“Isaiah foresaw this when he prophesied that Jesus would be ‘cut off from the land of the living’ (Isa. 53:8). He was cut off in a two-fold sense. First, He was cut off from men by physical distance. This was a progressive attribute of the life of Jesus. He had the multitudes at the beginning. Out of the multitudes, he had the 70, to whom He committed special tasks as He sent them out two by two. Within the group of 70 there were 12, and then there were three who went with Him into peculiarly important and sacred places. But in the supreme hour, when He faced the deepest of agonies, He was alone, separated from man by His holiness. But He was not only separate. He was cut off by the sins that He was bearing—not His own, but ours. ‘He looked, and there was no man, neither any to regard him.’ It was a cup of loneliness.”
When we consider what Jesus endured in order to bear the wrath that we deserve, it lightens every one of our burdens. Some of the sorrows that we experience are brought about by the fall. Others are shaped by our own sin. Whatever the cause, there is no experience of sorrow so great that we will not find comfort in the fact that our sinless Savior suffered far more agony in his own soul. We can always pour our sorrows and griefs into his ears, because he has experienced far more sorrow and grief than we ever will—and he did so on account of and in order to make atonement for our sin. He who was forsaken on the cross will never leave us nor forsake us. “He who neither slumbers nor sleeps” has already borne our burdens and will bear us up under them. As the Psalmist declared, “When my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will take care of me” (Ps. 27:10). We must learn to explore the sorrows of Jesus in order to prepare us for the experience of sorrow and grief in our own lives. In so doing, we will find not only the strength to endure the sorrows of life, we will find a heavenly joy to accompany us in the midst of them.
“Man of Sorrows,” what a name
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood;
Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Guilty, vile and helpless, we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full redemption—can it be?
Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die,
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high;
Hallelujah! what a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
To His kingdom us to bring,
Then anew this song we’ll sing
Hallelujah! what a Savior!
This article originally appeared here.
