Isaiah 53:5-7
New International Version (NIV)
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
As I was thinking about the silence of Jesus in the face of his sufferings, I came across this painting called The Crowning. It is featured in The Lent Project at Biola University. Viewing it, I was particularly drawn to the thorns making up Jesus’ crown and the hands grasping those thorns. So many hands. Are they the hands of Judas the betrayer, the hands of Peter who denies Jesus, the hands of the angry religious authorities who turned him over to Pilate?
The questions the painting seems to beg are, “Which of those hands is mine?” and “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
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