Second Sunday in Lent

March 12, 2006

Scripture Readings: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7; Mark 9:14-27

Hymns: 32; 166; 142; 375

            Grace to you and Peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The word of God taken for our meditation this evening comes from Isaiah 53:6-7:

6 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. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth!

He didn’t complain

He didn’t retaliate

In the Name of our Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ, Dear Friends in Christ,

I want you to close your eyes for a moment and picture the events of Maundy Thursday evening and Good Friday in your mind for a minute. I want you to think of one word which summarizes the events of those final hours which culminated in the death of Jesus on the cross.

Maybe you thought of the word “agony” or “pain.” Maybe your thoughts were more along the line of “redemption” or “atonement.” While all those words accurately describe those events we are so familiar with, I would like for you to think of another fitting word this morning. The word that I want you to think of is the word “willing.”

It has been said, “Willing is not enough; we must do.” (Johann von Goethe). Our Savior came as the perfect Lamb of God uncomplaining to the cross as our willing Sacrifice. He was Willing to carry out what was asked of Him, and He did carry out what was asked of Him by His heavenly Father. Isaiah pictures for us the Lamb of God who goes uncomplaining forth as our willing sacrifice: He didn’t complain, and He didn’t retaliate. May this Word of Christ dwell in each of us richly! Amen.

The best hymns are not those which have a beautiful tune or an upbeat tempo. While that is beneficial, the most important aspect of a hymn is whether it is founded on Scripture. There have been numerous times that we have struggled through some difficult or unfamiliar hymn tunes because of the rich theological truths which are expressed in that hymn. This morning we will consider a hymn which is based on the words of Isaiah we read earlier and which accurately describes the truths of these and other Scriptural verses. In the opening line of that familiar hymn Pastor Paul Gerhardt summarizes these two verses of Isaiah 53 and reminds us of the thought I mentioned earlier - the willingness of our Savior to do all that needed to be done. “A lamb goes uncomplaining forth, the guilt of all men bearing...”

We begin to see this description of the Savior with the first half of verse seven, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth.” Notice that the Holy Spirit uses the word oppressed to describe the Suffering Servant. The focus of this word is to show us the mistreatment that He suffered. This is the same word that is used to describe how the Egyptians treated the Israelites after Joseph’s death. The Egyptians oppressed them, mistreated them, and even enslaved them. Jesus was oppressed by the leaders of the Jews and the Romans just like the Jews had been by the Egyptians centuries before! Do you remember how the Children of Israel reacted to the oppression of the Egyptians? Moses tells us, “Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.” They groaned, they cried out about their affliction. As we move ahead in time we see that they continued to complain, even about their deliverance from the oppression of the Egyptians. God supplied everything that they needed and still they were not content.

Many times we complain about not wanting to do this or that. We are even more likely to complain when we are mistreated by others. We won’t stand to be mistreated by our co-workers, our friends and acquaintances, or even our family. Just like the Israelites we grumble and complain about our situation, whether it is deserved or not. We want to be the martyr, we want people to feel sorry for us and all that we are suffering. But that is not willingness.

As we take a look at God’s many servants mentioned in the Bible we see that many of them were unhappy about their suffering or what they might suffer if they did what God asked of them. You remember Job who is known for his patience. And yet he too cried finally cried out in agony and even cursed the day of his birth. He was no longer willing to endure all this without complaint. When God came to Moses with a job to do, He had nothing but excuses ready, “Who am I,” “What shall I say,” “What if they don’t believe me,” “I am not eloquent,” and “Please send someone else.” Jonah, not only made excuses, but even tried to run away from what God wanted him to do.

But this Servant was different. Our Savior was not selfish. His first concern was not for Himself but for us and for the will of His Heavenly Father. He willingly went through all that oppression and affliction for us. How did Jesus react when He was mistreated? He opened not His mouth. He didn’t complain about how hard He was being whipped, or how often He was slapped. He didn’t grumble about doing this for someone else. Isaiah tells us that through all this, “He opened not His mouth.” He was willing to do it! Our hymn summarizes this saying that He “goes patient on, grows weak and faint, to slaughter led without complaint, that spotless life to offer.”

In his first epistle Peter tells us that Jesus, “when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten” (1 Peter 2:23). When he was beaten by the soldiers and mocked by the people, He did not return their evil remarks with spiteful comments of His own. Instead of reviling in return Jesus prayed for those who had done this to Him saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34). He prayed that the Father would forgive them for what they were doing, since it was done in ignorance. He did not complain about His situation, nor did He retaliate in any way.

We continue with the second half of verse seven, “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.” He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Remember the events of Maundy Thursday evening beginning at the Garden of Gethsemane? Following the celebration of the Passover meal and the Lord’s Supper in the upper room, Jesus and His disciples went into the Garden of Gethsemane. There He prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” And again, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:39,42).

He was ready and willing to do what needed to be done. It was not what He needed or wanted, but it was what we needed and what God the Father wanted. Jesus wasn’t being selfish, He was doing what was best for us. The hymn continues in the third verse: “Yea Father, yea, most willingly I’ll bear what Thou commandest; My will conforms to Thy decree, I do what Thou demandest.” Jesus was willing to drink of this cup, since this was the only way.

Just a few minutes later Judas arrived with the convoy of soldiers, along with the Jewish leaders. Seeing the mob of people that had come out and were threatening to take away His friend and mentor, Peter unsheathed His own sword and cut off a man’s ear. Jesus didn’t encourage this behavior, instead He told Peter, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”

Was Jesus capable of retaliation? Of course He was! It would not have been possible for this mob of people to arrest Jesus and take Him into custody, unless He had been willing. The whole Roman army would have been no match for the army that stood ready at Jesus’ command. But for Jesus to retaliate and fight against this mob was to go against God’s plan of salvation. “For how could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen in this way?” Jesus asks Peter. Once again we see that Jesus is not worried about what He knows will happen to Him, but is concerned about what will happen to us. As we read about Jesus being led away by the mob from the Garden of Gethsemane Isaiah’s picture of a lamb being led to the slaughter comes into focus for us.

Isaiah adds, “And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.” Jesus was led away and brought before the high priest and later the whole Jewish Council to be accused of His crimes and condemned to death. The chief priests had arranged for false witnesses to come in and bring fictitious charges against Jesus. Mark tells us that “many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree. Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, ‘We heard Him say, “I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.”’ But not even then did their testimony agree.” (Mark 14:56-59).

They couldn’t agree on their lies against Him. There was no proof, because it wasn’t true. It would have been easy for Jesus to retaliate with the truth and get Himself out of this situation as He had many times before. But He kept silent in spite of the false testimony that was brought against Him at the Council (Matthew 26:63). When Jesus stood before the Roman governor Pontus Pilate, again being accused by the chief priests and elders, again we are told that Jesus made no answer (Matthew 27:12,14). He opened not His mouth. He didn’t speak up to point out the injustice that they were committing. He was our Willing Sacrifice!

We know even in our sinful lives how hard it is to hold our tongue when something is said that isn’t quite true. We want to point the finger and put the blame on someone else. We aren’t willing to suffer unjustly - and especially not for someone else!

Even though we are unwilling, Jesus our Savior was willing. He had done nothing wrong, He had said nothing unjustly - He was completely innocent. He had the right to complain or retaliate because of the injustice that was being done. But He was the Lamb of God that John the Baptist and all the prophets had spoken about. He was the Servant of the LORD who was sent to deliver His people from their sins. He was NOT willing – not willing that any should perish – and that is why He was willing to endure all those things to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation and to deliver us from the weight of our sins. Of this Pastor Gerhardt reminds us in the final verse of our hymn:

And when Thy glory I shall see and taste Thy kingdom’s pleasure,

Thy blood my royal robe shall be, my joy beyond all measure;

When I appear before Thy throne, Thy righteousness shall be my crown, –

With these I need not hide me. And there, in garments richly wrought

As Thine own bride, I shall be brought to stand in joy beside Thee. Amen.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 Amen.

Pastor Nathanael Mayhew