As many were astonished at you–
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind–
(Isaiah 52:14)
Sometimes we forget.
At least I do. I forget how wonderful it is to have your eyes opened for the first time. Like the man who was blind for the first 25 years of his life until doctors cured him through a new groundbreaking surgical procedure. Someone asked him, “What was the most striking thing you saw after they took the bandages off? What amazed you?” The man thought for a while, and simply said, “The color red.”
The color red.
I have grown used to it. I don’t see it as I should…I forgot. There is something else I forgot: The stunning beauty of Isaiah 53. Or should I say the grotesque beauty? Yesterday I was with a man who laid his eyes upon it for the first time, and he was amazed. He needed me to make sense of it for him, but as we unpacked chapter 53, verse-by-verse, he was awestruck. He had wonder in his eyes. Reading this with him, was like seeing red for the first time, blood red.
Have you forgotten 53? Let me show you what he saw and how he saw it. Here was our dialogue (CW = Chris Weeks, me. Man = The man who saw):
CW: “Have you ever studied how the gospel is written in the Old Testament? Have you ever read Isaiah 53 – it is a prophecy about Jesus that Isaiah recorded on a scroll 700 years before Jesus came to earth. I think it is one of the most important passages in all of scripture.”
Man: “Nope, never read it before nor heard about it. And wait…what do you mean it was written 700 years before he came to earth? That is impossible, how can you write about the life of someone before they lived? That’s crazy?!?!?”
CW: “That is the beauty of scripture. It is ‘inspired’. Have you ever heard of inspiration?”
Man: “You mean when someone motivates you? Like when my coach gives our team an ‘inspirational speech’?”
CW: “Nope, inspiration means ‘God-breathed’. God breathed on the person of Isaiah 700 years before Jesus arrived and moved him to pen words that perfectly described the events and purpose of why Jesus came to earth. In fact in Luke 24:44 Jesus said himself – ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”’ Do you see, the Bible is more than merely human stories, they are direct accounts straight from the Holy Spirit of God himself.”
Man: “You are joking? That is incredible.”
CW: “Well it gets better, let’s read Isaiah 53.
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
“Let’s stop there and I will ask you a few questions. If this is talking about Jesus, why does it say ‘He was despised and rejected…one from whom men hid their faces?”
Man: “Despised means hated. So people hated him, I don’t know why they hated him? He didn’t do anything wrong. And I have no idea why they would hide their faces from him, was he a scary monster?”
CW: “In a way he was. When he was nailed to the cross, the hatred of men had him beaten to such a degree that it mangled and marred his face in a grotesque form. This monstrous image of the perfect man disfigured is a picture of our sin. He became sin for us. We did that to him.”
Man: “Oh wow, I never thought about it. Why would God allow this to happen to his Son?”
CW: “Let’s keep reading and you will see why,
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
“Who is the person that smote Christ, and what do you think that means? And why would he do this?”
Man: “It says God did it? Huh? Why would God crush his Son? Ohhh…I see, it is for our transgressions and iniquity. You mean God chastised and disciplined him for us? What are trespasses and iniquities, and why would this be a reason to pound your Son to dust?”
CW: “Great questions! Trespasses are those times when you ignore the moral and legal lines God set up to protect us. Iniquity is when we actually enjoy ignoring God. And because God is Holy, he cannot look upon our sin and simply ignore it (see Habakkuk 1:13). Holiness requires justice to be done, and because we have trespassed and relished in it — in other words, we are sinners by nature and action – we must be judged. But God’s judgment is severe, it is eternal, and a mere human will never suffer enough to pay off their debt.”
Man: “WOW! SO JESUS SUFFERED FOR US?”
CW: “Yep, and he suffered for us willingly. Look at the next section…
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—everyone—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
I want you to notice something, it says “he opened not his mouth,” “he was silent,” because he knew his job on earth was to die. He didn’t fight God’s will for him, he took it, all of it, for us without complaint. So if you are wondering if God really loves you, remember, Jesus personally volunteered to take your place!”
Man: “Ohhhhhhh…(tears softly falling)…I see! I really see! (Quiet for a minute) One more question, is this where the phrase “Jesus is the lamb of God comes from?”
CW: “Sure is! Do you know why this animal is used to describe Jesus?”
Man: “No, not really?”
CW: “In the Old Testament, when a person sinned, they had to go to the temple and present a ‘spotless’ lamb as a sacrifice to take the sinner’s place. The priest would see if the lamb was spotless, if it was, the man would place his hand on the head of the lamb as a sign that his sin transferred to the lamb, and the lamb’s spotlessness transferred to the man. After that gesture, the priest would cut the throat of the lamb as a visible sign the lamb died in the man’s place. That is what a sacrifice is, a substitution, a stand-in to undergo punishment on another’s behalf. Now how do you think this picture relates to Jesus being our lamb?”
Man: “He was killed for me!”
CW: “Yep, the red blood that was spilled was seen by God as your blood. So now when God sees you, he sees his Son. His anger at your sin was completely paid for and satisfied when Jesus died. That is why Isaiah 53:10 says this…
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days.
God did all of this for you. Does that make sense?”
Man: (Eyes tearing up) “Yes…total!”
I got to see a blind man receive sight. I was able to wonder about Jesus’ magnificence through another man’s eyes yesterday!
Why is it so easy to forget?
