Peter Howard
The Perfect Picture of God
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again Mark 8:31
Three times Jesus had told the disciples what would happen when they reached Jerusalem, but they still didn’t understand. The first time Peter rebuked Him. The second time they were confused. The third time they were afraid. The disciples had seen Jesus as a conquering king but at the Passover feast He had instead taken the part of a servant and washed their feet. Seven-hundred years after the prophet Isaiah had described the Messiah as a suffering servant, Jesus was to fulfill this prophecy, and in so doing, reveal the perfect and complete picture of the love of God for all mankind.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
Isaiah 53:5-7