The Suffering Servant

Introduction

Last week we looked at Matthew 8 verses 5 – 13. We talked about what makes God marvel.

It’s recorded for us twice in the Bible that Jesus marvelled, meaning he showed great wonder, admiration, or astonishment. 

The first time Jesus marvelled was at the great faith of a centurion. A roman military officer that only knew of Jesus from what he had heard. This roman man did not need to see signs and wonders.

He simply believed that Jesus had all authority and power to heal his servant just by saying a word. Jesus marvelled at his child-like faith that was greater than any faith he had seen in all of Israel.

The other time Jesus marvelled was for the complete opposite reason. In the city of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, he marvelled at the lack of faith and unbelief of his own people.

These people directly saw Jesus perform miracles, but they still would not believe on Him. He could do no mighty work there, because they had no faith. He marvelled at their unbelief.

In your own life, you don’t want God to marvel at your unbelief. You want him to marvel at your great faith. Taking Him at His word. Believing every promise. Placing all your trust in THE Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let’s continue in Matthew 8…

Peter’s Mother-In-law

Matthew 8:14 And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.

From this verse we learn that Peter was married. In the false religion of Catholicism, Peter is considered their first Pope. Catholics will actually make up the idea that Peter’s wife died before Jesus’ ministry and he was a widower.

Because all popes today are celibate and remain unmarried. So they like to justify certain things by adding stories to the Bible.

1 Corinthians 9:5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

Paul is saying the other apostles, Jesus’ brethren, and Cephas, which is the name Jesus gave to Peter, they all had the right to lead about a wife. He likewise had that same right. But Paul chose to stay unmarried.

But this just shows that Peter did indeed have a wife and no where in the Bible indicates that she had died before Peter became one of the 12 apostles. Catholics will always try to twist scripture.

Jesus came to Peter’s house, and his mother-in-law was sick with a fever.

Matthew 8:15-17 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. 16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

He Took Our Infirmities

I want you to take note that Jesus was constantly healing the sick, casting out devils, helping the poor and needy. He was constantly serving other people.

Right after he healed Peter’s mother-in-law, later that evening, multitudes of people came to him to be healed. We see more details of this in the Gospel of Mark…

Mark 1:30-33 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. 33 And all the city was gathered together at the door.

You can only imagine how physically and mentally taxing this was on Jesus.

In verse 17 it says that all these things were done that it might be fulfilled by the prophet Esaias, which is Isaiah. Saying, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

This is a reference to Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

For us a day of Church is pretty tiring. We get up early, we do pickups and drop-offs, we have three different services, Serve lunch, we go out soul winning in between. We are exhausted at the end of the day.

Imagine doing all that, going home, and then later in the evening, the entire neighborhood of Parkhill shows up at your door waiting for you to heal and serve them. Thousands of people.

This was the ministry of Jesus Christ. Always serving, always healing, always preaching and teaching. He bore the physical sickness, the sorrow, the grief, of the people just like Isaiah prophesied.

Not only did He bare the sickness, ailments and sorrows of the people, he bore the sins of the entire world, all while he himself was afflicted and rejected of men.

He Did Not Give Up

People today give up when the smallest of hardships come in their life. For example, some people cannot keep a job simply because it’s hard for them to get up in the morning.

So they say, forget it. I’m just going to stay home and scroll through tiktok and wait till I run out of money and then ask someone else that is willing to work hard for their hard-earned money.

We live in a society that wants to take take take; without giving anything back.

There is so much selfishness and self-pity. People think that because they don’t have any money,
or because they live in a particular area, or because of the environment that they are in,
that they are not able to give and serve others. They have an expectation that everyone needs to be serving them.

I want you to understand, Jesus was more afflicted, more oppressed, more despised, and poorer than anyone that has ever lived on this earth. Yet, he served, sacrificed, and gave more than anyone will ever give for all eternity.

Thank God Jesus was not like people today. Imagine if Jesus gave up when he faced a little bit of hardship. We would all be dead and in Hell.

Jesus Christ did not give up; He is the ultimate example of a servant.

In your own life, are you following that example? Are you seeking to serve others—even when you’re afflicted—following the footsteps of Jesus, or are seeking to serve yourself and to be served by other people?

Think about everything that Jesus gave up for you.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Who is more rich than God, the creator of every living and non-living thing in this universe and beyond? No one is more rich than God. Yet he gave up everything for your sake. He became the lowest of lows. He took on poverty so you can obtain the greatest riches of everlasting life.

He gave it all for you, and people can’t even get out of bed once a week to give him Honor, glory, and worship. At a minimum, can you give him one day?

It seems foolish to even have to say that because He is the one that gives you life every single day.
He has bought you with a price. With his precious blood.

It is your reasonable service to come to church at least once a week.

And when you’re at church, can you give him a few hours of your time without looking at tiktok or talking during the service? There are 168 hours in a week. Church is not that long. Can you listen to God’s Word for a few hours without distractions?

Isn’t he deserving of our time and worship?

Think about these things. It’s very sad when people that claim to be saved Christians treat God like garbage that you throw on the side of the street. He’s just an afterthought.

We need to wake up. Both literally and spiritually.  He gave it all for us. He took the affliction, the grief, the sorrow, the sin of others even when he was despised and afflicted and poor himself.

That’s a loving God.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:6 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.

Understand what Jesus Christ did for us. We owe him our lives, yet we can never repay him. 

Is it too much for Him to ask our love and obedience after what he gave us?

Nowhere To Lay His Head

Let’s go back to Matthew 8…

Matthew 8:19-20 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Following Jesus is not easy. This man came to him ready to follow. But Jesus is always setting the bar high…

The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Jesus was always travelling, always teaching, always healing, always facing hardship. He did not look for comfort.
He only sought to serve and do the will of His father in heaven. Imagine God, being in a perfect habitation, leaving a place of perfection and coming into an imperfect world. All because of his love for us.

In your life, will you follow the example of Jesus and give up the comfort of your couch. And seek to serve others rather than yourself.

Philippians 2:3-5 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Jesus is the personification of pure selflessness. He esteemed everyone above himself. He is our example of how to serve. Seeking nothing in return. Doing it only for our Father in Heaven.

That same mind that Jesus had, should be in us…

Philippians 2:6-8 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. When it says he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, that means he can rightfully be called God because he is equal.

Modern versions of the Bible completely twist this verse:

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped

This is the complete opposite of what the KJV says.

The whole point that is being made here is that even though Jesus Christ is God, he lowered himself to be nothing but a servant.

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

At the lowest point of Jesus’ life, he was despised, rejected, beaten, spit on, whipped, bruised, pierced through, and while all that happened to him, He still chose to serve all of mankind through his death and suffering.   

At any point in His life, at any point during His crucifixion, He could have said enough. I’m tired. I’m not doing this anymore. He had the power to ascend back to heaven, to go back to a perfect habitation, at any time. But he stayed and endured suffering for you and for me, for the whole world.

In your own life, you have a choice to make. When things get hard for you. You can either become selfish, lazy, stop serving others, only think about yourself…
Or you can be like Jesus Christ, and be a suffering servant. Give your time and energy to others and to the Lord.

If you only seek to serve yourself in this life, you will not be happy because you’re going against God’s created design for you. He wants you to serve at all times.

For example, instead of watching tiktok and youtube videos for several hours a day, we can use that time to teach our kids something from the Bible, or to help someone in need, or to preach the Gospel. Those things have eternal impact.

Watching TV and tiktok doesn’t help anyone.

Because Jesus lowered himself to the lowest of lows, because he served even in His suffering. Because he gave up all comfort and earthly pleasures, The Father raised him up higher than any other.

Philippians 2:9-11 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Those who humbly serve God will be lifted up by Him.

Matthew 23:11-12 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Called To Be Servants

Are you humbling yourself? Are you seeking to serve others? We have been called to be servants.

Matthew 20:26-28 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

John 13:14-15 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Remember there is always someone weaker than you and hurting more than you.
Yes, we all need help sometimes. But understand when you seek to help others even in your own weakness, when you give regardless of your condition, God is going to bless you and strengthen you so you can serve even more.

Mark 12:41-44 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Understand that this woman gave more because she gave all that she had. This doesn’t just apply to money. This also applies in your service to others and to the Lord.

So when you find yourself struggling. When you don’t know how you’re going to make it through the day, or the week, or the month. Think about Jesus Christ. The suffering servant who gave it all for you. And then find a way to serve someone else in your time of need.

Remember Jesus Christ was raised up. God is going to help you when you give back to Him.

And what is the ultimate way to serve others and give to the Lord?

1 Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Have you received the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ? It’s time to give back and minister the same gift you received, to others.

In order to give that gift, You do not need money, you don’t need wealth, you don’t need a car, you don’t need a house, you do not need earthly possessions.

All you need is a mouth to speak. And if you can’t speak then you can use your hands to write or use sign language. And if you don’t have hands or you can’t speak, I promise you God will provide a way for you to give the gospel.

But thankfully most of us here have a mouth to speak and hands to write. And as a bonus, we have feet that can take us places.

So we have no excuse to not preach the gospel. This is the ultimate way to serve and to give.
There is nothing better to receive than eternal life. And you have that ability to minister that gift the same way that you received it.

 Jesus gave it all for us, let’s give everything we have to him. Not to earn salvation, but out of gratitude and love for him. He called us to be servants just as he was.

Let’s go back to Matthew 8…

Matthew 8:21-22 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Some people might read this and think, wow that’s a little harsh. But understand that Jesus was making a powerful statement here.

He said “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”

What He’s essentially saying is that body that is dead only matters to those who are spiritually dead.

People who are unsaved don’t have any hope. In their minds they will never see that person again who dies. They only think on temporal things. They are dead in their sins with no hope because they have not been made alive through Jesus Christ.

In order to follow Christ, we must stop focusing on ourselves, stop focusing on the cares of this life, and focus on the things that bring eternal life to others.

Let’s look at a parallel passage of this same event.

Luke 9:59-60 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

Closing Thoughts

As we finish this lesson, I want you to understand the immense suffering, sorrow, and grief that Jesus took from the people and placed it onto himself.

He carried the infirmities, the sicknesses, and the burdens of others. And not only those but he bore the sins of the whole world upon himself.

He was a servant that was obedient unto death.

In your own life, when things get a little tough, you can choose to give up, you can backdown, you can become selfish.

Or you can use those times to show people the power of God that lives inside of you. You can serve others even when you’re suffering yourself.

1 Peter 2:20-24 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

As we go from here today, let’s start thinking about how we can serve more.

Esteeming others before ourselves.

If you are dealing with challenges right now (We all are). It’s time to trust the Word of God, and be a servant, and see how God works in your life.

Start with your family. As parents, let’s do a better job at serving our children. Children, let’s do a better job at serving our parents. Then let’s all go out together and serve other people and serve the Lord. The same way that Jesus Christ did his entire life.

And let’s do it together. We can help each other. Keep coming to church. We need your help and we can help you through the power of the Holy Ghost and the Word of God. Let’s keep fighting for each other and let’s continue to be suffering servants. Let’s Pray