The Suffering of Jesus Isaiah 53:5, NIV But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “The Suffering of Jesus,” which is based on Isaiah 53:5. Please repeat after me: The Suffering of Jesus - The Suffering of Jesus. The Cross of Jesus Christ is the core of Christianity. In order to live as faithful Christians, we must understand the meaning of the Cross. We also need to experience the grace of God through the Cross of Jesus. We meet the Lord Jesus and receive salvation through the Cross. We are forgiven of our sins through the Cross. We fight and overcome sin by the power of the Cross. We serve the Lord with all our might by trusting the Cross. I pray that when He calls you home after your life’s journey; you will meet the Lord in heaven by virtue of the Cross. Jesus came to earth to forgive our sins. He died on the Cross to make atonement for our sins. We observe the last week of Jesus’ life on earth as Passion Week. It was at the end of this week that Jesus was crucified. All four Gospels record the life and work of Jesus. One third of all that is in the Gospels is primarily devoted to recording the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. Most of the Gospel according to Mark is written in remembrance of Jesus’ last week. On the beginning Sunday of Passion Week, about 2000 years ago; Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. A very large crowd of people saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David;” created a carpet of branches from the field and even the cloaks of their backs, for Jesus to enter Jerusalem on. The following day, on Monday, Jesus zealously entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. Then on his way back to the city He caused a barren fig tree to wither. On that Tuesday, Jesus forewarned the people of what was about to happen in those last days of his life. Jesus meditated and rested before His agony on that mid-week Wednesday. On that evening, in preparation for His burial, Jesus was anointed with the incense from Mary’s alabaster jar. Jesus shared his last Thursday on earth as a man with his disciples. He washed their feet and administered the last supper to each of his twelve disciples. And then, after supper, Jesus separated Himself and went into the garden of Gethsemane to pray. There Jesus agonized in prayer until one hour into Friday. At 1 am a detachment of soldiers, led by Judas Iscariot, interrupted his prayer to arrest him. By 2 am Jesus was standing before Annas, the high priest. Caiaphas, Annas’ son-in-law, was really the high priest for that year; but Annas was still considered by the Jewish leaders to be the more powerful person. Therefore Jesus was brought before Annas and questioned. By 3 am Jesus was taken to Caiaphas for further questioning. Then the Sanhedrin met at 5 am and concluded that Jesus must die. They ordered that Jesus be sent to Pilate, the governor of that part of Rome that Jerusalem was under. Pilate could not find any fault with Jesus. At 5:30 am Pilate ordered Jesus to stand before His enemy, Herod, the Caesar of Rome. Herod and his soldiers made sport of Jesus, mocking and ridiculing Him. By 6:30 am, Jesus was sent back to Pilate, who sentenced Jesus to death on the Cross. At 7 am Jesus was handed over to the Roman soldiers who took full advantage of his vulnerability. They mocked, hit, and lashed Him thirty-nine times. Bleeding, with flesh hanging from his stripped back, with His beard torn out, broken, and rejected; Jesus was ordered to carry His own Cross up Calvary Road to the hill of Golgatha, to be crucified. By 9 am, this dastardly crime of humanity against God Himself was in full process of being accomplished. Jesus was crucified at 9 am. For six hours, until 3 pm when He was recorded as breathing His last; Jesus suffered the excruciating pain of crucifixion and sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Throughout this Passion Week, I want you to follow Jesus’ footsteps of suffering with a heart of thanksgiving for the grace of the Cross, giving all glory to Our Lord and Savior. The prophet Isaiah, in a vision, saw the suffering Jesus 700 years before Jesus was born on earth. He recorded in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, in great detail, this suffering. Isaiah 53:5 describes Jesus’ suffering in four ways. First, Jesus came to earth and suffered to forgive our transgressions. Isaiah 53:5 says: “But he was pierced for our transgressions.” Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. We betrayed God and rebelled against Him. These transgressions that Isaiah spoke of are our rebellion and rejection of God. Isaiah was not referring to man’s minor mistakes or faults as transgressions; but rather his deep-rooted sin, found at the very base level of humanity, as transgression. Jesus was pierced on the Cross and shed His blood to bring atonement for mankind’s countless transgressions. Jesus wore a crown of wilderness thorns on his head. These thorns were thick, sharp and long. They penetrated deep, causing Jesus to continually bleed from His forehead. And so here on earth, Jesus wore a crown of thorns as his crown of glory. Jesus was fastened to the Cross with large nails that pierced both his hands and feet. History records that to sustain His weight on the Cross; these nails pierced Jesus’ wrists, not the palms of His hands. This is the size of the real nails. The soldiers crushed His bones as they were hammering the nails into His wrists. Again as Jesus shed blood from his back and forehead; Jesus also shed blood from his wrists and feet. A few years ago, when I went to Montreal, Canada, I saw a real life size statue of Jesus on a Cross. I was astonished by the sight of the huge nails that were used to affix Jesus to the Cross. This statue of Jesus on the Cross, with huge nails in His hands and feet is still standing in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Jesus had to be pierced for the many transgressions and sins of mankind. He was pierced in many ways. The lashes on his back pierced His flesh; a crown of thorns pierced his forehead; and nails that were driven into his hands and feet also drew much blood. And after Jesus gave up his life and died; a solider pierced His side with a spear bringing a sudden flow of blood and body fluid. Isaiah 1:2 says: “Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.’ ” We are so consumed with sin and transgression that in our very humanity we are in rebellion against God. Jesus was pierced and crushed to his very bone marrow because man’s transgression run to the very center of man’s being. Hebrews 9:22 says: “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Jesus paid the full price of our sin and transgressions by shedding His blood. Hebrews 13:12 says: “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.” A Dutch painter Rembrandt is called the painter of light. He was a devout Christian. The Raising of the Cross is one of his masterpiece paintings. It is a painting of people trying to stand the Cross up vertically after nailing Jesus onto it. While Jesus was shedding His blood in pain and agony on the Cross, a crowd of people were standing it up to point to heaven. When we take a close look at this picture, we will see a character in a blue hat as part of the crowd who stood beside the soldiers. Rembrandt painted himself as a character in the crowd. By painting himself beside the soldiers, Rembrandt was publicly confessing that Jesus was crucified because of his sin, and that he was equally guilty of crucifying Jesus. It is true. Each one of us crucified Jesus. Do you know why? It is because Jesus died for each of our sins. It is because Jesus was pierced for each of our transgressions. This is why it is each of us who crucified Jesus. Jesus was pierced for our sins and transgressions. He shed His blood and died on the Cross because of us. “He was pierced for our transgressions.” Jesus was pierced for our transgressions and shed His blood. Second, he was crushed for our iniquities. Jesus bore our sins and died on the Cross. Isaiah 53:5 says: “…he was crushed for our iniquities.” Jesus was pierced and crushed. He was pierced to the point of his bones being crushed. A Psalmist predicted His suffering in Psalm 22. Psalm 22:14 says: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.” No part of Jesus’ body was spared pain. Even his bones were pulled out of joint. Jesus must have felt as if His heart had turned to wax. The prophet Isaiah writes about the extent of Jesus’ suffering: Isaiah 52:14 says: “Just as there were many who were appalled at him his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.” Jesus suffered to the point of being disfigured and marred. The people turned their backs from Him. They were repulsed by His appearance. His body was covered with bruises, wounds, clots of dried blood, and fresh blood oozing from everywhere that He was pierced. People were appalled and turned their backs on Jesus in overwhelming shock. They wanted no part of this disfigured specimen of super-human suffering. Jesus was found to be sinless; and yet why should He have suffered so? It is because of us that Jesus suffered, shedding all His blood, and finally left in a disfigured state to die a death by crucifixion. Isaiah 53:6 says: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” We all have gone astray. We have lived the way we have wanted, stubbornly, debauchedly, and in filth, following our own desires. We say we serve the Lord but we are self-centered, insisting on our own ways, and hurt others in the process of all our sinful ways. Nevertheless, Jesus paid the price of our sin by suffering on the Cross- He died for us all who have lived in the very vortex of sin, unrighteousness, and debauchedness. We must continually give thanks to Him for His amazing grace. American born, Pearl Sydenstricker Buck, won the Nobel Prize in Literature for her novel The Good Earth. A few months after her birth, her parents went to China as missionaries. Pearl Buck grew up in China but went back to America to get her college education. After graduating from college, she returned to China. In 1917 Pearl married Dr. John Lossing Buck, an agricultural expert. The Bucks gave birth to a daughter, Carol, who was afflicted with a disease called phenylketonuria. Carol grew very little, if at all. At the age of three, her worried parents took Carol to a hospital, wherein the medical team diagnosed her as mentally handicapped. The doctor said: “Carol will remain in this condition throughout her life. She will not ever be able to speak, write, or express herself well because her mental development will stop at the age of four.” What a depressing diagnosis! The Bucks must have felt devastated. In 1950 Pearl Buck wrote a book called The Child Who Never Grew, a personal story of her own daughter. In this book, Pearl confessed that she often thought: “Why did this happen to me? Would it not be better for Carol to die than live handicapped throughout her life? Is death not the end of everything?” However, while going through this suffering, Pearl Buck cried out to God and came to understand the suffering of Jesus on the Cross. Through her daughter’s handicapped life, Pearl Buck came to honor the dignity of a human being. She also realized that intelligence did not necessarily guarantee the goodness of a person. She said: “If it were not for Carol, I might have lived in arrogance, despising those who are less fortunate than I. I may have, as an American with better education, looked down upon the poor and uneducated. Pearl Buck never abandoned her daughter. Until March 6, 1973, when Buck died at the age of 81; she not only took care of her own daughter; but in the love of the Lord, Buck also cared for the deserted and pained children of China. The heart of God is that under no circumstances should a parent give up on his children. Psalm 103:13 says: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.” The love manifested on the Cross of Jesus is infinite even to the point of death. This is the love of God. While we were yet sinners, full of transgressions, unrighteousness, and debauchedness; God sent His one and only Son Jesus to earth to die on the Cross for us. Since no human on earth has the capability to solve the problem of sin; God sent Jesus, who was sinless to die on the Cross. There, on that Cross, Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of humankind. Romans 5:12 says: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” Jesus was pierced and crushed in order to solve the problem of sin. He bore unendurable suffering for our sins and died on the Cross. We must look up to our Lord Jesus who was crucified for us. We will experience a marvelous grace of salvation when we fix our eyes on Jesus on the Cross. God sent venomous snakes to the Israelites in the desert because they spoke against God and against Moses. The Israelites cried to Moses for help. Moses interceded, and the Lord said to Moses: “Make a bronze image of a snake and put it up on a pole; so that anyone who is bitten can look at it, and live.” The bronze snake which was put up on a pole symbolizes Jesus hung on the Cross. John 3:14-15 says: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” With faith, look at Jesus on the Cross. Then you will be saved. You will be healed. You will be forgiven. You will be filled with the grace of God’s atonement. Jesus forgave all our transgressions. He was crucified: He shed all his blood and His body was torn and crushed ? all for our sins. Through his punishment, Jesus brought peace to the world. Third, Jesus brought peace to us through His Cross. Isaiah 53:5 says: “…the punishment that brought us peace was upon him.” Scripture tells us that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because of their rebellion against God. Their rebellion left them cursed; and separated from God because their relationship with God was broken. Isaiah 59:2 says: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Our iniquities have separated us from our God! Consequently, we have lost all the blessings that come with relationship. Our spirit has died due to sin. Even the ground was under God’s curse. Diseases were now part of humankind. There was no way for humankind to approach God. Someone had to re-connect God and mankind. The priests in the Old Testament temporarily performed this role. Jesus came to earth as the high priest, laying the bridge between God and humankind. Hebrews 4:15 says: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.” Jesus broke the wall of sin between God and man when He said: “It is finished,” on the Cross. Jesus became the door through which man could reconcile with God. In faith, through Jesus, anyone can approach God with confidence. The precious blood of Jesus has become the very carpet we walk on into the very throne room of God. Jesus laid His Cross as the bridge to heaven so that we may enter into His kingdom. Hebrews 10:19 says: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” Since Jesus was punished in our place, He reconciled us to God. He brought us true peace. Colossians 1:19-20 says: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” Jesus stretched His one hand to hold the hand of God, while stretching His other hand to hold our hands; thus connected us through Him to God to restore our once tarnished relationship with God. Romans 5:10 says: “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Through his punishment, Jesus brought us peace with God. We are now reconciled to God. Do you remember Nelson Mandela, the President of South Africa? The book People Who Made the Twentieth Century speaks of Nelson Mandela. In 1993 Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and then elected as President of South Africa in May of 1994. Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment; and spent 26 years in prison for his involvement in anti-apartheid activity. The prison Mandela was in was on an island and he was only allowed visitors once every six months. His suffering was beyond description. His mother passed away in the fourth year of his imprisonment. His son died in a car accident, but he could not attend his funeral. His wife and daughters were driven out from their home. His second daughter suffered from depression. His first daughter visited Mandela with her first baby in his 14th year in prison. In a letter she wrote to her father, she asked him to choose the name of her baby. When she visited him, he passed a note to her. She carefully opened the folded note and was overwhelmed with emotion. Mandela had written “Azwie,” which means “hope.” Mandela never gave up hope even in the midst of his despair. He held on to his belief of freedom. He was released after spending 26 years in prison and became President of the Republic of South Africa. An ordinary person would have used his high government position to avenge his enemies. Mandela had the power to legally bring his enemies to trial and put them into prison as they had done to him. He did not take revenge of them but rather chose to put an end to this sad part of their national history. Mandela was a Christian. Instead of poking around the past and finding fault with people; he put an end to the wretchedness of this time in South African’s history by being a righteous and honest politician. The first step Mandela took was to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The first chairman of the TRC was Archbishop Tutu who labored to renew their South African society as a peaceful country on the basis of forgiveness and reconciliation. True peace can only be brought to us through the Cross of Jesus Christ. It is only the Cross of Jesus which has the power to reconcile us to both God and to people who were once our enemies. I pray that you will experience this marvelous peace through the love of Jesus which was manifested on the Cross. Jesus brought peace to us by His punishment. By His wounds we are healed. Fourth, Jesus brings healing to us. Isaiah 53:5 says: “…and by his wounds we are healed.” Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. He was wounded in order to heal us from various diseases. One third of Jesus’ public ministry was involved to healing. Matthew 4:23-24 says: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.” Jesus healed all people who were brought to Him. He even healed the sick on the Sabbath at the expense of being persecuted by the Jewish leaders. He had great compassion on the sick. We can read in John, chapter 5 that Jesus healed a man at the pool called Bethesda, who had been an invalid for 38 years. In Luke, chapter 6, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, who had a withered hand. Jesus had great compassion on those who were sick. He felt their pain and healed them. Matthew 9:35-36 says: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” When He saw the sick, He had compassion on them and healed them. He was wounded because He wanted to heal us. 1 Peter 2:24 says: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” In those days, the Roman soldiers used whips with a lead ball and a sharp piece of bone attached to its tip. This kind of whip would not only do a thorough job of its victim feeling unspeakable pain of being flogged; but also leave lumps of torn flesh in its wake. Jesus was flogged by the soldiers with this type of whip! His flesh was torn apart. Precious blood gushed out from His wounds. The flesh on His back became shredded and torn down to his bones. He was very quickly covered in blood. Matthew 27:26 says: “Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.” The suffering that Jesus had to go through was beyond description. Soldiers spat in His face and struck Him with their fists. Others slapped him. Matthew 26:67 says: “Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him.” Matthew 27:30 also says: “They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.” Why should Jesus have to go through this suffering? Jesus suffered because of our sin. It was because He wanted to heal our diseases. It was because He wanted to remove all curses away from us. “By His wounds, we are healed!” Our Lord is the Lord of healing. He is the Lord of forgiveness. By His wounds, an end is put to all mental and physical diseases; and all curses of our environment. The Lord of victory is with us. Hebrews 13:8 says: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The Lord Jesus who was flogged for us is now with us, healing us from all diseases. Come to the Cross of our Lord Jesus. He is our great healer. Each person has some kind of disease. Children have many wounds in their hearts. Many children are deeply wounded for lack of their parents’ genuine interest in their lives. Only Jesus can heal such wounds. Hearts are deeply scarred through betrayal of trust. Jesus even heals psychosomatic illnesses. No matter what kind of trouble, we are forgiven because Jesus paid the price on the Cross. We will be healed. We will be renewed. We will be made healthy, giving glory to God. Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our inequities. He was punished to bring peace to us. He was flogged and whipped to give us healing and forgiveness. We must give thanks to God for this wonderful grace. We must also wholeheartedly dedicate our lives to the Lord. “Jesus, Lord of love, You loved me so much that You shed Your blood on the Cross. Your flesh was torn. I want to live for You for the rest of my life. Since You died to save all humankind, I want to take Your love to the sick, to the neglected, and to those who are overwhelmed with many problems. I want to bring Your forgiveness and healing to them. Lord, be with me.” I pray that you will be filled with the amazing grace of the Lord. This is my earnest prayer for you. Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, why should You love us so much? Why did Jesus die on the Cross, forgiving all our sins, removing all our curses, and taking all the diseases? We give our thanks to You. We love You Lord, who died for us. We want to live for the rest of our lives for You Lord Jesus, who suffered and died for us. We want to spread the love of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Help us to remember the suffering of Jesus on the Cross. Bless us so that we will live for Your glory. I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen. 10