The Suffering Jesus: An Example for Every Christian B

And he was further accused vehemently by the chief priests and scribes, and they incessantly abused him verbally, Luke 23, 7 to 11 says, and where Herod and the soldiers began to treat him with contempt and mockery, he accepted it in absolute silence, never said a word. His example is a perfect standard for us. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Today, John's going to continue his series, Through Suffering to Triumph, with a practical look at the truths that strengthen Jesus during his suffering. And these same truths will strengthen you as well. But John, before you get to the lesson, you have a letter there from a man who, along with his extended family, experienced a bitter tragedy not long ago, but through all of it, he's giving testimony to God's goodness and to the power of God's word. So take a moment and read this letter from a man named Keith. I'm glad to do that because I think this is going to be very encouraging. Keith writes, I have been a student of yours for a great number of years. You ride with me to and from work each day. Hey, you even put me to sleep at night.

I meant that as a compliment. Keith then went on to describe a tragedy that happened last year to his extended family, and it made national news. His wife's brother, named Mark, along with four of Mark's grandsons, were killed by an escaped convict.

Imagine that. Keith then told about how another of his wife's brothers, named Glen, spoke at the church that Glen and Keith's family attend. Glen spoke eloquently of his faith in God's sovereign control, his confidence that his brother Mark also knew Christ, his trust in God's goodness, even when he couldn't understand why such a tragedy would happen. Keith also was able to speak at their church about trusting in our sovereign God, acknowledging that God would use the tragedy to testify of himself, his character, and who he is in the lives of people who were affected by the tragedy. Then Keith told us this, and I'm quoting him, I just want to tell you how much the Lord has used you in my study of the Scriptures. From the very first night that we learned of the murders, I have prayed that if it pleased God to use me in this situation that I would not get in the way of what God wanted to do. It's been amazing to see the lives that have been affected for the good. It's actually been overwhelming. Again, I wanted to thank you and let you know how instrumental your teaching has been in my life.

And he signs his name Keith from Houston, Texas. That's an unimaginable horror to live through, the murder of one person, let alone five. But this is the story of the power of God's word to hold a life together even when things around them have fallen apart in the worst and most sudden and shocking ways. Perhaps even more, the story shows that the strength to deal with tragedy is cultivated over time, over time, long before the tragedy happens.

Through growing in Christ by the regular study of his word, you're prepared for something even something as bad as this. When Keith needed God's strength, it was accessible to him because the word had been doing its work in Keith's life for many years. Well, we're grateful for the Lord's work through his word in all the lives that Grace To You touches and profoundly thankful that even in the wake of unspeakable tragedy, God draws near to his suffering children, gives them comfort, spiritual strength, and the resolve to proclaim God's goodness to the watching world and to proclaim the gospel. That Grace To You had a small part in strengthening Keith, who in turn has been able to encourage his family and his church, is very encouraging and humbling. To you and listeners like you, I want to say thank you for your prayers and your gifts. We're able to make this teaching available to people like Keith and those around him and you because you stand with us. God bless you for your faithfulness. That's right, friend.

Thank you. That was a powerful letter that John just read. And, you know, we are able to help Christians all over the world glorify God in the midst of suffering because of friends like you who help connect God's people with biblical truth.

To express your support, go to gty.org. But first, stay here as John continues his series Through Suffering to Triumph. Jesus committed no sin, even under the most difficult circumstances when he was being unjustly treated. He was impeccable. That is, he did not sin, he could not sin. Back in chapter 1, verse 19, he is an unblemished spotless lamb. And here, Peter quotes out of Isaiah that the Messiah committed no sin, never violating the law of God and never being lawless. He had no sins of his own. Peter further says, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. Why does he say that? Isn't it enough to say he committed no sin?

It is. But the second statement is just a strengthening of the first because where is it that sin most easily shows up? And where is it that sin shows up first of all?

In the mouth. Because the heart speaks through the mouth. The mouth of Jesus uttered no deceit. Now the word for deceit means any type of sin of the tongue.

And the tongue sins by deception, innuendo, slander, a myriad of ways. But no wickedness came out of his mouth. No wickedness ever came across his tongue. He committed no sin by act and he spoke no sin by mouth.

You see, the mouth more than any other agency of human behavior reveals the heart. That's why James 3, 2 says, whoever doesn't offend with his mouth, the same is a perfect man. Conversely, the perfect man will never offend with his mouth. Jesus, who never offended with his mouth, is therefore a perfect man. He committed no sin and no sin ever crossed his lips. He was absolutely flawless, sinless, perfect.

Even the thieves on the cross, Luke 23, 41, hanging there, one of them says, we indeed suffer justly for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds but this man has done nothing wrong. No jury could ever find him guilty of anything. His trial was a farce. All the accusations were lies.

They were trumped up. Jesus said, you remember in John 8, 46, which of you convicts me of sin? Go ahead. Which of you can legitimately accuse me of sin? And of course, none could speak. None could speak because there was no sin. In 2 Corinthians 5, 21, the Apostle Paul says, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. Again, Christ was absolutely sinless.

In Hebrews chapter 4, in verse 15, it says we have a high priest who can understand us. He has been tempted in all things, yet without sin. Hebrews 4, 15, he was without sin. In Hebrews 7, 26, it says he is a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners. And again, you know this.

I'm only reiterating it. Jesus was perfectly sinless. Would you notice verse 18 in 1 Peter 3, right in the next chapter? 1 Peter 3, 18, it says Christ died for sin once for all, the just for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous. And again, Peter reiterates his sinless perfection. John says in 1 John 3, 5, in him there is no sin. Scripture is absolutely clear on this. In all circumstances of life, in all the injustices, in all the accusations against Christ that were false, in all the mistreatment, he never sinned in anything he did and he never sinned in anything he said.

It's amazing. All the accusations against him, all the abuse, all the cruelty, all the suffering was absolutely unjust. And because he never retaliated in a sinful way, he's the perfect model.

The perfect model. He is the most unjustly treated human being who ever lived. And because he was perfect and all the mistreatment of hell was thrown against him and he never sinned, he is the perfect model of how you and I are to respond to unjust treatment. Did you get that?

That's the bottom line. He's the perfect model of how you and I are to respond to unjust treatment. Peter's mind then goes back again to Isaiah 53. He knows it now to be fully messianic, speaking of Christ, and he echoes the thought of that prophet again in verse 23. Look at the next verse, verse 23. Peter says, And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. That's right out of Isaiah 53.7.

Do you remember what it says there? He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not, what? Open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, innocent, unjust, and like a sheep that is silent before it shearers, he didn't open his mouth.

So Peter has it. While he was reviled, he didn't revile in return. While he was suffering, he spoke no threats.

That is the perfect standard. Boy, that's hard to follow. I cannot imagine what it is to never commit a sin, to never have anything come out of your mouth that is not right, to be reviled in ways that I can't even comprehend like Jesus was and yet never revile in return, to unjustly suffer and yet utter no threat. Unbelievable. He was under sustained and repeated provocation. They provoked him to the breaking point, but they couldn't make him break his silence and they could not make any sin come out of his mouth. Why? Because there was no sin conceived in his heart.

None whatsoever. I fit better in the company of Paul. Paul, in Acts 23, looked intently at the counsel that was trying him and the high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside Paul to strike him on the mouth. One of the soldiers was going to smack him right across the face. And Paul said to him, God strike you, you whitewashed wall!

And what did the bystander say? Do you revile God's high priest? Paul grabbed his mouth and apologized. I understand that. I identify with that. I don't ever identify with what Jesus went through and the perfection of his perfect response. But he's the standard, not Paul.

Paul is an example in a lot of things, but not this one. Notice that little phrase, and while being reviled. Reviled is a verb that means to use abusive language, vile language against someone. To literally pile up abuse, a present participle indicating it's done repeatedly. You find it used in Mark 14 and 15. They were reviling Christ. Verbal abuse, which is a very, very harsh kind of abuse.

Sometimes harder to deal with than physical abuse. But in it, he didn't revile in return. Do you remember his trial? Do you remember when he was at the home of the high priest and he was being tried unjustly by the Sanhedrin as recorded in Matthew 26, 57 to 75? He accepted all of the verbal abuse they threw at him in total silence. Do you remember then he was taken to the Praetorium of Pilate where he was unjustly accused and abused again, Matthew 27, 12 to 14?

And there he accepted that silently and never said a word. And then he had to come before the throne of Herod. And he was further accused vehemently by the chief priests and scribes. And they incessantly abused him verbally, Luke 23, 7 to 11 says. And where Herod and the soldiers began to treat him with contempt and mockery, he accepted it in absolute silence, never said a word.

This example is a perfect standard for us. As Christians, we are never to return abuse to the one who gives it, no matter how unjust their abuse might be. Notice also in verse 23 it says, When suffering, or while suffering, he uttered no threats. Hard to imagine, isn't it? Because there were moments of utterly inexplicable pain, they spit on Jesus, they pulled the hair out of his face from his beard, they jammed thorns into his brow, they hammered nails through his flesh, they spit on his face, the physical, the verbal cruelty, the provocation, the agitation, the ugly, wicked, venomous hatred.

Any normal human being is going to well up with feelings of retaliation because it's unjust. But he threatened no one, and boy could he have given some threats. The amazing soberness of that silence is most appreciated when you think of who he is. He is God.

He is God the Creator, the upholder of the universe, sinless, holy, anointed Son of God. And one word from his mouth could have blasted them into eternal hell, could have literally burned them to a crisp. The ground could have opened to swallow their ashes. But he never threatened them. And when he finally did speak about them, he said, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. You see, it was for those very people who were unjustly killing him that he was dying. He was there on the cross paying the penalty for sinners like them. And he knew that the glory was through the path of suffering, so he accepted it without retaliation, he accepted it without revenge, he accepted it without bitterness, he accepted it without anger.

Look at chapter 3, verse 9 of 1 Peter. Peter says, Don't return evil for evil or insult for insult, but give a blessing instead. That's what Jesus did. For you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. And that's the same idea. You say, well, how could Jesus do this?

How can you be suffering what he suffered so totally in an unjust way and just not retaliate? Well, it gives you the secret at the end of verse 23. Here's the secret. Jesus kept on entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.

Who's that? That's God. That is God. The word entrusting means to hand over to someone to keep.

To hand over to someone to keep. He just handed over himself to God. He said, you keep me. He handed over the circumstance to God. Literally, he kept handing himself over because the suffering kept coming and he kept handing himself over. This was not easy, but he kept doing it. It became his habit in every unjust suffering, in every event. He kept handing himself over, handing himself over. By the way, the word himself is added.

It's not in the original, but it is a very accurate addition because it is the intent of the text to emphasize that. Do you remember what he finally said on the cross? Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. Always handing himself over to the Father until finally that was the last thing he ever said. Before he yielded up his life. You see, he gave himself to God.

Why? Because he knew that in the future there would be glory. He knew that God would not make an unjust evaluation. That God would judge righteously. That God would assess rightly. And beloved, when you as a Christian are persecuted unjustly in your job or your family or your environment, when you and I are persecuted unjustly, we are to follow the standard of Jesus Christ which is to accept it without any retaliation whatsoever and simply continuously entrust ourselves to the care of the one who will bring a righteous verdict on our lives and who will grant to us the eternal glory that our faithfulness wins.

That's the point. God will make it right, but as soon as you retaliate or I retaliate, we forfeit the blessing and lose the reward that God would grant to us. The eternally righteous God, my friends, is the equalizer.

He will deal with all the parties. He will deal with those who perpetrate the unjust treatment and he will deal with the believer who is faithful in suffering. You see, underlying Jesus' placid, peaceful, resolute acceptance of suffering was confidence in the perfect righteousness of God. The perfect righteousness of God.

May I tell you from my personal experience that that is my confidence? No matter what happens, no matter how much you're criticized, no matter how much you are maligned, misrepresented, misunderstood, unjustly treated, no matter how much of that goes on, there can be perfect calm and perfect peace in your heart because you commit yourself continually to the perfect judge who will not make any mistake when it comes to evaluating your life. Alan Stibbs wrote a few years ago, In this unique instance of our Lord's passion, when the sinless one suffered as if he were the worst of sinners and bore the extreme penalty of sin, there is a double sense in which he may have acknowledged God as the righteous judge. On the one hand, because voluntarily and in fulfillment of God's will he was taking the sinner's place and bearing sin, he did not protest at what he had to suffer. Rather, he consciously recognized that it was the penalty righteously due to sin, so he handed himself over to God to be punished. He recognized that in letting such shame, pain, and curse fall on him, the righteous God was judging righteously. But on the other hand, because he himself was sinless, he also believed that in due time, God as the righteous judge would vindicate him as righteous and exalt him from the grave and reward him for what he had willingly endured for others' sake." End quote.

That's the point. For us, when we commit ourselves to the righteous judge, we are doing that latter part. We are giving ourselves to the God who will vindicate us.

What a standard. I believe that in days to come, Christians are going to become more and more of an issue in our society in America. I believe it is likely that Christians who take strong stands for the gospel of Jesus Christ are going to become less and less popular.

I believe the price of being a Christian may go up, and I believe that means we may find the world more hostile to us all of the time, and we may receive more unjust treatment. How much we need then to go back to this passage and realize that we should never retaliate, no matter how unjust the treatment is, but like Jesus Christ, realize that suffering is the path to glory. It was His path. It's ours, and we're to follow His tracks and commit ourselves all in the process of that to the one who will not make an erroneous judgment about our lives, but who will deal with us in perfect equity.

Do you want a human illustration? Stephen, Acts 7, verse 60, who, while being crushed unjustly under the stones of those who murdered him, said, God, lay not this sin to their charge. He learned that from Jesus.

Forgive them. He followed the standard Jesus had set. On a May Day in 1555, a great and anointed man of God by the name of Hugh Latimer was sentenced to burn at the stake for his anti-papal, reformed convictions, which were composed in an open letter to all unfeigned lovers of God's truth. This is what he wrote. Die once we must.

How and where we know not. But here is not our home. Let us therefore accordingly consider things, having always before our eyes that heavenly Jerusalem and the way thereto in persecution. And let us consider all the dear friends of God, how they have gone after the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose footsteps let us also follow, even to the gallows, if God's will be so, not doubting, but as He rose again the third day, even so shall we do at the time appointed of God, that is, when the trump shall blow and the angels shall shout and the Son of Man shall appear. And so, wrote Latimer, let us go to persecution and suffering the way Jesus went.

Well, on that May Day in 1555, when he established this principle in the letter, he set the course for his own destiny. Later, Latimer and Ridley, his friend, two great English saints, were fed to the flames. But not until Latimer, who everyone said was astonishingly composed, said to his colleague burning alongside these words, Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out. The man from Nazareth was the standard for Latimer, and he is for us.

It's highly unlikely that we'll burn at the stake. But in all our unjust suffering, we are to follow the example of Christ, the suffering Jesus who suffered as our standard. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. Today he continued his current study on grace to you, titled Through Suffering to Triumph. Now, before the lesson, John read a letter from a man named Keith who told us that during a time of intense suffering, grace to you's teaching sustained and encouraged and enabled him to help others. Friend, we can strengthen believers like Keith during trials because listeners like you stand with us. To help equip God's people with the stabilizing truth of scripture, contact us today.

You can mail your tax-deductible donation to Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. Or you can express your support online at gty.org, or when you call us at 855-GRACE. Thank you again for your help in taking God's word to people who need it most. Again, to connect God's people with Bible teaching that transforms lives, call us at 855-GRACE or go to gty.org. Also, when you have a free moment, let me encourage you to get in touch, especially if John's verse-by-verse teaching is benefiting you or if you or someone you know has turned to Christ in faith because of the biblical truth proclaimed on Grace to You. We'd love to hear about that. And make sure you mention this station's call letters when you email us at letters at gty.org or send a letter to Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson, reminding you to watch Grace to You television this Sunday and join us again tomorrow when John continues his series Through Suffering to Triumph with a practical lesson that can help you navigate life's toughest times. Be here Thursday for another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on Grace to You.