He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. (Isaiah 53:3a )
The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah
is surely one of the most remarkable prophecies in Scripture. If I had no other reason to believe the Bible
is the Word of God, all I would need is this chapter and I would be convinced
of its Divine authorship. Around seven
hundred years before the events, Isaiah will describe Christ’s crucifixion as
though he is standing at the foot of the cross.
Prophetically, he was!
How Jesus is described is
shocking—from a human standpoint, it is unbelievable (v.1). He grew up as a tender plant—a root out of
dry ground (v.2a), with nothing extraordinary about His physical features
(v.2b). Jesus looked like the average
Jewish man of His day. This was not the
kind of Messiah that Israel
Not only was His physical
appearance shocking, the degree of His suffering was remarkable also
(v.4-6). No one ever suffered like
Jesus. His suffering was not for His own
sins, but for ours. He willingly paid
the sin debt that we owed and could never pay!
Oh, how He loves us! People
scorned him as He was dying, as though He were cursed for His own crimes
against heaven, when it was for theirs—and for ours—that He became a curse for
us.
His suffering was indescribable,
and His silence was incomprehensible (v.7-9).
He does not ask for an attorney, though it was His right. He does not protest the illegal nature of
that trial although everything about it was wrong. He does not defend Himself. He could have summoned Heaven’s armies with a
word, but He is silent as a Lamb led to slaughter.
Sealed in a sepulcher of stone, it
would appear that His cause was lost—and with His death, the death of
hope. God’s ways are not man’s ways,
however. It would be through the
sacrifice of His life, that He would fulfill the success of His mission. He would look down the corridor of time and
see all His seed—His spiritual progeny (v.10-11). His cause is vindicated and His claims
validated by His resurrection. He died,
but He would not stay dead!
Jesus was not the victim; He was
the Victor (v.12). To the victor goes
the spoils. He has conquered death,
hell, and the grave. He arose in triumph
and ascended in glory—then He took of His treasure and poured out spiritual
gifts to His church. One day He will
return, and just as He fulfilled every prophecy concerning His first advent, He
will fulfill every one pertaining to His second advent.
Christ has changed the course of
history and eternity. He has changed my
life. He can change yours! He made salvation possible; now we can receive
it by trusting Him.
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