The Suffering Servant

The unbelieving world assumes that Christians know not a thing about suffering. I recently came across this internet meme doing the rounds on social networking sites. It’s a picture of an African boy looking amusingly at a woman.

‘So you’re telling me that Jesus loves me even though I’m homeless and starving to death?’ The words were meant to be sarcastic in nature.

The general assumption of the non-Christian world, and even in the church, is that when trouble besets a father, mother, or a child, Christians do nothing more than just whisper a soft ‘Jesus loves you’. This could be true – I have come across, on many occasions, people who left the church because of strife in their domestic lives. People often find it hard to comprehend how a loving God could seem to be so far away in times of trouble. And much too often, offering sympathy is just not enough.

There is no easy answer to why we suffer in this world or why God allows the suffering to take place. It is one thing to write an apologetics work on the subject, but to convince a mother facing the inevitable death of her cancer-stricken child – that’s a different thing altogether. But it helps to tell a story once in a while to the afflicted. Stories remind people that the agony they face has been faced before, that the suffering they endure has been endured before, and that the loss they feel has been felt before.

Mankind’s sinful nature brings about a hideous consequence that is often borne by the little innocents of this world. We can see examples of this throughout the Old Testament. When God cast His judgment on the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15, His judgment fell on the innocent children as well. Similarly in Exodus 11 the firstborn children of the Egyptians received death. This does not mean that God is some kind of a ‘heavenly hit-man’. God does not take pleasure in the death of anyone (Ezekiel 18:32), but He loves us relentlessly. It is His relentless love for us that causes Him to cast His wrath upon us.

When Jesus saw a large crowd before Him, he felt compassion (Mark 6:34). We can guess the evil, the sorrow, the hardship, and many other things evident in the lives of people who formed that crowd. People like you and me were in that crowd, and some of them were the worst of sinners. Nevertheless, Christ did feel compassion for them.

When God told Isaiah about the suffering Servant who was to come, Isaiah must have been startled.

Surely He took up our pain

    and bore our suffering,

yet we considered Him punished by God,

    stricken by Him, and afflicted.

But He was pierced for our transgressions,

    He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on Him,

    and by His wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

    each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on Him

    the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6 NIV)

Here was God, ready to come into the world in the flesh and share our suffering!

The very nature of Christ’s birth indicates that God was more than willing to share in our poverty. Is this God’s relentless love for us, that He chooses to be born among the poor and afflicted and actually live with us? The popular singer Bono says it beautifully.

“Love here describes itself as a child born in straw poverty, the most vulnerable situation of all, without honor.”

The wonderful thing about Christ Jesus is that He made His dwelling with us (John 1:14). Scriptures say that Christ had no luxurious upbringing and no powerful connections. Instead He was often at odds with those who had luxury and power. Scriptures say that Christ became nothing for us (Philippians 2:7).

Would it be too much for me to say that Christ can relate to our suffering? When Christ cried on the cross – "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" – He experienced that painful loneliness of being separated from a loved one. When Christ Jesus prayed in anguish before His trial – “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me…” – He felt the agony many of us face in our lives. When Jesus wept at Lazarus’ grave he felt the loss of Mary and Martha in the same way many of us feel for our brothers and sisters.

In Isaiah 53:3 (KJV), Christ is known as ‘a man of sorrows’. In this Man of sorrows we can relate our own sorrows and we can hope for glory. Paul was no stranger to this. He writes:

For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:5 NIV)

When we look at the story of Jesus, we can hope for glory in our suffering. Christ died an agonizing death on the cross, it was a level of suffering on par with Auschwitz, Hiroshima and Dresden. But through His death came the glory of the resurrection and the hope of eternal life in mankind.

I know a close friend of mine who suffers from this incurable skin disease. I cannot imagine what it must be like for him to bathe in his daily life. Once I asked him, “How do you go through this every day?”

“Jesus”, he replied, “He suffered for me, didn’t He?”

In Christ Jesus we who believe on Him can relate our pain and sorrow.

Jesus once said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28 NASB)

P.S. I highly recommend Jim McGuiggan’s wonderful book ‘Celebrating the Wrath of God: Reflections on the Agony and the Ecstasy of His Relentless Love’.

King Jesus

It was a tensed atmosphere at the Fortress Antonia in upper Jerusalem. The Roman governor stood face to face with a Jewish nobody, this ‘nobody’ was already bruised and battered by part of the mob that stood outside. The governor asked this ‘nobody’ a question, a question he would have been least bothered to ask anyone else.

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

The Kingship of Jesus is unanimously declared across the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament Daniel proclaims to king Nebuchadnezzar of a coming kingdom which will endure forever (Daniel 2:44). In the New Testament Paul the apostle, bound inside a dark dungeon, boldly proclaims Jesus as the ‘King of kings’ (1 Timothy 6:15).

“Are you the King of the Jews?” The Roman governor asks. Outside, the mob grows increasingly impatient; some want the young innocent Jew to live while others, outraged, want him to die an animal’s death. Among those who want him dead are the Sanhedrin – high priests – men of great power, great knowledge, and great prestige.

“We have no king but Caesar.”

King! What comes to your mind when you think of that word? What image? Alexander, Napoleon, Caesar… all of these men were known to be rulers, great rulers. But these men were also known to be brutal, relentless, unforgiving, savage, haughty, insecure, timid, and last but not least, dead!

Then there are the puppet rulers, those who are kings only in name and end up doing the bidding of others. And there are the figurehead monarchs, whose pictures and deeds would be on the tabloids, like the ones in modern Britain, but whose authority would be of no value whatsoever.

“… no king but Caesar”, cried the Sanhedrin.

Indeed, the unbelieving world has no king but Caesar. But what of the churches with rulers who act as ‘proxy’ between clergy and laity, between God and God’s children? Most churches today get so carried away by these ‘church celebrities’ that they tend to forget about the King himself. Recently, a pastor of a ‘megachurch’ had the audacity to have someone crown him ‘king’ of the church!

Who is the real King? Who is the absolute ruler? Who is the one whose kingdom would last forever?

Enter the King of kings. When you became a follower of Jesus Christ you became a subject to your only King. You became a subject to the one who redefined the word ‘Kingship’. Imagine a King – meek and humble, loving, caring, gentle, patient, nurturing, and calling his subjects to be his own. Sounds more like a father, yet that is the King we worship! Imagine a King – wrapping a towel around his waist and getting down to wash the feet of his subjects. Sounds more like a servant, yet that is the King we proclaim! Imagine a King – crowned not with silver and gold, but with a crown of thorns. What? Imagine a King ready to die, and died he did, for his subjects. That is insane! No, that’s King Jesus – the real King, the absolute ruler, and King forevermore.

Here is a King ready to share the sufferings and agony of his subjects. Here is a King who would take the consequences of our sickening thoughts and actions. In this world we often associate the word ‘King’ to a man who has elevated himself above everyone else. Jesus changed all that. He not only redefined the word ‘King’, but he also showed his followers how to be true subjects. He showed us how to be true subjects in this age when men love to ‘lord it over the flock’. In him we have the revolutionized image of the King – not the ‘megachurch’ king – but the serving King. The King who showed how to serve.

“Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate asked.

“IT IS AS YOU SAY.” Jesus replied.

CHRIST IS...

This is the most beautiful prose I have ever read about the beauty of Jesus Christ. It's written by Kat Huff, she writes on her blog "Harvest of Pearls". 

You can read her prose by clicking on the below link:

"CHRIST IS" by Kat Huff

Christ: Triumphant over death

Ever since the creation of mankind and the eventual fall of Adam and Eve, humanity has been plagued by one of its most menacing enemies – Death itself. It is important for us to note that death was not the original intent of God’s plan and have never been part of his eternal purpose (Genesis 1 & 2). However it is due to Adam and Eve’s (and ours) transgression of God’s commandment that God had to inflict this penalty on them and their descendants – the penalty of death (Genesis 3).

The Grim Reaper has ever since dogged us, hunt us down one by one, ruthlessly pounced on us regardless of time and circumstances, and taken away our loved ones.

“…for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19 NIV)

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away…” (Job 1:21 NIV)

Eventually, man’s egoistic nature did not allow him to repent. Instead, man took great pride in death and soon men started inflicting death on each other. Cain killed his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8) and when God asked him about Abel’s whereabouts Cain replied: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9)

Man became pleased at the death of fellow man. Clarence Darrow once said, “I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.”

But the same cannot be said of God.

"For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone", declares the Sovereign LORD. "Repent and live!" (Ezekiel 18:32 NIV)

God cares about us and God wants us to repent and return to Him.

'…As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die…?' (Ezekiel 33:11 NIV)

Death, in God’s word, meant a physical death – separation of soul from body, and a spiritual death – eternal destruction of the soul in hell. Adam’s sin brought with it both the physical death as well as the spiritual death.

God knew that mankind would never be able to overcome death on its own. Victory over death required a sinless human being to fight the battle and eventually triumph. So the all powerful and almighty God took the form of a human – Jesus Christ. Christ took death face on and fought a grueling and vicious battle with the Grim Reaper himself!

It was a battle of the ages! Christ – the Son of the living God – on one side and Death – Satan’s most powerful ally – on the other. Mano-a-mano! But tragedy struck! They flogged Him, battered Him with everything they could, and they finally nailed Him to the cross. There, on that hill, Christ died a brutal death. His body was taken down, wrapped in linen, and buried in an unmarked tomb. Was it the end? Had Satan finally triumphed over God?

Wait a minute! Jesus once said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." (John 2:19 NIV)

Didn’t He mean his own body? There had to be a mistake! No there isn’t any mistake, because…

“HE HAS RISEN”, cried the angel at Jesus’ empty tomb. Three days later, our Lord, our Supreme Lord, resurrected from the dead and visited His disciples! How did it happen? God the Father came to the rescue, He sent His Spirit to quicken the body of His Son. For He had once declared, “I will not allow my loved one to see decay.” (Psalm 16:10) God raised up His Son and there stood Jesus, triumphant over death. He came in the form of a man and fought out battle for us, in our name, and He defeated the oldest enemy of mankind. Christ became the ‘last Adam’ and reversed the effects of the first Adam.

Paul says,

So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45 NIV)

Does this mean that we will never die physically? Of course not! What we can cherish through Christ’s resurrection is an abundant life both before our physical death and after it. Christ Himself is the ‘Life of all ages’. We will one day be with Him and with the ‘Eternal Life’. He who has triumphed over death is Life itself.

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies..." (John 11:25 NIV)

Christ: Triumphant where others have failed

In one of the long list of meetings and seminaries I had attended, I heard the preacher encouraging the viewers to be more like Solomon and not be like David.  The particular example he was giving was of Solomon when he had prayed to God not for wealth or power but for wisdom, and that King David had given in to adultery on part of Bathsheba.

However I was puzzled in the early years of my new spiritual life. There were a host of personalities from the Bible – Moses, David, Solomon, etc. Which of these are worthy enough to be a role model for the Christian? Would it surprise the reader when I say – none? No one, absolutely none whatsoever!

Let me tell you why. While Moses, David, and Solomon, all of these men were heroes of faith and worthy of their place in the Word of God, each of them had their special shortcomings. Moses for example was told by God to ‘speak’ to the rock and water would gush out of it (Numbers 20:8). But Moses wanted to be the ‘action hero’ and preferred to strike the rock with his staff (Numbers 20:11), not once but twice! As a result of Moses’ antics God effectively barred him from the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).

David’s scandalous affair with Bathsheba, who was a married woman, was equally detested by God and as a severe punishment God took away their first born child (2 Samuel 11, 12:1-22). Solomon, David’s son, was thoroughly blessed by God with material wealth as well as spiritual wealth. But Israel’s ruler of the ‘golden era’ would soon lose his way by having scandalous affairs with numerous women, many of them pagans. Under the influence of his pagan wives, Solomon was led to worshipping idols (1 Kings 11:1-6). As a result of this act of idolatry and infidelity, Solomon’s son did not inherit his father’s entire kingdom (1 Kings 11:9-13).

So seeing these heroes and their tragic moments, who would I follow? Who would be my role model? The answer lies in a Man who walked the earth two thousand years ago and triumphantly defeated Satan and his demonic minions by dying a brutal death on the cross. Not only did Christ die a brutal death but three days later He was raised from the dead, completing His victory over death.

Paul, a messenger and apostle of Jesus Christ, endured much hardship.

“…I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-27 NIV)

But Paul refused to boast in himself and chose instead to boast in the Lord Jesus Christ as ‘the power and wisdom of God’.

…but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:23-25 NIV)

Also he said.

“Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31 NIV)

Unlike any other person in the entire Bible, even prophets and kings, Jesus had no shortcomings. Where the devil tried to tempt Him to sin, He resisted the temptation (Matthew 4:1-11). Where scheming Pharisees tried to trap Him, He reversed the trap (Mark 12:13-17. Where those who were helpless before Him needed forgiveness, He provided mercy (John 8:1-11).

It was and still is clear now whom I should follow. Not Moses, not David, and not Solomon. It is clear in God’s Word that where others have failed, Christ Jesus has emerged triumphant.

Christ: Triumphant over the gods

I spent the days of my youth reading myths of Hindu gods and goddesses waging war on evil asuras, falling in lust with mortals, and other feats that would put Superman to shame. These gods were, in a way, a reflection of the agonizing quest of millions of Indians to find that one and only perfect man. Fallen man had always needed perfect and supreme deity who would lift mankind from the bottomless pit of spiritual insanity. Unfortunately the gods man had created would turn out to be fallen themselves. The ancient rishis realized that they, like their gods, had fallen into bondage. Here is a prayer from one of the ancient Indian texts:

From unreality lead me unto the Reality,
From darkness lead me into Light;
And from death lead me unto Life Eternal.


Around two thousand years ago, a physician by the name of Luke wrote to the Greeks who, like the ancient rishis, were searching for the perfect man. Unlike the man-made gods, Luke's Saviour came face to face with evil, withstood the temptations of sin, and triumphed over the powers of darkness. Luke's Saviour was truly the perfect and supreme Deity man had been looking for throughout the ages. Luke's Saviour was: the perfect Teacher (Luke ch. 6), the perfect Servant (John 13:5), the perfect Prayer (John ch. 17), the perfect Lover (John 15:10), the perfect Warrior (Revelation 19:11), and the perfect Ruler (Revelation 19:15-16).

Luke's Saviour was none other than...

Christ - The Teacher of God
Christ - The Servant of God
Christ - The Prayer of God
Christ - The Love of God
Christ - The Warrior of God
Christ - The Almighty God

Where does Christ Jesus stand compared to the gods of man? I leave that to a man named Heinrich Heine and his description of Christ entering the feast of the gods.

Then suddenly approached, panting, a pale Jew with drops of blood on his brow, with a crown of thorns on his head, and a great cross laid on his shoulders; and he threw the cross on the high table of the gods so that the golden cups tottered, and the gods became dumb and pale, and grew even paler till at last they melted away into vapor.

THE ABSENCE OF CHRIST

The following article is written by Jim McGuiggan. Jim is the author of "Celebrating the Wrath of God"; "The God Who Commands the Impossible"; "Jesus: Hero of Thy Soul" and "The Dragon Slayer". His website is http://www.jimmcguiggan.com

“In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.” 1 Corinthians 11:17; do see 11:17-34.

His following remarks rise out of what was happening at the Eucharistic (Thanksgiving) meal in particular. They had the bread and the wine to eat and drink but it wasn’t the Lord’s Supper they were eating (11:20); it was an exhibition of crass selfishness and bitter resentment.

The setting seems clear enough. They were having a “love feast” at which time they engaged in what was to be Holy Communion and Thanksgiving (see 1 Corinthians 10:14-22).

If there’s a section in the NT that shows us that ordinances without heartfelt understanding and commitment to God in Jesus Christ are worse than useless it is this one. The meaning and purpose of the Lord’s Supper is obliterated in practice despite the fact that the bread is eaten and the wine drunk with the correct prayerful words if the assembly is divided against itself (11:18).

The body of Christ speaks of Christ himself! While the bread and wine always remain just that, bread and wine, they are no longer merely bread and wine when God’s assemblies eat in faith. In the refrigerator at home or in the pantry the wine and bread are merely wine and bread but when we place them as provided by the Lord before him in the Lord’s Supper they are no longer merely bread and wine. Now they are a sign of his presence by his Holy Spirit who indwells the Church, the Body of Christ. Something happens to the bread and the wine. It isn’t magic and there’s no molecular change in their structure but if shot through with truth and visioned by faith the bread is food and the wine is sustenance and the Lord by his Holy Spirit is present in the midst of his people.

At the “haves” brought plenty of food and wine and gorged on them while sitting there beside them were the “have nots” who burned with resentment at being betrayed by brothers and sisters. So when some shepherd rose to “offer thanks for the bread” it was merely bread they ate! When the prayer was offered thanking God “for the blood of Christ” it was merely wine they drank! Even the mere bread and wine was now less than mere bread and wine—the Lord had been driven from the entire proceeding.

The “haves” did not remember (for they had no heart to remember) that on the night the Lord was betrayed he said, “This is my body which is given for you.” He gave himself and they would not give so much as a decent meal to the hungry and needy. The “have nots” in their burning bitterness at betrayal forgot (for they had no wish to remember) that on the night in which Jesus was betrayed his response was not one of rage and resentment but of self-giving for the forgiveness of sins.

 “Do you think I should praise you because you come together as an assembly and have the ‘correct emblems’ when you humiliate and rob the needy among you or burn in unbridled resentment at those who sin against you? You think I should praise you because you are ‘doing what the Lord has commanded’? I certainly will not praise you! You eat and drink condemnation to yourselves.” Compare 11: 22, 27-29.

The assembly missed completely the body of Christ in the bread and the wine!

The assembly missed completely the body of Christ in the people who sat around them!

The Supper became an occasion for the various factions to express the absence of the Lord Jesus from their hearts and minds. There’s something frightening about a head bowed in seeming piety while the heart chooses to enjoy the humiliation or hatred of others.

The Supper is a celebration of joyous redemption and peace for penitent sinners.

The Supper is a unity meal that says in Jesus we’re one body.

The Supper is a covenant renewal meal in which we commit to the meaning of Jesus, his mission and his method.

The Supper is a time of feeding on Jesus and all that he means to God for us and all that he means to us for God.