The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Summary of the Gospel - Isaiah 53"
The prophecy of Isaiah 53, penned seven centuries before the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, serves as the greatest Scriptural summary of the Savior's redeeming person and work.
"Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to His own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people was He stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him, He hath put him to grief. When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53).
A prayerful and careful reading of Isaiah 53 serves as a sanctifying Biblical experience for born again believers through so vivid a prophetic portrayal of the Lord Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Indeed, the passage begins with a question that could be considered rhetorical, but which actually ushers every reader to the brink of reality: "Who hath believed our report?" Much follows the inquiry in foretelling the person and work of the Savior. All beckons to our hearts, requiring an answer: "Have I believed the prophet's report? Has the nail-pierced arm of the Lord been revealed to me as the hope of my heart, and the ever present and active Agent of my life? Am I presently believing and applying its truth to every matter of my life and existence? Indeed, if Isaiah 53 reveals the Lord Jesus as the crucified, risen, and ascended Christ of God, the prophet's truth meets us in every moment and escorts us along every pathway of life. "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21).
We do well to frequently kneel in heart (and if physically able, in body) at this holy altar of grace and truth. Let us take our time, slowly reading, prayerfully pondering, reverently rejoicing, honestly repenting, and lovingly responding to this solemn, but sublime masterpiece of the Holy Spirit that so beautifully glorifies our blessed Master. We will arise in awed wonder and a more loving devotion to the Lord Jesus. Yes, Isaiah 53, the great Scriptural summary of the Gospel, written long before the advent of its glorious Subject, presently serves to sanctify our hearts with the Light that, as it shines upon us, cannot fail to shine within us as the glory of God…
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
(II Corinthians 4:6)
"And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
(Luke 4:17-19)
Weekly Memory Verse
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
(II Corinthians 4:6)
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