A Startling Solution!
Opening Prayer
Thank God for Jesus, “pierced for our transgressions…crushed for our iniquities…and by his wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).
Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12
[13] See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. [14] Just as there were many who were appalled at him- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness- [15] so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. [1] Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? [2] 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. [3] He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. [4] Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. [5] But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. [6] We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. [8] By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. [9] He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. [10] Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. [11] After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How might this picture of a man remind you of our Lord Jesus?All through these chapters in Isaiah an underlying tension has been building. God is holy, pure and righteous. Humans are not. God’s people are called to holiness of life, but they cannot do it. How can this tension between sinfulness and holiness, this separation from God, be resolved? The five stanzas of today’s passage give us the answer. In this fourth Servant Song the identity of the Servant is revealed most fully. We now see him as Jesus (with the benefit of our New Testament lenses). The Servant is going to confound human wisdom; be unimpressive; be our representative and substitute; suffer greatly on our behalf and ultimately be successful in what he achieves. Usually human wisdom comes up with solutions to problems in which we (humans) are at the center. We would never have dreamt this up! Every world religion, except Christianity, describes what humans need to do in order to be reconciled to God or appease the gods. They are marked by “do, do, do.” Christianity is different. God says, “It is done!”
Apply
Spend some time now thinking about the gift of God’s Son. Think also about how you can faithfully do your part to share the Good News.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I want to always be available to You. Use me to glorify You and enable me to be a faithful servant for You.
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