The Wednesday Word ~ 13 November, 2024 A.D.

The Gospel According to Isaiah, Part II

Isaiah ch. 53 (Recommended reading)
by D.G. Miles McKee

As we stated last time, the book of Isaiah is a book about Jesus.

In his book, Isaiah reveals many things about Christ. For example, in Isaiah 53:3 he tells us that the Lord Jesus was despised and rejected. That is astonishing.  How could someone so wonderfully beautiful as the Lord Jesus be despised and rejected? But think about it, He is still despised and rejected today.  In many churches, Sunday after Sunday, congregations are told that if they are good enough, they will go to Heaven.  That’s rejection of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. These preachers praise Jesus as a prophet, a teacher, a friend and inspirer but reject Him as the only redeemer of sinners. 

Then verse 3 of Isaiah 53 further tells us that people hid their faces from Him.  How true that is and sad to say that many are still doing it. The love of sin will cause us to hide from Him.

 Ask yourself, what do you love more than Christ?

 Is it your career? Is your career the passion of your life?  There´s nothing wrong with working hard and having a good career … in fact it is to be recommended, but many professed Christians make themselves so busy that they never open their Bibles.  Many professed Christians have no passion for Christ.  What about you? What about me? “We hid as it were our faces from Him, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

In verse 3 we see that Jesus was the man of sorrows.  Sorrow is universal.  Everyone has it or has had it or will have it. Not all people know happiness.  Not all people know fame.  Not all people know wealth.  Not all people experience persecution.  But all people know sorrow.  Jesus is the man of sorrows because, for one reason, He looks at this world which He created and which He sustains by His love and grace and yet so many people hate Him.  They won’t come to Him.  They prefer the darkness to the light (see John 3:19-21).

Yes, Jesus was the man of sorrows.  For example, He endured the sorrow of loneliness. Even His nearest and dearest disciples couldn’t understand Him.  He couldn’t fully share His heart with them as He often was misunderstood.  Take for example in Matthew 16 Jesus commenced to tell the disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer and be killed.  But Peter began to rebuke Him saying, “Far be it from Thee Lord, this shall not be onto You” (Matthew 16:22). Peter misunderstood Jesus.  This kind of thing, humanly speaking, must have contributed to Christ´s loneliness as a man.  

Jesus came with a heart filled with love and yet He was forsaken by His friends.  He was betrayed for money.  He was denied by a leading disciple.  He was mocked, scorned and crucified.

“Man of sorrows, what a name,

For the son of God who came,

Ruined sinners to proclaim,

Hallelujah what a Saviour.”

See Him there, hanging on the cross as the sinner’s substitute.  Observe Him there as your substitute.  We often say He was wounded for our transgressions. That’s true. But we can also personalise it and say, ”He was wounded for MY  transgressions.”

Did you know that His blood has cleansed the worst sins the believer has ever committed.  Look at the cross. See Him there with an awful spear thrust into His lovely side … what a horrible crime.  What an evil thing to do to the Young Prince of Glory.  But see the spear when it comes out of His side, it is covered in blood and the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin.

And that´s the Gospel Truth!