The Suffering Servant (1 Peter 2:21-25)
“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
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 her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.
A Grave Assigned (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”
This entire chapter describes the Messiah and Jesus Christ fulfilled every bit of it during his life, death, and resurrection. But there are a few surprises. “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.”
WHAT? You mean Jesus wasn’t a tall blue – eyed blond with muscles? Jesus was born to a very humble family under poor circumstances in the tiny village of Nazareth. But what did Jesus look like? Although most artists and most movie makers have portrayed Jesus as being good looking, there is no evidence to validate that assumption. Was Jesus really tall and Caucasian? Jesus was born to a Jewish mother and worked as a teknikon, a builder. Jesus likely had dark eyes, black hair, and a swarthy complexion from being out in the sun. While Jesus’ work undoubtedly gave him muscles like whip cord, there is nothing to indicate that Jesus was particularly tall. If Jesus was small but wiry, that might explain why Jewish religious leaders were so willing to scorn him and why he had to retreat to a fishing boat to avoid being trampled by crowds coming to hear him.
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” During Jesus’ three-year ministry, he taught a number of people, working closely with twelve men; yet, one of them eventually betrayed him and all but one of the others deserted him.
“Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 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 her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.”
Jesus KNEW that he had been born as Messiah to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. When Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader, came to Jesus by night, Jesus told him, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (on the cross.) In order that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:13) When Jesus was arrested and dragged before Jewish and Roman rulers, he did not say anything in his own defense. Jesus was “cut off from the land of the living” for the sins of the world.
“He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied.”
Jesus was buried in a grave donated by Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy believer. But Jesus only needed that grave for a few days because he rose from the dead on Easter. Ever since, Jesus has “Seen the light of life and is satisfied.”
“By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”
Not only did Jesus lay down his life for the sins of the world, but he even prayed for those who were killing him while he was dying. When Jesus hung on the cross, he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) God allowed Jesus to be crushed and killed because sin required payment by blood and only the blood of a sinless man could pay for the sins of the world.
APPLICATION: Face it, all of us have a sin problem. No matter how well we behave, no matter how much we might try to control ourselves, sooner or later we say things or do things that are evil. Left to our own devices, none of us would be able to work our way into heaven. And God knows every one of our dirty little secrets. Amazingly, despite all this knowledge, God still loves us anyway. But God is holy and cannot tolerate sin in His presence, so God Himself has made a way for us to be with Him through the blood sacrifice Jesus has made on the cross at Calvary.
There’s an old Gospel song that says, “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole and clean? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”
“Ooh, blood! Yuck!” you might say. “Isn’t there any other way into heaven?” No, sorry, but there isn’t. When Jesus was briefing his disciples the night before he was killed, he told them, “I (Jesus) am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except by Me.”
Several years ago, we attended an event at which Tony Campollo was speaking. In describing people who wanted to find shortcuts to heaven, Mr. Campollo compared them to airline pilots flying from New York City to Philadelphia. “When I get on an airplane for Philadelphia,” Mr. Campollo said, “I want the pilot to know the best way to Philadelphia and follow that plan. I am not interested in a pilot who gets behind the controls of the airplane and then states, “There are many ways to Philadelphia!”
Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” How many of us need direction? How many of us long for truth? How many of us want to enjoy true life, not the imitation we might see on social media? Come to Jesus! The same Messiah who interceded for his murderers still holds out his hands inviting all of us to come just as we are.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help everyone who reads these words to realize just how much You love them and how much You long for them to come to You and allow You to heal their sins. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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