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Darkness Precedes the Dawn
305
I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
They gave Me also gall for My food,
And for My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.
Psalm 69:20, 21
He prophesied: “They pierced My hands and My feet; I can
count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My
garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”
Psalm
22:16-18
.
These portrayals of the bitter suffering and cruel death of the
Promised One, sad though they were, were rich in promise; for “it
pleased the Lord to bruise Him” and put Him to grief, so that He
could become “an offering for sin.”
Isaiah 53:10
.
Love for sinners led Christ to pay the price of redemption. No
one else could ransom men and women from the power of the enemy.
His life bore no taint of self-assertion. The world honors position,
wealth, and talent, but the Son of God would present none of these.
The Messiah was not to use any of the means that people employ to
win allegiance. The Bible foretold his renunciation of self:
He shall not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench.
Isaiah 42:2, 3
The Important Work: Deliverance From Sin
The Savior was to conduct Himself on earth entirely differently
from the teachers of the day. His life would reveal no noisy arguing,
no act to gain applause. The Messiah was to be hid in God, and
God would be revealed in the character of His Son. Without divine
help, men and women would sink lower and lower. He who made
the world must give them life and power.
The Son of God was to “exalt the law, and make it honorable.”
Verse 21
. He was to free God’s commandments from the burden-