Today we will begin a series of posts called 30 Days With Jesus. It will follow a daily reading plan as given by Zondervan Publishers.
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| Isaiah the Prophet |
Isaiah 53 is a passage of Scripture that foretells the coming of the Messiah -- Jesus Christ. It is a well-known and well-loved passage by many. And for those who have studied this passage they have discovered that Jesus Christ was not necessarily the kingly looking Messiah for whom men sought. Isaiah says:
..he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. (53:2)
Isaiah was quite exact in describing this Messiah who would come to save his people. Continue reading this account and this is what you will find:
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. (53:3-4)Although this Messiah was the One who was foretold, people did not recognize him as such. Rather, they looked at him and they despised and rejected him. To despise someone is to disdain them, to reject them, to loathe. It was not just the fact that Jesus Christ claimed his Messiahship, it was the fact that the people who heard him were disgusted with him. And, besides being disgusted with him, they had no respect for him - ...we esteemed him not. With this idea of disgust the people eventually rejected him as the Messiah of whom they were waiting. Although the Messiah has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, Isaiah continues to tell us that even though he gave his life and carried our sorrows, the people still rejected him saying that God had smitten and afflicted him. In other words, God has done this to him because of who he said he was.
But notice how Isaiah reassures his readers that he has borne our griefs and sorrows. Here the prophet is telling us the good news of the Messiah. Even though people rejected him and were disgusted with him, the fact still remained that the Messiah had borne our griefs and sorrows. And what are these griefs and sorrows? But the very sin that resides in each of us. Read how Isaiah continues to tell us this good news of the Messiah -- of Jesus Christ:
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (53:5-6)Not only has he borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, but the Messiah was also wounded for our transgressions. This wounding resulted in his death. Isaiah tells us that he bore our griefs and sorrows and tells us what those griefs and sorrows were -- our transgressions. It is the sin that ever resides in each of us. It is what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans:
As it is written, "None is righteous, no, not one...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:10, 23)All of us have transgressed against God. There is none who is able to reach God because of this sin. And it was this Messiah of whom Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 53. What have we done about this Messiah coming to save us? Read what Isaiah says: because none of us is righteous, because all of us have fallen short of the glory of God, the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. This Messiah has taken the very wrath of God upon himself so that we would be freed from this wrath. Even though we have turned to our own way, God loved us enough that he would lay this burden on this Messiah -- on Jesus Christ. The Messiah's attitude was such that he was willing to take on the iniquity of us all. Read what else Isaiah says:
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. (53:10-11)Why was the Messiah's attitude that he was willing to take on the iniquity of us all? Because out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. Jesus Christ was satisfied with his payment and God the Father was satisfied with the willingness and the dying of Jesus Christ for the transgressors -- for us -- for the ones who went their own way and transgressed against him. And it was also for the satisfaction that the Messiah would make many to be accounted righteous. This righteousness would come directly from himself for he lived a perfectly sinless life so that we might have life. His righteousness has been imputed on those who have trusted him in salvation.
This Messiah, Jesus Christ, was foretold by Isaiah. He was foretold to have borne our iniquities and he willingly did this. This Messiah -- this Jesus Christ -- is worthy of all praise!
