In order to be healed, you have to know you are sick.....
In the Old Testament, the primary thought given to the tragedies in life was: people suffer because of their sin. It was rather common to rationalize when others around us face hardships....it is the sin in their lives that were at the root of the various tragedies life seems to bring.
Then this Servant came, and announced we were all guilty....the tragedies of life was not to be viewed as "the sin of the few", rather, that all of mankind suffers, and there was no amount of good anyone could do to prevent it...except One...this One known as the Suffering Servant.
Chapter 53 of the book of Isaiah is the last of 4 songs known in Biblical studies as "The songs of the Suffering Servant". This phrase was actually brought to the public eye through a man named Bernhard Duhm, a German Lutheran theologian in his commentary on Isaiah in 1892. Duhm gave much of his life to the study of the Old Testament, and in particular the complexities found in both the books of Isaiah and the prophet Jeremiah.
These songs, or poems as some refer to, carries with them the very essence of Christ Jesus and the reason He chose to take the path...that led to a Roman cross.
We find in these passages how God has called His very own Son...to be a Servant..to all nations, and to lead them back to where they were intended to be...in the Kingdom...God's Kingdom.
Yet, as this process began to unfold, a horrible tragedy occurred. This Servant, God's very own Son, sent here to lead us all back...to the Homeland, was abused in the most horrible fashion. But this was different...He did not suffer these tragedies because of sin in His life...He suffered these tragedies because of the sin...in our lives!
And yet The Servant...in obedience to His Father and His love for us, chose to accept all this punishment, punishment that He in no way deserved, rather, punishment that mankind should be given and deserved. Why, because mankind embraced the "Call of The Rebellion", to leave the Homeland, become traitors of this very Homeland, and be subject to treason...for mankind had violated the very heart of their national security by not only turning traitor, but joining in terrorist attacks against anyone who supported the Kingdom...God's very Kingdom.
But...there was a way out...and The Servant has arrived...to bring us home.
The 4 "Songs of the Suffering Servant" are all found in the book of Isaiah. They are as follows:
1. Isaiah 42:1-4 This passage includes the announcement that The Servant will bring God's justice and reconciliation to all of mankind.
2. Isaiah 49: 1-6 This passage was written from The Servant's point of view.
3. Isaiah 50:4-9 This passage carries with it a dark outlook, yet The Servant is recognized as "The bruised reed that will not break".
4. Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12 This passage is the very heart of the 4 songs. It enlightens us to the fact what we have done to The Servant, and what we need to do.
In the New Testament, it is Luke, in his letter of the Book of Acts, who is first to mention the passages of Isaiah, and in particular Isaiah 53.
Luke writes and describes a specific scene where an Ethiopian eunuch was sitting at his chariot reading aloud to himself. He was reading from the Book of Isaiah...chapter 53. The eunuch expresses how he has no idea what he is reading...when suddenly the Apostle Phillip arrives and begins to explain this passage of the Sacred Scripture, letting it be known the the Ethiopian eunuch that The Suffering Servant found in Isaiah was none other than the Risen Christ...Jesus the Righteous!
Here then is a Gleaning from Isaiah 53: 4-6
" The Servant...The Servant of God...it is true, He is God's very own Son, yet He has chosen to become a Servant, because of His love for His Father...and His love for us.
The Servant did indeed become one of us in every way, in the very presence of His Father. He was a tender green plant, growing up in a very dry and parched land...nothing like the lush and fertile fields of His Father's Kingdom. This Servant looked like a scrubby plant in this earthen environment...listening and obeying His Father's very commands.
From a natural perspective, He really had no "magical appeal" as He voluntarily took on this role as The Servant. He did not enter the homeland of the Rebellion with any kingly pompous, nor would one conclude He was a most beautiful looking man. In fact, He really had no physical presence that would cause anyone to take a 2nd look.
Mankind did not receive Him with "open arms". The truth be told, He was despised, rejected, and forsaken by mankind...He didn't belong here...this was the home of "The Rebellion", and those coming from God's Kingdom...had been banned years before...from entering The Rebellion's homeland.
Yet, The Servant did not come for any of those reasons, He was focused on other matters entirely...like the pains and griefs of mankind...which He now could easily identify firsthand.
He did not take to heart the rejection...the very fact that mankind did not welcome Him...in fact, they did not want to even see Him. When The Servant spoke, mankind turned their backs and did not give thought to the things He said. To the many...He was a "nobody".
Mankind was so lost...so clueless...they failed to realize He was here...for them. The Servant actually suffered and endured great pain...and mankind thought the same about Him as they did of those around them, He suffered much because of some sin He embraced. He was regarded as the "Scum of Society".
But...mankind was wrong...and still is today. Mankind does not comprehend He came...for us. He endured much suffering...for us....He handled all the horrific pain...for us...He identified with sorrow...our sorrows that mankind has attained because of their excitement to join The Rebellion
We as members of mankind actually thought this Servant, the very Son of God as He claimed, suffered because God Himself was punishing Him. We thought all His suffering...He brought on Himself, and when He went to the Cross...He failed to prove He was God's very own Son.
The fact of the matter is we as a part of mankind failed to comprehend and have refused to accept...The Servant went through all this because He came to get us...and return us to His Father's Kingdom.
The Servant was punished, it is true...but not because of something He did. He suffered the punishment...because of us. Mankind rebelled against God, and God sent His very Son to rescue us.
So, what did mankind do? We ripped The Servant to shreds.
He was beaten and tore up from head to toe. We crushed Him...all of mankind joined in...rejecting the One who has come to rescue us.
Yet, The Servant took it...He took all the punishment we could muster...all the way to the end.The thing mankind could not overcome was His love for us. He was more than determined to get us home...with His Father...come "hell or high water". He opened the door...that would give us a chance...a chance to live, a chance to really live, a chance to discover our true freedom...through Him. Every bruise He received from mankind only brought more and more healing...to each of us. The Rebellion had no chance...against The Servant.
Mankind are like sheep...just as The Servant said...yet we are lost sheep...dangerously so. Even today many do not realize how apparent this danger is.
For mankind chooses to live life their own way, not giving any thought to the rescue made available by The Servant. For some, they don't even recognize...they are lost. In fact, some are very proud of their membership in The Rebellion, and arrogant to think they can face life
on their own.
Yet, the work of The Servant is...finished. All of mankind's sin against the Father, has been destroyed..by The Servant. Every bit of rebellion mankind has forged against God's kingdom, all this talk of rebellion, all the iniquities and the guilt...annihilated by The Servant.
The Servant, God's very own Son...took all the sin that was piled high upon Him...he took all of it...head on....and delivered mankind, providing a way of escape, and delivered a crushing blow...to the Rebellion. He was punished..for the sin of mankind...and now He lives!..and says to each of us today: "Come on Home!"
In the Old Testament, the primary thought given to the tragedies in life was: people suffer because of their sin. It was rather common to rationalize when others around us face hardships....it is the sin in their lives that were at the root of the various tragedies life seems to bring.
Then this Servant came, and announced we were all guilty....the tragedies of life was not to be viewed as "the sin of the few", rather, that all of mankind suffers, and there was no amount of good anyone could do to prevent it...except One...this One known as the Suffering Servant.
Chapter 53 of the book of Isaiah is the last of 4 songs known in Biblical studies as "The songs of the Suffering Servant". This phrase was actually brought to the public eye through a man named Bernhard Duhm, a German Lutheran theologian in his commentary on Isaiah in 1892. Duhm gave much of his life to the study of the Old Testament, and in particular the complexities found in both the books of Isaiah and the prophet Jeremiah.
These songs, or poems as some refer to, carries with them the very essence of Christ Jesus and the reason He chose to take the path...that led to a Roman cross.
We find in these passages how God has called His very own Son...to be a Servant..to all nations, and to lead them back to where they were intended to be...in the Kingdom...God's Kingdom.
Yet, as this process began to unfold, a horrible tragedy occurred. This Servant, God's very own Son, sent here to lead us all back...to the Homeland, was abused in the most horrible fashion. But this was different...He did not suffer these tragedies because of sin in His life...He suffered these tragedies because of the sin...in our lives!
And yet The Servant...in obedience to His Father and His love for us, chose to accept all this punishment, punishment that He in no way deserved, rather, punishment that mankind should be given and deserved. Why, because mankind embraced the "Call of The Rebellion", to leave the Homeland, become traitors of this very Homeland, and be subject to treason...for mankind had violated the very heart of their national security by not only turning traitor, but joining in terrorist attacks against anyone who supported the Kingdom...God's very Kingdom.
But...there was a way out...and The Servant has arrived...to bring us home.
The 4 "Songs of the Suffering Servant" are all found in the book of Isaiah. They are as follows:
1. Isaiah 42:1-4 This passage includes the announcement that The Servant will bring God's justice and reconciliation to all of mankind.
2. Isaiah 49: 1-6 This passage was written from The Servant's point of view.
3. Isaiah 50:4-9 This passage carries with it a dark outlook, yet The Servant is recognized as "The bruised reed that will not break".
4. Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12 This passage is the very heart of the 4 songs. It enlightens us to the fact what we have done to The Servant, and what we need to do.
In the New Testament, it is Luke, in his letter of the Book of Acts, who is first to mention the passages of Isaiah, and in particular Isaiah 53.
Luke writes and describes a specific scene where an Ethiopian eunuch was sitting at his chariot reading aloud to himself. He was reading from the Book of Isaiah...chapter 53. The eunuch expresses how he has no idea what he is reading...when suddenly the Apostle Phillip arrives and begins to explain this passage of the Sacred Scripture, letting it be known the the Ethiopian eunuch that The Suffering Servant found in Isaiah was none other than the Risen Christ...Jesus the Righteous!
Here then is a Gleaning from Isaiah 53: 4-6
" The Servant...The Servant of God...it is true, He is God's very own Son, yet He has chosen to become a Servant, because of His love for His Father...and His love for us.
The Servant did indeed become one of us in every way, in the very presence of His Father. He was a tender green plant, growing up in a very dry and parched land...nothing like the lush and fertile fields of His Father's Kingdom. This Servant looked like a scrubby plant in this earthen environment...listening and obeying His Father's very commands.
From a natural perspective, He really had no "magical appeal" as He voluntarily took on this role as The Servant. He did not enter the homeland of the Rebellion with any kingly pompous, nor would one conclude He was a most beautiful looking man. In fact, He really had no physical presence that would cause anyone to take a 2nd look.
Mankind did not receive Him with "open arms". The truth be told, He was despised, rejected, and forsaken by mankind...He didn't belong here...this was the home of "The Rebellion", and those coming from God's Kingdom...had been banned years before...from entering The Rebellion's homeland.
Yet, The Servant did not come for any of those reasons, He was focused on other matters entirely...like the pains and griefs of mankind...which He now could easily identify firsthand.
He did not take to heart the rejection...the very fact that mankind did not welcome Him...in fact, they did not want to even see Him. When The Servant spoke, mankind turned their backs and did not give thought to the things He said. To the many...He was a "nobody".
Mankind was so lost...so clueless...they failed to realize He was here...for them. The Servant actually suffered and endured great pain...and mankind thought the same about Him as they did of those around them, He suffered much because of some sin He embraced. He was regarded as the "Scum of Society".
But...mankind was wrong...and still is today. Mankind does not comprehend He came...for us. He endured much suffering...for us....He handled all the horrific pain...for us...He identified with sorrow...our sorrows that mankind has attained because of their excitement to join The Rebellion
We as members of mankind actually thought this Servant, the very Son of God as He claimed, suffered because God Himself was punishing Him. We thought all His suffering...He brought on Himself, and when He went to the Cross...He failed to prove He was God's very own Son.
The fact of the matter is we as a part of mankind failed to comprehend and have refused to accept...The Servant went through all this because He came to get us...and return us to His Father's Kingdom.
The Servant was punished, it is true...but not because of something He did. He suffered the punishment...because of us. Mankind rebelled against God, and God sent His very Son to rescue us.
So, what did mankind do? We ripped The Servant to shreds.
He was beaten and tore up from head to toe. We crushed Him...all of mankind joined in...rejecting the One who has come to rescue us.
Yet, The Servant took it...He took all the punishment we could muster...all the way to the end.The thing mankind could not overcome was His love for us. He was more than determined to get us home...with His Father...come "hell or high water". He opened the door...that would give us a chance...a chance to live, a chance to really live, a chance to discover our true freedom...through Him. Every bruise He received from mankind only brought more and more healing...to each of us. The Rebellion had no chance...against The Servant.
Mankind are like sheep...just as The Servant said...yet we are lost sheep...dangerously so. Even today many do not realize how apparent this danger is.
For mankind chooses to live life their own way, not giving any thought to the rescue made available by The Servant. For some, they don't even recognize...they are lost. In fact, some are very proud of their membership in The Rebellion, and arrogant to think they can face life
on their own.
Yet, the work of The Servant is...finished. All of mankind's sin against the Father, has been destroyed..by The Servant. Every bit of rebellion mankind has forged against God's kingdom, all this talk of rebellion, all the iniquities and the guilt...annihilated by The Servant.
The Servant, God's very own Son...took all the sin that was piled high upon Him...he took all of it...head on....and delivered mankind, providing a way of escape, and delivered a crushing blow...to the Rebellion. He was punished..for the sin of mankind...and now He lives!..and says to each of us today: "Come on Home!"
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