Isaiah 53:3-5 ESV
“He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.”
The lyrics to this song are in my head right now:
Lean
On Me
By
Bill Withers
Sometimes
in our lives
We all
have pain
We all
have sorrow
But if
we are wise
We
know that there's always tomorrow
Lean
on me
When
you're not strong
And
I'll be your friend
I'll
help you carry on...
Now this song was not intended to speak of Jesus Christ as
our friend who we can lean upon when we have pain and when we have sorrow, but
it was written about human beings leaning on one another. And yet, Jesus Christ
is the best friend any Christian can ever have to lean upon during such times
as this. For he gave his life up for us on that cross, and when he did, he not
only took upon himself all our sins, but also all our griefs and our sorrows.
For since he lived in a flesh body, he suffered as we suffer, so he knows pain
and suffering, and he knows rejection, and he knows persecution.
So, there isn’t anything in this life that we are going
through that Jesus cannot feel and that he has not experienced in some way or
another in his life and in his death on that cross. And so he sympathizes with
us in our griefs and in our sorrows. And he was tempted to sin, as we are
tempted, too, so he knows what that feels like, as well. But he did not sin in
all that he did. Yet, when he died on that cross, he became sin for us that we
might become the righteousness of God. So when he died our sins died with him
so that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.
If we believe in Christ with God-given faith, we are
crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with him to walk in
newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to
his righteousness. Therefore, we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies,
to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death,
not to life eternal. But if obedience to God is what we obey, then it leads to
righteousness, and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. For the
wages of obedience to sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus, our Lord.
For to this end did Jesus Christ give his life up for us on
that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, and
that sin would no longer be our practice, but that righteousness and obedience
to our Lord would now be our practice. And he has given us his Holy Spirit to
live within us to teach us all things pertaining to Christ, and to encourage,
comfort, guide, and direct us in the way that we should go, as well as to
empower us to live godly and holy lives to the praise and glory of God. So,
Jesus did not leave us to go it alone, but he provided a helper for us.
So, not only does Jesus sympathize with us in our
weaknesses, and with our pain, and with our sorrows, and not only can he feel
what we feel when we go through times of rejection and persecution and betrayal,
but he also knows what it is like to be tempted of the devil, and he knows and
he has made the way out for us from underneath that temptation, too. For
through his death on that cross he delivered us from slavery to sin and he
provided his Spirit for us to indwell us and to give us all we need to resist the
devil and to flee temptation and to draw near to God, if we will take his way
out.
So, whatever we are going through in this life, if we are
being tempted of the devil to sin, or if he is hounding us in other ways, such
as in using other humans to persecute us, and to do evil against us, and
perhaps even to falsely accuse us of what we did not do, so as to ruin our
reputations, and with the goal in mind to destroy our ministries – as he did
with the prophets of old and with the New Testament apostles – then if we are
following the Lord in obedience, the Lord is on our side, and he will be with
us, and he will carry us through everything he allows us to go through in this
life.
So, we can definitely lean on him for our support if we are
following him in obedience, and if we are not walking in sin. Yet, he will help
us out of sin if we call on him in truth, and if we truly want his help, and if
we are not just playing games (mind games, tricks), i.e. if we are earnest. For
that is why he died, to free us from our addiction to sin. So there is never
any excuse for any true believer in Jesus Christ to still be walking in
deliberate and habitual sin. Jesus already made the way of escape. We just have
to take the way out he provided for us. But many do not, and they remain in
their sins.
And with regard to suffering for the sake of righteousness,
and for the sake of the name of Jesus and of his gospel, Jesus promised us that
we will suffer, and that we will be persecuted and falsely accused, and that we
will be hated and rejected as he was treated. He never promised us that
following him would be easy. He said the narrow road is hard, and it is the
broad road that many travel to destruction which is easy. So, if we are true
servants of the Lord, we will be hated and persecuted and rejected. But it is
worth it all, for if we are following the Lord, we are sharing with others the
gospel.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt
10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-17; Jn 15:18-21]
But the gospel message we should be sharing is not the one
that is presently permeating the church in America and that the majority are
buying into. We should be teaching what Jesus taught, that if anyone would come
after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to
self) and follow (obey) him. For if sin is what we obey, it will end in death,
not in life eternal. But if we die with Christ to sin and live to his
righteousness, then we have the promise of eternal life with him. For if we are
ashamed of him and of his Word, when he returns, he will be ashamed of us (he
will deny us).
Phil Johnson / Bob Benson Sr. 1975
He
never said you'd only see sunshine.
He
never said there'd be no rain.
He
only promised a heart full of singing
About
the very things that once brought pain.
Give
them all to Jesus -
Shattered
dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys…
And
He will turn your sorrows into joy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsOnwWsHnIw
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