POWERFUL ARM / TENDER SHOOT
Greetings church family!
This week I invite you to meditate on one of the most important and poignant passages in all of Scripture - Isaiah 53. Here, the prophet Isaiah foretells the coming of the Messiah - One who would come to save the world entire.
Isaiah 53:1-2 - Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.
These introductory sentences carry so much contradiction, it seems. No wonder Isaiah wonders who will believe this message. How could the coming Messiah be described as the Lord’s “powerful arm”, and yet simultaneously be depicted as a “tender green shoot.” Wouldn’t the Messiah, expected to come as a king or a warrior, have something beautiful or majestic about his appearance, attracting many to him?
Isaiah 53:3-4a - He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
The unbelievable message continues. Shouldn’t a Messiah be heralded and praised Instead, Jesus, the coming Messiah, would be despised and rejected. He would be known as “a man of sorrows.”
It’s likely that most of the sorrow we experience is sorrow for ourselves. However, Jesus, the Messiah, felt sorrow predominantly for others, and for the broken condition of humanity. It wasn’t his own weaknesses and sorrows Jesus carried, rather “it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down.” And the beauty of it all is that Jesus chose to carry our sorrows and weaknesses. God did not force Jesus to take this on, it was of his own volition. John 10:15 says, "Just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep." This is why Isaiah writes…
Isaiah 53:4b-6 - And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Jesus never rebelled, so it wasn’t for his own rebellion he was crushed. Jesus never sinned, so it wasn’t for his own sin he was crushed. And Jesus' death on the cross was NOT a punishment from God. Rather, by his own will, Jesus sacrificed his life for his sheep. (again, see John 10:15). God honored Jesus’ desire by putting humanity’s sin on Jesus himself. Jesus knew that if he came to earth to reveal to humanity and the rest of the universe what perfect love looked like in word and deed, Satan and his kingdom would be exposed and would respond in the most cruel of ways, ultimately ending in death on a cross. Remember, Scripture tells us that Satan has come “to steal, to kill, and to destroy.” (John 10:10) What Satan didn’t realize was that by killing Jesus, who was carrying humanity's sin, that very act would mean healing and restoration would be available to all mankind.
What else does Isaiah say about the coming Messiah?
Isaiah 53:7-9 - He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
The gospel is scandalous, if you really think about it. Jesus, the Messiah, was condemned though he had done no wrong. The innocent Lamb was buried like a criminal, while you and I will enjoy eternal life, though we deserve condemnation. What a reason to wake up every morning and give praise to Father, the one who “has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.” (Colossians 1:13)
Isaiah 53:10a - But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him, and cause him grief.
Again, we must read this text in the light of the fact that, in John 10:15, Jesus states that he sacrifices his own life down for us. He was not forced or coerced by the Father. And, God “causing” Jesus grief should be seen as God allowing the devil to operate in his natural way of rebellion so that Jesus’ death would expose him and his plan for what it really is - one of deception and cruelty. Colossians 2:15 puts it this way, speaking of Jesus: In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
What will be the glorious outcome of the Lord’s good plan?
Isaiah 53:10b-12 - Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
This plan gives Jesus many spiritual descendants - sons and daughters of God! It turns sinners into righteous ones and many destined for death into an army of believers gifted eternity! Ultimately, just as a soldier who laid down his life for others is honored, Jesus will be glorified! Amen!
Church family, what a chapter! What a message! What a Savior! The tender shoot is truly the Lord’s powerful arm! I don’t know about you, but there is no doubt in my mind that God is for us, God is with us, and God loves us!
Be blessed!
Pastor Chris
