A Lamb Before Its Shearers

Bible Verse:
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. Is 53:7-9

My thought for today is the fact that we are seldom silent when we are oppressed or being attacked, but rather we form battle lines and dig in for the war that is ahead. I do not know about you, but I do know about myself and my reaction to criticisms. It especially true when the criticisms are not true. My honor is at stake and I am anxious to defend my honor in order to ensure that my respect remains intact.

You may be one of the more quiet and reserved types that hold it all in, but at some point in time it tends to all bubble out. When I read the accounts of Christ and the abusive accusations that were hurled at Him we I amazed at His silence. There was no need to defend Himself after all it was the created who were criticizing the Creator.

As soon as I wrote those words I realized how incensed I had become in the past when a child spoke in a derogatory manner without regard to their elders. My thought was how ungrateful and immediately my jaws part to ready myself for the rebuke.

This was not true of Jesus. He could have easily corrected and sternly warned the Sanhedrin that they were speaking to God in an abusive manner and that there were consequences for their actions, but He did not. He silently allowed His life to speak and as a lamb before the shearers He was silent.

What can we learn from this lesson today? Could it be that our lives need to speak the Word of God in Truth as Christ’s did? Is it possible that at times our witness needs to silent rather than attacking? Perhaps we are to realize that Creator continues to be abused by His creation and for that we must pray. Take a moment each time you hear the name of God being used in vain and offer up prayers for the healing of a broken people. We have not learned much in two thousand years. God cares but for a while yet He remains silent. So let’s pray!

Bob