The innocent’s sacrifice for the guilty
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:1-5 From the text, the Lord Jesus Christ was described as a “a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.” This was the revelation to Isaiah as he prophesied the coming of the Messiah. In these passages, the readers of the book were given descriptive images of the rejection and suffering Jesus will endure. As described from the text, He will be a tender plant in the midst of hostility. Though He will suffer and will not be recognizable for He will endure beatings and scourging, but He will break through like a tender shoot. He will overcome and will give life to those that are hardened and dry ground. He was despised and scorned, yet there will be those that will realize that He is their Savior. Though there were those that are familiar about the coming of the Messiah as prophesied from the Old Testament but they would rather hold on to their religion rather than believing that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies. They have thoroughly studied the prophecies and even memorized Scriptures but the word of God did not take root in their life that they missed the coming of the Messiah. But to those that believed Him as revealed in God’s word, He gave them life. This is what Christ offers for He alone took the punishments we deserve because of sin. Once we believe, we are no longer in bondage to sin and we are at peace with God. He suffered on the cross on our behalf and by receiving Him and His offer of new life by faith, “we are healed.” He removed the hold of sin in our lives and gave us forgiveness. He did not die because of anything He had done for He did not commit any sin. He sacrificed everything for what we had done. The work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the life of those that believed Him may be fragile at first, but just like a tender plant, it will grow into something strong. Let Christ intercession for us bear its fruit as we trust Him and live our life for His glory.
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
www.my-wbc.com
