Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Be Still: Lord, let me see more of your glory and grace. Amen
Read: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
‘Behold my servant shall act wisely, he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted……..his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance…… Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows……But he was pierced for our transgressions……..yet he bore the sin of many’ (vv13-14; ch53:4&12)
Encounter: ‘He came down to earth from heaven, who is God and Lord of all’*
The verses from Isaiah give us an amazing prophecy of the coming of Jesus - the Lord’s 'Servant’ - and are a very clear foretelling of Jesus’ suffering and death. If, some time today, you can make the time to read this passage in full, please do. The fulfilment of so many prophecies is powerful evidence for the existence of an amazing God and his clear and deliberate intervention in our world.
But today I want us to look at the contrast between who Jesus was and the depths to which he came. Chapter 52:13 describes him 'high and lifted up' and exalted; other Bible passages declare that Jesus was with God and part of the Godhead from all eternity, crowned with glory and honour and splendour and majesty (Colossians 1:15-19; Philippians 2:9-11).
So how could he have a ‘marred appearance’ and ‘had no form or majesty that we should look at him’? How could he be born in a remote village, in a stable, unrecognised and in great danger? How could he be hated and rejected by the Jewish religious hierarchy and treated so violently and cruelly before an agonising and humiliating death? How could one so great be reduced to the lowest of the low and be unrecognised by the people he had created? The heights and depths of Jesus’ life and experience could hardly be further apart.
He did this for us. He was full of compassion. He chose to humble himself to that extent. It was the only way to purchase our redemption. Hallelujah, What a Saviour!
Apply: As you contemplate the birth of Jesus, this week, try to see him also as the Lord of Glory and King of Kings. and marvel at the depths to which he willingly succumbed, for your sake and mine.
Devote: Lord, words cannot express how wonderful your sacrifice was, for me. I’m ‘lost in wonder, love and praise’.
* Carol: ‘Once in Royal David’s City’