Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, the Messiah has many titles. Some refer to His Mighty Kingship, while others relate to the flesh of the Sonship. The theme of Messiah as Suffering Servant is mentioned in both Isaiah 52 and Luke 23:27.
Just hearing the word “suffering” makes most people feel uncomfortable. It implies physical pain, but it also encompasses mental, emotional, and spiritual agony. Suffering is a total breakdown of peace and well-being.
Why would God decide to robe Himself in the flesh and live and suffer among His creation? Wouldn’t it have been just as easy for Him to let someone else do it? Perhaps He could have wiped the world’s sin away just by His Words.
Life in the Blood
The Biblical concept of blood sacrifice goes clear back to the Fall in the Garden of Eden. God had to shed animal blood to provide skins to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. After that time, it took suffering and bloodshed to remit sins.
One notorious blood sacrifice was mentioned in Genesis 4. Adam and Eve’s first two sons were named Cain and Abel. The Bible says that Cain tilled the land as a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd who cared for sheep. When the time came for sacrifice to the Lord, Abel chose his best lamb to sacrifice on the altar.
However, Cain gathered some produce from his garden and placed it on his altar. He didn’t give much thought to it, nor did he remember that the Lord required a blood sacrifice. Even in those days, you couldn’t get blood from a turnip.
God readily accepted Abel’s sacrifice that he offered with love and humility. He rejected Cain’s sacrifice because of his attitude and not following instructions. Cain got so violently jealous of his brother Abel that he struck him in the head with a stone and killed him. So, Cain committed the world’s first murder.
Laws of Moses
Throughout Moses’ leadership of the Children of Israel, the Lord issued several commandments concerning how humans should treat each other and how they should treat God. Among the Lord’s many dietary laws, He forbade His people to consume animal blood, according to Leviticus 4:13. The only use they had for animal blood was making sacrifices to the Lord.
In Leviticus 17:11, God explained why He expected blood for a sacrifice. He said that life was in the blood, and the only way to find remissions of sins was a blood sacrifice on the altar. He set the precedence for how the Jewish nation would prepare gifts to roll back their sins for another year.
Abraham’s Sacrifice
Genesis 22 beautifully foreshadows the willingness of Christ to be a Sacrifice for sin. God told Abraham to take his beloved son, Isaac, to the mountain top and sacrifice him on an altar. Such a command probably shook the old patriarch to his core. He couldn’t imagine slicing his precious son’s throat and watching him bleed out on an altar of fire.
Abraham took Isaac to the mountain and tied him to the altar as the ultimate example of Godly obedience. No doubt, he was heartbroken and sobbing when he raised the knife to strike his son. At that moment, the angel of the Lord grasped Abraham’s hand and stopped the whole divine test.
The older man joyfully loosed his son, and they were startled to hear a commotion in a nearby thicket. Just as Abraham had foretold before he bound Isaac, the Lord would prepare Himself a sacrifice. They discovered a mighty ram with his horns stuck in the briars. Abraham sacrificed the ram in gratitude to the Lord for saving his son.
Jesus, the Lamb of God
Even before the foundations of the world were formed, God had a plan. He knew that humanity would fall and would need a Savior. He had also set the precedence of shedding blood to forgive sin. So, to shed blood, the Savior would have to suffer extensively.
Passover Lamb
According to Levitical and kosher law, all the blood must be drained from clean animals to be sacrificed or eaten. There could be no strangling or any other bloodless method of killing. The blood of the Passover lamb has special significance. Each year, the High Priest would sprinkle the blood on the Ark of the Covenant for God to forgive Israel’s sin for another year.
It’s not a coincidence that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This small city was home to the Levites, who raised lambs for sacrifices. These priestly shepherds were the first to inspect sacrificial lambs in the Temple. Notice that Levitical shepherds were among the first in the little Bethlehem stable to welcome the new Lamb of God.
Jesus’ Baptism
In John 1:29, the 30-year-old Jesus came to the shores of the Jordan River to be baptized by His cousin, John the Baptist. Seeing his cousin at a distance, John loudly declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” The Baptists knew that Jesus had come to suffer and be the ultimate sacrifice to save the world.
Isaiah Prophesies that the Messiah would Suffer
Isaiah 53 provides an insight into the prophecies of the Suffering Servant and Messiah as Lamb of God. Isaiah prophesied that this Holy One would bear our griefs and sorrows and appear to be smitten by God. He would be stricken, afflicted, and pierced for our transgressions. He would be beaten, and His stripes were for our healing.
Jesus had already told the people that He hadn’t come to destroy the law or the prophets but fulfill them. In fact, in Matthew 5:18, Christ declared that not one jot or tittle of the law would pass without being fulfilled. Jots and tittles are the smallest strokes in the Hebrew alphabet, so the Lord was being quite specific.
Why Jesus Had to Suffer the Cross?
Yes, Jesus could have chosen any one of countless ways to die for the world’s sin. He did not deserve to die, and He also didn’t deserve to suffer in the most gruesome way imaginable. However, His Word is forever settled in Heaven as has been before the universe was ever created.
The real example of a spotless lamb points to Jesus Christ. He had to go before Pilate and Herod to suffer as the Paschal Lamb. His body was virtually ripped to shreds as He hung on the Cross to shed each drop of blood He had. No other way but intense suffering could have produced the necessary bloodshed.
Fellowship in His Suffering
Jesus also chose to suffer because He wanted to empathize with His human children fully. He needed to feel the heartbreak of losing friends and family members and the crushing blow of betrayal, denial, and abandonment. Each aspect of His death, burial, and resurrection were prophesied, and He knew that He must fulfill them.
While you may never be beaten or nailed to a cruel cross, the Lord still invites you to share in His suffering. He asks His followers to deny themselves, which means to crucify their fleshly desires. Then, He wants you to take up your cross and follow Him. The cross you bear is the burden for the lost and the persecution you face for being a believer.
The suffering of Jesus Christ was inevitable. It fulfilled all prophecy and made Him the ultimate blood sacrifice. Now, the blood of animals is no longer necessary. Jesus paid the price for the world’s sins and asked you to sacrifice yourself for the Kingdom.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, the Precious Lamb of God, how can I thank you enough for how You suffered on Calvary’s cross? You fulfilled the law and prophets and tore the veil in the temple to give all access to the holy of holies. Please teach me to follow your perfect example and sacrifice my will for Yours. Amen