European Bible Study Meeting, 2002Jesus Humbled Himself by Becoming Obedient to the Point of Death April 4th, 2002, Afternoon Lecture Part 2For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?   2 Corinthians 2:15-16I, I Am He who Blots out Your Transgressions for My Own SakeOne of the hymns we sing includes the line, “Since Thou on earth hast wept”. The Bible says of Jesus, “when he . . . saw the city, he wept over it” (Luke 19:41), and when Lazarus died, it says, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Then, in Isaiah chapter 53, it says, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (verse 4). Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus laughed, but it does say in several places that he wept. When we examine carefully the records of Jesus’ ministry on this earth, we find it does not say anywhere that Jesus saw something that made him rejoice. It merely says that he embraced the little children (see Mark 10:13-16).But think about this for a moment. Would you be laughing if you were innocent, but were locked up on your own in a prison full of criminals? Or suppose a member of your family committed a terrible sin, and continued to commit that sin over and over again no matter what you said to him; would you be able to laugh in his company?What was Jesus like? The Bible says he was “the true light, which gives light to everyone” (John 1:9) and he was “the Word [that] became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). It also says “that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5), “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17), and that he “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16).This is what Jesus was like, so how would he have felt when he came to this sinful world and, as he spent time with people, could see what was in their hearts? He must have felt extremely frustrated and distressed. He lived a short life of just over thirty years, but we would not be able to understand the depths of the distress within him even if we lived for a thousand years. He was able to see deep down inside the hearts of men so the distress he experienced during the short time he was in this world was far greater than an hardships we may go through in this world, even if those hardships continue throughout our lives. If you could read the thoughts of all the people around you, you would probably find it unbearable. And yet God, who reads people’s hearts, came to earth and read what was in the hearts of the people around him. It was because he knew what was in the thoughts of the Jews who were plotting to harm him that he said to them, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” (Matthew 9:4). We can only imagine how frustrated and distressed he must have felt as he lived in this sinful world knowing everything like this.So in the letter to the Philippians it says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (2:5) and, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (2:8), telling us to understand the heart of Jesus who humbled himself and obeyed as a servant.Both those who know the gospel and those who do not, need to know what is in the heart of Jesus and how to live their lives in gratitude to him. You may feel distressed when you have done something wrong, and you may feel frustrated even when a member of your family does something wrong, but when God who sees deep down into the hearts of countless people came to this earth in human flesh and could see what was in the hearts of all those around him, words cannot express the distress and frustration that must have been in his heart.You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.  Isaiah 43:24-25Unable to bear the anguish in his heart, God came to this earth in accordance with his word and sacrificed his own life on the cross in our place. This is why he said, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” Since he has said he will not remember our sins, he will not remember them.I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.  Isaiah 44:22When did he blot out your sins? Jesus blotted out your sins when he died on the cross, so now God is telling you to return to him. We need to read these words, realize what they are saying, and return to Jesus.Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.  Isaiah 52:13-15Here it says, “my servant.” This refers to Jesus who would die, rise from the dead, and ascend into heaven, and who will later be glorified and come to this earth as King of kings. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  Isaiah 53:1-2Jesus was not the handsome man depicted in statues and paintings of him. 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.  Isaiah 53:3It was by no means only when Jesus was crucified that he suffered. From the beginning, he tasted all the hardships, suffering, and trials of mankind. In the letter to the Hebrews it says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (4:15). As the prophet Isaiah wrote down these words, he said that the Jews did not esteem him. Many people in this world do not really know Jesus even though they read these words.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.  Isaiah 53:4-5His body was pierced, and his precious blood flowed.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 53:6Jesus took all our sins upon himself, as the Bible says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.  Isaiah 53:7I have heard that when a cow or some other animal is being led to the slaughter, it will begin to screech and kick up a commotion once it realizes it is about to die, but when a lamb is being led to the slaughter, it will not make a sound right up to the end. The Bible says, “For his invisible attributes . . . have been clearly perceived . . . in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). Through the meekness of the lamb, we can consider Jesus who came as a lamb.By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.  Isaiah 53:8-12Such were the sufferings endured by the Son of God during the brief life that he had on this earth, and yet it says here that he makes intercession for the transgressors, people who have committed many sins.Isaiah chapter 59 begins with the words, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (verses 1-2). It then goes on to say, “For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. . . . their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity . . .” (verses 3, 7). This passage shows us clearly that we are sinners from head to toe, but later in the chapter we are given the answer to this problem. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.  Isaiah 59:15-17Here it says that God wondered that there was no one to intercede. And then it says that since there was no one to bring sinners before him, in his frustration, God acted himself: “his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head.” He came in person as the mediator.A deep and difficult account of this Jesus is set out for us in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John’s Gospels and the beginning of the book of Acts. The life and death of the One who is representative of the message of the entire Bible is revealed in these books.God Loved UsLet’s turn to New Testamemt 1 Timothy chapter 2 and read from verse 4 to 6. [God] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.&n

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