The sufferings of Christ

The following are some texts which speak of various aspects of Christ's sufferings.

"He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities" Isaiah 53:11.

"And this space he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." John 11:51-52.

"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." Hebrews 2:10.

Psalm 22 is a prophetic account of Christ's sufferings on the cross. Here the debasement and exaltation of David, king of Israel, are merely subservient to, and figurative of the debasement and exaltation of Jesus Christ.

This Psalm is a record of the bitter, but kindly and believing, complaints of god's withdrawal; attended with earnest attempts of faith to quiet the complainer's soul under it, drawn from the consideration of God's holiness and highness, and his seasonable deliverance of his people in former times, when they cried to him.

Also the complaints of men's reproaches and contemptuous derision, plus the number and rage of enemies. The gospel reader will realise how this was all fulfilled on Calvary.

Why Jesus was condemned in both an ecclesiastical and a civil court?

Jesus was brought unjustly before a religious court which cared nothing about justice, and before a political court headed by a man who asked for a definition of truth but wouldn’t' bother with it.

This did not happen without a reason. Since Jesus has authority to give eternal life to whomsoever he wills, he was arraigned before a religious bunch so that in their wicked sentence he might justly condemn their folly and iniquity.

Their accusation was one of blasphemy; they couldn't tolerate Jesus who claimed to be the Son of the Highest, and therefore God himself. The blindness of their judgement was brought out by his resurrection when he was declared to be the Son of God with power.

Similarly the accusation brought against him before Pilate was one of political sedition, that he was a king subversive to civil peace and established order. Christ is indeed king but not on the same level as earthly potentates. "My kingdom is not of this world."

The falseness of the accusation was shown in that Pilate saw no cause to condemn him. Several times he pronounced him innocent and just. And yet in being led out to be crucified it was made expressly manifest that his death was not for some fault of his but rather that he was a substitute for his people, to bear away their transgressions.

In all aspects of life, religious and civil, Christ was proved to be blameless.

It was necessary because if we had to endure it ourselves we would be ruined forever. Nobody can pay a ransom for his of his brother's soul; it is too high. But what is impossible with man is possible with God: Christ was overwhelmed by death but did not remain under its power. God's holy displeasure because of sin was furthermore vindicated by the cross both for sins committed before and after the unique event (Romans 3).

He was separated, abandoned by the Father, something which is expressed in the woeful cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He drank the bitter cup: his sufferings were physical but much more than that, spiritual. He was made sin, treated as if he was a sinner. The curse was taken from the elect and placed upon him.

We are made the righteousness of God in him; in union with him, we are accounted righteous before the Throne, declared not guilty, and therefore having no more condemnation. By enduring the Wrath, Christ reconciled us to the Father; and made us rich with all spiritual blessings. The barrier of sin was removed once for all.