Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
How many times have you found yourself in a situation where you spoke the truth, but you wondered if anyone believed you? Our friend the prophet Isaiah found himself there often! In fact, do you remember God warned Isaiah about that when Isaiah had his encounter with God which resulted in receiving his commissioning from God? God had said “Go and tell this people” ‘be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving…” (Is. 6:8,9)
And so, as Isaiah was beginning to write this, perhaps the most remarkable of all the messages he received from God which we know as Isaiah 53, Isaiah wrote: “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Is. 53:1) There are two ways to interpret that question. First, it could be God Himself, Elohim, the God of Genesis 1 who said “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26) This is the singular/plural name of God, Elohim, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit asking who, of all humanity, who hear the messages of the prophets, who hears and believes and responds to Almighty God?
Secondly, it could be the prophets themselves asking who is hearing and believing their messages. By the time Isaiah was writing his messages, many prophets had come before him! Elijah (875-848bc); Elisha (848-792bc); Jonah (793-755bc); Amos (760-750bc); Hosea (760-715bc); Micah (742-687bc); Isaiah (740-690bc). Today, I believe God is asking the same question as He looks into the hearts of 8.3 billion people around the world. Who has heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who believes?
For those have heard but refuse to believe the Gospel truths, WHY? Why do they reject the truth? Why do they reject Jesus?
Of course, the second part of Isaiah 53:1 is a call to EVERY human being of all time who has lived anywhere in the world: “to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Psalm 19 answers this question and so does Romans 1:18-20. Both of these great Scriptures make the same logical case: each and every person, in every generation, living in every part of the world has had “the arm of the LORD revealed” to them. How?
First by looking in the mirror or feeling their own breath or heartbeat.
None of us created ourselves. We are each and all a creation of Almighty God and He sustains our lives every breath, every moment. That requires a power only found in Almighty God.
Second, look up at the sky, day or night, and see the tangible evidence of the creative and sustaining power of God!
Third, look at any living thing… grass, trees, flowers, animals of every kind…they all are living evidences of the genius design and creative power of God!
But, as we all know, that’s only the beginning for history and the Bible are filled with the accounts of God’s miraculous intervention in the human story. So, the answer to the question “to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” is EVERY human being that has lived!
But Isaiah more specifically calls us to ask a more pointed question: “to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” in the person of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ? And then Isaiah explains: “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.” (Is. 53:2) It means Jesus was born and grew up through His childhood and teenage years appearing like every other child and young boy.
Even though God incarnate, Emmanuel, there was nothing about young Jesus that led anyone who ever saw Him to presume He was God in the flesh. It is true Simeon prayed over baby Jesus in the Temple acknowledging He was the long-awaited Messiah; Simeon came to that conclusion because the Holy Spirit told him who Jesus was. (Luke 2:25-35) When 12-year-old Jesus was in the Temple discussing theology with the teachers of the law they were amazed at His wisdom at such a young age, but no one suggested Jesus was anything more than an unusually smart young boy. (Luke 2:41-52)
Isaiah continues: “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.” (Is.53:3) It means Jesus, even though God in human flesh, experienced every aspect of humanity…thirst, hunger, pain, disappointment, anger, frustration etc. It means Jesus had no human appearance difference from any other man of His age and upbringing.
It means as Jesus increasingly engaged His ministry of teaching, confronting evil and wrong, doing miracles, while many people were attracted to Him, especially for the miracles, (John 6:22-27) the vast majority of people both Israelites and Gentiles, went on about their lives paying little to no attention to adult Jesus. Many, in fact, sought to avoid Jesus, some actually engaged in opposing Jesus. A few eventually brutalized Jesus and killed Him! Even some of His own disciples abandoned Him in the heat of confrontation at the garden of Gethsemane that Passover night. (Matt.26:56)
So, I wonder my friends if on this weekend, this is a very good place for us to pause and ponder how you and I fit into these few verses of Isaiah 53:1-3?
* What have we believed about Jesus and what have we struggled with or outright rejected? How does God view our response to Jesus?
* What role does Jesus have in our lives, our thinking, our attitudes, our relationships, our professional lives…everyday, in September 2024?
Good questions to wrestle with, do you agree? And here’s a worship song to help us see ourselves as God sees us, and to help us look at our universe as God created it!
Today’s Scripture: Isaiah 53:1-3.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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