“But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
Apostle Peter and the other disciples could not understand why Jesus would want to go to Jerusalem at that point in time when He knows suffering and death awaits Him there. The natural instinct of every human being is to avoid situations that would bring pain, suffering or death. When Jesus told the disciples as recorded in Matthew 16:21 “…that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed…”, it looked very abnormal and Peter “…took him (Jesus) aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you” (v22). But Jesus, as man, was not one to abandon God’s purpose or mission for earthly pleasure or fear of pains, so he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Matt 16:23). Jesus knew the importance of His mission to the world and to dissuade Him from the path that God has set for Him could only come from Satan using His own close disciple to distract Him and He immediately rebuked the devil that must have taken over Peter’s thought.
Jesus had to undergo suffering because as He told Nicodemus in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His Son (Jesus Christ), so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”. This was a fulfilment of the promises God made through His prophets in the Old Testament. In one of the prophecies, Isaiah 52:13—53:12, the Prophet foretells the nature, characteristics and rejection of the Saviour, Jesus Christ, that God was to send to redeem humankind. He would have no striking appearance that would draw the attention of people to him. Rather than appearing to be the strongest and most attractive representative of God; with all the affluence, physical strength and power, he would appear as a Servant, extremely weak and unattractive to people. The prophet further predicted how he will be despised; hated, detested and be an object of scorn. The messiah when he appears will be considered worthless and unworthy of attention and hastily dismissed. He also talked of the suffering that the messiah would go through; sufferings not from his own fault as people will think but suffering resulting from the sins of humankind; that we may be saved and healed.
The Holy Scripture is replete with reasons why God has to take such a drastic step to save mankind through Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. In 1 Peter 2:24-25 the apostle wrote that “He (Jesus) himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls”. Jesus suffering was a prelude to the ultimate defeat of sin, death, and hell. Because He died on the cross and suffered for us, we too can be assured that in the depths of suffering there is the reality that victory will be God’s end game for us. So, when Satan heaps suffering on our lives, we can be certain that God, who works all things together for good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), is ready to turn the table on Satan to bring victory out of our affliction. Because of His suffering the death that should be our punishment for sin (Roman 6:23) has been taken away from us and we are now reconciled to God. We no longer require yearly rituals that never cleansed sins anyway but through His single sacrifice we are cleansed (Hebrews 10). Through His suffering and death, we have been transformed to become “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1 Peter 2:9).
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: (1 John 3:1a (KJV)).
Dearly beloved, as we go through the Lenten season this year, let us reflect on the love of our “suffering Christ” who for our redemption left His glory to be despised, scorned and humiliated. He underwent a shameful death on the cross that you and I may be free from sin and diseases. We make His suffering to be in vain and more painful when we choose not to follow Him and rather remain in sin. In Luke 15:1-10 Jesus gave the parables of the ‘Lost Sheep’ and ‘Lost Coin’ to illustrate how much God desires our salvation and the joy in heaven when a sinner repents. In converse we can also imagine the pain and agony in heaven when we remain in sin.
Your brother, Vicar & Archdeacon
Julius Oyetunde Oyediran