The Thinker Isaiah 53:7-8 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter… 1. There is only One in whom are fulfilled all the prophecies of this wonderful Lesson (Acts 8:34, 35). 2. It may be noticed how animals are chosen in Holy Scripture as symbols of Divine Persons and mysteries; and Christian art has perpetuated the association. The dove has been the symbol of the Holy Ghost from earliest times. The man, the calf, the lion, and the eagle represent the four Evangelists, and are types of the Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ. Christ is represented by a lamb, for this was the symbol of our Lord both in the Old Testament and the New. Indeed, it was such a popular symbol in the early ages of the Church, that authority was invoked to check it as a substitute for His human body. 3. Throughout Holy Scripture, by hints and prophecies, by types and fulfilment, Christ is depicted by the lamb (Genesis 22:8; the Paschal lamb; the, daily sacrifice in the temple; St. John s exclamation, "Behold the Lamb of God!" John 19:36; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:6, 12; Revelation 6:1; Revelation 7:14, etc.). The symbol has two aspects — that of the victim, and that of the example. Let us look at it in both lights. I. THE VICTIM. 1. The text expresses the willingness of the Sufferer. "He was ill-treated whilst He bowed Himself, " i.e. "suffered voluntarily," as the simile of the unresisting animal explains. It is a prophecy of the self-oblation of Christ (John 10:15, 18). The oblation was the result of love. He was led to the slaughter with the full knowledge of all that was before Him. The voluntariness of Christ's sufferings is a ground of merit and a secret of attractiveness. Sacrifice must "be the blood of the soul," the offered will, to have value before God; and it must be spontaneous, to touch and win the hearts of men. 2. "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter" reminds us of the greatness of Christ's sufferings. He was "obedient unto death," a sacrificial death — different from a mere martyr s death, as the words just before the text show. The Lord had laid on Him the punishment of Israel's guilt — nay, "the iniquity of us all." There can be no getting rid of "the poena vicaria here" (Delitzsch). This is a great mystery. But it is not one man suffering for another, for "no man can deliver his brother;" but God Himself in man's nature suffering. Those who think such a mode of redemption unjust, it will be found, have not grasped the dogma of the Incarnation, or the oneness of will in the Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity. It was an act of love. Death is the test of love, and the worst kind of death, that of the cross, the most convincing test. "He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter" is a sentence which at once would bring up before the mind of the Jew the sacrificial worship in which he had often taken part. In the language of St. Paul, Christ "became sin for us" — a Sin Offering — "who knew no sin." In the language of St. Peter, we were redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish." II. THE EXAMPLE. 1. One of the purposes for which Christ came was to be an Example. The truth is sometimes obscured by dwelling too exclusively upon the mystery of redemption; as, on the other hand, there have not been wanting those who have been too much absorbed in that view of our Lord as the True Light which meets the cravings of the human intellect. To keep the proportion of faith is not always easy, especially as personal needs and experiences are apt to exaggerate some one aspect of a mystery. 2. Christ's life throughout has this twofold view — sacrificial and exemplary. We might have expected that the latter view would be associated chiefly with His public ministry, and the former with His Passion. But it is not so. Both culminate on the cross. "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example" (1 Peter 2:21); and, as the context shows, the final sufferings are before the apostle's gaze. A suffering world needs a suffering Example. The Passion brought out to view the virtues which man is ever requiring to exercise, and in a manner which exercises a spell upon all who look upon "that sight." Even those who are blind to the atoning efficacy of the mystery are touched by its moral loveliness. 3. "Brought as a lamb to the slaughter;" "dumb before her shearers." This is a difficult virtue which the words unveil — patience, or meekness. What we read in the prophecy we see in the Passion (Matthew 27:12, 14; John 19:9) and upon the cross. "All three hours His silence cried." "When He was reviled, He reviled not again." The lamb, innocent and silent, aptly represents the Lamb of God, meek and patient in the midst of His slaughterers. III. LESSONS. 1. Let us seek through the sufferings of Christ to realize the enormity and malice of sin. Pardon without any revelation of Divine justice and holiness might have demoralized mankind. We know not "how that satisfaction operated towards God," and the Church has not attempted to define this. That Christ died "for us men and for our salvation" is all that we are required to believe. and that is the kernel of the doctrine. 2. Seek to imitate the patience of Jesus — to be silent when "reviled," and to still within the movements of anger and pride. 3. To be able to do this we must meditate upon Christ's sufferings, and see in all things, as they reach us, the will of God, though our sufferings may arise from the faults and sins of others. We must "commit our cause to Him that judgeth righteously," accepting calmly all that we may have to bear. 4. We must pray for the help of the Holy Ghost, without which we cannot grow in patience and meekness, which are "fruits" of the Spirit. (The Thinker.) Parallel Verses KJV: He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. |
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