smitten and afflicted because He deserved it. Rather He was stricken, smitten and afflicted to display the works of God, indeed the greatest work of God: For God so loved the world… He was not stricken, smitten and afflicted because of His nature (which is our situation), but because of His choice. His choice to be the Lamb of God, and take your place on the cross.

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 7

7. Just Spectators  

3D Spectators

And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. (Psalm 69:20)

What did it do to the Son to have His Father turn away and hide His face, especially at His time of greatest need? It could be said He died alone. His Father had turned His back and could not look upon His Son. But, Christ did not die alone. He had all the sins of the world clinging to Him; or more appropriately, He was hanging on to those sins all the way to the grave. How great His love for us!

When in torment and suffering, you look for those who can bring comfort, and be sympathetic; but there was no one for Jesus.

The word for sympathy has more to do with our actions, rather than the actions of those around us. Sympathy means: to shake, wander, waver, move to and fro, and flutter. It’s translations are: mourn, shake, wander, waver, and to flee. It’s as if our actions are seeking to elicit a sympathetic response. How many would be sympathetic watching Jesus hang on the cross?

I am once again drawn back to the foot of the cross and examine those in the crowd. When I think of those who loved Jesus and beheld His suffering, two things come to mind:

Christ’s condition was so brutalized, His body so deformed, that it may well have been beyond the their ability to take it all in. What was done to Him, what He was going through, must have overwhelmed their senses.

Also, they were probably consumed by their own sorrow, or guilt, or powerlessness.

Either of these responses could have led to complete emotional shutdown or paralysis. And we would be the same. After all, what could we do? We couldn’t rescue Him or retrieve Him by force, for then there would be no sacrifice. Nor could we take His place, for there would be no perfect sacrifice. That’s why there were no responses. For those who did care, were immobilized, frozen. And those who didn’t care, they rejoiced in believing He got what He deserved—death.

So there you have it—we’re all left to be spectators. No one then and no one now could change the outcome. But remember these verses:

The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day. ( Luke 9:22) Christ alone could pay the price, but what we can do is described in the following verses:

 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-27)

I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.  (Philippians 3:7-10)

But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (cf. 1 Peter 4:12-14)

So… there’s the key. We are all spectators at the cross. We all need to see what Christ did for us, as He suffered and died. But then comes our part: take up your cross daily and follow Him; count all things as garbage when compared to Him; go through ordeals and tests, share in His sufferings, and do so with rejoicing. Our actions must constantly be aligned with and kept in the context of His suffering, death and resurrection. Then will our attitudes and actions be true to Him.