Jesus Answered the Worlds Worst Want Ad for Our Sake (Tuesday, Week 1 of Advent 2011)

What Did Jesus Do?

He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
Isaiah 53:3

Times are pretty hard. There are a lot of people out of work, many for so long that they’ve dropped of the radar and are no longer even counted in the government’s unemployment figures. Things are so bad that people are envious of the guy on television who takes on the “Dirty Jobs.” Yet, as bad as things are, were, or ever will be, I believe there’s one job none of us would ever be willing to apply for. Thankfully, though notice of the job opening was communicated in what has to be the world’s worst Want Ad, there was one who answered the ad. As it turned out, he was the only one qualified for the job.

You see, hundreds of years before his birth, Jesus read the posting for a Suffering Servant, a Redeemer, in Isaiah 53:

HELP WANTED—Are you willing to
be despised and rejected by men? Does being a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief, sound like something you can handle?
If so, there’s work waiting for you! We need someone who will
accept being wounded for the transgressions of others, and
submit to being crushed for the iniquities of people who will
reject him and scorn him. Please do not apply if you have a
problem with receiving stripes which will break your body while
bringing healing and redemption to those who deserve to be
condemned to death.

The truth is, the Son was fully aware of the job description ever since the Father had shared it with him in eternity past. Jesus had had a long, long time to think about the work he would be required to perform. There was no fine print in his contract, no vague “other duties as required.” The Lord knew exactly what was in store for him, and still he applied for the job of being our Savior.

I know that Advent is the time when we recall the Lord’s birth, and prepare for his coming, but I believe it would help all of us if we took some time to consider Advent from another perspective. Instead of thinking about our preparing for his coming, let’s try and put ourselves in his place, and reflect upon what it must have been like for him to prepare for going. Again, Jesus knew all that awaited him in the world; he himself had provided Isaiah the words for the job description. And still, he answered the Want Ad. Fully informed of what it would take for him to get the job done, the Lord let go of his equality with God and made himself nothing and became not just a servant, but the servant described in Isaiah, the one who alone was qualified and willing to be obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2.6-8)

Meditating on this makes me want to get ready to offer the Lord the highest praise on Christmas, and to give him unending thanks for Christmas, because it makes me shudder to think of where I would be if Jesus hadn’t answered the world’s worst Want Ad for my sake.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4