The sufferings, pain and death of the Lord Jesus Christ form the most important theme in the Word of God.
They are testified of in the very first Promise, that the serpent should bruise Christ's heel (Genesis 3:15).
They are typified in the Sacrifices with their painful death and bloodletting. They are described in the Psalms. They are foretold circumstantially by the Prophets of Israel. They are recorded in the Gospels. They are explained in the Epistles; and Revelation unveils the glory of a suffering Saviour as the Lamb slain.
The Lord Jesus Christ took a human nature into union with His divine nature that He might be capable of suffering both in Body and in Soul. His sufferings were:
(1) Appointed to answer a certain end, and therefore could not have been in vain in any respect. That end was the salvation of His people, and was to be worldwide in its scope. His Sufferings were:
(2) Voluntary. He freely undertook to suffer for His people's sins. His sufferings did not come about by any fault or weakness on His part. He was born to die. He came down to earth to live in order to bear the punishment of our sins in His own Body, His own Person. They were real physical and mental sufferings and not imaginary, as so many of our sufferings are. His sufferings were:
(3) Necessary. To atone for human sin, to satisfy divine justice, and also that the Scripture might be fulfilled. The Lord Jesus suffered that He might be able to enter into the sufferings of His people. He is touched and can fully sympathise on the human level. His sufferings were:
(4) Great. It is beyond the scope and reach of language to describe how intensely Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. Later when on the Cross bearing crucifixion agony, He refused the vinegar and gall that would have reduced the pain. He would not diminish the suffering, choosing to suffer the full extent of the ordeal with unclouded brain. He refused to be drugged. He would not lessen the pain of the suffering of His Sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary. These sufferings were:
(5) Vicarious. As the sinner' Substitute our Lord Jesus endured the sinners penalty. He endured that His people might be saved from wrath due to their sins. Finally, His sufferings were:
(6) Meritorious. The holiness of the sufferer makes His sufferings Holy. Fulfilling righteousness and enduring punishment, He clears the guilty. "With His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). The holiness of His sufferings covers all our sin.