"The Heart of the Giver"

10 April 09
Good Friday

The Heart of the Giver
Isaiah 52:13-53:12

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
13.
See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him-- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness--
15.
so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.


1.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2.
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4.
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10.
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11.
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


When we give gifts to our loved ones, our giving is often tainted by mixed motives. On the other hand, we give to bring delight to the person receiving our gifts. On the other, we hope to impress the receiver as well as onlookers. We secretly draw attention to ourselves, hoping that our generosity, our creativity, or our stature will be noticed by all. Our desire to bless another is often tainted by a self-seeking motive to be recognized, admired, and applauded.

When God gave us His Son Jesus Christ, He gave out of the purity of His love. His giving was not tainted by mixed motives. The gift was given exclusively for our sakes. He gave us Christ the Saviour simply because we needed a saviour. In fact, the gift was so nondescript that the prophet Isaiah exclaimed concerning him, “Who has believed our message, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The power and majesty of God was not apparent in His servant Jesus Christ. Isaiah went on to describe the gift thus:
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows,
And familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces,
He was despised and we esteemed him not.

God gave us His most precious gift, not to elicit our admiration, but to save us from our sin. He had no other motivation for giving us His only Son, except that He loved us absolutely.

God’s gift to us seemed unattractive and marred, not because God did not give us His best, but because He placed His best gift at our complete disposal. Jesus was disfigured, afflicted, pierced, and oppressed because He carried upon Himself our disfigurement, our iniquities, our punishment, and our wounds. In Christ, God was saying to us, “Here’s my most precious Son. He will take in all the abuse, all the wounds, all the rejection and contempt, and all the punishment that is needed to make you whole.” In Christ, God held nothing back from us.

Have you doubted that God would give you good gifts, gifts that you really need? Have you felt that you are not worthy to be blessed by God, and that you need to do better to earn God’s blessings? If so, you do not know how God feels towards you. If God would allow His most precious Son to suffer abuse and rejection and death just because this suffering was the only way He could lift us out of the mess that we are in, how can we imagine that God who withhold any good thing from us? The problem is not that God doesn’t love us enough; the problem is that we have not taken the effort to observe and understand God’s love for us.

(Rev Dr Chiu Ming Li,
Senior Chaplain,
Fellowship Singapore)

Commitment:
We are so blind to the fact that God loves us unreservedly, deeply. Lord I want to be still and allow You to pour Your love into my heart.

Prayer:
You gave me your best without withholding anything from me. Draw close to yourself today, and let me understand with my mind and my heart your love for me. Amen.