Day by day, as you spend time with Him to enjoy Him in the Word and as you experience Him, you will appreciate the Lord Jesus more and more. How can you help it not falling in love with this One, the Servant of Jehovah?
Everyone around Him was a “bruised reed” trying to hurt Him, persecuting Him, and even trying to put Him to death; everyone was like “smoking flax” spreading all kinds of lies and criticism around, speaking behind His back and hating Him because of their religiosity…
Yet He came, He didn’t break these bruised reeds and He didn’t quench the smoking flax – He was full of mercy, though He was rejected and opposed. He loved them, He was merciful towards them, and He kept open the door of mercy and grace for each one.
Even more, according to Matt. 12:20, Christ as the merciful Servant of Jehovah would use some of those who are as bruised reeds and smoking flax to bring forth justice unto victory! This is us – we all are bruised reeds and smoking flax, but He comes in and selects us, perfects us, and shepherds us to be useful in His hand to bring forth justice unto victory!
No matter how much the Lord Jesus was opposed on the earth, He as the Servant of Jehovah was still merciful, keeping the door of mercy and grace open to every human being… Don’t you just love such a One?
This morning I was touched with the fact that, while He was serving others, Christ was a despised man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Here are some verses that show His human living:
Isa. 49:7, Thus says Jehovah, The Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the despised One, the One abhorred by the nation, The One subjected to tyrants, Kings will see and arise, And princes will bow down; Because of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.
Here we see that the Lord Jesus, though He was God’s Holy One and even the Redeemer of Israel, He was despised by man, He was abhorred by the nation, and He was subjected to tyrants! The Lord Jesus was like a Slave kept in subjection, in slavery, by tyrants. And at the same time, He would still serve and minister to all the ones in His people…
Isa. 53:3, He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised; and we did not esteem Him.
In Isaiah 53:3, Psalms 22:6-7, Luke 22:28; 23:11, and Matt. 27:39 we clearly see that the Lord Jesus was not a man of “enjoyment, happiness, or blessing” – rather, He was a despised man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief, He was a man of sorrows, and everyone despised Him.
Isa. 50:6, I gave my back to those who strike me And my cheeks to those who pluck out the hair; I did not hide my face From humiliation and spitting.
The Lord Jesus Christ is One who is willing to be humiliated and humbled… and in Matt. 26:67 we see the fulfillment, Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists, and others slapped Him.
Psalms 69:9, For the zeal of Your house has devoured me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
On the one hand, Christ bore our sins and our weaknesses, and He was our substitute on the cross; on the other hand, Christ suffered as God’s Substitute – the reproaches of those who reproached God fell on Christ! Christ bore and took care of our problems, and He also bore and took care of God’s problems. This is why we also today are encouraged by the apostle Paul to bear one another’s problems, since Christ did the same…
Wow, what a Wonderful Person! He not just laid aside His Godhead and His attributes as God so that He may be limited and become a man, but He was also willing to suffer, He was despised, He was rejected, He was willing to be humiliated, and He bore all our weaknesses, reproaches, and problems….
These portions are only SOME of the many places in the Bible where we see these aspects of Christ. All He went through and all He has accomplished is related to Christ’s coming to dispense God into His chosen people – now He as the Spirit can infuse us with all that He is, all He went through, all He accomplished, and all He attained unto and obtained! We praise Him for what He did for us, and we daily receive His dispensing of Himself in all He is into us!
[enjoyment inspired from the morning revival on the Crystallization-Study of Isaiah (2), quotes from The Conclusion of the New Testament(by brother Witness Lee)]
Amen, Lord, we just marvel at Your wonderful Person, Your character, the process You went through, and all that You accomplished! We love You, Lord! We worship You and in love we open to receive Your dispensing daily and even moment by moment! Thank You for bearing all our problems on the cross – You are our substitute! Thank You for being willing to be humiliated! What a pattern You have set up for us to follow today! We want to follow Your pattern in an organic way by allowing You to dispense Yourself into us, work Yourself into us, and live Yourself in us and out of us! Lord, we come to You afresh to receive You afresh today!
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