Last week, we saw that the prophet Isaiah said that the Suffering Servant would be assigned a grave with the wicked and the rich in his death, even though he had done no violence and was not deceitful. This prophecy can be seen to be fulfilled by Jesus Christ. However, what happened is completely contrary to our concept of normal justice where the innocent is allowed to go free. Even if we put an innocent person in prison, our flawed justice system gives them the right to appeal the conviction and gain their freedom. Yet if we look at the gospel accounts, we see that Jesus Christ was put to death as a common criminal and was put in a rich man’s grave. There was no jury, no appeal. The death sentence was based on a single person, the Governor, Pontius Pilate who actually knew that Jesus was innocent.
Today, we move to the next part of the verse which deals with the fact that the Suffering Servant had done no violence nor was he deceitful to anyone. I cannot give you scripture references where Jesus didn’t do something as it won’t be in the scriptures!! I can say Jesus healed and did good and show you examples of His healing but I cannot show you examples of him not doing violence and not being deceitful.
But you may ask “what about the money-changers?” Was he not violent there? If you can recall this was the time when Jesus went into “the temple courts and he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So, he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves, he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’” We need to look at the New Testament Greek word for violence which is “chamac”. This Greek word also means wrong, cruelty, and injustice. And so, looking at this example we must ask ourselves the following questions? Was Jesus wrong? Was Jesus cruel? Was Jesus carrying out a miscarriage of justice? In all these questions we can say quite categorically no! No, Jesus was not wrong, Jesus was not cruel, and no Jesus did not carry out any injustice. Also, the scriptures do not show that he whipped anyone but used the whip to drive the sheep and cattle out of the temple. It was certainly a physical act but not a “chamac” violent act.
We can look at the time of Jesus’ arrest and see how he reacted when he saw Peter cut off the High Priest's servant’s ear. Jesus commanded Peter, ‘Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?’ No, Jesus was not a violent man.
With regard to being deceitful, I cannot recall any example of Jesus being deceitful, or false, using guile, being crafty, or being treacherous. These characteristics were never displayed while Jesus was alive. No, Jesus was never deceitful. He stated that he was the very opposite, Jesus said that he was “The Truth”.
Lastly, if we turn to the first letter from Peter where he actually quotes this half of the verse. Peter quotes these words in the verse before to tell us what to do. Peter said, “To this, you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” Did you catch this? We are to follow Jesus’ example by not sinning and not being deceitful. WOW, we are not to sin! But every day we sin! Every day we do something or say something wrong! But the Bible is telling us, God is telling us NOT to sin. Is this achievable? I must say it is NOT achievable if we stay as we are. Only if we change will it be achievable. This is a massive claim by the bible but throughout history, we are all encouraged to become more Christ-like, to become more like Jesus Christ who never sinned. When Jesus left the wilderness to begin His ministry, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, so we too must be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must be controlled by the Holy Spirit, and allow God to speak to us before we act or speak. When we allow God or allow our conscience to speak to us, then we will do the right thing. Of course, we can only become completely Christ-like, when we die and put on our immortal bodies, but Peter is exhorting us now to show the world that we are following Jesus.
Lastly, at this juncture, we all need to review how we treat our church buildings. Yes, they are not sacred but do we have the mind of Jesus, who was full of zeal and said “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.” Can we look at our own lives for 2 minutes? How often do we go into another room and pray to our Heavenly Father? How often do we pray that God will provide us with the gift of self-control? I’m sure we are all like the Apostle Paul who cried out “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” How often do we say something, it may be a half-truth (but definitely not a full lie!), so that our friends, family, or neighbours don’t see us how they ought? Or, if we do something wrong, then we backtrack and cover up our actions. Let us get back to having a quality quiet time, immersing ourselves in the presence of God, where we prostrate ourselves on the floor, opening ourselves up to the Creator God who already knows our every thought and deed. The Almighty God, who will wrap His arms of love around us and encourage us to move in His power.
