The Essential JesusSample

Man of Sorrows

PRAY: Heavenly Father, please give me a deeper understanding of what your Son went through for me.

READ: Isaiah 52:13--53:12

REFLECT: In this well-known passage Isaiah introduces us to the "suffering servant" and in the process gives us a detailed picture of what Jesus would experience on the cross. What's amazing is that Isaiah wrote these verses about eight hundred years before Jesus lived! This highlights the unique nature of the Bible; it is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16).

The odd thing is that the people closest to Jesus, his disciples, missed the point of this passage. They wanted a conquering hero, not a suffering servant. It's easy to make the same mistake today. We assume God will work through the power structures of our day, so we spend a lot of time and energy trying to influence them. But the truth is, God often prefers to use the weak and the lowly to accomplish his purposes in the world (Luke 1:46-55).

So what details about this unique servant did the Holy Spirit reveal to Isaiah? The first and most obvious is that he would have to suffer (Isaiah 53:3, 7, 10). It's interesting that it was the "LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer" (v. 10). Sometimes God allows bad things to happen to good people, not because he's mean or enjoys watching people squirm. Rather, he knows that the hard road is often the only way to change our hearts and lives for the better.

The second detail is that the servant's suffering would pay for the sins of others (Isaiah 53:5-6, 12). That's the key to this passage, and it's exactly what Jesus did on the cross. Finally, Isaiah predicts that the suffering servant would eventually be restored and glorified (Isaiah 53:11-12), which is what happened when God brought Jesus back to life in his resurrection.

Isaiah couldn't have understood the full implications of what he prophesied, and it took a while for the apostles to figure it out (1 Peter 2:21-25). But we now have the great advantage of seeing the full picture of God's plan of salvation. The question for us is; how do we respond?

APPLY: Why do you think God often chooses to use the weak and lowly to do his work?

PRAY: Spend some time prayerfully responding to what Jesus did on the cross. You might want to admit your questions and doubts, or for the first time say, "Yes I believe," or from the depths of your heart thank Jesus for saving you.