What a wonderful name it is, what a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus. This song is rolling through my mind as I think about the last section of chapter 52 on through chapter 53 is entitled “The suffering and glory of the Servant”. This suffering servant is not just any random person who did a good deed, though there are many servants who have been very good, and many who have suffered. This chapter+ is clearly referring to The One and Only who: #willbeliftedupandhighlyexalted #wasdespisedandrejected #piercedforourtransgressions #oppressedandafflicted #ledlikealambtoslaughter…. etc. etc. etc. His name is Jesus Christ and He is my King.
For anyone who has been churched and read much scripture, or even sung classics like Handel’s Messiah, these are very familiar words. We have to remember that they are prophetic words written 700 years before Christ came, and not words written in the gospels that describe His love for humanity and commitment to His Father marching onward to the cross.
This is a beautiful chapter that should be read over and over again, dwelling and meditating on every descriptive word. I highly recommend that you do that! Read. Pray. Thank God. Thank the Son. Thank Isaiah.
Your meditation time might look something like this example. The last half of the verse that really spoke to me today was v.5b “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” The apostle Peter wrote “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep gone astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” 1 Peter 2:24-25. These are the words Peter uses to close the topic: “The conduct of God’s people in the midst of suffering”.
These are words to live by. The punishment. The penalty for my sin. Every single snarky attitude. Every jealous thought. Every time I wanted something and elevated that something above God. Every law that was broken against man and against God. A lifetime of that, stacked up and begging to be covered by holiness, and requiring life blood shed. The punishment that Christ suffered, has brought me peace. He suffered in my place. So what do I do with that?
I can feel grateful. I can express gratitude. Yes, I would be willing to bet that if we give God a moment to pause and reflect upon the weight of this trade, we’re all grateful. But what does it move us toward? What action? What attitude? Beyond saying that we’re grateful, we can act on our gratitude?
Lisa, what is the last thing that you actually sacrificed? What time? Just to help someone else. What effort? Because Jesus didn’t fit this into His comfortable life. He gave everything. ALL of His time was given to serve, teach, heal, help people and bring honor to His Father. ALL of it. I struggle more now with this than I have in a very long time. It’s empty nest time. It’s me time. I’ve earned it. I “deserve” it. That’s what the world says. And it’s really easy for me, and probably for some of you to fall into step with the world. There is no suffering. There is no sacrifice. The serving is done out of wealth, not out of poverty. (And I’m not talking about money.)
Completing the statement it reads “and by his wounds we are healed.” You know, If Jesus had suffered solely in His spirit, like we read about in the garden of Gethsemane, we wouldn’t have seen the sacrifice. Sin and separation from God happened and the only way to pay for the sin was to cover it by shedding blood. Beyond that, something that my kids say to me that if I don’t take a picture “it never happened”. In a sense, this is the picture. The stripes, the wounds, the body that was given up is the picture and the physical proof that all of the spiritual work that God does happened. It took the beating, bleeding, torn flesh, broken body and broken heart of Christ to mend me, to darn me, stitch me together, and make me whole and I can see the picture. I can remember it when I take communion.
Likewise, I think that there needs to be a physical, tangible picture of a Christ-follower’s life, for the people to see the reality of God’s healing power. Does that make sense? For me to say that I’m a Christian, and that God has accepted me as His child and healed me can be easily forgotten. I can write about it for people to think about and remember. But when world can see the peace and healing that God brought when He exchanged His death for my life, now it is real. Now it is actually happening.
One way that I can put that into practice is to help someone, every day. It’s something that has to be intentional. It’s something that requires sacrifice. In a small way, it provides a picture of the reality of God’s healing power in my life. Serving for His glory and not mine.
What can you do?