But Jesus Never Said a Word…

When given the verse “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37), one might ask how? I did not know the extent of this until I was ready to abandon the harvest, contributing to the lack of laborers. Through my own faults I saw the problem that many have and of course the answer was found in Jesus. 

Let me explain. This summer I was in a program where many have had negative views of Christianity and I truly felt alone. I contemplated quitting the program and returning home where I would find a summer job and just move on. Through this the Lord reminded me how we are never alone in our struggles (1 Peter 5:9) and this was only the beginning. By the end, I was able to have engaging conversations with people about the faith and share the Gospel in a way they never received before. My holy boldness also drew other believers to start living out the faith the way the Lord intended them to. But more importantly, the Lord showed me what it meant to live for Him. He led me to Isaiah 53, we’ll start at verse 2 (emphasis added),

2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,

    like a root in dry ground.

There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance,

    nothing to attract us to Him.

3 He was despised and rejected—

    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. 

We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way.

    He was despised, and we did not care.

4 Yet it was our weaknesses He carried;

    it was our sorrows[a] that weighed Him down.

And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God,

    a punishment for His own sins!

5 But He was pierced for our rebellion,

    crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.

    He was whipped so we could be healed.

6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Yet the Lord laid on Him

    the sins of us all.

7 He was oppressed and treated harshly,

    yet He never said a word.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.

    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,

    He did not open his mouth.

The passage above was a prophecy Isaiah gave to Judah about the Messiah who would bring salvation to the entire world. These verses highlight the purpose of Jesus along with what He would go through to achieve it. We know from the story of Jesus, He was not received well to say it plainly (John 1:10-11). Jesus carried our sins, our sorrows, our grievances, our shame and so much more on that cross without any hesitation because He knew it was the Lord’s plan. Isaiah reminds us that each and every one of us have fallen short and strayed away from the Lord, but the torment Jesus endured was for us to be redeemed from that.

Let’s look at what Jesus prayed to Father in the Garden of Gethsemane from Matthew 26. 

(v. 39) “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine.”

(v. 42) “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

The contrast in Jesus’ two prayers shows His dedication to the Lord's plan DESPITE His current suffering! The first time, He was pleading with God to remove the suffering that He was enduring but then He realizes that He must go through (drink of the cup of suffering) so that the Father’s will will be done. But you see, He never just asked God to take away the suffering. He said YET. Meaning that yes He wanted the Lord to alleviate His pain BUT only if that can be done simultaneously with the Lord’s plan. See this is what Jesus meant in Matthew 19:24 when He tells us 

‘If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]...’

He meant that the cross, all the sin of the world, that He carried represented what He had to endure to accomplish the Father’s will and that's what our cross should be. See the moment we try to plan our lives or forget that we are not our own, we abandon the mindest Jesus modeled; “Not my will but Yours [God’s]”.

So what is so important about Jesus never saying a word? I caution you brothers and sisters do not get caught up in your own plans for life! Although the Lord’s plan may not be what you imagined or what you hoped, it's on time meaning exactly what you need. We can stir up so many plans, but if they are not the Lord’s will, then they will fail. And we know all this from the story of Jesus. Throughout the gospels, Jesus was known for saying that He came to do the will of the Father which required Jesus to go through things that He would not have preferred, but yet He never questioned, He never complained, He never backed out, He never tried to add His own spin on it, He just did what He was supposed to do. And imagine if He didn’t, then we would not be saved and that's the attitude that we should have because remember, the Lord calls us so we can bring others into the fold. So by not walking out in your calling, you can be leaving so many souls by the wayside. 

Go in peace.

Prayer: 

Dear God, 

I thank you Lord for bringing to mind the humility and dedication that You had for saving us. I thank you Lord that you have called me to do the work of your ministry and share the good news to those who You lead me to. I ask that you give me the knowledge and understanding of Your will for my life. Give me the obedience to be like the Apostle Paul, ready to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen” (2 Timothy 2:10). 

In Jesus Name, 

Amen