Jesus as Our Example
I read Isaiah 53 the other day, and tried to read it with the mindset of this man being my example to follow, and the one to emulate.
Two things stuck out to me:
1. Jesus suffered
2. Jesus never opened His mouth
Anybody who's read the Bible would see that Jesus suffered more than any other man ever has, and I believe He suffered more than any other man ever will.
First, verse 2 seems to say that God didn't give Jesus much in the way of natural looks or charisma, or things like that. (This is my opinion, and I might be completely wrong. Just a thought) It says that people weren't attracted to Him because of looks or anything like that.
Next, Jesus was despised and rejected by men. How many of us strive to be accepted and approved by others? Jesus didn't strive for that, and didn't get it from many. He was who He was, and didn't try to be made much of in the eyes of others. Not only was Jesus not accepted, He was despised. People hated him.
Jesus was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. All in all, did Jesus lead a happy life? I don't think so. He walked around, taught people, healed people, was misunderstood by most, and was later brutally, brutally killed. He did nothing wrong, and suffered a death most (myself included) can't even imagine.
On top of this, Jesus suffered for what others did. His whole purpose in coming to Earth was to pay the price of other people's disobedience to God. All the reproach He bore, all the pain He suffered was put on Him because of what others had done.
Jesus suffered more than any other, and did so because of others. He was despised, beaten, slandered, and killed because of other's actions.
In all this, He never opened His mouth, He never complained or retaliated.
When people slandered Him, Jesus took it in stride. When they falsely accused Him of all sorts of junk, He never shot back. When they beat Him, whipped Him, and crucified Him, He never stopped them. He could have, very easily. He could have called down a bunch of angels to put those people in their place. He could have at least let them have it verbally, but He kept His silence.
Suffering more than any other when He was less deserving of it than any other, Jesus never took matters into His own hands, but trusted God.
What do I get from that?
1. Expect to suffer, and don't expect life to be a bouquet of roses all the time
2. Expect people to treat me like trash, either deservedly or undeservedly in my case
3. Do not complain. About anything. If Jesus never did in all He went through, how much less should I?
