When I Survey
H. Hoeksema
Book 6, Chapter 7
Suffering as a Dumb Lamb

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7)

The suffering and death of the Servant of the Lord were expiatory.

Expiation is an act of satisfaction. And satisfaction can be made only by one who voluntarily pays the penalty for sin.

This truth is emphasized in all of Holy Writ, and it is also clearly expressed in our Reformed Confessions.

Thus, for instance, in the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day XV, the question is asked: "What dost thou understand by the words, 'He suffered'?" And the answer is, "That he, all the time he lived on earth, but especially at the end of his life, sustained in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind: that so by his passion, as the only propitiatory sacrifice, he might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation, and obtain for us the favor of God, righteousness, and eternal life." And in Lord's Day XVI, Question and Answer 40, we read: "Why was it necessary for Christ to humble himself even unto death? Because with respect to the justice and truth of God, satisfaction for our sins could be made no otherwise, than by the death of the Son of God."

The same truth is emphasized in the Netherland Confession, Article 20: "We believe that God, who is perfectly merciful and just, sent his Son to assume that nature, in which the disobedience was committed, to make satisfaction in the same, and to bear the punishment of sin by his most bitter passion and death. God therefore manifested his justice against his Son, when he laid our iniquities upon him; and poured forth his mercy and goodness on us, who were guilty and worthy of damnation, out of mere and perfect love, giving his Son unto death for us, and raising him for our justification, that through him we might obtain immortality and life eternal." And also in the next article of the same Confession it is said that Christ "presented himself in our behalf before the Father, to appease his wrath by his full satisfaction, by offering himself on the tree of the cross, and pouring out his precious blood to purge away our sins."

The Canons of Dordrecht, under the Second Head of Doctrine, confess the same truth. There too, in Article 1, it is emphasized that God is just, and that therefore we can never escape the punishment for sin unless satisfaction is made to the justice of God. And then in Article 2 and 3 we read: "Since therefore we are unable to make that satisfaction in our own persons, or to deliver ourselves from the wrath of God, he hath been pleased in his infinite mercy to give his only begotten Son, for our surety, who was made sin, and became a curse for us and in our stead, that he might make satisfaction to divine justice on our behalf. The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin."

It is evident, therefore, that atonement for sin can be made only in the way of satisfaction, and that this satisfaction consists in the offering up of a voluntary, expiatory, and substitutionary sacrifice.

This idea was already expressed in the passage we discussed in the preceding chapter, where it was said that the Suffering Servant of the Lord was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, and that the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. And this is repeated from a slightly different point of view in Isaiah 53:6,7: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

Notice that in these words it is emphasized that we sinned, and that God laid on His Servant our iniquities. And notice especially that the text emphasizes that when the Servant of the Lord bore these iniquities, He did so voluntarily. For in His suffering He was utterly silent. He offered no protest, but willingly performed the good pleasure of God in suffering for sin.

This thought we wish to develop a little in the present chapter.

The text once more refers to the suffering of the Servant in the words, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted," but especially emphasizes that He endured His suffering without protest: "he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

This does not imply that the Suffering Servant of the Lord did not speak at all when He suffered. The Scriptures teach us differently. A few days before His final suffering on the accursed tree, He said: "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name." In the upper room, and perhaps on the way to Gethsemane, the Lord spoke many words for the instruction and comfort of His disciples. He exposed the traitor, and told the rest of the twelve that they should all be offended in Him that very night. In the garden He declared that His soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. He asked His disciples to watch with Him, and casting Himself down in the dust of the garden He prayed: "O, my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." More than once He emphasized His sinlessness over against those who were His enemies and who condemned Him to the cross, reckoning Him with the transgressors. He said unto them: "Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." When the high priest asked Him about His doctrine, He said: "I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said." When the high priest challenged Him to confess that He is the Christ, the Son of God, He did not deny it, but said: "Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Before Pilate He witnessed of His kingship when He said: "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." And when the governor asked Him whether He really was a king, the Lord answered: "Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." And even at the cross the Lord opened His mouth seven times, and uttered His voice even to the very end of His life on earth.

This, therefore, is not the meaning of the text when it tells us that He was dumb in His suffering.

But the text emphasizes that He was dumb and that He opened not His mouth with respect to and over against His suffering. O, indeed, He suffered very deeply in body and soul. He suffered from men and from God. Men reckoned Him with the transgressors, and treated Him as such. In every possible way they caused Him to suffer, and poured out the vials of their wicked wrath upon Him by buffeting Him, and spitting in His face. They blindfolded Him and beat Him; they mocked Him and heaped their scorn upon Him; they scourged His back and pressed a crown of thorns upon His head; they nailed Him to the accursed tree. And even when He was suspended on the cross, their fury knew no bounds, and mockingly they challenged Him to come down from the cross if God would have Him. But this was by no means the depth of His suffering. He suffered the wrath of God against sin that was upon Him in all its awful weight, so that He finally cried out: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Truly, He was oppressed and He was afflicted. But He never opened His mouth in protest. He did not complain to God about the way He must travel. Even in Gethsemane, when His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death, so that He asked the Father whether there would be no other way than the way of the cross. He nevertheless ended His prayer by saying, "Not my will, but thy will be done." Willingly He lets Himself be captured in the garden, and meekly He goes along with His enemies to the place of the high priest, and to the Roman governor. He does not defend Himself over against any false accusation, whether before the Sanhedrin or before the Roman governor. When they maltreat Him and scourge His back and press the crown of thorns upon Him and hang the purple mock-robe around His bloody shoulders, He does not protest or cry out in indignation. And even when they nail Him to the accursed tree, He prays for the transgressors. Literally it is true that He suffered as a dumb lamb, and as a sheep that is dumb before its shearers, He opened not His mouth.

How can we explain this unbelievable spectacle?

Certainly not by any consciousness of guilt. For He had no sin, and there was no guile found in His mouth. He was the Person of the Son of God, come in the likeness of sinful flesh, but Himself without sin. He was holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Nor can we explain the fact that He was utterly dumb in His suffering, and that He opened not His mouth in protest, from any lack of power. He could have consumed His enemies at any moment. He manifested His power when in Gethsemane He prostrated His enemies before Him in the dust of the garden. And He told His disciples in the hearing of those who came to capture Him that He could call upon twelve legions of angels to prevent His being taken captive. There is only one answer to the question why He opened not His mouth in protest. And that answer is found in the text: "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

We all went astray like sheep. We turned every one to his own way. Thus the text has it. And note that this is a confession which the prophet places upon the lips of all the people of God. This is evidently the reference of the personal pronoun "we." This does not refer to all men, but to the people of God, those whom the Father had given to Christ. O, it is true: all men without distinction sinned against the Holy One. They all went astray from the path of righteousness and truth. Every man turns to his own way, that is, to his own particular way of sin and corruption. But in the first place, the text speaks in the first person. It is a confession. And all men will never confess their sin and transgression before the Lord. Only those whom the Lord has enlightened by His Word and Spirit and filled with sorrow after God, confess their sins before His face, and acknowledge that as far as they are concerned they are walking the way to eternal desolation. And in the second place, the same is true of the words, "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." This also is a glad confession on the part of the people of God. They know the Suffering Servant of the Lord. They know that He was wounded and bruised not for His own sin, but for their iniquities and transgressions. And they rejoice in their salvation. It is evident, therefore, that the text does not speak of all men, but only of the people of God. They erred. They went astray as sheep. And they confess it. They turned each in his own way of sin and corruption. And they know and acknowledge it. They are as sheep inclined to err by nature. For their going astray is not only a question of the act, but is something that is rooted in their very nature: they are dead in sin and misery. And they know it and confess it before the Lord.

But -- and this is the reason why the Servant of the Lord opened not His mouth in protest against His suffering -- "the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Such is the mystery of the cross.

This implies, in the first place, that all His life, but especially on the accursed tree, God caused all the sins of all His people to concentrate upon the head of His Servant, Whom He loved with an everlasting love. It means, in the second place, that God caused His Servant during His entire life, but especially on the cross, to experience His wrath as the expression of His justice against sin. No, He did not hate His Servant, even on the cross. He loved Him, for His Servant was obedient even unto death. Nevertheless, He heaped all His wrath upon Him even while He loved Him, by causing Him to descend into the depth of hell and desolation. In the third place, it implies that God thus laid the iniquity of all His people upon His Suffering Servant in order to save His elect. For this salvation of the elect could be accomplished only in the way of the satisfaction of God's justice. And His justice could be satisfied only by a payment of the full penalty for sin. God reconciled us to Himself by the atonement of His Suffering Servant, by causing Him to feel all the burden of His awful wrath against sin and sinners, by laying on Him the iniquity of us all. In the fourth place, it means that the Suffering Servant of Jehovah during all His life, but especially on the cross, consciously bore the wrath of God against sin.

And that is the reason why He opened not His mouth.

He bore that wrath of God obediently, as the Servant of Jehovah. That bearing of the wrath of God was not mere passive suffering, but it was an act on the part of Christ, the Son of the living God. For, as we said, satisfaction must be an act, an act of perfect obedience in the love of God. Just as sin is an act, a willful act of disobedience against the God of heaven and earth, so atonement must be an act. Just as sin is an act of rebellion, of willful rebellion against the living God, so atonement must be an act of self-subjection, of voluntary self-subjection and obedience. And just as sin is an act of enmity against God, a manifestation of hatred against the Holy One, so atonement must be an act motivated by perfect love for God. Only then is atonement an expiation and satisfaction for sin. For we must remember that the fundamental demand of the law of God upon man is expressed in the one commandment: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength." This demand is unchangeable. God never relinquishes it, not even when He subjects fallen man to His wrath, to the suffering of the curse. Even then God's demand is: Love Me! Even in His wrath God is holy and just, and must be loved by man. That demand is of force even in hell. That is why hell is so utterly hopeless and why the suffering of hell can never atone for sin even to all eternity. The wrath of God is an expression and revelation of His goodness and perfection. Hence, -- the guilt of sin can be removed only by an act of love under the curse, and under the wrath of God. He who would atone for sin must willingly, voluntarily, motivated by the pure love of God, seek to fulfill all the justice and righteousness of God against sin. He must will to suffer all the agonies of the expression of that wrath in death and hell, for God's sake.

Only such an act is a sacrifice.

Only such a willing sacrifice is satisfaction of God's justice, and therefore, atonement.

This act of obedience of love under the wrath of God, Christ performed all His life, but especially on the accursed tree. In His suffering Christ was never purely passive. He was active also in His passion and death. He willed to fulfill all righteousness. He was determined to satisfy the justice of God against sin. Therefore, He voluntarily assumed the obligation to suffer the wrath of God. When God laid on Him the iniquity of all His people, He bore that wrath of God willingly, actively, voluntarily, in the love of God. Only thus was His suffering the perfect Yes over against the rebellious No of sin.

That He was allowed to suffer for the sins of all His people, must be traced to the counsel of God. In God's counsel the inseparable bond was established between Him and His people, so that in time He might appear as their representative-head. Thus He was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

O, what abundant grace and love of God!

What boundless love of God toward those whom the Father had given Him is manifested in that dumbness of the Servant of the Lord in all His suffering!

In this is our complete salvation. God caused on the cross all our iniquities to concentrate upon the head of His Servant.

The Servant bore our iniquities, and bore them away forever. The Lamb of God took away the sin of the world. It can never be imputed to us anymore.

We are saved by the dumb suffering of the Servant of Jehovah. In His suffering we have righteousness and life forevermore.