Despised and Afflicted

From Good Friday's Old Testament reading --
He is despised and rejected by men,
a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.


Try reading that once with an emphasis on the pronouns. HE is despised, and WE hid OUR faces from HIM. Surely HE has borne OUR griefs and carried OUR sorrows. Yet WE esteemed HIM stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

That's pretty warped. He took our punishment, and we hated Him for it. We deserved an eternal thumping, didn't get it, and looked down the one who endured it for us.


But now look at Psalm 22, which we hear late on Maundy Thursday, during the stripping of the altar:
He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
nor has He hidden His face from Him;
but when He cried to Him, He heard.


Jesus was afflicted so that we might be spared. We despised Him for it, but the Father did not. "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him." It pleased the Father that His Son rescued us. Jesus did not despise what He had to do. The Father did not hide His face from the ugliness of what our sin did to Jesus, but heard His prayer and raised Him up. The Father did not hide His face from the ugliness of what our sin did to Jesus, but mankind did.

Still, even with that kind of response from sinners, still He died that we might be His own.