"THE FATHER PLEASED" (Pastor Tom Henry) ~ 10/15/26

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him, he hath put him to grief...” (Isaiah 53:10)

How does the greatest humiliation and suffering of the Father’s dearly Beloved bring Him the highest pleasure and glory? The statement “It pleased the Father to bruise Him and put Him to grief,” seems to be incongruous with what we know of the Divine character. How can it be that God, Who takes no pleasure in the suffering and death of wicked sinners, Who takes no delight in the necessary chastising of His children, could take pleasure in the bruising and grief and death of His beloved Son, Who always did those things that pleased Him? The pleasure that the Lord took in Christ’s sacrifice was not in the agony that He endured, but rather in the fruit of His travail. “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa. 53:11) The meaning is that He would see the salvation of all those for whom Christ suffered at His hand. God was therefore glorified in the results of Christ’s suffering and death.

In the original covenant promise, God declared that the Seed of the woman (The promised Redeemer) would bruise the head of the serpent, but in doing so His own heel would be bruised. (Gen. 3:15) The bruising of the heel speaks of Christ’s agonies and humiliation that He would endure, by means of which He would deal the death blow to Satan. Thus, in the Hebrew Epistle we read, “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (Heb. 2:10) In this passage we see the Seed of the woman, as Captain of our salvation, bringing glory to God by destroying the devil. (Heb. 2:14)

It was through death that the great Redeemer destroyed the enemy, but according to Isaiah’s prophecy, the Lord has prolonged His days, and the pleasure of the Lord does prosper in His hand. This is seen in the fact that God raised Him up, and He has ascended back to the Father, having spoiled the enemy of his prey, leading captivity captive. (Eph. 4: 8-10)

In the Philippian letter Paul put it this way: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exhalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in the earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:6-11) It is clear from this passage that it is because of Christ’s humiliation that the Father receives glory in His exaltation.

In John Chapter 17, Jesus, just before going to the cross, prayed, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee… I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (John 17:1, 4) Clearly, our Lord’s chief motive in the work of redemption was the glory of the Father. It was for this reason that He condescended to come to earth; to take human flesh; to assume the role of a servant; to suffer and bleed and die. It was in this way that He destroyed not only the works of the devil, but the devil himself, and delivered God’s chosen people who were held captive by him. All of this, He did to glorify God the Father.