Isaiah 52
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
Isaiah 53
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
This week is acknowledged by churches across the world as the week of the suffering, the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. He entered Jerusalem in all humility and meekness. The crowds who cried Hosanna cried for his blood soon afterwards. We cannot depend and place our trust in human beings who that are so fickle; one day like this and the next day, the opposite.
Our Lord entered on a donkey as a servant, not in pomp as a king would do it, but in all humility. “Behold, my servant…” our text declares.
We should treat this week as very special and draw near to the Crucified One.
We need to understand afresh why Jesus was made “a curse” for us and why our “iniquity was laid upon Him”.
He was cursed for you because of the very sins that you cling to and love. He bore the punishment for those very sins. He came as “a servant” for you. If this would dawn on you and God reveals it to you, you would immediately repent and part from those pet sins. It would be the finishing off of sin because of the power of the death of the “Servant”.
Just ponder upon the truth that He was crucified for you and me. May you see the “Lamb of God who was slain” for us. Then your life is permanently changed and you never go back in the same way.
Most forget the Lord’s passion this week and carry on with their own desires. A police officer told me recently that Easter is their worst time because people get drunk, fight and many crimes are committed. But to the one who has a glimse of the Servant, He is precious and beautiful, and saves from sin.
The Palm branches, laid out for Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey, symbolizes peace and joy – multiplied joy. There is peace and joy with regards to God and our fellow man.There is no jealousy, fighting or disputes, but real peace, joy and pure love. The person who says he has peace with God and does not have peace with his fellow brethren in Christ, is a liar. His children will be the first to reveal his the lie he lives.
Jesus said we must forgive one another as He forgave us. Even in death, Christ forgave His enemies.
You cannot be a believer and have a root of bitterness in your heart against a fellow Christian. If you nurse grudges and bitterness you will waste years of your life, and if you continue in that evil way instead of repenting of it, you will one day be rejected at the Judgement seat of Christ. The Blood of Jesus, applied to the bitter heart, sets free and revolutionizes the life.
How can you ask God to forgive your sin when you continue to gossip about your brother? Perhaps a fellow Christian borrowed a small amount of money from you and forgot to repay. You hold a grudge against him, and even slander him, and you refuse to forgive such a small trespass. Yet your debt with God is so big that you can that you can never repay. If you do not forgive your brother neither will God forgive your trespasses. Christ taught us “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”
The religious leaders should have loved Him, yet they spat upon Him and despised Him. It is the king of devils, Beelzebub, who rules such hearts. They despised Him as a carpenter from Nazareth. If you turn away from Him, you have exactly the same spirit as these religious leaders who demanded His crucifixion.
They couldn’t see anything good in Him and saw nothing attractive in Him. When He reveals His way to you and you reject Him, there must be something radically wrong in your heart and life.
The Lord promised that their rejection of Him will extend to the salvation of the Gentiles. Are you a Gentile who has the same spirit of those who hated Christ and just wanted His death?
The same lowly servant who was despised “shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.”
Many do not know the “arm of the Lord” (as found in chapter 53 verse 1). They find: “no form nor comeliness in Him – there is no beauty” in Jesus, to those who hate Him. But to those who love Him, who have experienced the “arm of the Lord”, He is the most beautiful One to behold.