February 26, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“See, My servant will act wisely. He will be raised, lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at Him (His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and His form marred beyond human likeness), so He will sprinkle [anoint] many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.” (Isaiah 52.13-15)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

It is from these verses that the concept and identity of “The Suffering Servant” is drawn from. When Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” was released and shown in theatres around the world, the image of the “suffering servant” was forever etched into the mind of the viewer. Even the most skeptical of people were touched by the horror endured by the main character in the story. It was the most “true to life” depiction of the crucified Christ ever portrayed. It was hard to watch. Yet twenty years later, the image and the message of “the passion of the Christ” seems to have faded into a passing blur. Too horrible? Too real? Too awful? Too gory? Or was it just beyond our sensitive imaginations to accept that one man would endure this for the entire world. Or have we just become too desensitized in our worldly existence to the extent of graphic violence seen on a daily basis. We gasp in response to tragedies of all kinds. The media give their disclaimers when images of mangled bodies will next fill the screen as “sensitive material that could be shocking.” Does this really shock us anymore? Are we surprised by the acts, results and consequences of violence of “humanity against humanity”? It is hard to digest the full image of what Jesus endured on the way to the cross. The crucifixion itself would have seem fairly tame compared to the hours which led up to it. He endured the brutality of Roman and Jewish leadership as they mocked Jesus of Nazareth whom they doubted could be and would be the King of the Jews. There is no need to revisit that brutality in its detail; at least not here. The description provided by God to Isaiah concerning the suffering servant is a sufficient summary: He was unrecognizable as a human being. Follow that thought back to the words He gave to those who were in the Upper Room, sans Judas of Kerioth, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father and that is enough.” (John 12.45; John 14.9) Is that what the Jewish and Gentile world, at least its leadership, wanted to see of God?

Let that last question wrap around you and pulse through your mind. What is the image of God, the imago dei, which speaks to us? The critics of God and those who believe in Him speak of a distant and aloof God who doesn’t care about the human condition. They are emboldened by the questions “Why do bad things happen to good people?” and “If God is so good and powerful then why does evil have such influence in and over life in this world?” We might even add “If God is love, then why does He hate us so much to let violence of the body, mind and soul persist and exist?” These are powerful questions. I believe that part of the answer to them literally “hangs on the cross.” With the final words uttered by Jesus of Nazareth who is the Son of God Israel’s Messiah (contemporary pundits can argue against that title) and the Savior of the world, we get the answer “It is finished. It is done.” What is the answer? It is left now for the people to ask of themselves “why do bad things happen to good people,” “if we have power and influence why does evil persist,” and “if we desire to love and be loved then why is there such hate and alienation.” The whole of Jesus’ ministry was to bring to light the truth of what God had given to humanity in order to portray and project the image of God. Such ministry is defined by “righteousness.” It is not God who has failed to protect and nurture “the good life” but us. Why is our faith so small, even smaller than the effective mustard seed? Why is our hope so fragile, even more fragile than a small child or baby? Why is our love so consuming of self instead of nurturing of all others? When the truth of the matter has been so vividly and actively demonstrated why would we choose another “way, truth and life”?

As we prepare to enter into the season of Lent, let’s take some serious time to consider the depth of the problem and the fullness of the answer. It is no secret. It is a revelation projected onto the whole of humanity. It is passed time to “show what we know.”

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free from death. So may we live by the name of Jesus our Christ. AMEN.