One of my favorite Old Testament passages that points us to Jesus and the happenings of the first Easter come from Isaiah 52 and 53. As we close out this week and we are one week from Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus’ death on the cross, I ask you to spend a few minutes looking through this passage and ask God to let you see the beauty of what Jesus did for you and for others.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 NLT
See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. 14 But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. 15 And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about. 1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? 2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. 4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows[a] that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. 7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. 9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. 10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death.He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
That is a long passage, and there are many things that stand out for me. Here is my list. Please make your own as you read these important verses.
My servant will prosper… Many were amazed when they saw Him… He was despised and rejected… He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins… All of us like sheep have gone astray… Lord laid on Him the sins of us all… He was oppressed and treated harshly… He did not open His mouth… It was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him… His life is made an offering for our sin… My righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous… He bore the sins of many…
Praise God for all He did for us. May we celebrate this gift and worship Him this Easter and Holy Week!
Please join our church, The Community Fellowship, this Sunday at our future campus (700 Commerce Court, Martinsville) for Palm Sunday service at 10:10 followed by lunch and Easter Kid’s event. Then join us on Easter Sunday at our Collinsville location for our Resurrection celebration. Also please pray for the Cuba mission trip the end of the month.
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