Title: Was he stabbed (suffered)?
Text: Isaiah 53:4-9
Was he pierced (suffered)?
The current church year is the day when the last week of the last week begins for the Lord to carry the cross. The Lord entered Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, welcomed by Hosanna. Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. As we well know, the Lord is the Son of God. To be crucified on Calvary Hill, the Son of God was nailed to his hands and feet and a crown of thorns was placed on his head. Why did Jesus have to be crucified and suffer so much? The purpose of the sermon is to find out the reason for suffering, meditate on the grace of the cross deeply, deeply engrave the suffering of the Lord in my heart, and promise to bear the cross as my share. Why did the Lord suffer?
I. His piercing was vicarious suffering for our transgressions and sins.
The sufferings of Jesus being crucified, having a crown of thorns on his head, nails in his hands and feet, and being wounded in the back with a spear were vicarious sufferings for our transgressions and sins. The Lord took the suffering we deserve. Verse 4-6 says, “Surely he bore our afflictions and bore our sorrows, but we thought that he was chastised, struck by God, and suffered. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and with his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of all of us.” Why did the Lord suffer instead? In 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” In order to justify us, who are sinners, God sent His only begotten Son, who knew no sin, to bear our sins in our place. Because of this, Jesus Christ took the place of our transgressions and sins.
Although the Lord suffered such terrific suffering, he rather shed tears for those who crucified him and prayed for forgiveness to God. Therefore, in the name of the Lord, I bless you that even the saints who have vowed to follow the Lord will forgive and reconcile even those who have not been able to forgive while looking at the cross of suffering He bore. Now, I hope that all of us, like the Lord, promise to live as servants, and I bless you in the name of the Lord.
II. His piercing was a substitutionary suffering to restore us.
The Lord's crucifixion, piercing, and suffering was a substitutionary suffering to restore us. The prophet Isaiah prophesied about 700 years before the Lord came to this earth. Verse 5 says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The penalty for my sins is death, but I have been redeemed for my sins through Jesus Christ, the atoning lamb who took on all the sins of mankind and was condemned. Hallelujah!
Even in the place where you fell under the curse of wrath to heal us, the Lord called God Father and entrusted his soul to God the Father. In Luke 23:46, “Jesus called out with a loud voice, saying, “Father, into your hands I commit my soul.” And after saying these words, he died. Just as our sins were imputed to Christ, so Christ’s intentions were imputed to us and become our righteousness, and Christ took our death in our place, and his life became our life, restoring our relationship with God. . Hallelujah!
Ⅲ. His stabbing was a hardship to transform me into a new person.
The Lord's crucifixion, scourging, and suffering were suffering to transform us into new people. There are three kinds of people who look to the cross of the Lord in this world. First, there are those who see the Lord's actions as indecisive and fall into disappointment. Second, there are those who accuse him of not being the Messiah.
Third, people who are like a robber who have given up their legitimacy. In other words, when the thief on the other side of the thief who was crucified with Jesus repented, the Lord said, “Today you will be with me in paradise” and allowed paradise. Meanwhile, the robber became the first to experience the triumph of the cross, as the Lord promised paradise. Hallelujah! He not only admitted his sins and believed in the Lord's lordship, but also took the honor of being the first evangelist to confess with his mouth. Hallelujah!
We too must humble ourselves before the Lord, take up our cross daily, and become faithful disciples who follow the Lord. In the name of the Lord, I bless you that you give glory to the Lord by breaking away from the old habit of being self-centered and trying to lift yourself up, taking up your cross every day, giving up on yourself, and living only to fulfill God's will. .
I will conclude
Today, on Palm Sunday, I explained the reason why Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered from being crucified and pierced. First, the suffering of the Lord is vicarious suffering for our transgressions and sins. Second, the Lord's crucifixion was a substitutionary suffering to restore us, enemies of God, to God's perfect children from all our transgressions and sins.