Friday, February 25, 2005
Isaiah 53:3 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.
OUR SACRIFICE - REJECTED BY MEN
The Gospel accounts point out how Jesus was despised by his own people over and over again, how he was rejected by the Jewish religious leaders and even by that entire unbelieving generation. They despised Him so much that they plotted how they might put Him to death even though He was innocent. Because they knew they had no evidence to convict Him they had people testify lies against Him in court in order to carry out their wicked plan. That is how much they hated Jesus. They would even lie and cheat to have Him killed.
And the others? Those who were not supporting this plot against Jesus sat back and watched. They hid their faces so they might not see the injustice that was happening before them. Blissfully ignorant? Not a chance. They knew what was happening. They did not esteem or regard Him as anything. Even those who did know Jesus as the Messiah deserted Him at His time of need. Peter, who had made the confession, "You are the Christ the Son of the Living God," hid his face from that same Savior when he denied Jesus three times.
What about us? Do we despise Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us? Do we hide our faces from Jesus during the week? Do we disregard the suffering of the Servant of the LORD? Do we reject that Savior, or do we receive the message of our sins forgive with humility? May the LORD give each of us a humble heart which receives the message of Christ's sacrifice and the forgiveness of all our sins and believes it! May the LORD strengthen us as He strengthened Peter and the other disciples so that we too can tell others about what great things God has done for us.
And thanks be to our Savior, 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." He endured the cross and great suffering for us - the joy that was set before Him. Thanks be to our Suffering Savior for that great sacrifice. 