Holy Monday

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

Isaiah 50:5-10; St. Matthew 26:1-27:66

Holy Monday

April 11, 2022

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

There is generally a lot of talk and conversation as we get closer and closer to Good Friday among certain Christians, and it is unfortunately preached and taught by some pastors that when God the Father offered up His only-begotten Son as the atoning sacrifice for the world, this is labeled as “child abuse.” This could not be further from the truth.

When someone is abused, especially in the unfortunate case of child abuse, there is an outside agent acting upon the child. Generally, it’s a parent or family member or sibling. The child isn’t the one abusing himself. Just so, God the Father doesn’t abuse the Son. Jesus takes up His sorrows willingly. He was never forced to die on a cross. He was never forced into submission, forced into being flogged and whipped and spat upon. All this, Jesus does willingly and out of love for men. We see this quite obviously in Isaiah’s prophecy this evening. Notice that Jesus, not His Father, is the one performing the actions, which, of course are prophecies and predictions of what He goes through during His Passion. Jesus is not weak. He submits. He submits out of love:

“The Lord has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious;

I turned not backward.

I gave my back to those who strike,

            and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

            from disgrace and spitting.

But the Lord God helps me;

            therefore, I have not been disgraced;

therefore, I have set my face like a flint,

            and I know that I shall not be put to shame.”

Isaiah’s prophecies provide perhaps the greatest detail when it comes to Christ’s suffering. “I gave my back to those who strike.” This was fulfilled in Pilate having Jesus flogged for crimes He didn’t commit. And yet Jesus suffered these things willingly.

“I gave my cheeks to those who pull out the beard.” To have one’s beard yanked from the skin of the cheek was a shameful act. To have the beard pulled out or cut off showed one to be less of a man, an outcast. And yet Jesus suffered these things willingly.

“I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” All those who saw Him at the trial, at Pilate’s headquarters, and on Golgotha mocked Him. The soldiers spat on Him, mocking Him as they bowed down to Him, clothing Him in scarlet, placed a crown of thorns upon His head, and placed a reed in His hand, thus mocking Him as a king. And yet Jesus suffered these things willingly.

“I have set my face like a flint.” Flint is a rock that strikes carbon steel to cause a reaction, which in turn, sparks a fire. And so it is that our Lord’s holy and sinless face is struck blow after blow so that He becomes unrecognizable to those who knew Him. He suffers pain and agony, even before He is forced to carry His cross. Men hid their faces from Him because they could not look upon His. For He became unrecognizable because of all He suffered. For He was stricken, smitten, and afflicted. And yet Jesus suffered these things willingly.

As Isaiah puts it, Jesus is the suffering servant, who out of love for guilty men laid down His life even though He was innocent. Thus, we hear His cry, “Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?” Jesus knows He is innocent. Who dares to declare Him guilty? Men cannot. For we know He is innocent. But hanging on the cross, it is the Father who pronounces Him guilty—guilty of our sins; guilty because of what we have done; guilty because we have slandered and mocked and spat upon our own brothers. But it is the Father who declares Jesus to be guilty, though He is innocent.

This is in whom we put our trust and our faith: a Son who loves us to His end so that we might be pronounced innocent. He walked the lonely road in darkness so that we might walk in the light.

Thus, Isaiah, “Let him who walks in darkness and has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.”

In +Jesus’ name.