"THE WEEKLY WORD"

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers was silent, so he did not open his mouth. -Isaiah 53:7

                Wow! There is so much in this verse. However, I read it and I have one prevailing thought. I have no excuse. And what does that mean? In my mind, Jesus suffered incredibly. Painstakingly for me in so many ways. Why do I complain about my suffering? I have no excuse. There’s no way around it. The ultimate suffering servant, that’s who Jesus was. And if I’m truly following him, then I am willing to suffer in a similar fashion aren’t I? Am I really willing to do that?

                To be honest, we all just do not want suffering. It’s terrific and even poignant to read about our suffering Savior. We even admire what he did. Yet we ourselves want to be immune from the suffering. And even if we want to do it, we don’t want our suffering to go too far. We want a “comfortable suffering,” that is, suffering which won’t leave us changed for the worse long term.

                And yet, here the coming Messiah will be led by his accusers as the Old Testament prophet promises. He will be led to destruction, and as his accusers destroy him bit by bit, he won’t even fight back! Gosh, it’s all tough to process, much less wrap our minds around.

                As much as the suffering Jesus has claimed us, he aches for us and with us even in our sufferings, whatever they look like. So is there not a “comfort in suffering” for us? A song by Keith Green says, ““Christ is our hope in life and death, o sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal!””

                My friends, if we confess Jesus as our Lord, it does not mean we will suffer less. It does not even mean our suffering will be any easier. It does mean, however, we can embrace our suffering servant, who in turn embraces us as we tread the hard road of life.

                So lift up your head friends, take heart. Jesus is there and has suffered and died. You and I will suffer, but because Jesus lived, we will never die!

To God be the glory!

Pastor Brandon