JESUS: THE SUFFERING MESSIAH-KING [ISAIAH 50:4-9]

JESUS: THE SUFFERING MESSIAH-KING [ISAIAH 50:4-9]

IT is amazing the detail with which these prophetic poems describe the way Jesus conducted His life – especially during His passion. This passage, for instance, paints a remarkably vivid picture of Jesus’ endurance and lonely struggle to fulfill His mission in a world that was hostile to Him and everything He stood for.

Suffering and endurance in the name of God were not unique to Jesus, however. These passages describe also the hardships endured by prophets who proclaimed the word of the Lord to Israel. For their testimony Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and many others suffered at the hands of their own people. Jeremiah, for example, was thrown into a muddy, abandoned cistern where it was hoped he would starve. He was eventually rescued, but later was kidnapped and taken to Egypt against His will. Elijah was under constant danger of execution by Queen Jezebel. Even Ezekiel – living with his fellow Jews as an exile in Babylon – was an outcast.

What stands out in Jesus’ sufferings in contrast to these prophets is His “willing submission” to such abuse (Isaiah 50:5-6). Inspired by love, Jesus freely chose to give His life to win our freedom. He foresaw the mistreatment, torture, and death that would be His, but He went forward. Fully human, capable of physical and emotional pain, Jesus gave Himself to His oppressors (Isaiah 50:6). The innocent died for the guilty; the faithful for the unfaithful. This was the greatest act of love the world has ever known.

Tomorrow we begin the Triduum, the great three-day celebration of our redemption. During these days, we will recall the suffering by which Jesus offered to every person ever born a way back to God from the exile of sin. In the liturgies we will relive the drama of Jesus’ last hours and the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation which Jesus freely embraced. Let us spend today pondering Jesus, the servant of God who freely offered Himself to His enemies. May praise well up in our hearts as we gaze upon our suffering Messiah-King!

Jakarta, 16 April 2014

A Christian Pilgrim