(Isaiah 53: 1 – 12)
THE PRICE JESUS PAID: The scriptures provide
information on some of the things our Lord went through in order to pay
the price for our greatness. Isaiah 53:1-12 details the suffering of our
God. In vs. 3-7, we read: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces
from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne
our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to
the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth
not his mouth”. There are other passages in the New Testament that give
vivid description of the torture and humiliation that Jesus experienced
for us so that through His suffering, we can become great.
THE PRICE WE MUST PAY: Apart from the price that Jesus
paid, we also must be ready to pay the price. Again the Bible contains
examples of people who paid the price of greatness. In Gen. 39, we read
about Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob who was sold into slavery by his
brothers. Joseph knew he was destined for greatness because of the dream
God gave him. When he shared his dream with his brothers, they
determined to truncate his dream and that’s why he was sold into
slavery. Joseph was bought in Egypt by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh.
Because Joseph was willing to pay the price of greatness, God was with
him wherever he went. Even as a slave in Potiphar’s house, The Lord was
with Joseph and He made everything Joseph did to prosper. Potiphar’s
wife made several attempts to seduce Joseph into committing sexual sin
but he refused. He even went to jail because he was willing to take a
stand for God. While Joseph was in the jail, God still made everything
he did to prosper because despite all of his problems, he was still
focused on his God. In the end, Joseph became very great in Egypt,
becoming the ruler under Pharaoh. Joseph became great because he was
willing to pay the price. God turned the evil his brothers planned for
him into his good and he became great in spite of their evil plans. The
lesson for us here is that with the help of God, we can overcome any
challenge on our way to greatness. The same God that was with Joseph is
still our God and He is ready to help us if we depend on Him.