"Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance. Nothing to attract us to him." Isaiah 53:1-2
Jesus made Himself available to us. He was approachable. Do you think you would have been able to pick Him out of a crowd? Jesus didn't come from money. He didn't have great lands to share. He wasn't beholding of grand beauty so that He stood out among all others. He was a simple man.
He was despised and rejected-a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care." Isaiah 53:3
Jesus wasn't that popular guy everyone wanted to be friends with. Most didn't want to be seen with Him. If so, that could have very well meant their death as well. We often feel so alone and rejected in our own way. Jesus knew that pain. Yet, He continued on in His ministry, knowing very well that some would turn away from Him. Would you have been one who stayed by His side?
"Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishement for His own sins! Isaiah 53:4
Can you imagine the weight He carried? The sin that covered Him? Really, would God punish His own Son? What I cannot imagine is why Jesus would want to die for me. He didn't have to do what He did. He chose to out of love. Out of obedience. He knew there was no other way.
"But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed." Isaiah 53:5
He knew it would take His life so that we could have life. Is there a love greater? If you were there that day would you have watched in horror as your Savior died or would you have turned and went on your way? Can we really say what we would have done 2,000 years ago? Jesus was willing to take the chance that you would stay. He was willing to walk the walk so that you could know Him today. After all this time, He is still calling. He isn't giving up anytime soon. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His love is never going to change.
"All of us like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's path to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth. Unjustly condemened, He was led away. No one cared that He died without descendants, that His life was cut short in midstream. But He was struck down for the rebellion of my people." Isaiah 53:6-8
Can you see the cross? That cross no longer holds our Savior. That cross is empty today. Even death could not hold Him down. He won that battle. He carries victory in His name. Although He was silent on that day, He is silent no more. Can you hear His whisper of love? Can you feel His forgiveness? His grace is only a prayer away. Through His willing heart, He gave us life eternal. He died a criminal's death for you and me. If it was only you, He still would have given all so that you could have life everlasting.
"He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But He buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man's grave. But it was the Lord's good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief. Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's good plan will prosper in His hands." Isaiah 53:9-10
See, Jesus wasn't the sinner in need of a Savior. We are. We are sinners in need of Salvation and Jesus is there, standing in the gap for you and me. He paved a way so that life could reach us. Heaven is real and is forever. On the other side of this earth lies a place so grand we can't even fathom the beauty it holds. A beauty that is ours because of a Savior that holds the scars of our sin debt paid in full.
"When He sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satified. And because of His experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for He will bear all their sins. I will give Him the honors of a victorious soldier, because He exposed Himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels." Isaiah 53:11-12
His death was for the greater good. God does nothing but good. He cannot do evil. Jesus was just in every way and through His life we find honor and royality. He has left us an inheritance with Him. We are His desendants. Won't you choose Him today? He has given all for you. He was silent so that all of heaven could hear your name being spoken by our sweet Savior. His life just isn't a story. It is real. Through His life we see life. There is no other way. The cost had to be. Our debt was paid in full. There is no I.O.U, my friend. All He is waiting for is your R.S.V.P. He is patiently waiting for your reply. He has laid out the red carpet for you. He has made life possible through His death. That's how much He loves you.
"But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." Romans 5:8-11
