God’s Good Plan to Crush

[. . .] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:11)

Who has believed our message?

To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm?

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.

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.

 

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;

it was our sorrows that weighed him down.

And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,

a punishment for his own sins!

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.

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.

 

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.

Unjustly condemned,

he was led away.

No one cared that he died without descendants,

that his life was cut short in midstream.

But he was struck down

for the rebellion of my people.

He had done no wrong

and had never deceived anyone.

But he was buried like a criminal;

he was put in a rich man’s grave.

 

But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him

and cause him grief.

Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,

he will have many descendants.

He will enjoy a long life,

and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands.

When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,

he will be satisfied.

And because of his experience,

my righteous servant will make it possible

for many to be counted righteous,

for he will bear all their sins.

I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,

because he exposed himself to death.

He was counted among the rebels.

He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. (Isaiah 53 NLT)

Despised. Rejected. Pierced. Crushed. Beaten. Weighed down. Whipped. Oppressed. Silent. Unjustly punished. Cut short. Struck down.

These are dark words. These are intense words. These are words of death and injustice. When we hear these words, they bring up emotions in us. Maybe anger, regret, sadness, frustration, deep introspection, or even confusion. Because, after all these words about what will happen to the suffering servant, the plan is declared as good. Not just once, but twice! God declares that all these awful things that are going to befall his servant are part of a good plan. What a paradox!

I’m not sure how your church celebrates Good Friday, but we have our service at night. It’s dark, the music is somber, and the mood is different than any other event that happens in our sanctuary. Even our funerals have a lighter feel than our Good Friday service does. All that is intentional. We set this day aside to remember the death on the cross. The most awful type of death a criminal could die in the ancient world was assigned to the innocent Messiah who had done absolutely nothing wrong.

It ought to give us pause that we call such a dark day “good.” How do such bad things happen to such a good person like Jesus? Because it is part of God’s good plan. God’s good plan is not always good in our thinking. Every time I read through this passage, my heart cries out from within me saying “NO!” How could God do this to his only Son?

I think Good Friday is a time for us to be real and honest with what happened to Jesus. I could write for hours on what Good Friday means and how it should impact us and how we are supposed to live our lives in light of the sacrifice. But I wonder if, instead, you would take time to read Isaiah 53 a few times and really sit with the misery and agony this passage brings. Sometimes we are far too quick to get to the resurrection. So, this Good Friday, set aside some time to reflect on this dark day, the day that seemed like darkness won and the day our Savior was crushed as part of God’s good plan.
 
 
Nathan Solak is the lead pastor at Ridgewood Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin.