“Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider.” (Isaiah 52:13-15)
It is a paradox so astonishing—that the Sovereign would also be Servant, that He would be a Lord and a Lamb, that from His submission would come His success, and the cross of Golgotha would lead to the crown of glory! This is the story of Jesus—Son of God becoming Son of Man that sons of men might become sons of God.
Isaiah introduces this section of prophecy that highlights the Suffering Servant by reminding us that Jesus will also be the Sovereign Servant. Christ’s mission to earth to save us will be the theme of Isaiah 53 that follows. Oh, how He would suffer! In the next chapter, Isaiah will describe the agony in such detail as though he was standing at the foot of the cross—remarkable revelation given 700 years before the event!
His face would be marred to the point of making Him almost unrecognizable. Strong men would punch Him with their fists. They would jerk His beard out with their hands. A crown of long desert thorns was hammered onto His head with rods. His face that ever looked with compassion would be transformed into a bloody mess by those without compassion!
Even here, we observe that it is the sprinkling of His blood that secures redemption from many nations. Thus, in Revelation 7:9-10, we read of a great blood-washed throng:
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”
Are you washed in the blood? If not, today cry out to Jesus for forgiveness! If you are, then it is your mission to share that story.
No comments:
Post a Comment