JOY SET BEFORE US

 MARCH 13 , 2024

Isaiah 50:4-9

 

4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,

to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me morning by morning,

wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;

I have not been rebellious,

I have not turned away.

6 I offered my back to those who beat me,

my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from mocking and spitting.

7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,

I will not be disgraced.

Therefore have I set my face like flint,

and I know I will not be put to shame.

8 He who vindicates me is near.

Who then will bring charges against me?

Let us face each other!

Who is my accuser?

Let him confront me!

9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.

Who will condemn me?

They will all wear out like a garment;

the moths will eat them up.

 JOY SET BEFORE US

In these verses from the Prophet Isaiah we witness the difference between the obedient servant of the Lord and those who persecuted and abused him. Notice, it is the obedient servant who is called to suffer on behalf of the disobedient people – to be struck, spat upon, and mocked. And yet, he “sets his face like flint” toward the road of suffering and will “not be put to shame.” The servant knows that his suffering is not in vain because by it people will be be redeemed.

Perhaps as you read the Bible passage today you found your mind going to the story of Jesus. Certainly, the writers of the New Testament identified that the servant of the Lord, referenced in this Isaiah passage, is none other than Jesus Christ. Jesus “set his face” toward Jerusalem, knowing fully the pain that awaited him there (Luke 9:51). Jesus was struck, mocked, and spat upon (Mark 15:19-20). While innocent, Jesus suffered, not because of his sin but because of ours. Jesus’ life was marked by perfect obedience, even so, he walked the road of suffering to death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-9 reminds us that Jesus “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!

Through all of this, Jesus remained the sinless servant. Hebrews 12:2 teaches us that Jesus, “for the joy set before him endured the cross.” How was Jesus able to endure such treatment and still be confident that ultimately, he would not be put to shame? Well, the answer, in the word we are given, is joy: for “the joy set before him, he endured the cross.” The joy that motivated Jesus was the fact that by his suffering his people would be rescued and restored.

There is a great joy set before us today. In our being united with Jesus by faith we will not be put to shame! Let us take up our cross and follow Christ, the sinless servant.


LET US PRAY

Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus, our sinless servant. May this good news bring strength to us as we pursue joy in the midst of our pain and suffering. In Christ’s Name, Amen.