July 28 - Isaiah 53:1-6

July 28 – Isaiah 53:1-6

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

This is probably one of the most familiar passages from Isaiah – the fourth of the Servant songs. 

As you read through the description, you can’t help but find yourself picturing the Messiah – Jesus as He offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

There are many scholars that believe these servant passages refer not to Jesus, but to Israel and if you spend some time processing on them, you can see how that is possible.  But, the New Testament writers believed that this was a prophecy regarding Jesus Christ and I’m fairly confident that I’ll end up on their side of the fence any day.

He was rejected by those whom He came to save, He faced suffering and punishment to offer salvation to the world. 

When the disciples saw Him die on the cross, they believed that it was over, that God had walked away from Him right at the crisis moment.  Much as we find it difficult to see the big picture when we are faced with pain or sorrow, they missed the point of everything.

He carried our sorrows, He took our pain, He was pierced for our sins, He took our punishment. 

If He had not allowed any of these things to be done, we would never know peace, we would never know healing.

The Israelites had strayed far from God, they did things on their own … but the Servant took their punishment.

We constantly stray far from God, we do things on our own … the Savior took our punishment.