Isaiah 53 -- this poetic picture of the Messiah written and preached by Isaiah more than 800 years before Jesus was born. Remarkable in imagery. Shocking in detail. When we compare these words to the actual historical facts we have about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection we find that it is all here, even to the grave he was put in. It is remarkable how God reveals! And look at how God let Isaiah in on a picture of what was to come so long in advance. Pierced, bruised and beaten, whipped: all words that take us to the crucifixion. Crushed evokes the image of grapes. All we like sheep have gone astray... this is a common image for people, which Jesus evoked time and again.
So often in life, we can feel like life has done to us what we read here happened to the Messiah. We can feel beaten, whipped, bruised by the words and actions of others; we can get pierced by a comment; crushed by circumstances. And as those things happen, we can take it in, take it upon ourselves and not release it.
As we walk as a people through this chapter what my hope is, is simple: I would like us to reacquaint ourselves with Jesus and let him have all of us, all the stuff we’ve carried for so long and let Him carry us as he came to do.
People might say, “Ah, you just go to church because you need a crutch in life. I can do it alone.” But the truth is this, everyone needs to know that the stuff we are carrying has been taken for us, and we each need to allow this One to have our things too. If people could “do it alone,” why are we the most disconnected and lonely of all generations? How is that “going it alone” working for them, really?
We need each other. I need you. You need me and we both need Jesus. That’s the rock-bottom truth.
Come to worship to experience how God had you in mind when he prompted Isaiah to write this message.