“I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” (Isaiah 50:6,7)
Men love justice when it is being doled out to others. When it’s their turn to face the music, they’ll deny with a straight face the wrongdoing their conscience accuses them of. They fear the just consequences of their crimes. They believe it is more than they can bear. While lying through their teeth, they will call their accusers liars. Their fierce desire to save their own life prohibits them from letting anyone else have the satisfaction of justice.
Jesus did nothing wrong, but did not shirk from bearing the consequences for our sins. He set His face like flint to go to Jerusalem where He would be unjustly condemned and executed for crimes against God and man He was innocent of. He did not hide His face from shame and spitting. He wore a crown of thorns and bore undeserved stripes. Did He receive justice before man’s tribunal? No. But He displayed the righteousness of God for all humanity to see.
In His willingness to suffer on the cross, Jesus teaches us to be unafraid of what men can do to us. If He was willing to die unjustly, shouldn’t we be willing to accept the just consequences for our actions. So it was that the thief on the cross humbly accepted the punishment for his iniquity: “… For we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.” (Luke 23:41)
In the atonement of Christ there is healing from the fear of punishment. Come out of hiding. Take refuge in the wounds of the Savior. Faith in His blood may not save you from the wrath of man; but it will save you from the wrath of God.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53:4,5)