Christ’s Vicarious Suffering – A Messianic Prophecy

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” –Isaiah 53:4-6 (NKJV).

Webster defines “vicarious” as “serving instead of someone or something else; in the place of.”  Scholars define verses 4-6 of Isaiah 53 as bearing the central theme and the very heart of the “Suffering Servant” passage (Isaiah 53).  The Suffering Servant bore the penalty of others’ sins.  He Himself was innocent.  That was the whole thesis of the redemption.plan:  the just for the unjust; the innocent for the guilty.  His wounds were marked with our transgressions.  His bruises took the brunt of our iniquities.  In His chastisement, He was our shield to guarantee us peace.  When stripes were angrily directed upon His body, the stripes bore our own healing from guilt and sin.  Then in poetic illustration the prophet declares:

            We have gone astray like sheep.

            We have chosen our own way.

            He bore the heavy load of our iniquities.

            Vicariously, He took our sins away!

At Christmas we have tender thoughts of the Baby in a manger.  We hear glad songs of angel chorus singing above the din of human cacophonies:  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will to men.”

But ever in the background of the manger and shepherds, of wise men and Joseph, Mary and the Babe, the cross looms.  It is as immanent as night and day, as sure as darkness following sunset.  And why the cross?  It was the most terrible form of Roman death, the ultimate for the worst offenders of the Pax Romana.  Although Pilate would declare, “I have found no guilt in him deserving death” (Luke  23:22), as ruler he still gave way to the demands of the crowd and delivered Jesus up to be crucified.  Although Jesus Himself was innocent, without sin, He became as the guilty one, wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities,”  the vicarious sacrifice for all time and for all people.  He was “smitten by God and afflicted.”  This is almost incomprehensible to us, that God Himself would be the ultimate authority to permit the sufferings of the Servant.  He could easily have sent ten thousand angels to save Him from death.  At the moment of darkest sin-bearing when God could not look upon Jesus on the cross because of the weight of sin that covered Him, God turned His face. Then we have the most pitiable of all the sayings of Jesus on the cross:  “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (see Psalm 22:1 and Matthew 27:46).  But it was at that point that the vicarious sacrifice was made for us.

Prayer:  We cannot understand the vicarious suffering of the perfect, sinless Son of God for our sins, we who like sheep, stupid and helpless, have all gone amiss of God’s perfect creation of us and His intention for us.  But through the Suffering Servant’s vicarious sacrifice, we are restored, brought into the eternal fold of God.  At Christmastime and every day, we thank you, Lord.

A Man of Sorrows and Acquainted with Grief – A Messianic Prophecy

“Who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground.  He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.  He is despised and rejected by men, A man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.  And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” –Isaiah 53:1-3 (NKJV).

Isaiah writes of the “Suffering Servant” in the past tense, so assured is he that the Messiah will be “wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities”(Isaiah 53:5).  He begins the account of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 52, and continuing it, asks, “Who has believed our report?”  Isaiah uses the past tense of verbs to tell of the Suffering Servant.  Known as the past prophetic perfect, he views the future as if the event is already accomplished.  The rhetorical questions he asks:  “Who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” have the implied answer, “No one.”  Isaiah’s exceptional poetic language describes the obscurity, appearance and rejection of the Messiah.  Not like a stately tree, noticed and admired by all, the Messiah would be as “a tender plant,” struggling in arid soil.  And so the human life of the Messiah would be one of obscurity and humility.  We think of the fulfillment of this prophecy.  We know of the humble circumstances of the birth of the Lord, the record of the famly’s flight to Egypt to escape the death decree for little children, and then of the family’s return to Nazareth.  But there is silence until He is twelve and is in the Temple, talking with the doctors of the law, being, as He said, “about His father’s business.” Again, obscurity from age 12 until about age 30 when He is announced by the forerunner, John the Baptist, (also predicted in prophecy), and enters upon His brief years of public ministry and teaching. Then came trouble with the Jewish authorities that led to his death.  Isaiah, in the focal passage for today, foresees how the Messiah will be “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

The question, “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” is quite probing and calls us to reflect upon God’s revelation of Himself to the people.  There is a stark contrast in power between “the arm of the Lord,”indicating strength and power, and “a root out of dry land,” the latter image being one of weakness.  Let’s consider “the arm of the Lord” and its appurtenances.  In creation, God used His fingers as the Psalmist declared:  “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him? (Psalm 8:3-4, NKJV).  When God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, it was by His strong hand:  “for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place” (Exodus 13:3).  Yet when the Suffering Servant came to redeem mankind it was by “His mighty arm.”  And the sad commentary, given in the past tense by the prophet Isaiah, and now in the era following the coming of Messiah and the mighty sacrifice His death accomplished, Isaiah’s prophecy is still coming true.  Mankind still rejects the Savior.  While the Savior lived and walked among men, John records: “But although He had done so many signs before them they did not believe in Him” (John 13:37).  So strong did John see this as fulfillment of prophecy that he quoted Isaiah 53:1 to substantiate that Jesus was indeed the Suffering Servant.  We come now, in the year of our Lord, 2012.  A great controversy exists concerning the “political correctness” or the “offense to some” of including Christ in the very mention of Christmas.  This is the “Holiday Season.”  Does this not echo for our day, strongly and with the guilt associated with the omission, that even in our day He is “despised and rejected of men”?

Prayer:  Lord,  may  we  each  make  this  holy  season  of  Christmas  a  time to reflect upon our own relationship with the Lord Christ.  May we accept and glorify, not despise and reject.  Amen.
 

How Beautiful the Feet of God’s Messenger

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet  of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘your God reigns.’  The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice, together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.  Break forth together into singing you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people:  He has redeemed Jerusalem.  The Lord has bared His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” –Isaiah 52:7-10 (ESV).

Today we cannot tune onto a television or radio newscast, read a newspaper or talk with friends without hearing bad news.  Doom and gloom are too often the subjects we talk about and dwell upon.  “In these times,” we often say, “all we hear is bad news.”  Contrast our day to the time when Isaiah penned the words in our focus for today.  He was writing a message to Zion—to the Israelites in Babylonian captivity.  In this beautiful hymn telling of God’s coming deliverance and salvation, he implores “Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city.”  How like Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 6:10-20 to put on the whole armor of God!This message of Isaiah was intended to bring hope and encouragement, even joy, to the captives in Babylon.  The day of the Lord, a time of deliverance was coming.  No longer would they have to cower in sackcloth and ashes, but they could put on the garments of rejoicing; for oppression—the bad news, even living the bad news—would have its end. This message also speaks of “end times” hope and the triumph of the believers.  So much is carried with the messenger with “beautiful feet”!

This section of Isaiah and subsequent chapters, especially Isaiah 53, constitute the Messianic hope message of the prophet.  “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).  And how beautiful upon the mountains are those who tell forth this message!  The good news may at times be ignored and seemingly lost amidst all the clamor of bad news.  The main message, despite the naysayers, is “Your God reigns!”(Isaiah 52:7)  God’s people are to take hope and listen to the messengers who bear God’s news.  It is the news that will ultimately triumph.  This is a sure promise from Sovereign God:  “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:10) The Israelites in captivity may have wondered at Isaiah’s optimistic message.  How could he hold forth hope when they were oppressed and far from their beloved Jerusalem, with not even the hope of going to the holy city at times of religious festival to worship God in “His holy hill”? Isaiah wanted his own people, and us today to hear, for his message miraculously has come to us, and we hold forth hope.

Hope is at the heart of God’s message of love for any age.  And they who bear that message, are distinctive and engender hope:“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news!” (v. 7).  Paul reiterates this theme in Romans 10:14-17: “How, then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’  But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’  So, then, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  I recall with gratitude when my husband felt the distinctive call of God to be a bearer of this marvelous message of the ages.  His ministry was, geographically, to the people who dwelt in the mountain region of the state of Georgia. His were, indeed, as the prophet foretold, “beautiful feet upon the mountains.” Such are the feet of those who bear the good news of Jesus Christ wherever they are.  Thank God today for the beautiful feet of those who are faithful to tell God’s message and who give hope amidst the bad news!  Indeed, “our God reigns!”

We Are His Sheep

“Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”-Psalm 100:3 (ESV). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” –Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) “To Him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him , for they know His voice.” –John 10:3-4 (ESV). "My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” –John 10: 27-28 (ESV).

Jesus called us His sheep. He told us He himself is the Shepherd of the sheep. How are we to understand and accept these concepts? First of all, we need to rid ourselves of some non-constructive ideas about sheep. We think of sheep as not having much intelligence, of being dumb animals. They can’t easily find their own food but must be led to green pastures by the shepherd. When lost, they cannot find their way home without help. They are subject to many predators and can hardly defend themselves. Overall, is it a compliment, then, to be called a sheep?

We must realize that some of the negative characteristics of sheep can also be turned to a positive as it relates to the symbolic relationship of the Christian and the Lord—or sheep and their Shepherd. Since sheep are helpless animals, they learn to depend on the shepherd for their needs. And a good shepherd will look to the needs of his flock, day and night. When we think about it, we are as lost sheep wandering in the wilderness of life. We are clueless and helpless without the Shepherd’s voice and guidance. “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me” so we learn in Psalm 23:4b.

When I was a child, I was around sheep and learned to know their nature. Each morning the weather was clement enough, my job was to take the sheep from the sheepfold where they were sheltered along the pathway out to the pasture where they were to graze during the daytime. I can still hear their bleats as they followed me. I didn’t drive them like I did the cows, that could find their pasture with my walking behind. But the sheep needed me to go ahead, to lead the way. Oftentimes during the day, when I was not in school, my task was to go check on the sheep to see if they had made it to water, and had found a greener spot to graze farther along. They were not good at finding their own sustenance, water or shade. When I went for them in the evenings, they seemed glad to see me and to follow me to their fold. Those sheep had a complete trust in me and other members of my household who took care of them. They depended on us and rallied when they heard our voice. Just such a trust is expected in the relationship Christ has with us. We can rely on Him for what we need. Because we go astray like sheep, the Lord rescues us. Because we hunger like sheep, the Lord feeds us from His Word. But the most important aspect of the relationship in Shepherd to sheep is that He knows each one of us by name and He provides a haven, a place of rest—both in this world and the next. We don’t have to worry about sheepfold, provision, or protection when we are under the Shepherd’s care. Take time to consider the beauty and solace of sheep/Shepherd relationship. Thank Him that you are His sheep safely in His pasture.

Scapegoat Needed No More!

“But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness..And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.”-Leviticus 16:10, 26. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins...then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” –Hebrews 10:4, 9-10 (references from NKJV).

In the ancient customs of Hebrew worship, it was necessary for the priest to offer sacrifices for sins. A bull sacrificed in a certain way assured the taking away of the priest’s sins. Two goats, one for a blood sacrifice, and one upon which the priest ceremoniously placed the sins of the people by the laying of his hands on the goat’s head, was to be released into the wilderness, thus taking far away the sins of the people. A full account of this custom and how it was carried out according to law is described in Leviticus 16. This was done on the Day of Atonement, once a year, when the priest led this solemn, serious duty.

Jeremiah began to realize that a new day was coming when this yearly sacrifice and the releasing of the scapegoat would not be necessary. We read in Jeremiah 31:33-34: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord, ' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them' says the Lord. 'For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.'" (NKJV)

The letter to the Hebrews makes clear that the “new day” Jeremiah prophesied about has truly come. Read Hebrews 1:1-3 to be assured that Jesus Christ indeed came to purge our sins and to sit down at the right hand of the Father, victorious and exalted. There is no more need for the scapegoat of old who was ceremoniously released to take the people’s sins into the wilderness. Hebrews 10 reemphasizes that animal sacrifices are insufficient, and, moreover, are no longer needed. The writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 40:6-8 that states God did not desire nor take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices. “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14). Praise be to God, Jesus is our sacrifice, our offering, the One Who “bore the sin of many” (Isaiah 53:12).

The hymn written by Philip Paul Bliss in 1873, “Once for All” is hardly ever heard any more—in fact, may not be published in modern-day hymnbooks. But in the country church where I grew up, we used to sing it, thinking about the depth and truth of the theology in the words of the hymn:

“Once for all, O happy condition,

Jesus has bled and there is remission,

Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,

Grace hath redeemed us once for all.”

Chorus:

“Once for all, O sinner, receive it;

Once for all, O brother, believe it,

Cling to the cross, the burden will fall,

Christ hath redeemed us once for all.”

I had a wonderful worship experience by accessing this hymn online, hearing a beautiful piano rendition of it played the way we sang it in past years, and thanking God that the scapegoat sacrifice of old is no longer needed. Thanks be to God