Bible Society of South Africa

Jesus – Day 17

Jesus: Man of Sorrows.

Bible text(s)

3We despised him and rejected him;

he endured suffering and pain.

No one would even look at him —

we ignored him as if he were nothing.

4“But he endured the suffering that should have been ours,

the pain that we should have borne.

All the while we thought that his suffering

was punishment sent by God.

5But because of our sins he was wounded,

beaten because of the evil we did.

We are healed by the punishment he suffered,

made whole by the blows he received.

6All of us were like sheep that were lost,

each of us going his own way.

But the LORD made the punishment fall on him,

the punishment all of us deserved.

Isaiah 53:3-6GNBOpen in Bible reader

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Grief and anguish came over him, 38and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39He went a little farther on, threw himself face downwards on the ground, and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

Matthew 26:36-39GNBOpen in Bible reader

The Question about the Sabbath

1Not long afterwards Jesus was walking through some cornfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began to pick ears of corn and eat the grain. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do this on the Sabbath!”

3Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did that time when he and his men were hungry? 4He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the bread offered to God, even though it was against the Law for them to eat it — only the priests were allowed to eat that bread. 5Or have you not read in the Law of Moses that every Sabbath the priests in the Temple actually break the Sabbath law, yet they are not guilty? 6I tell you that there is something here greater than the Temple. 7The scripture says, ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’ If you really knew what this means, you would not condemn people who are not guilty; 8for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

The Man with a Paralysed Hand

9Jesus left that place and went to a synagogue, 10where there was a man who had a paralysed hand. Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they asked him, “Is it against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?”

11Jesus answered, “What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12And a human being is worth much more than a sheep! So then, our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath.” 13Then he said to the man with the paralysed hand, “Stretch out your hand.”

He stretched it out, and it became well again, just like the other one. 14Then the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.

Matthew 12:1-14GNBOpen in Bible reader

46“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” answered Philip.

29They rose up, dragged Jesus out of the town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff,

5(Not even his brothers believed in him.)

1The people reply,

“Who would have believed what we now report?

Who could have seen the LORD's hand in this?

2It was the will of the LORD that his servant

should grow like a plant taking root in dry ground.

He had no dignity or beauty

to make us take notice of him.

There was nothing attractive about him,

nothing that would draw us to him.

3We despised him and rejected him;

he endured suffering and pain.

No one would even look at him —

we ignored him as if he were nothing.

4“But he endured the suffering that should have been ours,

the pain that we should have borne.

All the while we thought that his suffering

was punishment sent by God.

5But because of our sins he was wounded,

beaten because of the evil we did.

We are healed by the punishment he suffered,

made whole by the blows he received.

6All of us were like sheep that were lost,

each of us going his own way.

But the LORD made the punishment fall on him,

the punishment all of us deserved.

7“He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly;

he never said a word.

Like a lamb about to be slaughtered,

like a sheep about to be sheared,

he never said a word.

8He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die,

and no one cared about his fate.

He was put to death for the sins of our people.

9He was placed in a grave with the wicked,

he was buried with the rich,

even though he had never committed a crime

or ever told a lie.”

10The LORD says,

“It was my will that he should suffer;

his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness.

And so he will see his descendants;

he will live a long life,

and through him my purpose will succeed.

11After a life of suffering, he will again have joy;

he will know that he did not suffer in vain.

My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased,

will bear the punishment of many

and for his sake I will forgive them.

12And so I will give him a place of honour,

a place among the great and powerful.

He willingly gave his life

and shared the fate of evil men.

He took the place of many sinners

and prayed that they might be forgiven.”

Can we read Isaiah’s prophetic words about the Messiah and not be moved by his portrayal of the deep suffering he will experience? Could anyone take these words to heart without sensing the agony and anguish that this one man would endure for people like us who, like mindless sheep, are lost because of their own wilfulness? Does not every part of us cry out “Unjust!”?

It is difficult for us to understand why He had to suffer so much, until we look at the depravity of the world that we live in and realize that all of that wickedness had to be “laid on Him”; all of man’s inhumanity to man wounded Him. This world needed a saviour and only One could pay the price: Jesus the sinless Son of God.

As the Christ He willingly suffered, in obedience to His Father’s will, for the salvation of the world. He suffered much in this world: He knew rejection by the Pharisees who despised His revolutionary interpretation of the law, regardless of seeing that He knew the Scriptures and spoke the truth with justice and authority. (Matthew 12:1-14) He came from Nazareth, of which Nathaniel so bluntly says in John 1:46: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

He was rejected as a prophet by those who lived there, as well as by His own siblings. (Luke 4:29, John 7:5) He was betrayed to death by one of His inner circle, and when He was arrested His other friends all ran away for fear of their lives. He endured an illegal, unfair trial, and was whipped so badly that He was disfigured. Then He was led out to die a cruel death on the cross, surrounded by the people, for whom He was dying, mocking and insulting Him. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter…” Isaiah 53:

Would we cope with such rejection, betrayal and injustice? How did Jesus?

Prayer and obedience to God were how Jesus modelled His life and accordingly set us the example. After He had celebrated the Passover meal, one as rich in symbolism as the very first time it was eaten, Jesus took refuge in the Garden of Gethsemane where He poured out His heart to God. He found strength in Him, and steadfastness which carried Him through His suffering.

If we recognize our need of God in our lives, He will help us too. Do you?

Bible Society of South Africav.4.17.10
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