ISAIAH 53
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth. – Isaiah 53:7-9
ISAIAH 53 TOTAL SELF-CONTROL
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Like a lamb led to be killed and a sheep before its shearers
Jesus didn’t react or opened his mouth before his abusers
Though he was oppressed, laughed at, tortured and mocked
He didn’t wince or complain but obeyed the will of God
Christ bore all the pain and suffering and had total self-control
Let us emulate his example of silence and learn to be humble.
This verse reminded me of someone I knew in my twenties. I couldn’t understand then why he never fought for his rights and allowed people to minimize him. He never reacted to all those who abused him. At that young age, I was taught to always fight for my rights and speak up when I am being mistreated. The trauma of not being cared for also made me fight back and never allowed anyone to oppress or misjudge me. I wasn’t a Christian until in my late fifties, so I didn’t know the concept of humility and total self-control. The first time I read and studied these verses from Isaiah, I began to hear the Holy Spirit’s conviction on my tendencies to defend and protect myself.
As I studied Psalm 3:3 which says “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head,” and this verse in Isaiah, I began to see how proud and arrogant I was. I didn’t know God that much at all. Because of trauma and not having someone defend me, I learned to take matters into my hands.
When I became a Christian, the Spirit began humbling me and corrected my tendency to automatically defend myself. I saw how I was following the patterns of the world system rather than the kingdom of God. The world won’t understand how Jesus left everything to his Father’s hands. It doesn’t understand humility and surrender. It is normal to defend oneself in this world system and be dysregulated.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think humility and silence are crucial to have total self-control as Jesus sampled?
