See, Christ was wounded for our sake

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “See, Christ was wounded for our sake” by the late Brian Foley.  It is the same sort of theme as yesterday’s, that Jesus’ sufferings were for our sake, and is also set to an old tune (this one, in fact, from the 15th century – the height of medieval Catholicism). The words are a modern paraphrase of an even older text – verses from Isaiah chapter 53, often interpreted as a God-given prophecy of the future Christ’s sufferings.

I was particularly struck by the third verse, which contrasts our own sheep-like behaviour (in the version familiar from Evensong, “we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep”) with Christ who went “as a sheep to the slaughter”, innocent and uncomplaining (whether sheep are actually so passive as supposed when about to be killed, is another question – I doubt it).

I also like the expression of the second verse: “Look on his face, come close to him; see, you will find no beauty there”.  It suggests the question “what do we mean by ‘beauty’?”  If we take it only to mean something aesthetically pleasing, sensually attractive, or conducive to peaceful thoughts, then clearly the sight of a man being tortured to death is nothing of the kind.  But it reminds me of another hymn that we’’ come to later in the year: “Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair”, which tells of the hope, the beauty even, that can be found where Christ’s love is actively shown by his followers in the lives of others.  And there is a kind of beauty in the death of Jesus, a moral beauty, summed up in his own words in John 15:12: “Greater love has no-one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”.  We may not see a smiling face or a peaceful scene when we ponder the cross, but we watch the beautiful love of God in action.

The Bible in a Year – 9 June

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

9 June. Ezekiel chapters 32-34

Chapter 32 continues the woe against Egypt, but with a new dimension in verses 20-32. Here Ezekiel pictures Sheol (or “the Pit”), the land of the dead – not “hell” as we imagine it but the shady underworld where the spirits of the dead live on.  And the picture is of all the warriors from many nations across many centuries, all cast down unceremoniously into the “uttermost parts of the pit”.  This is apparently as a punishment, all for the same offence: “they spread terror in the land of the living”.  Today’s Islamist terrorists who think they are going to some kind of paradise as glorious martyrs would be better reading this, for their fate will be the same – no glory, only the “shame” of “lying with the uncircumcised” (and by implication not in God’s favour).

 

Chapter 33 contains several important principles. Firstly there is the reminder to Ezekiel (whose mouth is about to be opened to speak his prophecies aloud for the first time) that as a prophet he is like a watchman who is obliged to sound a warning when he sees danger, and will be held to account when he fails to do so.   Then, there is the principle (not obvious in the woes and condemnations that have preceded it) that what matters to God is what people actually do now, and not what they say they will do, or their previous behaviour.  To those who think of God as only punishing sin, it is important to understand this: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live” (33).  At the end of the chapter Ezekiel is told that the people who love to come and hear him speak will in fact mostly not obey the message that he brings – something that all preachers and those who call for change in society are all too aware of.

 

Chapter 34 is one of the key passages of the Old Testament, picturing God as the good shepherd who would look after his sheep.  It is a wonderful picture of a god who cares for each person’s individual needs and wants them to leave in peace. In doing so, though, it is his duty as a shepherd to stop the stronger sheep from bullying and taking advantage of the weaker ones, and to distinguish between sheep and goats.  He also has to step in personally when those whom he has appointed as acting shepherds (the priests and Levites) have failed in their duty and acted selfishly with no care for the sheep. Jesus must have had this passage in mind when he told the parable of the sheep and goats Matthew 25) and also when he described himself as the “good shepherd” (John 10:11) – by implication saying he is taking over control from the religious leaders who had failed their people. No wonder they start to seek to get rid of him after that.