Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Pre-exilic Prophets 3 (6)
Pray Psalm 88.1-3.
O LORD, God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draws near to the grave.
Sing Psalm 88.1-3.
(Picardy: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent)
LORD of my salvation, hear me, as I cry by night and day!
Hear my plea, O LORD, bend near me; O, receive me when I pray!
For my soul is weak and weary, and my life draws near the grave.
Read Isaiah 53.1-12; meditate on verses 4-10.
Preparation
1. Why did the Servant have to suffer?
2. What did His suffering accomplish?
Meditation
Isaiah hands us a spyglass, and as we look through it, he begins to pull it out. Looking through it unopened, we see the record of prophetic utterances which have fallen on the deaf ears of a people (v. 1). Surely, they have gone so far astray from the Word of their Shepherd, that they can no longer hear His voice, or no longer regard it as important (v. 6).
Pull the glass out further and we see the Servant in His coming, an ordinary Man of the people, with no great beauty or stature to impress (v. 2). He is Immanuel, as we know, but in appearance in the flesh, He is one of us.
And yet, as we pull the glass out to another length, we see this Servant bloodied and beaten, disfigured and suffering (v. 5), and the people turning their faces away from Him, as one despised and rejected (v. 3).
Pull it out again, and we are astonished and broken to discover the “Why?” of this savagery. His bruises are our fault (vv. 4, 11, 12). His sorrows are the sorrows we should be experiencing, but do not (v. 4). God Himself has ordained the striking and afflicting of this good Servant, that He might be bruised and wounded with many stripes, so that we, through His suffering, might know peace and healing (v. 5).
Do not fail to miss the fact that Isaiah does not say you and your in these verses. Like Daniel in Daniel 9, he includes himself—and us, who read these words—among the guilty for whom the Servant suffers.
Thus, what we see in the first length of our spyglass—our wandering and clinging to our own way—leads to what we see in its fullest extent—a Servant sent by God as a new covenant, to bear His wrath against us, carry our sins away in His own body, and bring us the promised healing and peace of the Lord.
And yet the promise of new life in the pleasure of the Lord follows hard on the Servant’s suffering (vv. 10, 11).
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Jesus knew this Scripture. He knew what awaited Him.
Thus:
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
“And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Lk. 22.42, 44).
“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death…O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26.38, 39).
“Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (Mk. 14.36).
“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, ‘Whom are you seeking?’ And they said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I AM He.’” (Jn. 18.4, 5).
However:
“…Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (Jn. 13.1).
Therefore:
“…to this you were called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that you should follow His steps:
‘Who committed no sin nor was deceit found in His mouth,’
Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return;
when He suffered, He did not threaten,
but committed Himself to Him Who judges righteously;
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
that we having died to sins, might live for righteousness—
by Whose stripes you were healed.
For you were like sheep going astray,
but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Pet. 2.21-25).
“Man of Sorrows,” what a Name for the Son of God Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim! Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood; Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile and helpless, we; spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement” can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die, “It is finished,” was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high; Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King, all His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew this song we’ll sing: Hallelujah! What a Savior!
(Philip P. Bliss, 1875)
For us, He was the Suffering Servant.
Reflection
1. Why was it necessary for Jesus to undergo such suffering?
2. How does this affect your attitude toward Him?
3. We have died to sins through the death of Jesus. What does that mean for us now?
It is a prophecy of him and of his kingdom, which those that waited for the Consolation of Israel read with pleasure. This Child was born for the benefit of us men, of us sinners, of all believers, from the beginning to the end of the world. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Isaiah 9.1-7
Pray Psalm 88.13-18.
Thank the Lord that He suffered so greatly for our sins. Pray for His strength to sustain and defend you as you serve Him today.
Sing Psalm 88.13-18.
(Picardy: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent)
Morning comes and, LORD, I am crying: Why do You my soul reject?
From my youth have I been dying; pain and terrors sore afflict.
Fear and anger, sorely trying, overwhelm, destroy, reject.
All day long my foes surround me, like a threat’ning, rising flood.
Circling round they sought and found me, taking from me all that is good.
Friend and lover gone, they hound me—all my friends in darkness stood.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
