ripple effect: vacaville

Read Isaiah 53:1-12.

So…this passage lies within the part where Isaiah is prophesying about the future–that a Deliverer is coming.

1. Could this person…this person who grew up before God, like a plant…could it be Jesus?
2. I’m going to operate under the assumption that it is Jesus. So…let’s look at this prophecy…
3. He wasn’t physically impressive. Nothing stuck out about Him. I think it’s interesting that God didn’t choose to come to earth looking like Brad Pitt.
4. Despised and rejected by man. Yeah…this fits the description. Acquainted with grief. Absolutely. Jesus wasn’t really esteemed like you’d think He would have been.
5. It says that He bore our rief and sorrows but that people looked at Him like it was His fault. At least I think it does. I struggle with prophecy.
6. “He was wounded for our transgressions.” He was killed because of OUR sin. It doesn’t get much clearer than that.
7. “He was crushed for our inequities.” Again, alluding to Jesus’ death on the cross.
8. “With His stripes we are healed.” What does it mean by stripes? Does this refer to the cuts on His flesh?
9. Back to the sheep analogy. We all like sheep have gone astray. Away from safety. Away from the flock. If a sheep gets away, it is rarely in a desirable position. It reminds me of last winter when I had a mountain lion come down from the mountains to eat some of our sheep during the middle of the night. Without a shepherd to spend the night with them outside, they were in serious trouble. And I woke up in the morning to see dead sheep. I only say that because I know that the sheep were safest if they stayed close by. And I guess, we like shep have gone off and put ourselves in danger. But, somehow Jesus takes on the tearing that the mountain lions give.
10. We also have a preview of how Jesus will respond during his trial. Take it silently.
11. You want a tough phrase to chew on: “It was the will of the Lord to crush him.” Wow…what do you think about that?
12. Wow…it talks about Jesus being rewarded for pouring out His soul like this. Can you imagine? Do you think God could really force Jesus to do this? Imagine the reward for Him.
13. And finally, He intercedes for sinners. Through His death it is possible. Wow. I really can’t think of anything fancy here. I wonder if Isaiah knew what he was writing down, what he was talking about when he wrote this…