“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:10)
Why was God pleased, satisfied, delighted to bruise, crush, destroy, break in pieces His only Son? I am not surprised that he did it, but I wrestled this morning with the question: why was he pleased to do so? Jesus was submissive to his Father's will, and he did it willingly, but I never thought of him doing it gladly. Of course, if the Father was pleased to bruise Jesus, then that means Jesus was also pleased to be bruised because God is a tri-unity, and there has never been, nor ever will be a time when any one of the Trinity is pleased to do anything contrary to their unity. If God was pleased to bruise him, then that means that Jesus wasn’t just willing, and obedient unto death, but delighted in it.
“He hath put him to grief” reveals that although God delighted to do so, it was not pleasant. What took place on the cross was horrifyingly grievous, the Creator’s life extinguished by those he gave life to. The King of Israel was put to death by his own people, the Light of the World hanging in the darkness of separation from the Father for three hours. We are allowed to see the whips, the crown of thorns, the cross, and the nails driven into his hands; we are permitted to see him hung naked before the crowds, spit on, slapped, pierced, but what happened in those three hours was so grievous that no man was allowed to see. I believe our verse gives us some insight into what was happening, “Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.” It was in those hours that Jesus was made sin for us, and cried, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This is grief that we will never know anything about, and this is the delight! That he took our grief! I am shocked and horrified at what happened to Jesus, but I am delighted that he took it for me and so was he delighted to take it for us as well! If you are in Christ, then you will never know what it is to cry, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” Suddenly, this grief is turned to delight when I consider that he did this for me! Oh, glory to God! Not only is it a delight to me, but “It pleased the LORD to bruise him.” The grief that Jesus experienced on the cross was swallowed up in the joy that he would deliver to his people! I believe Hebrews 12:2 says more perfectly what I am attempting to say, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…”
The delight was for what the grief would produce; it would give us a Savior who had “Tasted death for every man.” The grief of the cross would give us a “Propitiation for our sins.” It would be impossible to list all the delights that the grief of the cross has given to us but what I am aiming at is that his death brought us life, his sorrow brought us joy, and God delighted in this. Grief and delight, to us, seem like oil and water, but God is the fullness of all things. For those who are passing through God-ordained trials and testings, we know something of this mingling of grief and delight, nothing to be compared to the grief and delight of the cross, of course, but in a lesser sense. We may smart under the thorn in the flesh, but knowing the wisdom and providence of God concerning it, we would never have it removed; rather, we would often glorify God for it because “when we are weak, then we are strong.”
No truth in the Bible is strictly inspirational, but every truth is also applicable. Meaning that as inspiring as this truth may be, it isn't just to be wondered at and adored, it has a practical application for us. Heb 12:2-3 shows us that practical application, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” When we are guided by God’s providential hand to endure grief, this is how we continue, we look to our supreme example Jesus. If he was delighted to suffer grief for the outcome it would bring, then we should too.
Perhaps God has called you to some remote part of the world to reach the lost for his sake, that sort of life will have its fair share of griefs, the loss of connection to everything and everyone you’ve ever known, certain sicknesses you will endure, the hurt of being rejected by the very people you came to serve, but “None of these things move us.” When we look to Jesus, gladly enduring his cross for the joy that was set before him, so must we gladly endure our light crosses for the joy that is set before us. That our griefs can bring joy and salvation to some other soul and to our heavenly father. We might suspect that fullness of joy would be found as far away from the cross as possible but actually it is found in bearing our cross, in being “Offered upon the sacrifice and service” of others' faith; “Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.” (Philippians 2:17). God, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were pleased in the bruising of Christ for the joy that it would produce in us, his children, and so we should be delighted, and will be, to be crushed, accused, bruised, and brought to grief so that others may come to know him. He has borne the heavy end of the cross gladly, we should take up the lighter end and “Joy and rejoice” when we are bruised on behalf of others' faith.
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