Following the example of Jesus himself, the first Christians and the writers of the New Testament were quick to see in the book of the prophet Isaiah a description of the innocent sufferings of Christ. They read there:
He was counted among evildoers...For our welfare he was chastised...Mistreated, he bore it humbly, without complaint, silent as a sheep led to the slaughter, silent as a ewe before the shearers...They did away with him unjustly,...though he was guilty of no violence and had not spoken one false word (Isaiah 53:4-9).
In all ages, these words concerning the One called the "Servant of the Lord" have been beloved by Christians for the portrait they paint of our crucified Master. Yet when we find these same words echoing in the New Testament, it is not only because they are beautiful words to describe Christ and his sacrifice on behalf of sinful humanity; it is because they constitute a call to the Christian to do likewise. There we read:
If you have done right and suffer for it your endurance is worthwhile in the sight of God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered on your behalf, and left you an example; it is for you to follow in his steps, he committed no sin, he was guilty of no falsehood; when he suffered he uttered no threats... (1 Peter 2:20-22).
The innocent, silently uncomplaining suffering of Christ is, in this teaching of Peter, not only an act of Christ on our behalf from which we benefit; it is also an example of Christ for our instruction which we are to follow. This portrait of Christ is to be painted again on the ordinary canvas of our lives. Had not Jesus himself said that those who would follow him must deny themselves and take up their cross? What then does it mean for the Christian to bear a cross?
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