This week as I thought upon my Savior’s death and resurrection,
the following passages were on my mind:
Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I
looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.
Psalm 69:20
He was despised and
rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide
their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced
for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon
him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his
wounds we are healed. All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the
LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:3-6
In doing a search on Psalm 69:20, I came across an article/sermon
titled “Righteousness Fulfilled” by Rev. Dr. H.H. George, published in 1876 in The Reformed Presbyterian and Covenanter, Volume
14. This publication is available on
Google Books; the article is on pages 71-78. The article describes Christ’s
righteousness, his atoning work on the cross, and the imputation of his righteousness
to those who trust in him by the gift of faith. Please read discerningly if additional
articles of this book are read. I have included an excerpt from George’s article
below.
The obedience of the Son of God in
man's stead could not counteract the penalty he had incurred. He must suffer
this, and this it was that made him “a curse for us," bound him over to
the avenging wrath of God, to make full satisfaction to divine justice. Herein
was the awful mystery, that the Son of God must stand before law and justice a
sinner, be adjudged guilty, and be given over into the hands of the
executioner. His devoted head must bear the blows that otherwise would have
fallen upon a lost world. He must be a mark at which all the arrows of avenging
wrath must be aimed, the receptacle of all those floods of wrath that must have
drowned an elect world. “I," says he, “am come into deep waters where the floods
overflow me." "Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut
me off." What an awful transaction, and one that must affect his name, his
reputation, his body and his estate. His name was weighed down with reproach
and slander; “he was accounted a worm and no man”; “reproach broke his heart”;
his body must experience the agonies of hunger and thirst; he must feel the
pinchings of poverty, without “a place to lay his head," the desertion of
friends, till there was "none to pity." Then stripped, and beaten,
and wounded, and bruised, he must be hung up naked before a gazing, taunting
multitude, and that between two malefactors.
The curse must pass all over, around, and
through every part of his blessed body. His head was crowned with thorns, his
countenance more marred than that of any man, his back given to the smiters and
his cheek to them that plucked off the hair; his tongue must cleave to the jaws;
hands and feet nailed to the hard block, bones all drawn out of joint, heart
melting as wax in the midst of his bowels; his strength was dried up, and his
life's blood was poured out; aye, after his death his body must be gashed with
a spear. Nor was the curse confined to his body. His soul must feel the
poignancy of sorrow, he must be “acquainted with grief." All his life a
man of sorrows, at length he reached the hour and power of darkness. And this
was, perhaps, that point when were concentrated upon him all the hatred and
malice of men, the rage and power of devils, and the hot rolling wrath from
heaven, of which he says, "in dreadful fierceness round about him every
day like water they did roll, and gathering together they have compassed my
soul." Then was exceeding sorrow, agonizing, soul-crushing sorrow. The
curse tracked him from Bethlehem to the cross. His whole life was a death; an
unsparing, unpitying, exquisite death. Without a look of compassion, a word of
comfort, or a deed of kindness, he must go through darkness, deep as hell
itself, till he poured out his soul to death. It was an awful way to fulfil righteousness,
but there was no other, and in this way he fulfilled it, —and by him, passing
through that awful way, “it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
As described in Isaiah 53, all mankind is naturally at enmity
with God because of our sinful nature. Those that love God, love him because he
first loved us (I John 4.) By God’s grace, his children do as James 4:8- 10 says: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” In Luke 23:28, the Lord warns against pitying him in a prideful manner and calls us to repentance. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4
In
closing, I would like to share a scripturally based poem I wrote as I
considered the sorrow Christ bore for our sake and the grace of godly sorrow
and repentance he gives to his people. Those given the gift of faith grieve
over and turn away from their sin clinging to Christ.
He mourned for us as we laughed with foolish joy
Lambs wandering on the road of death toward our grave
Our souls naked before him, stained with the filth of sin
Self-ruled sheep sought not a Shephard
Upon children of wrath, poured out the love of God
Our Shephard came to us, a man of sorrows
Filled with holy joy, he bore our shame
Escalating to death on a cross, our sins a curse upon him
Naked and blameless, he hung in our stead
The cost of sin is death; for us his blood was shed
His life laid down for the lives many
The Spotless Lamb died for crimson sheep
From his lips escaped the cry: “It is finished”
With power and authority, our sins he washed away
The debt was paid that none could pay-
But the Son of God. The Righteous One
Just as he promised, he rose again Lord’s Day morn
What power has the grave to hold Almighty God?
He rose victorious over his foes
In heaven the exalted Lord reigns
We that bear Christ’s name by grace
See our sin and cry out to God for mercy
Justified we stand. Comforted and exalted
Beauty is given where once were ashes
Clothed in the robes of our Lord’s righteousness
The redeemed of the LORD praise him
Saying amen and amen
Bowing at his throne, crying Holy Holy Holy
God
raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him
to be held by it. Acts 2:24
Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen. Psalm 89:52
