And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:9
The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans told us that the wages of sin is death. The rate is non-negotiable. Thus, if the Messiah was come to be the substitute for sinners, death would be the price. Praise God this was a price he was willing to pay. You may have noticed a distinctly optimistic tone over the course of these Holy Week posts. Today is distinctly different. Let the gravity of your sin take full effect. This is a quiet day. One of mourning and somberness, yet there is still a tinge of hope because we know how the story ends.
Even writing this was a difficult task. It’s a painful process to pause and evaluate sin in your own life. Death can often seem so abstract, especially the death of someone who lived two thousand years ago. But this battle against sin goes back much further than Golgotha. Since the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil were eaten, this process of sin and death has ravaged a world that God had deemed very good. Disease, famine, and war all trace their origins back to that tragic moment in the beautiful world God made. But we must not blame Adam for our sin. He was our representative, given all the opportunity to obey God’s command and failed like all of us would have in the same situation.
The punishment for Adam’s sin was death. And he did die, like all of his descendants after him, for they were all wicked. They were led away by their own passions and lusts, feeding the monster of self and leaving death and destruction in their wake. The problem was never greater than when Jesus walked the earth himself. A pagan empire ruled the world, people did as they pleased, and the righteous faithful were left with only a glint of hope that one day it would all be remedied. Then that child was born. Not born of a father, but of the Heavenly Father just as the first man was. And one of those faithful watchers exclaimed of this child, “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Lk 2:30-32).
The remedy had arrived. Yet look with me on the disciples on this Holy Saturday. The disappointment was real, raw, and painful. Their teacher, leader, and friend was betrayed by one of their numbers. He was beaten to a pulp and pinned to a piece of rotting wood. Mocked, rejected, alone. Think especially of Peter. He was ready to take up arms with Jesus, follow him into the fray and die with him. Yet, when push came to shove, he abandoned his master the same as all the rest. He wept bitterly over it. Imagine the haunting gaze of Christ and the sound of the rooster in his ears. He had failed, and his failure cost his master’s life. We can all sympathize with Peter. But remember, this was part of the plan.
Jesus Christ made his grave with the wicked. He died among wicked men, at the hands of wicked men, for wicked men. This perfect man was laid to rest as both martyr and master of his cause. He is cut off now from the land of the living appearing to have accomplished nothing. Or so it appears to grieving men. But hear the decree of the Lord:
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:3-12
