The Vision of the Messiah

ISAIAH  CHAPTER 53

Again Isaiah uses the messages from the Lord to tell the people of a coming Messiah. He mentions that the "servant" will have nothing majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was a man despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Yet he carried our weaknesses and we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sin. But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped and we were healed. We all strayed like lost sheep and left God's path, yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sin of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. He was buried like a criminal and put in a rich man's grave.

But the Lord's good plan was to crush him and fill him with grief, yet when his life is made an offering for us, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs.  He will have a long life and the Lord's plan will prosper in his hands.  Because of what he experienced, the servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear their sins. He interceded for sinners.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: Isaiah's prophecy speaks of Jesus who would suffer for the sin of all people. How could a person from the Old Testament understand the concept of Christ dying for our sins? The answer is in Isaiah's relationship with God.

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY? Doesn't is seem like a miracle that God drew aside the curtain of the future to Isaiah and let him see the coming Messiah? How wonderful that we have the Old Testament preserved to show that the story was told many centuries before it happened. And how wonderful that Isaiah understood the importance of this man and how he would be sacrificed for the sins of all the people.

Many people try to miscalculate the importance of the Messiah. True, he looked ordinary, but remember he was the SON of GOD. Do you accept him as the son of God? If so, welcome to the family of the righteous. We are made righteous not always by our own works, but by the Messiah's great work on the cross. We are justified because we have claimed Jesus Christ as our Savior. If you believe, your life of sin can be stripped away and you can be clothed in his goodness. I pray that you will become saved by his goodness.

Yours in Christ,
Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:



HEALTH: Pray for Gabe.


Pray for Arlene’s nephew David and for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life.


Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer and for her sister Wanda’s soul which went to heaven.


Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with a form of MS.


Pray for Robert Sargent who is quite ill with lung cancer.


Pray for Gary Summers, my friend from church, who has cancer.


Pray for Judy’s husband who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Pray for her too, that she can deal with the side effects of his illness.


Pray too for Charly’s husband Robert who is undergoing chemo for his prostate cancer. Update on Robert: he has one more treatment and then three months of waiting for his psat test to come back clean.


Pray for James’s sister Cynthia whose chemo has lost its effect as the cancer grows powerful.


SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary


RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John


LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian


SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake, survivors of the devastating tornadoes in our southernmost states and Joplin, Missouri. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.