"Our Suffering Servant" May 24 Readings: Isaiah 49-53

Today's Reading - Isaiah 49-53

Background

This passage introduces us to the obedient, suffering servant, who in our New Testament-exposed eyes is clearly Jesus Christ.

Devotional - Our Suffering Servant

In Isaiah 52-53 we have one of the great passages of the Old Testament, a prophetic tour of the Cross of Christ. It is hard to imagine that a passage written hundreds of years before Christ was born could so accurately describe the sufferings of Jesus as he bore our sins so that by his stripes our sins could be healed.

Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
 But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.
 We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished him
for the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6

I committed the sin, he took the punishment. 

He was wounded, I was healed. 

I went astray, he brought me to the Father in peace. 

It is the most amazing story of grace, love, mercy and restoration ever, and it was promised to Israel and to us hundreds of years before the events took place. Look at some of the prophecies about the redemptive suffering of Christ.

• 52:13-14 - Jesus will be raised and lifted up to be scorned, his appearance so marred that he barely looks human. 
• 52:15 - "kings will shut their mouths because of him." This Jesus, who was abused and neglected, will one day reign victoriously. 
• 53:3 - he was despised and rejected my men - a man of sorrows. 
• 53:4 - he bore our sins and was struck down by God because of them. 
• 53:5-6 - he would die in the place of sinners. We go astray but God places on him our sin and he is punished for them. 
• 53:7 - he would endure all of this without answering back, without opening his mouth. 
• 53:8-9 - Though he was without sin, he was given a "grave with the wicked." 

Summed up - an innocent servant, he would die horribly for the sins of others, making atonement to bring them into a right relationship with God.

Thank you God that you punished your Son for my sins - the just for the unjust. I can never repay you but I can only thank you. 

Think and Pray

Meditate on 52:13-53:12 and think about Christ's death for you.