These verses describe some excruciating things Jesus experienced during His passion. Once He heard from His heavenly Father and received an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary, that same word sustained Him. He did not rebel at His assignment nor did He draw back from it. Rather He accepted the challenge with confidence. He believed the Sovereign Lord would help and vindicate Him.

 

Though He had reason to feel abandoned, He pressed on in obedience by faith. Listen to His commitment: “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting…I set my face like flint.”

 

His was a life of indescribable sacrifice. How did He endure? By believing that the Sovereign Lord was near to help, and ultimately, to vindicate Him. He felt the accusations hurled at Him, but in His mind He knew He would not be disgraced or shamed. He was ready to face His accusers, confident that they ultimately would “wear out like a garment.” He was a winner!

 

It would be wise to look to Him and His example when we feel abandoned by God and surrounded by the enemy. His example will encourage and embolden you to press on as He did, no matter what you might be experiencing. You will find, as He did, that God will not abandon you. Amen!