THE SUFFERINGS OF THE LORD JESUS
Isaiah 53:1-3,7-10; Psalm 41:7,9; Lamentations 1:12;
It will be evident that what I would like to speak about tonight is the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, a very affecting subject and also a very holy one. The prophecy of Isaiah was written several thousand years ago. Isaiah was a prophet and he went through a long period of the testimony of God in relation to Israel on the earth; but in the writings of Isaiah he looked on to the time when Christ would reign on the earth. He looked forward to God’s Man, Jesus, and he looked forward to all that He was going to do for God and for men that could be done by no other. Isaiah looked forward to all of that; and one of the things that he foresaw when he was writing his prophecy was, not just the perfection of Jesus and what He was going to be for God, he also foresaw the extent of the sufferings that Jesus was going to suffer from the hand of His God to bring men to God. It is because Jesus suffered and died for you that there is a preaching today, and that there is salvation offered to men today. It is remarkable when you think about it, and when you read, particularly at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, of the birth of Jesus and the light that shone from God when Jesus came to the earth. It says that “all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job.38:7), and the heavenly host said that there would be “on earth peace, good pleasure in men”, Luke 2:14. That could never have been said before Jesus came. To an extent, God had delight in certain persons before that, but He could never have full confidence in any other man, because every man before Jesus had failed somehow. Starting from Adam and working all the way to the time of Jesus, every man failed somehow.
But when Jesus came into this scene, God for the first time had in a Man what was absolutely perfect. It says in relation to the Lord Jesus that He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners” (Heb.7:26), all of those moral features. What a delight that was to God; He had never had a man before of whom all those things could be said, but they could be said of Jesus. So God’s Man was to come into the world, and that is what we read of in the beginning of Isaiah. The prophet says, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?”. Isaiah was writing this at a time when there was departure in Israel from the God who had saved them. In this day in which we live, you see how far men are away from God. You see how many things there are out in the world which show that. If you read the newspaper, you see how far men have departed from the God who would save them. Has it stopped God desiring to save them? No, categorically not. I do not know if you are saved, I do not know how many gospels you have sat under. What I do know is that the God who saved me can save you, and the God who saved me would save you. All you have to do is believe, and come under the shelter of the blood of His Son.
So here in Isaiah it says, “Who hath believed our report? … For he shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground”. That was what God saw, you know. That was what God saw in Jesus. He saw One who would “grow up before him as a tender sapling”. The Lord was a real man. He came here as a Babe, wrapped in swaddling-clothes; there were those who found Him in a manger (Luke 2:7,12). That shows the reality of the manhood of Jesus, and He grew up before the eyes of His God. What a wonderful thing for God to see Jesus literally growing up from a babe to a boy of twelve, and then to a man of thirty. At that time, when He was thirty years old, He started out on His public pathway leading to the cross. What a Man for God; “he shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground”.
But then the context of the scripture changes and it says, “he hath no form nor lordliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him”. You know, Jesus was a lowly man amongst men; He did not come with all the pomp and the majesty that He merited in His own Person. He came in as a lowly Man amongst men to save the very men He was among. What a glorious Saviour Jesus is! It says, “He is despised and left alone of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their faces; – despised, and we esteemed him not”. That is a sobering thing. As you look at the life of Jesus, at what it was upon the earth, you see how much He suffered. You think of what it was when He went amongst men, despised and left alone by the very people He had come to save. Do you know anybody who loves you like that? I do not. The only Person I know who loves me like that is Jesus.
That is why I read in Psalm 41 which is written prophetically of the time when the Lord Jesus would be betrayed when He was here, betrayed by Judas. Think of what that was for Jesus. Judas had spent three and a half years in the presence of the Lord, and the Lord counted him as a friend. Have you ever stopped to think what it meant to the heart of Jesus when He saw Judas coming amidst those who were going to take the Lord away and crucify Him? Have you ever thought what it meant to the heart of Jesus to know that He was going to be betrayed by one of His friends who had sat at table with Him? Speaking in today’s terms, Judas had sat and had dinner with Him; had been with Jesus for three and a half years and seen where He lived, seen what He did, seen where He went every day, heard His precious words. Judas had known all those things, and yet there was going to come a time when Jesus was to be betrayed by that very man. That was one of the sorrows that the Lord Jesus had to bear. What a sorrow that was. You might think how dreadful it would be if you were ever to be betrayed. Well, the one Man on the earth who never had a reason to be betrayed was betrayed by one who was one of His friends, and that unto death. But did that stop the Lord from going to die, friend? No, it was one of the sorrows He bore while He was going on His way to die. It says in Luke, “he … set his face to go to Jerusalem”, Luke 9:51. His disciples asked some Samaritans to receive Him, but they would not. Why? Because He was going to Jerusalem. He was going to die, friend, for those very Samaritans that would have nothing to do with Him. He was going to die to make salvation available to them; He was going to die to make salvation available to you.
So here in Psalm 41 it says, “All that hate me whisper together against me; against me do they devise my hurt”; that was true. We read at the beginning of John’s gospel, “He came to his own, and his own received him not”, John 1:11. Jesus came to save persons who would not be saved; they chose not to have Him. Dear friend, do not be like that. They chose not to receive Him. Did He love them? Yes, that is why He came. They chose not to have Him. Is there anybody here in the room who has chosen not to have Jesus? Has anybody here in this room chosen not to put their trust in the Man who loves you enough to die for you? Christ wanted to save those persons who He came to, and He wants to save you! That is why He came. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”; the man that said that could say, “of whom I am the first”, 1 Tim.1:15. Paul was a man who had not only harmed Christians, but had supported their being put to death (Acts 26:10). How awful that was! But was it so awful that God could not save Paul? No.
After the Lord was crucified, after He had died while He was hanging on that cross, a soldier pierced His side with a spear. It says that there was blood and water which came out of the side of Jesus (John 19:34). The blood is what cleanses us in the sight of God, if we accept it. It has often struck me that the cleansing power of that blood was available for the very soldier that pierced His side; that blood was available for him too. That is the extent of the love of God, that the very soldier that pierced His side had the opportunity to be saved by the blood that came out as a result of such an atrocious act.
That is the God who appeals to you today. Are you going to make Jesus yours? Is He really yours? Do you love that Man? I can say, I do; I love Him for what He has done for me, and I love Him for all that He is. I have come to love that Man because I see some of the features in Him that God loves; I love Him for what He has done for me too. He has taken away all my sins, and now I will be saved for eternity by that Man who shed His blood for me. Can you say that? You should be able to say that.
When we come to Lamentations, this again was something that was said prophetically in relation to the Lord Jesus. It says here, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, whom Jehovah hath afflicted in the day of his fierce anger”. Have you ever stopped to think, dear friend, that when Jesus died to take away your sins, He bore the wrath of God against sin. You need to understand that God had a right to be angry in relation to your sins, and He was; He laid His judgment of your sins upon the head of Jesus in His anger against sin, speaking very carefully and very reverently. So you can understand why this is said prophetically of the Lord Jesus: “which is done unto me, whom Jehovah hath afflicted in the day of his fierce anger”. The prophet Zechariah then says, in relation to God speaking, “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, even against the man that is my fellow”, Zech.13:7. That is said of the only Man who God ever had, as we have said, who was entirely perfect in His eyes. As we read in Isaiah, God “hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all”.
Iniquity is a strong word. Some might say that they have not sinned as much as the other man, and they might compare themselves with other men and say, ‘Well, I am not so bad, there are others worse than me’. King David, when he was writing about his failure, asked God to forgive him the iniquity of his sin (Ps.32:5). Romans teaches us that sin involves the intent of the mind that culminates in sins – the actions. So you can understand why sin is so awful, because it is the intent in your mind to go against the God whose you are. So God has laid upon Christ not only our sins, but the whole principle of sin. It is not just that He puts your actions there; He laid upon Christ the judgment of the whole principle of sin against God. That is the fulness of the salvation available in the glad tidings. It does not just clear you from your actions, it clears you from the whole thing; it clears you from the man that would intend to sin against God. God laid that upon the head of His Son. That is the extent to which God has gone that you should be saved. Does that affect you, friend? It affects me. So you can understand the extent of the sorrow that the Lord speaks about prophetically in Lamentations.
The second portion we read in Isaiah says, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth”. When you read in the gospels in relation to the Lord going to the cross, you find the awfulness of what man did, you see all the affliction that was laid upon Him by men. You get all the things that they did to Him. You get them spitting upon Him, you get them pulling the hairs out of His head, you get them beating Him, you get them mocking Him. They put a crown of thorns on His head and gave Him a purple robe, mocking Him as to His kingship and then taking it off Him. Then you get them giving Him His own cross to bear, to carry along the way that He was going to be crucified. You get all of those things happening to the Lord of glory, all of them to the Man who had come to save. That is what men did to Him, and it says, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth”. He had a mockery of a trial before Pilate when there were those who falsely accused Him of things which He never did. Did He open His mouth? No. Did He try and justify Himself? No, He never did. It says, “he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth. He was taken from oppression and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of my people”. That was the reality of the dying of Jesus: “he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of my people”.
Christ died for the sins of many, of all who believe in Him. That should affect you. The only Man who ever had a right not to die, has died because He has taken the burden of your sins if you will have Him, the penalty of your sins, and taken them to the cross and dealt with them there. He dealt with them before the eyes of a holy God who in His anger against sin laid upon Jesus the wrath due to you. The love that lies behind such an action as that, my friend, should affect your heart, for nobody else loves you like that. It was God who gave up His Son for you, to take away your sins. What a God, what a Saviour. Isaiah continues, “And men appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth”.
Now we come to the most touching part of this, “Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath subjected him to suffering. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see a seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand”. “When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin” – God did that. God did that with the Man who would be your Saviour today; and He did it so that you could have your soul saved. Speaking very reverently and very carefully, God made Christ’s soul an offering for sin. You know, the scripture speaks about the redemption of the soul; “the redemption of their soul is costly, and must be given up for ever”, Ps.49:8. What a thing that was for God, to lay upon Jesus the iniquity of us all, and more than that, to make “his soul an offering for sin”. What a profound thing it was. Have you any concept at all, dear hearer, of what it has cost God that you should have the opportunity for salvation, of how much it meant for God to see His Son suffering and dying.
Where we read in Mark, you get some impression of the sufferings of Jesus at the hand of God. The Lord could say there, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”. He said that after He had spent thirty three and a half years in perfect communion with God. Communion is a day by day relationship with God. Every single day between the Lord Jesus and God was special and precious and intimate, but at this moment the Lord cried; “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”. Did you ever think what it meant for God to hear those words? Have you ever stopped to think that God listened to Jesus and heard those words, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”. Have you ever stopped to think of how that affected the heart of God? And yet because He “hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all”, Christ had to die. For you to be saved, friend, God had to send Him into the world, because there was no other person who could take away your sins, and Christ had to die. Does that affect you? I remember my daughter saying to me one day after the preaching, ‘Why do we make the gospel so complicated?’. I never forgot that. The gospel is a very simple thing. “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved”, Acts 16:31. Do you believe, dear friend, that Jesus is enough for God, that what He has done can take away your sins for ever from the sight of God? Do you believe that? I do. I have put my faith in the blood of a Man who died to take away my sins so that I should never be burdened by them again. I will stand for eternity before the face of my God, and He is my God and Jesus is my Saviour, and I get all of that because I took God at His word. All you need to do is believe. Do you believe? Now I cannot answer that question. I can tell you about it but I cannot answer it. The transaction is between you and Jesus – between you and Jesus.
Have you had that transaction? If so – and I speak from my own experience – if so, how are you getting on now in your relationship with Jesus? If you are saved – and I trust you are – if you are saved, how are you getting on now in your relationship which God established with you by the blood of Jesus? What can sometimes happen with relationships is that you get into a rut, and you begin to feel, ‘This is how it has been and how it will always be, and that is good enough’. Jesus would like something much more intimate than that. For Jesus, His relationships with His God were always living. He would open your ear in the morning just so that He could say a word for your heart. He would wait until you are going to bed at night and just say a word for your heart. He would wait when you are going through a bad day and just wait until the opportune time and give you a word for your heart. That is the reality of the believer’s relationship with Jesus. How is it with you, friend? How is it with you? This Jesus who died for you desires to have a relationship with you. How is it with you? How is it with you in your Christianity? How is it with you?
That is quite a test; it is for me anyway, but one thing I am absolutely sure of – my feelings for Christ may ebb and flow, but His feelings for me never have. I stand in the surety that Christ loves me in spite of myself; and that is a wonderful surety because it is not dependent on me, it is dependent on Him. I find when I get away and I turn around and take a look back, I find Jesus right there, ready to help me again. How are you getting on in your relationship with Jesus?
I will tell you a story, not to draw attention to my family, but a story in relation to my father which shows how this happens. My father was born in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, and in the ordering of God, circumstances were such that the family ended up moving away from Shanklin and they moved to Canada. His parents were saved and his siblings were but he was not. In Canada, they moved to a farm and my father had a horse which he rode every day and he loved it. He used to ride it and jump over a particular creek every day. The banks of this creek were very steep but it was not a hard job for the horse; and my father rode this route every day. One day he was riding on this path and as he went to jump the creek, the horse slipped; its two front hooves were up on the bank and its two back hooves were hanging in the crevice. It happened in a moment doing something that he had done every single day. If the horse had gone over backwards, my father would have been killed, and if the horse was able to go forward of course he would be saved, he would not lose his life. He understood in that moment the importance of salvation, and he also understood the reality of mortality. There was no question that my father’s life at that point hung in the balance, and he cried out, ‘Lord, save me’. Well, that I am here is proof that God did save him. My father got off the horse, and the first thing he did was give thanks to God; he gave his heart to Jesus and gave thanks to God for saving his life.
That is the reality of salvation. It happens in an instant. It is not a long drawn out affair where you need to go through many things. Christ would save you right now. All you need to do is ask Him; it is as simple as that, and it is as real as that too. I remember a young lady who was asked about her salvation; ‘Do you realise you need a Saviour?’. She said, ‘I did not until right now’; she was saved in that moment. How long are you going to wait? As was said recently in another gospel preaching, ‘Everybody knows the day of their birth; nobody knows the day of their death’. Do not leave it, friend, do not assume you have tomorrow; indeed, do not assume you have tomorrow even if you are saved. Do not assume you have tomorrow to put right your relationship with the Lord who died to save you. Do not assume there is time – there is no guarantee that there will be time tomorrow. It is the one thing God does not give us – a guarantee that there will be time tomorrow. He has given you this opportunity today: “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved”.
Well, that is all I have to say, friend. I have spoken to you about a Man who has suffered unimaginable sorrow so that you should be His, and He should be yours. What are you going to do with the message you have heard today? What are you going to do with it? Are you going to accept it? Are you going to take God at His word? Are you going to ask Jesus to take away your sins? Peter said at the time of extremity, “Lord, save me” (Matt.14:30), and he was saved.
May it be so, for His name’s sake.
Preaching of the word of God, Glasgow
18 August 2019
Terry W Lock