Luke 22:63-65 | Isaiah 53
You might suppose there’s a danger in dwelling too much on Jesus’ suffering. “Sadistic,” some may say. And indeed, some Christians have gone so far as to exactly participate in the sufferings of Christ by hurting themselves. You can take it pretty far (too far?).
But let’s risk it for a day.
Because it is pretty remarkable. Intense. Intensely remarkable.
Maybe the fact that Jesus suffered or was taunted doesn’t do much for you. But for those who’ve been bullied, beat up, mocked, made to feel little, forced into the role of weakling, laughed at in the center of a circle of mockers, lied about in front of everyone or online, beaten, abused, taken advantage of…this identification with Christ is a big deal.
They took the sight away of the man who restored sight for so many.
They insulted the man who gave agency and respect to person after person.
(What were those “other horrible things”? Can you imagine?)
This is Jesus’ “me, too” solidarity with humanity. Not that he asked for it. It was a natural result of becoming human.1
It will get worse, ending in death. Sometimes people have wished for such moments to end with the freedom of death. But herein, Jesus persists, hangs, endures.
He gets it. Maybe you do, too.
Luke 22:63-65
The men who were holding Jesus in custody taunted him while they beat him. They blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” Insulting him, they said many other horrible things against him.
Isaiah 53
Who can believe what we have heard,
and for whose sake has the Lord’s arm been revealed?
He grew up like a young plant before us,
like a root from dry ground.
He possessed no splendid form for us to see,
no desirable appearance.
He was despised and avoided by others;
a man who suffered, who knew sickness well.
Like someone from whom people hid their faces,
he was despised, and we didn’t think about him.
It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
and our sufferings that he bore,
but we thought him afflicted,
struck down by God and tormented.
He was pierced because of our rebellions
and crushed because of our crimes.
He bore the punishment that made us whole;
by his wounds we are healed.
Like sheep we had all wandered away,
each going its own way,
but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes.
He was oppressed and tormented,
but didn’t open his mouth.
Like a lamb being brought to slaughter,
like a ewe silent before her shearers,
he didn’t open his mouth.
Due to an unjust ruling he was taken away,
and his fate—who will think about it?
He was eliminated from the land of the living,
struck dead because of my people’s rebellion.
His grave was among the wicked,
his tomb with evildoers,
though he had done no violence,
and had spoken nothing false.
But the Lord wanted to crush him
and to make him suffer.
If his life is offered as restitution,
he will see his offspring; he will enjoy long life.
The Lord’s plans will come to fruition through him.
After his deep anguish he will see light, and he will be satisfied.
Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant,
will make many righteous,
and will bear their guilt.
Therefore, I will give him a share with the great,
and he will divide the spoil with the strong,
in return for exposing his life to death
and being numbered with rebels,
though he carried the sin of many
and pleaded on behalf of those who rebelled.
Prayer
God,
I’m not sure gratitude is exactly the right word for how I’m feeling knowing that Jesus suffered in pain and derision. Actually, I hate the notion. But there is a feeling of companionship I get with him in knowing he did. I’m sorry if that is cruel or morbid.
I’ve never been whipped or scourged like him. But I’ve been the kid laying on my back in the playground as the bully pummeled me from above, with a whole schoolyard of kids watching. I’ve been made to feel little by the teacher. I’ve felt powerless under the pinning control of someone on top of me. I’ve run from a situation out of complete embarrassment and fear.
So to think that he did, too…yeah, it means something. I’m sorry it happened. To me and to him.
So God, if nothing else, let me be not the bully. Make me slower to grab power, quicker to consider the possible pain my words or actions could cause.
Help me to hold on to life in the midst of death and to offer it both to myself and others.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
This is not meant to steal from the recent movement to highlight those taken advantage of sexually - the “Me, Too” movement. We do not know of Jesus to have been in such a position. Simply, here “me, too” means that God stepped down in Christ and allowed for such derision to come upon himself in a particular solidarity with the human shame.
The story of Thomas demanding to see Jesus's scars before he would believe in the resurrection sure reads like he just needed visible evidence to believe the inconceivable. But sometimes I wonder if Judas needed to see those scars to be sure Jesus endured suffering like the rest of humanity. He needed the visual evidence that it wasn't some imposter who "flew" in last minute. It's an out-of-context and not entirely great hermeneutics, but it helps me with my faith too.