Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, He hath put Him to grief. When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. Isaiah 53:10
The Old Testament principle of an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth certainly bears little resemblance to the lax punishments for those who commit today’s crimes. much of the modern attitude toward punishment – or should I say against punishment – is a reflection of parents’ refusal or unwillingness to chastise their children for any misbehaviour. Fathers and mothers shirk their responsibility to correct their children because they do not want to offend the child. More importantly, they do not want to take the unpleasant task upon themselves. Punishing an unruly child is a distasteful task, and even the best of parents take no pleasure in it. Neither does God take any pleasure in punishing sinners. But our text tells us that He did take pleasure in the bruising of His own Son.
Some of those who gathered around the cross that day found pleasure in the event. The Jewish leaders were gleeful that they had gotten rid – or so they supposed – of Someone who had challenged and embarrassed them. The Roman soldiers were indifferent; it was but a day’s work for a day’s pay and a few pieces of clothes they could split among themselves. To Mary and some of the other followers who were there, the sight of the Lord Jesus being punished for a crime He never committed was the most horrible of tragedies.
Another huge group of observers is the saints of the centuries since who review the events of that great day and ponder the sufferings of the Saviour. We take pleasure, not in His suffering, but in His receiving that suffering for us. And yet, we realize today that our Heavenly Father did not take pleasure in man’s bruising of His Son, but in His own bruising of Him. Man’s bruising of the Lord Jesus was false justice administered in hate and envy. God’s bruising of the Lord Jesus was perfect justice, administered in love and compassion for us.
God’s pleasure in the bruising of the Son is directly related to His reaching out to undeserving sinners and pulling us into the circle of His favour today. God’s pleasure today is in the appreciation that we feel and express for His Son. -Jim MacIntosh