Seeing God’s Love in the Suffering of Christ

Shared on December 8, 2024

Do you understand how great God’s love is for you? Yes, God loves you and you should never think differently. The depth of God’s love is shown through the giving of His only begotten Son who came to this world for one purpose. Join Pastor McCrary for this week’s lesson as he teaches us about the prophecy of the suffering servant.

Lesson Introduction

Do you understand how great God’s love is for you?  Think about what it means that God gave His only begotten Son for you.  Let’s think about what Jesus gave up for all of us.  God’s love for all of us is shown in the suffering of Christ.

The Suffering Servant Prophecy

Isaiah’s prophecy began in the year Uzziah died, which is believed to be 740 BC.  Over 700 years before His coming, Isaiah prophesied that a Child would be born who would be called the Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6).  Over 700 before Christ walked this earth, Isaiah prophesied that a branch would grow from the stem of Jesse and the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon Him (Is. 11:1-2).

As joyful as the prophecy of the coming Messiah is, the reality of why He came to this world also needed to be made known.  As we saw in last week’s lesson, the Father gave His only begotten Son to end the warfare between God and man.  When Jesus walked the earth, His people looked for Him to overthrow earthly powers but that wasn’t why He was in the world.  

The prophecy of the suffering of Christ shows the reality of whyJesus was born into this world.  Jesus was born to die, to be the peace treaty between God and mankind.  This is a prophecy that should stir up the soul as we not only recognize the suffering of Christ but the love of God for us.  

When he read this prophecy, the eunuch of Ethiopia desired for Phillip to baptize him immediately (Acts 8:26-39).  This prophecy should stir your soul up with love, joy, and gratefulness for the love God has shown us.

A Wonderful Invitation Goes Unappreciated

Isaiah 53:4 opens with the prophecy stating, “He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.”  The word “borne” is the past participle of the word “bear”.  To bear means to carry or to assume and to accept.

What are the griefs and sorrows that He has accepted?  Well, every single person you meet and interact with is carrying a weight on their shoulders.  For example, we carry with us all that we go through in life – our ups and down, our trials and tribulations, sickness and health, our sins and errors.  

What we fail to understand is that such a weight can absolutely crush us as it’s too much for any one person to bear.  In Matthew 11:28, Jesus invited all to come to Him so that He can give them rest from laboring and being heavy laden.  Have you accepted Jesus’ invitation?  Some of us, like the Ethiopian eunuch, have accepted Jesus’ invitation with great appreciation.  

However, Isaiah 53:4 speaks to the prophecy that man would “esteem Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”  The religious leaders, for example, saw Jesus as a blasphemer that got what He deserved.  There are many more, who to this day, just don’t believe in there being a Christ.  Jesus’ invitation has gone by the wayside for many people.

Our Atonement Offering

Even though the Lord knew that many would ignore His invitation, He still gave the world His only begotten Son.  In Isaiah 53:5, we see that the prophecy spoke to how He would be wounded for mankind’s transgressions.  Jesus was literally whipped and beaten for a crime He did not commit. 

The suffering of Jesus

The prophecy stated, “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”  Christ was chastised for our peace.  To chastise means to inflict punishment.  So, in other words, Jesus was punished for us.  Jesus was punished as a sinner due to the fact that He became our sins (Is. 53:6).  

We don’t often take into full consideration what this means so let’s do that.  Let’s do that by asking and answering this question:  was Jesus a sinner when He walked the earth prior to His sacrifice?  Jesus is God in the flesh – He was holy, righteous, and without sin.  Jesus was innocent of the crime He was accused of – being a blasphemer.  

In his letter to the Roman church, Paul wrote that God put forth His only begotten as a propitiation to pass over sin and demonstrate His righteousness (Rom. 3:24-25).  Propitiation:  the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone or something; the act of propitiating; appeasement.

Paul understood that Jesus filled the role the scapegoat served on the Day of Atonement and also the lamb of Passover.  The blood of the Passover was put across the doorpost of the children of Israel so that death would pass over them when the firstborn in Egypt were killed (Ex. 12:7, 13).  On the Day of Atonement, the high priest would place the sins of the congregation of Israel on one goat to carry away with it the sins of the people.

Jesus’ crucifixion wasn’t a beautiful sight to behold for the friends and followers that were in attendance.  They watched as Jesus physically suffered on the cross and was also mocked.  What they didn’t recognize was the spiritual suffering that Jesus also suffered on the cross.

Before He gave up His soul, Jesus cried out asking, “My God why have You forsaken Me (Mark 15:34; Matt. 27:46)?”  To me, this is the darkest moment we see in scripture as it gives us merely a glimpse of what the lake of fire will be like.  Jesus could no longer feel His Father with Him.  Why?  Because He had become sin.  So, Jesus was not only hurting physically on the cross, but He was also in suffering spiritually.

The Father pleased with the offering

Now, if this was something your children were going through, you would probably feel many dramatic emotions ranging from sorrow to anger.  Yet, the prophecy tells us, “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him and to put His Son to grief (Is. 53:10).”

God was pleased to chastise His only begotten Son for one specific reason.  As I point out in last week’s lesson, God does not desire for anyone to perish (2 Pet. 3:9).  From the moment man succumbed to sin in the garden, the Lord promised salvation to mankind.  

From the very beginning, when He created mankind, the Lord sought to dwell with him.  Yes, God created mankind in His image and in His likeness so that He can see us learn, grow, and flourish in righteousness.  Our sin made it so that we have to grow in this world but it brings great pleasure to God to be able to open the doors of His kingdom to mankind.

Before giving His only begotten, the door to His kingdom was shut to mankind due to its sinful ways.  God will never dwell with sin.  As Jesus told Nicodemus, one must be born again in the soul (John 3:3-8).  Jesus’ shed blood washes and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.  So, it pleased the Father to offer up His only begotten Son so that we can be cleansed and dwell with Him.