God the Son, Student Workbook, SW10

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G O D T H E S O N

highlights his humiliation: “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” On close look at the text we are amazed at the disposition of people toward him. He was despised, rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, unesteemed and unloved. Though ironically perceived as one who was stricken by the Lord, he was actually bearing our griefs, wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, chastised for our peace, and beaten viciously for our healing. We like sheep have wandered and gone astray in directions that have nothing to do with the Lord, we’ve turned each one to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all . This truth, that his humiliation was the result of our rebellion and sin, ought to produce in each of us a deep sense of sobriety and angst. Hymnody has captured these inclinations in surveying the wondrous cross, in seeing the sacred head wounded on account of our own foolishness and transgression. The Lord’s love to reconcile, redeem, and restore led him to punish his own Servant in our place, laying on him the iniquity of us all . No other truth, no other idea, can bring in us such a deep level of self-awareness of the real consequences our sin wrought upon our Lord. His blows, beatings, rejection, and despising was caused directly by our own disobedience, lies, lust, and greed. Our waste and hatreds, our irritations and jealousies and our foolishness and profanities are the reasons for our Lord’s horrible treatment and death. When we come to understand just how responsible we are for his suffering, only then will we be able to truly empathize with our Lord, and bear daily the cross that we are to share with him. We must admit our part in Calvary, that contribution that made his death necessary for our redemption . Yes, we have gone our own way; yes, we have gone astray like wandering sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

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