The Silence of the Lamb of God

Here are several paragraphs from chapter four in John MacArthur's book, "The Power of Suffering."  (Such a great book!)

"According to Peter (1 Peter 2:20-23), Christians are at odds with the world, simply because they have been called by Christ.  By standing with Christ, sooner or later we will suffer some form of unjust rejection, punishment, criticism, or persecution.  We offend the world when we take a stand for righteousness or manifest a lifestyle that reflects Christ.  That's why we have to expect suffering.  Jesus Himself promised believers that their union with Him would elicit the hostility of the world."  (John 15:18-21)  

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His own suffering and death, is an unequalled example of the reality that one can be completely in the will of God, supremely gifted and used by God in ministry, and perfectly righteous and obedient toward God, and still undergo tremendous suffering.  Jesus was tried and executed as a criminal, yet He had done nothing wrong.  He was the ultimate subject of unjust suffering and punishment, and He thereby gave us the standard for how to respond to our unjust persecution."

"Peter and Isaiah compare the suffering Christ, the Good Shepherd, to a sheep...That portrayal emphasizes the model our Lord displayed for endurance through suffering.  He reveals His humility as He puts Himself at the mercy of His enemies.  They reviled Him and provoked Him and abused Him repeatedly, nearly to the breaking point, but they couldn't make Him end His silence in a sinful way."

"Christ's example of saying nothing and not answering in kind to unjust abuse seems like an impossible one to follow.  But Peter shows us how Christ was able to achieve such a high standard:  He "kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously" (1 Peter 2:23).  That's how Jesus found the strength to endure suffering, and that's how we are to do it as well.  "Entrusting" comes from paradidomi, which means "to hand over to someone to keep."  Literally, Jesus kept handing Himself and the circumstance of every unjust suffering over to God."