Isaiah 53:7 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.
It’s natural for a man, when he is wronged, to stand up and defend himself. When he is slandered or lied about to want to set the record straight. When his life and liberty is on the line, he fights for his rights and for justice for himself. Unless he chooses to suffer. A man will stand and fight for justice, unless he has a purpose in remaining silent. And, what a glorious silence to suffer for another. Jesus was brought up on false charges, railroaded in a miscarriage of justice. Betrayed by friend and countrymen, mocked by religious leaders, and derided by wicked men. Christ Jesus must die because he came to suffer death as the substitute, to be the satisfaction for our sins. He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8). Despising the shame, but enduring the shame for his friends. For his people. For sinners he came to save.
Jesus was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Imagine the Passover. All over Israel, in every home, the father of the household would go to his flock and look for a lamb without spot or blemish. He would pass by the sickly sheep and lame until his eye came to his best lamb. The unsuspecting animal would follow the father, obediently and passively, wherever he was led by his shepherd. The sheep did not fight, nor cry, nor object, but faithfully went to his slaughter. On this particular Passover season, the Lamb of God was brought to his own death. In the first Passover, the lamb’s blood was shed and when God’s wrath came through Egypt, every place where the blood was shed, the wrath of God passed. The lamb died so those in the house wouldn’t. Jesus, the Lamb of God, went to cross as our substitute. He died in the place of His people. Whereas the animal was mute because he was unaware of the situation, Jesus opened not his mouth fully aware of what he faced as our sin bearer.
The Lamb of God “committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,” (1 Peter 2:23). Christ is both our saviour and our example. We see the meekness and the manliness of our Lord when he was “reviled, reviled not again” but for the joy set before him, endured this greatest injustice, and the greatest suffering, for the glory of God and the salvation of His people. Marvel at this silence and glory in Christ’s sacrifice. And if you know Christ, imitate him. How foolish and wicked is the pride of life, when we must fight for every inch of everything we can get our hands on. How wicked church disputes over trivial matters, when we are followers of the Lamb of God.
