Isaiah in the Old Testament
prophesied of Jesus that:
“He was oppressed and
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb
to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his
mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)
Then Matthew in the New
Testament tells us:
“Meanwhile Jesus stood before
the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You
have said so,” Jesus replied. When he was accused by the chief priests and the
elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony
they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single
charge—to the great amazement of the governor.” (Matthew 27:11-14)
One reason that Jesus kept
silent is because, for our sakes, He knew He must go to the cross to be our
Redeemer. Without His death, burial and resurrection all mankind would be
judged to an everlasting hell, but those who come to Him in belief would
inherit eternal life. There is also another reason.
Jesus also kept silent
because He was guilty and could not defend Himself. That sounds outlandish,
even blasphemous, until we stop and think about it. He stood there silently for
all of us taking our guilt upon Himself.
From the moment Jesus was
arrested He was taking the sins of the world upon Himself. He stood before His
accusers on our behalf. He took the beatings for us. He walked to the cross for
us. He hung and died on the cross for us. It should have been us, but even if
it were, we would still all spend eternity in hell. Only Jesus could pay the
price to redeem from the slave market of sin, all those who come to Him.
Think of it this way. Let’s
say an entire classroom of children, except one, trashed the classroom before
their teacher arrived. When the teacher came into the classroom she was
horrified and angry. She wanted to know who was guilty. No one would admit to
it. Much to the students’ surprise, the one student who was innocent stepped
forward and took the blame. The innocent student said nothing, but with bowed
head accepted the punishment the others deserved. Now that may not be the best
example in the world, but that is exactly what Jesus did for us. That is why
Jesus was silent. He was guilty, because He accepted our guilt upon Himself.
From Genesis throughout the
remainder of the Scriptures, God shows over and over that man cannot be in His
presence unless He is righteous, and man cannot be righteous unless one who is
totally innocent pays the sin debt with his own blood.
God clothed Adam and Eve with
the skin of an innocent animal representing His prophecy found earlier in
Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed; he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel.” From that time forward, probably millions of innocent animals died
because of the sin within mankind. They died to show that a Redeemer would come
at the appointed time to redeem man to God.
The Redeemer, the Son of God,
Jesus the Christ came and died for all nearly two thousand years ago. He died
totally innocent on behalf of the guilty. There was no sin within Him. Even
Pilate could find no fault in Him (John 18:38; 19:4, 6), but yet He took our
punishment upon Himself so we would have a way, the only way, to be saved.
It is alarming how lightly
most everyone in our society regards sin. Some don’t consider what God calls
sin as sin. Others say something like, “Jesus paid my sins so I can do whatever
I think is best for me.” Most pastors don’t touch the subject of sin anymore.
Paul wrote to Timothy (1
Timothy 4:2-3) that in latter times some will depart from the faith, having
their conscience seared with a hot iron. Isn’t that exactly where we are now?
Having no conscience of our sins we commit against God is a very frightening
thought. Yet many today have no conscience which is apparent by what they say,
do, think and their lifestyle.
We treat sin as if, “Oh, it’s
no big deal. Everyone does it!” Can that really be what we think of Jesus? Is there
no appreciation at all for all He has done for us? Jesus suffered more and gave
more for us than we could ever comprehend, and this is our attitude toward Him? Friends, that’s cold and
heartless. Are our souls so dead we have no feelings?
None of us are without sin. That’s
understood. We’re all active sinners, but are we a saved sinner, saved by the
blood of Jesus? As professing Christians do we try not to sin, as described in
God’s Holy Word, the Bible, or do we even recognize our fallen nature? Is there
any guilt that pulls at us, making us aware we need to repent? Do we even care?
We’re into the canning season
here at our house. My better half juiced tomatoes yesterday, and will be
canning tomatoes tomorrow. I’ve noticed all throughout this process, and over
the last several years, that she is constantly sniffing the tomatoes. Those who
can tomatoes will know why she does that. A tomato may look good on the
outside, but that doesn’t mean it is good on the inside. Therefore, any bad
spot will be hastily removed.
People are like tomatoes.
They may be beautiful on the outside, everything appearing to be perfect, but
God sees what is on the inside.
“But the LORD said to Samuel,
“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have
refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the
outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Unlike tomatoes, we are all tainted with bad spots. It’s called
sin. Our sin nature keeps producing an endless supply of sins that keep us sick
and will cause eternal death, unless something is done to save us. Something
was done. It was done on a cross at Calvary that held the nailed hands and feet
of the Son of God while His blood soaked the ground beneath.
Even on the cross, Jesus did
not open His mouth in defense of His innocence but said, “… Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
Now He is saying, “Come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew
11:28)
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
