Brought As A Lamb To The Slaughter
Minister: |
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: |
3/28/2010 PM
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Text:
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Isaiah 53:7
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Psalters: |
265, 247, 300, 34 |
- The suffering.
- Jesus’ suffering is described as “oppressed” and “afflicted.”
- The focus is on His suffering at the hands of men, but He saw it as coming from God.
- As sheep are driven down an aisle to the slaughtering pen, so Jesus was driven, being humiliated.
- The cause for this suffering: Jehovah “laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (6b).
- God, as it were, makes our iniquity attach His righteous Servant in vicious assault.
- A straying sheep exposes itself to death, but God put His Son in the way to bear the death instead.
- Our text emphasizes Jesus silence – He deliberately did not open His mouth.
- Jesus did not speak when there was every reason to expect Him to do so.
- First, silence is unusual for one created to speak, and especially for Him Who is the “Word.”
- Second, Jesus did not verbally resist, protest, complain, contradict, or try to escape.
- It is touching and pathetic to watch a sheep to go innocently, passively and silently to its death.
- His silence shouts of His submitting Himself willingly and patiently.
- Jesus’ silence speaks of His awareness of sin and guilt (ours on Him before God).
- Consciously standing in our place Jesus admitted the rightness of the oppression and affliction.
- Further, Jesus knew that a willing sacrifice and willing suffering were required of Him.
- So Jesus’ silence was the silence of loving obedience to the will of His heaven Father.
- The fruit of Jesus’ sheeplike silence.
- His silence does condemn those who sinfully condemned Him, revealing the extent of their hatred.
- His silent and obedient going to the cross assures us that He did satisfy God’s justice for us.
- The iniquity laid on Him is gone and never will be laid on us.
- Believe as the Ethiopian eunuch did, and be saved.
- His silence teaches us to look beyond our persecutors to Him Who controls all things for our good.