THE SUFFERINGS OF THE LORD JESUS
N. McKay
Mark 10: 32–34; Hebrews 2: 10; Matthew 23: 19
It is in mind to speak a little as to the sufferings of our Lord Jesus, or at least a part of them, but I thought it would be helpful if we could say one or two words of introduction for the young people to see that the Lord’s life, although it was one perfect life, can be viewed in different periods, different aspects of it. Of the first thirty or so years of His life, what we might call His private life, very little is said in Scripture. It says that He was beginning to be about thirty years old when He went into the waters of baptism. From His birth through to these waters of baptism, that life was precious to God, because He lived here as a Man in humble circumstances, but He lived in perfection towards God. There was one short interjection when He was about twelve years old that tells us that He had taken up His responsibilities as was suitable. We know that that was suitable at that age. Then He was there as a Man, the reputed son of a carpenter, working with His hands as a Man before God in perfection. That was one distinct period of His life, and God had absolute delight in that life. He was in communion with the Father and He lived in that life exactly the way that God looks for in man; there was nothing great noted, no outward show, just a Man in relationship with His God and Father. It is a blessed thing to see that, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”, Luke 3: 22. These were the Father’s words spoken out of heaven, approving everything that happened in those thirty years.
And then we have from the waters of baptism to the mount of transfiguration, the Lord’s public life in which He served God and served men. He said of that time, “Behold, I cast out demons and accomplish cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I am perfected”, Luke 13: 32. That is two days of perfect witness of God and what God was towards man. That too was absolute perfection; He loved that life too because He was serving God and He was wholly in the will of God. His communion with His Father was unstinted. He enjoyed that, saying, “My God, take me not away in the midst of my days!”, Psalm 102: 24. It says prophetically of that time, “He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the instructed”, Isaiah 50: 4. He was before the Father in prayer every morning to find out how to succour by a word him that is weary, how to bring in help because He was serving man. It says of Him typically that He served for a wife, for a wife He kept sheep. He came here as a bondman. What a blessed thing that is! The Lord Jesus was here serving man. What a lowly humble way He came in perfection; He turned none away, He healed all that came to Him, He stayed up late into the night healing persons. He came to cities round about, the crowds came to Him and He healed them; He taught them. What a life that was and yet there was sorrow in it because He saw how mankind was suffering. He saw truly, properly what man was before God. He saw that and it grieved Him. He saw man suffering under demons, He saw man suffering under illness, everything that had come in under sin, He saw death. He entered into what death meant, He wept at Lazarus’ grave. He sorrowed, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. What a precious life that was too. The feelings of God towards man, God’s holy precious feelings towards man, the Lord Jesus exemplified them. That was, we may say, His public life.
Then from the mount of transfiguration when the voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son—hear him” (Luke 9: 35), when He was perfectly suitable for heaven and honoured by the Father, we have what we often speak of as the dying of Jesus; it says “he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”, Luke 9: 51. He did not cease to serve man. He did not cease to serve God but He moved forward in that short period of time. He set His face to go to Jerusalem to die. As they were on the way to go up to Jerusalem and Jesus going on before them, it reminds of Abraham when he was told to offer up Isaac, he rose early in the morning and saw the place from afar off. He did not hesitate, he moved on towards death. It tested those who followed Him, they were afraid as they followed, and He told them He was going on to death.
The passover was only a short while away and the Lord was going to Jerusalem. He was going to suffer and to die; He would not be diverted from that path one little bit. They were amazed and afraid as they followed and He began to tell them what was going to happen. He says, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered up to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him up to the nations—and they shall mock him and scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him”. He accepted that at the hands of man, He set His face that way. Mark goes over it very touchingly. It speaks in the next chapter of how they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage, and how He got the colt and went into Jerusalem and looked around in the temple; then the hour being already late He went to Bethany and spent the night at Bethany. He would not spend the night at Jerusalem, He came out to where love was. Next day He came again to Jerusalem; He taught them and in the evening He went forth without the city. You look over Mark’s gospel, young believer, and see the Lord as He moved into death, and after three days would rise again. What was before His view as He moved that way? He knew what was going to happen, and He moved there in complete subjection to the will of God.
I have been impressed with this scripture in Luke. He had been there among them in those years of public service; He had been among them in His years of private life and in His ministry, but there comes a time when He has to offer up His life in death. Satan was approaching at this point. The Lord felt it in His spirit. He would go through it in His spirit at Gethsemane—“the ruler of the world comes, and in me he has nothing”, John 14: 30. Think of the Lord Jesus anticipating the return of Satan to oppress Him in His spirit with all that He was going to go through in death; Satan was going to approach Him and oppress His spirit with the thoughts of the sufferings of death. What sufferings the precious Person of the Lord Jesus had to suffer, that which He hated, that which He reviled, sin! He was going to have to deal with sin and sins in His death. At Gethsemane His sweat became as great drops of blood. What a Man for our affections, what an attractive Man. What moral greatness was shown in this One who went on to death. He suffered there for sin and sins in those three hours of darkness on the tree. He suffered during those three hours of darkness for our sins, those who believe on Him, on the tree. He suffered there at the hands of God, “it pleased Jehovah to bruise him”, Isaiah 53: 10. What a contemplation to think of the Lord Jesus in that way! Sins were borne in those three hours.
But before those three hours there was this period of which the Lord speaks. He says, “but this is your hour and the power of darkness”, Luke 22: 53. What feelings the Lord Jesus had as regards that; a very brief period in His life, maybe just a night and part of the next day, but it was man’s hour. “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep dumb before her shearers”, Isaiah 53: 7. The will of God involved that the Lord Jesus would go this sacrificial way and He accepted that. He accepted it completely and submitted Himself to the will of God, and gave Himself over into the hands of man. What feelings; what it meant to the Lord Jesus to do this, what it meant to God to allow man opportunity, scope over His own beloved Son. Certain scope was given to man which had not been done so previously. In the Lord’s life in ministry, He had been protected to a certain extent, He had hidden Himself from them. He went out mysteriously; they could not take Him because He was protected, they had no power over Him; but there comes a point in the Lord’s life when He is given into the hands of man. What a solemn thing. What would man do with Him? “This is your hour and the power of darkness”.
The Lord Jesus knew what was in man, He knew the power of darkness, He knew what control darkness had over men, it still has over many; He knew it as we do not know it, and yet He gave Himself over to be mocked, to be scourged, to have blows rained upon Him.
Man would do to the Lord Jesus as they would. It says, “he ... gave his strength into captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor”, Psalm 78: 61. What a thing that the Lord should be given over into the hands of man for this period. This strikes my soul, my affections, that man should have this scope with the Lord of glory, the One who had been here in perfection, who had lived here and done nothing but good. What would men do with the Creator, the Originator of life? What would they do with the One who approached them, the priestly One who approached them? He was “The stone which the builders rejected”, Psalm 118: 22. They could not do anything with Him. They knew not how to treat Him and they cast Him out; they mocked Him, scourged Him, spat upon Him. That is what man is after the flesh. These oppressors here, the chief priests and the Pharisees and the scribes mocked Him. Think of His feelings, those He had been among, those He had taught, those He had healed, and this is what they would do to Him. What a contradiction of sinners against the Lord Jesus. He had only done them good and they would only do Him evil, do Him harm.
Well, it was only for a brief period; He was put on a cross and crucified, a shameful ignominious death. He was obedient, He humbled Himself. Think of the humility, the obedience, the subjection, the lowliness of the Lord Jesus in humbling Himself. Man tried to humiliate Him but the Lord Jesus humbled Himself, “becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross”, Philippians 2: 8. To be put on a cross by the hands of ignorant men. He would allow Himself to be submitted to that. What a lowly blessed Saviour! We are to be affected by the moral greatness and power as seen in this Man. Men would say, Who is this Man? He has been crucified, but God was looking on this
Man and saying, That is moral glory, that is moral beauty; look at that subjection, look at that obedience to My will, look at that acceptance of suffering. What moral perfection, what glory is in this Man! When things were absolutely against Him to the uttermost the Lord Jesus shone in moral perfection and greatness. He is a real Man for our affections. Beloved brethren, let us feed on Him, we will grow on that.
I just wondered in reading Hebrews, why did the Lord suffer this way? It was not His sufferings as the Sin-bearer, those were in the three hours of darkness on the cross. The sufferings at the hands of man did not account for one single sin. I suppose we can see many reasons why He suffered that way. It certainly showed the moral greatness of the Lord Jesus; it showed His submission to His Father’s will; it also showed God for what He was. He perfectly expressed God, but it showed man for what man is. If you have any doubts about what man is or what is in man’s heart you only need to read these scriptures. They showed to the uttermost what man is and what is in man’s heart. There is no good in men’s hearts whatsoever unless it is put there by God.
It says here, “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings”.
He suffered because it was suitable to God, it was God’s way; it became God to make Him suffer in this way. It might not be our way, we might not understand it but it is God’s way; it is suitable and was necessary from the point of view of God. God’s way is suffering and glory, it was suitable for that. It says, “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things”. God brought about the worlds, He created the universe. All things are for Him, and all things are by Him. He did it by a word, God spoke and it was there, it existed; but this was a greater matter. If sons were to be brought to glory it required more than a word, it required more than an act of God, it required that the Leader of our salvation should be made perfect through suffering. Is that not magnificent?
That is the way God operates, it is unmistakeable. What God does He does for ever, it will not be changed. God does something and it stands, He does things His way and His hand is in it unmistakeably. If He is doing something great, if He is bringing sons to glory, the way He does it will reflect the greatness of His thoughts in doing that, and reflect His nature and His appreciation of the sons. The Lord Jesus suffered to affect us because that is the way we are going to be brought to glory. What a wonderful thing. As the Son is there at the right hand of the Father, we shall see how moral greatness in the sons will be formed. It is a complete delineation for how the sons are to reach the Father.
I wish I had more words to say about the greatness of God’s way in bringing sons to glory, which involved that the Lord Jesus should suffer in such a way. God is bringing many sons to glory. He is doing it now, forming us for glory, and the way He is doing it is in suffering. He has set out the standard and how He is going to do it. He has set it out in perfection in Christ.
It was necessary if the Lord was to qualify as the Leader of our salvation, the One who sets the matter on and completes it; it was necessary that He should be qualified through sufferings. God’s ways are unmistakeable, beyond our thoughts, dear brethren. What a way God is taking with us. We are going to be brought to glory; that is the end in view and Christ Jesus is there. He is in glory, He has attained that through suffering.
It speaks in Hebrews 12 of how the Father is disciplining us. We are to “consider well him who endured so great contradiction from sinners against himself’ (Hebrews 12: 3). Then it says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord” (Hebrews 12: 5). These things are in view of bringing us to glory, because sons are to be a true reflection of the Father. The sons will be brought, not by an act of power, not by any word of God, but we will be brought to glory and God will be able to say, Look at these sons, they are just like Christ, they are morally great. They have been formed by suffering, they have wrestled against sin, they have resisted unto blood, they have endured contradiction of sinners against themselves. These sons are formed in affection, they love one another. They have intelligence, they know God, they can see God’s way in suffering and sacrifice. They know God’s love lies behind it, they know the love of God, they are affectionate because they have been formed in the way that God has brought them. What glorious thoughts God has for us. It may not be the pathway that we have in mind; God will take care of that, God will look after our pathway. It is the end that is in mind and God is bringing it to glory in this way. He has taken each one of us in hand and He is bringing us to glory.
Well, just a touch in Matthew’s gospel. I have been exercised in a practical way for the young ones. We can enjoy some of these thoughts as regards the glory, and I trust that we shall enjoy them tomorrow morning, if the Lord will. We have been speaking about the obedience of faith today and I would just like to appeal to the younger ones. God is working these things with us, there is no question about it, we know that, and we have faith for it. It requires taking up responsibility on our part. We do not get anywhere in our souls unless we take up responsibility. Taking up responsibility does not always mean taking on services which persons can see, but it means that if we come to the meetings we come exercised, we take up God’s things responsibly. The breaking of bread is no light matter; it is not something to be taken up glibly. We do not rush there on Lord’s day morning, trying to get out of the door quick enough to get there just in time. Taking up our responsibility means that we take it seriously, we consider our state, that we feed on the right things, and that we desire to be there on a right basis, so that we might minister to divine Persons because it is due to Them.
It does not matter what age you are, everyone can do this, and it will make such a big difference to our local meetings; but what I would say is that it involves more than just the Lord’s day morning, the teaching of it involves the week, that we do not feed on things that are wrong during the week. On the Saturday night, when we are considering the breaking of bread the next day, it involves that we hold ourselves properly at that time. It was the passover that Moses referred to, where we consider the Lord and His death; that is for Saturday night, we consider that and we see Him as the One who sheltered us from judgment.
The passover involves bitter herbs, it involves we eat these bitter herbs, we taste the bitterness, our sins and what is in us that required the Lord to go that way. That is the bitterness that is involved in it; things that belong to the flesh and have to be judged by us.
Let us just be simple about it, we need to consider these things on Saturday night, but then on Lord’s day morning we should have been before God in self-judgment. It says, “But let a man prove himself, and thus eat of the bread, and drink of the cup”, 1 Corinthians 11: 28. Of course, that does not set aside that self-judgment is needed continually throughout the week.
In the teaching of Romans, in chapter 8 you come to discern between the flesh and the Spirit; you recognise that there is what is new and perfectly of God in yourself, and you associate yourself with that, and it gives you great peace in your heart. You go before God and you realise that the flesh is there and you can see that He has dealt with it in Christ. Then you can see things that come up in your life, things that are according to the flesh and you say, That is not me, that is the flesh, and you disassociate yourself from that. You get help to judge yourself; these things are done. We judge what is of the flesh in ourselves, and judge what is right too, what is of the Spirit and what is of God, and you refuse all that is of the flesh. When it comes to Lord’s day morning you have done with that, you want to be free. What is before you now on Lord’s day morning is not sins, it is not the Lord’s work exactly in removing sins, that may come up, but it is the greatness of the Lord Jesus. It says, which is greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift? What is greater, the sacrifice of Christ or the Person of Christ? The Person of Christ is what has to be before us and I think that will set us free. Dear young person, I just appeal to you, have the Lord before you, and the greatness of the altar, the One who did endure. The first thing the children of Israel saw when they came into the tabernacle system was the brazen altar. It was made with the same wood as the rest of the tabernacle system, the acacia wood, typical of the same humanity that marked Christ. It was covered wholly in copper, which gave it the ability to withstand intense heat. Christ was able to withstand that. That is the One who we come to remember, the One who is able to do it, the Person. We are no longer concerned about our sins, nor about the things that are in us, we have sorted that out; we are free to appreciate the Lord Jesus, the glorious, moral greatness of that blessed One. We are free and at liberty. I just appeal to the young people to do that in a practical way and the brethren will appreciate it.
We do appreciate it. Practically these things are taken up responsibly and that is what God looks for; that is what is bringing us to glory, going through these things morally, dealing with moral issues in ourselves, and coming to enjoy the privilege of liberty and joy unhindered.
I just leave the appeal with you, the moral greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ being worked out in us all, for it has been done through suffering, through dealing with evil, through dealing with what is adverse. God could not do it any other way. He could not get rid of evil in us without that. There is no other way to do it; you cannot get rid of evil by a word, you cannot get rid of what is entrenched in you by an act of power. He does it through this great moral way, the way of God, suffering, sacrifice and glory. What a glorious God we have to do with. Let us be free and at liberty tomorrow morning to enjoy the things of God. May it be our portion, and may we be encouraged and built up in it, for His name’s sake.
Address at Grangemouth
12 November 2004