John Piper "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ" Chapter Eight

When he was reviled,

he did not revile in return;

when he suffered,

he did not threaten.

1 P E T E R 2 : 2 3

It was the will of the LORD

to crush him;

he has put him to grief.

I S A I A H 5 3 : 1 0

THE INCOMPARABLE SUFFERINGS

The Anguish of Jesus Christ

Excerpts from the Chapter:

“The agonies of God’s Son were incomparable. No one ever suffered like this man. Through all eternity, we will contemplate the killing of the Son of God and sing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12).”

“No one ever deserved suffering less, yet received so much… He had no sin. Therefore, no one has ever had a greater right to retaliate, but used it less. He had at his disposal infinite power to take revenge at any moment in his agony. “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). But he did not do it. When every judicial sentiment in the universe cried out “Unjust!” Jesus was silent. “He gave [Pilate] no answer, not even to a single charge” (Matthew 27:14). Nor did he refute false ridicule: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten” (1 Peter 2:23). Nor did he defend himself in response to Herod’s interrogation: “He made no answer” (Luke 23:9). No one has ever borne so much injustice with so little vengeance.”

“In the garden, “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). In the middle of the night, before the high priest, “they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him” (Matthew 26:67). Before the governor they “scourged” him (Matthew 27:26).”

“In his agony the soldiers toyed with him. They dressed him in mock robes of royalty. They began to “cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, ‘Prophesy!’ And the guards received him with blows” (Mark 14:65). A crown of thorns was pressed down on his head—made worse by being driven into his skull with blows. “They were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him” (Mark 15:19). The torture and shame continued. He was stripped. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross (Acts 2:23; Psalm 22:16). The mockery was unrelenting through the terrible morning. “Hail, King of the Jews!” “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:29, 40). Even one of the criminals “railed at him” (Luke 23:39).”

 

“It was a hideous death. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia tells us, “The wounds swelled about the rough nails, and the torn and lacerated tendons and nerves caused excruciating agony. The arteries of the head and stomach were surcharged with blood and a terrific throbbing headache ensued. . . . The victim of crucifixion literally died a thousand deaths. . . . The suffering was so frightful that ‘even among the raging passions of war pity was sometimes excited.’””

“Never before or since has there been such suffering, because, in all its dreadful severity, it was a suffering by design. It was planned by God the Father and embraced by God the Son. “It was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10).”

“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31). Our joy in savoring God and his glory in saving us are one. That is the glory of Christ’s incomparable sufferings.”

'The stone table has been broken... The magic written before the dawn of time dictates that when one gives his life for the life of a traitor, all is forgiven, and the life that has been snuffed out rises again... Aslan is on the move'
C.S. Lewis: "The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe"

A P R A Y E R

Father, what can we say?

We feel utterly unworthy in the face of Christ’s unspeakable sufferings.

We are sorry.

It was our sin that brought this to pass.

It was we who struck him and spit on him and mocked him.

O Father, we are so sorry.

We bow ourselves to the dirt and shut the mouths of our small, dark, petty, sinful souls.

O Father, touch us with fresh faith that we might believe the incredible.

The very pain of Christ that makes us despair is our salvation.

Open our fearful hearts to receive the Gospel.

Waken dead parts of our hearts that cannot feel what must be felt—that we are loved with the deepest, strongest, purest love in the universe.

Oh, grant us to have the power to comprehend with all the saints the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and may we be filled with all the fullness of God.

Fight for us, O God, that we not drift numb and blind and foolish into vain and empty excitements.

Life is too short, too precious, too painful to waste on worldly bubbles that burst. Heaven is too great, hell is too horrible, eternity is too long that we should putter around on the porch of eternity.

O God, open our eyes to the vastness of the sufferings of Christ and what they mean for sin and holiness and hope and heaven.

We fear our bent to trifling.

Make us awake to the weight of glory—the glory of Christ’s incomparable sufferings.

In his great and wonderful name,

amen.