After the fall in Garden of Eden, we were without hope. Shame and disgrace and a painful death awaited us. God engaging with us showed us a temporary fix through sacrifice and then put us out of the garden. The sacrifices were wholly inadequate to remove our sins. The same sacrifices became part of most cultures of the world. Deep down we all knew that this was all temporary. Hope was drifting away. What were we to do? While He told us, when He brought the punishment. God had a plan. Later in Isaiah, He fills us even more.
Isaiah 53:1-11
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Have you ever been uncomfortable with your appearance? Perhaps something in your appearance that was less presentable? Jesus can relate.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Have you felt the sting of rejection and general feelings of being despised by others? Jesus can relate.
Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Despite the fact that Jesus was even rejected by us, He pressed on and instead of looking upon the cross with sympathy and embarrassment, we have chosen to almost glory in our sins. Many times, we have even bragged about it. Have you ever had someone hurt you and then laugh at your misery? Jesus can relate.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Silently, Jesus suffered. We often loudly demand justice for ourselves and seek vindication. Have you ever suffered and pressed on, not demanding your rights. Jesus has done it and can relate to the quiet pain.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Have you cried out in emotional agony, seeking God to rescue you, only to be met with silence? Jesus can relate.
The most basic version of the plan of God is that Jesus would experience all of the pain and turmoil that we have experienced. He was rejected, hated, and despised. He experienced oppression and abuse, but He came out victorious. While the details of the life of Jesus might look different, it definitely rhymes with ours. Jesus has walked from birth to death to resurrection. He made His journey without sin so that He would have the power to forgive and heal our lives. Jesus is showing us the better path and He calls out to us, “Follow Me.”
