The Suffering Servant, Reflections

Isaiah 52:13-15

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;[b]
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
    his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle[c] many nations;
    kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand.

The prophet speaks as the mouth piece of God and commands our attention with “Behold, my servant!” As if to say, “Look everyone I want to introduce you to the vehicle of your salvation. Let me introduce to you, here, tonight only, the one, the only savior, messiah, the one who you have been waiting for! The Suffering Servant!”

He knows everything that needs to be done to exact a complete and total salvation for you and for the whole world. He has the foresight to know the impact and the outcome of each of his decisions, and he will do everything that is necessary for completing the mission he has been sent to accomplish. Nothing can stop him because he knows already what and how everything needs to be done, and will do everything perfectly.

He is “high” and “lifted up!” These are titles only ever applied to God himself. This means that the servant  himself is God, He is the sovereign creator, and He is above all things and through whom all things were made and sustained. He is “exulted!” Yes, His very nature is high above everything! He is the highest of the high and mighty. He is God!

As the “many” in verse 14 indicates, everyone will be completely shocked and devastated by what happens to God’s servant, who is God, sent to carry out God’s will and purpose for the “many.” What will cause this level of devastation? Devastation to the extent that to see it, just the visual experience will cause a complete and total emotional overload that the “many” will be unable to react… 

They will only be able to stare in utter disbelief of what has come upon the servant of God. His appearance will be so incredibly disfigured that he will not even be recognizable as human. It’s the stuff of crime scenes that are only discernible through extensive forensic investigation and DNA testing.

In the pure horror of the servants suffering he will sprinkle his blood on the nations, cleansing them of their sin, and kings will stand watching unable to make a sound. 

Kings who understand the burden of sending men into battle

to defend a cherished way of life, kings who know that many of those men will end up leaving behind widows, these kings will be silenced as they see what they never could have imagined, as they comprehend what they never could have been prepared for. God has subjected his servant to complete physical, emotional, and spiritual devastation beyond anyone’s ability to stomach.

Jesus Christ did this as he carried our burdens, our guilt, and our shame to Calvary. How is it that God suffered to this extent for mere mortals? Mortals who have turned away in rejection of His sovereignty and grace. 

This is love, this is mercy, this is the character of our God.

An Easter Sunrise Reflection

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

There is a lot of emotion written into John’s account of resurrection day. In each of the subsequent appearances of Jesus we find His followers deep in the turmoil of overwhelming emotion. All of the pain and frustration of their unrealized dreams and expectations of the coming kingdom of God has them in a tail spin.

It is in just this type of tail spin we find Mary Magdalene as she approaches the now empty tomb in the darkness of predawn. Her eyes and her understanding still dim to the reality of what had occurred. Her mind still reeling from the thought of her dead Messiah. Her eyes puffy from the multiplied tears she had been releasing all throughout the silence of the previous day. Her breathing was labored and strained as the invisible weight on her chest promised no reprieve. Her head and neck ached as it seemed her heart would never settle down from her throat. Coming to the tomb early that morning must have already felt like walking miles as every time she looked up to see the garden tomb drawing closer it only seemed to be that much further away.

This was truly a moment for Mary that reveals the depth of the darkness in our souls apart from the knowledge of the resurrected Christ. And if there was ever a soul crushing darkness, this must have been it. All of the disciples had so many hopes and dreams for what the Lord was going to do. Peter, the headstrong fisherman, imagined he would be Jesus’ Sargent at Arms when Jesus took His earthly thrown and established the new world super-power, James and John, the sons of thunder, were going to rule with Him in that kingdom, one on His right hand and one on His left. But maybe none could have felt as dark as Mary in that very moment.

She had been set free of seven demons, and had given every cell of her being to following Jesus, but what was she going to do now? She had nowhere to go, no earthly idea of what she would do next. She may have struggled inside as the questions kept berating her mind like hail on the hot summer pavement, steam billowing up obscuring her vision, as car alarms are blaring around her from the vehicles being pummeled by mother nature’s onslaught. Was He not the one the prophet Isaiah spoke of? Wasn’t He God’s Servant who would bring restoration to God’s people? Wasn’t He the one we have been waiting for? If He has failed, what of God? Is God still there? Will God still save us? Can God still save us? Is He still sovereign?

I can’t imagine the way Mary must have felt that morning walking through the countryside of Jerusalem. But I do imagine all of us have felt similar, as we’ve watched our hopes and dreams crumble before us like stale bread. The worst part is not so much the initial failure, as it is the powerlessness to breathe new life into those dreams. The despair comes when we are completely out of control, and cannot exact our will on the situation.

There is much that we could say about this typical human experience, but the good news is there need never be a despair as deep as what Mary was feeling that morning in Galilee.  Things are not always going to go our way, and dreams may go unrealized, but Jesus has risen and we have hope that reaches beyond the pain of loss. “For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.” (Jer. 31:11, 13, ESV)

Whatever happens in this fleeting life of ours we have hope beyond the struggle, and it’s guaranteed. We have been completely set free from the burden of sin and shame through the cross of Jesus Christ, and we have the promise of life ever after through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And nothing, “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39, ESV) And that love is proven beyond the shadow of doubt by Jesus willingness to endure the cross and the Father’s willing to put Him there. And now, after the resurrection, we can bask in that loving embrace for all eternity, come hell or high water, the rivers can over top

their banks and the bridges may fail and fall, but we are caught by the love of God in Christ Jesus for ever and ever, Amen.