Matthew 27:1-26; Isaiah 50:1-9
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Prophet contrasts
the faithfulness and obedience of the LORD’s Servant with the rebellion and
unbelief of Israel. Though the LORD figuratively sold Israel into exile in
Babylon as punishment for their transgressions and iniquities, they should not
consider this to be like a certificate of divorce. The LORD has not divorced and
abandoned His people, but He has chastened them because He loves them and, in
time, He will redeem them. Though there sins be as scarlet, the LORD will wash
them and make them as white as snow. With the LORD, there is always hope.
The LORD’s
Servant is obedient where Israel was disobedient, faithful where Israel failed
to listen and believe. Jesus became as one taught and disciplined so that He
might comfort and sustain you who are under the Law. Jesus’ ears were opened to
the LORD’s Word and will, and He was strengthened by it to persevere through
temptation and suffering. When the same came upon Israel, the people grumbled
and fell away into apostasy, but the LORD’s Servant gave His back to those who
struck Him, His cheeks to those who would pull out His beard. He was not
rebellious. He turned not from disgrace and spitting.
The LORD’s
Servant could remain steadfast in the face of temptation and suffering,
mocking, spitting, striking, and piercing knowing that the LORD God was His
help, His strength, and His vindication. “Who will contend with me?” He asks.
“Who is my adversary?” “The LORD God helps me; who will declare me guilty?” The
LORD’s Servant expresses the same sentiment as does St. Paul, “If God is for
us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His
own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously
give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God
who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than
that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding
for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
[…] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved
us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor
things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Israel
considered it easier, even wise, to blend in with the pagan nations and their
cultures than to stand out like a backward, ignorant, and superstitious sore
thumb, and so they capitulated and they shrugged off their holiness and hid
their light under a basket so that they might blend in with the darkness and
find an easier way. We face the same temptation and challenge today. It’s
easier to say that we all worship the same god, just in different ways, than to
stand firm on God’s Word, “I am the LORD your God, and there is no other,”
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” It’s easier to redefine and broaden
the definition of marriage and family than to stand firm upon God’s Word,
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his
wife, and they shall become one flesh.” It’s easier to speak of the rights of
individuals and to determine for ourselves when human life begins and ends
instead of standing firm upon God’s Word, “Thou shalt not murder.” And, it’s
easier to accommodate and acquiesce to our culture that thinks that
co-habitation is wise and good, that homosexuality should be celebrated, and
that promiscuity is a right, instead of standing firm upon God’s Word, “Thou
shalt not commit adultery.”
Because of
his fear, rebellion, and unbelief, Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of
silver. He gave into the temptation of his flesh and the devil, of his fallen
wisdom and the pressures of his culture. Yet, once he committed the betrayal
and succumbed to the devil, was he rewarded? No, but the devil began to accuse
him and drive him into despair. Satan, your flesh, and the world do not truly
want you to prosper, but they want to destroy you. When Judas attempted to
return the money, the chief priests would not accept it, but they accused Judas
of betraying his friend, his master, and his God for money. Oh, Satan, your
flesh, and the world make the betrayal of your Lord and His Word seem so
attractive, so wise, and so very good, but once you have succumbed, they stab
you in the back and leave you hopeless and despairing.
For Judas,
and for you, the LORD’s Servant endured mockery, spitting, disgrace, scourging,
crucifixion, and death. Though they meant it for evil, Jesus trusted that the
LORD meant it for good, to bring it about that many might be saved and live.
When the tempters tempted, Jesus gave them no answer. He would not entertain
their poisonous words, temptation, and provocations, but He set His face like
flint and would not be put to shame, knowing that His vindication would come in
the LORD’s way and time. Jesus endured this for you that He might sustain you
in your temptation, trial, and tribulation with a Word – with His Word. When
temptation, trial, and tribulation befall you at the hands of Satan, the world,
and your own sinful flesh, you must pray, “Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O
LORD, make haste to help me! Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my
life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt!”
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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