Determined and Unashamed
“For the LORD God will help Me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” Isaiah 50:7
In the passage to which the above verse belongs, Isaiah, the prophet is writing as a type of Christ for we can see Jesus in these verses. Isaiah was given “the tongue of the learned” (verse 4). He was well informed as to the words to put to paper because he was willing to follow and obey God. He depended on God and not on himself. Jesus depended on God as well, even though He was much more highly anointed with the Spirit of God than Isaiah. God gave Jesus “the tongue of the learned” to speak to the sin-sick soul. It takes a special anointing from God to really speak to a person’s heart. It also takes a special anointing from God to really listen to what He says. Jesus only spoke what His Father gave Him to speak. He said in Matthew 11:27, “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father…”. What if we Christians followed that same pattern? There would be a lot less useless talk and gossip and a lot more compassion, understanding, and encouragement coming from our mouths. If some folks followed that old advice “if you can’t say anything nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all”, they would suffer in silence!
Jesus’ only desire was to do the will of His Father. He began each day early in the morning seeking instructions for the day from God through prayer. We, too, should seek God’s will each day, first thing in the morning. Many of us wait until night, when we are so tired, to seek the Lord and read His word. In the morning, our minds are fresh, and the activities of the day haven’t worn us out. Matthew Henry, in his commentary, wrote: “Our case calls for continual fresh supplies of divine grace, to free us from the dullness we contract daily. The morning when our spirits are most lively, is a proper time for communion with God; then we are in the best frame both to speak to Him and to hear from Him.” Even if one can’t set aside morning to commune with the Lord, he or she needs to find some time each day to read His word and talk with Him.
Jesus knew that His mission would be a very difficult and painful ordeal, but He had all confidence that His Father would help Him through the pain and suffering. If only we could be as steadfast in the knowledge that God will help us no matter the situation or trial that we go through. Complete trust and confidence in the Lord eliminate all confusion. We know that God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33). That is Satan’s M.O. He tried to confuse Jesus by tempting Him to turn stones into bread, to jump off the roof of the temple, and to worship him. Each time Jesus reminded Satan that God was in charge and not him. That’s good advice for us, too. Jesus set His face “like a flint”, that is, firm and determined. A flint is a very hard stone which produces sparks when struck against steel and can produce a fire. Did not Jesus start a fire when He came to earth, ministered, and paid the heavy price for man’s salvation, a fire that many have tried to put out, but the harder they try, the more it spreads.
Jesus knew that it is never a shameful thing to follow the will of God. He never did anything to bring shame upon Himself. He allowed Himself to die a shameful death on the cross (Hebrews 12:2), but the shame was on mankind, not Jesus. He took man’s sin upon Himself so that man could be forgiven and spend eternity with the Lord in heaven. Sin was condemned, not Jesus, even though there were those who did bring condemnation upon Him and many still do. So, how did that work out for those who condemned and who still condemn Him? Isaiah described them as ending up as old clothes eaten by moths. Moths, small and insignificant, can silently and unnoticeably completely ruin a piece of wool clothing. This is how sin works. It has got us in its grip before we know it, but thanks be to God, Jesus can take that sin and shame and give us a life free from condemnation if we will only surrender to Him. It is not a shame to admit one is a sinner; it is a shame not to.