(4)  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:4

Explanation:

Isaiah did write that the Messiah would experience the griefs and sorrows of life. He predicted that those who he would come to would see him as an ordinary person- not particularly physically attractive, subject to everything in life that we endure. And what that would mean is that he would be assessed as someone that endured the punishment of God, and subject to the curse just like everyone else. He was esteemed as “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” What was the case that the rules of Israel made against Jesus?

(4)  Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. (5)  Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! (6)  When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. (7)  The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

John 19:4-7

They thought He was just another man who was claiming to be God. They thought that His punishment was just and brought about by God through them as God’s servants because they were “keeping the law”. Jesus was not punished by God for claiming to be God. Jesus was punished by God, as we shall see, but not for His own sin. God the Father declared multiple times, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

The resurrection is God’s final answer as to the acceptability of Jesus Christs identity and His sacrifice for sins.

Application:

Jesus told his followers that just like he would be rejected we would be, too.

(18)  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (19)  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (20)  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

John 15:18-20

(33)  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

We can count it an honor to be rejected for proclaiming the name of Jesus because He was rejected for us.

Respond:

Lord, help me to be willing to be rejected for you. Thank you for being rejected for us. Amen

(1)  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? (2)  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:

Isiah 53:1-2

Explanation:

Verse 2 emphasizes both the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ. What does the expression “tender plant” mean? Dr. John Phillips tells a story about a gardener who helped him understand what a “tender plant” is. The gardener pointed out that “all plants are catalogued in one of three ways: they are hardy, half-hardy or tender. A hardy plant is one native to the area.  It will take ready root because it feels at home there. A half-hardy plant is not native to the area, but it comes from a place that is similar.  It will readily grow where it is planted because it finds the climate, the type of soil, the temperature, and the weather similar to what it has been used to. A tender plant, however, well, that’s another story.  It comes from quite a different place.  It does not find the soil in its new location congenial, nor does it like the climate.  It really belongs somewhere else.  It is an exotic plant from far, far away.” 

Isaiah says our Lord was on earth as a tender plant.  He comes here from far, far away.  He was not a native of this planet of ours.  His nature was not like ours because He was God in flesh.  He had no sin nature, but rather He was absolutely holy.

Isaiah describes Him being like a “root out of a dry ground”. Imagine walking through the most barren dessert, as parched as anyone you have ever seen in any movie depicting such things, and there right in the middle of a sand dune you see a gigantic, bright green watermelon connected to a vine coming out of the ground. That would blow your mind.  You may even be tempted to consider it a mirage.

In terms of Israel’s history this is exactly what Jesus’ coming was like. The prediction is that He would be like a “root out of dry ground”. God had not spoken.  There had been no new revelation from God for 400 years.In terms of God working and revealing like He had, it was a time of desert.Jesus’ coming, like all that we celebrate with Christmas and Easter, was quite extraordinary. There was no new Word from God for hundreds of years, and then the Word made flesh, dwelling among us. Like a watermelon in the desert- like a root out of dry ground- he showed up and changed everything.

Hebrews, which we will be studying in the weeks to come, states it this way:

(1)  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets (2)  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Hebrews 1:1-2

Application:

When we get saved God regenerates our hearts. The Bible says that those who are in Christ are a new creation. We ought to be different from the world in the way we think, act, and live. When we get saved our new home and our new, first citizenship is in heaven.  We live for a new city and a new country. That means that like Jesus, we are no longer of this world, though we are in this world. We are missionaries, realizing that we are still on the earth to proclaim Christ to those around us.

Response

Lord, please help me to not love this world system, and to make sure that I identify myself as a citizen of heaven first and foremost.