I thought it would be good today to take one more look at Jesus, our Focus, from an Old Testament perspective. What Jesus did – the great sacrifice of all time – was prophesied over and over. There’s no passage, though, that has more incredible detail about that than Isaiah 53. One wonders if Isaiah was brought somehow to “see” the future and Jesus’ death. It’s that clear.
Isaiah writes about many of the things Hebrews explains. Jesus bore our weaknesses. He understood sorrow fully. He understood rejection. His sacrifice is described in brutal detail by Isaiah and it’s clear His suffering was immense. And yet it was for us, who like sheep, have all gone astray, wanting our own way. The poetry and anguish in this chapter make it one of my very favorites in the entire Bible. Isaiah, hundreds of years chronologically before Jesus’ death, explains that sacrificial death for us. It’s all there. Even the resurrection (see verses 10-12).
I noticed this time as I read through Isaiah 53 a lovely irony. We read in verse 8, “ …No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream.” True. Jesus had no natural children and never married. He left no descendants. Yet, here’s the beautiful irony. We celebrate in verse 10, “ … Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants …” How cool is that?? We who belong to Jesus are those descendants! “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Isn’t that the coolest? God gave Jesus thousands upon thousands of descendants even though He died in his early thirties with none. Only God.
How about you? Did something jump off the page? I’d love to know. Let’s keep sharing what God is teaching us together. I love your comments. Keep ‘em coming.
My verse: Isaiah 53:11, “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.”
My response: Thank You, Lord Jesus. How wonderful that, despite the anguish of the cross, You are satisfied. That’s how much You want me and my brothers and sisters in Christ with You forever. I love that I am that wanted. Do You see my smile, Lord? (Of course You do. 😊 )
