Jesus is the humble servant Lord who came for our benefit. The Prophet Isaiah writes that there was nothing externally appealing about him, unlike the descriptions of kings and how they were handsome or appeared royal. Jesus appeared as a servant. And God sent His only Son in just that fashion. One of the more frustrating things is hearing mischaracterizations of Christianity because of certain offenses made by some who claim to be Christian. Being a Christian is about being a suffering servant. It is about being "Christ-Like" in that manner. Jesus came and He suffered, because He had true compassion (Latin: "to suffer with").
And that is where the church needs to be at. It needs to be at a place where it is serving God's people. And how does the church do that? By proclaiming the Good News of Christ crucified (and risen!) and faithfully administering the sacraments. In Baptism we are put right up on that old rugged cross with the suffering servant and we die with Him. Let's call it "mercy killing." But at the very same moment we are crucified we are raised with Him and marked with the cross of Christ. The gates of hell shall not prevail against His church!
Then, as we saw last night, in the Lord's Supper we receive Christ's very body and His very blood in remembrance of Him. That remembrance is a lasting remembrance of action that affects us to this day. We receive nourishment for the soul and our faith at the altar rail.
The suffering servants of the church also reach out into the community and whether it be sharing the Good News with those who know not of it or simply feeding the hungry, the church is doing her job as the bride of Christ. This is what the suffering servant Jesus died for. But unfortunately sin plays a big part of the lives of people, even in the church. People allow sin to engulf their lives and they curse or disregard the things of God to please their own dying minds. In repentance we are brought back into the fold by dying daily to self and remembering our baptism. It is our identity, it is our very being.
And that identity should be taken seriously because of the cost of purchasing it on the cross of calvary in Jerusalem (Hebrew "city of peace"). In that city of peace, God brought peace. And it is a peace that passes all understanding because surely today we look at Jerusalem and do not see peace. But God bought us at a price for a greater peace or wholeness as the "salem" or "shalom" part of Jerusalem can also mean. You see, what began in Genesis 22 with the near sacrifice of Isaac on the mountain the LORD told Abraham to name "The LORD will see it through" culminated in the same city where that event took place with the LORD seeing it through. Jesus made things new and brought a wholeness of peace that only the church can bring.
That is the church. And that is Jesus, our suffering servant. The paschal Lamb for the Lord led to slaughter without muttering a word in His defense. This was his "destiny" a date with God's wrath for the redemption of mankind. Now THAT is servanthood, and THAT is peace of mind.
"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."
~St. Paul, 55 A.D.
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