1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed ? 2 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. 3 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. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken , smitten of God, and afflicted . 5 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 . 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 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
WHo hath believed our report? HAve the JEws? THe Arabs? HAve we even truly believed the report that Yeshua (JEsus) is the Messiah? We see in this beautiful chapter so many things, and yet two thousand years later the same old controversy, and the same old lie. When Satan tempted Yeshua after the fourty days fasting His question was simple: IF you are the Son of GOd do this, do that. Satan knew who YEshua was. He knew that if he could undermine Yeshua's self identity then he would cause Yeshua to sin, and others to fall and no longer believe in Yeshua. We know that his tactics didn't work on Yeshua, for later on in the Gospels, we have clear places where Yeshua openly states that he is the Messiah of Israel, the Son of the living God. So then what the demons had to do, was undermine mans belief in a saviour who would pay the price of the sins of the world. This has been the single most sucessful propaganda campaign in the world!
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: Why do you believe in Yeshua as your Lord and Saviour. When He walked this earth His appearance the that of other men, he was born and grew up like other men, and even died a horrendous criminals death. Isaiah says here that there was no beauty that we should desire Him, and yet Christianity is one of the three biggest religions in the world today - Judaism and Islam being the other two main contenders. The belief in our Saviour Yeshua has to be grounded on something more than an outward thing, for most people in the world have heard something about Him now, and yet many still want to make Him, just a man, a great prophet, - Can you defend your faith in 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. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken , smitten of God, and afflicted . 5 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: At JEsus time the leaders were not looking for a suffering servant, they were looking for a Conquering King, and their sages and Rabbis also understood that there would come a suffering servant Messiah. In fact it wasn't until 1050AD that Rashi first interpreted Isaiah 53 in a light as not referring to the MEssiah, but rather to the Nation of Israel
*, and such interpretation at the time caused outrage, but has gradually been accepted as mainstream as Jews try unsuccessfully to kick against the prophecies that prove Yeshua to be the messiah. Jews however are not the only ones who still today reject Yeshua. In fact many 'Christians' manage to also deny Christ, as to Muslims and other religions. I want to look at two ways though that we Christians can be guilty of it. 1. Building a false belief of the Identity of Christ. This is something that pervades almost every branch of Christianity today. 2. Denying that He is equal to the father. 3. Claiming that Yeshua was Created. 4. Denying THat Yeshua came in the same flesh that you and I have.
1. False Identity of Christ: In Psalms we are told that the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. (Note this is NOT the Capstone as some translations put it - a capstone is the glory of the building, the chief cornerstone is the foundation, that which if removed the whole building collapses, Yeshua told Peter that His confession of YEshua being the Son of the Living God was the rock on which the Church would be built.) We need to be careful that we worship the Messiah of the scriptures and not a figment of our imaginations, as this is our Foundation, and Paul tells us that no other foundation has been laid, save that which is already given - Christ Jesus. So we have to ask God to show us what view does the Bible give us as to who Yeshua is? The answers lie in taking the scriptures as a whole, and not in fragments. We find references in the Old Testament, to the Son of God, Psalm 2 says Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish from the way, Proverbs 30 asks Who has ascended into heaven? Can you ell me what is His name, and WHat is His Sons name? John 1:1 Tells us that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, At JEsus Baptism we See God declaring this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, John 3:16 decalres that GOd so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, in Revelation we are told that Jesus is the beginning of the Creation of God (This verse I want to look at again in a minute), Proverbs 8 talks about Wisdom, which we know to be Jesus, 24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth ; when there were no fountains abounding with water, and again in verse 30 Then I was by Him as one brought up with Him; and I was daily His delight rejoicing daily before Him. Many there are who will tell you that 'Arian theology'is incorrect, and that claiming Yeshua to be the literal Son of God, brought forth before the beginning of the world is saying that Yeshua was created, this is not so - Is the Father created? God forbid, so then how can the Father bringing forth His Son, be a creation? this does not line up. We are not told the mode of Generation that God used, in fact many cannot understand it so that they insist that there had to be a female deity as well (this is neither supported by scripture nor is it a correct thing for it limits God). However the most convincing text, for me at least, is found in Isaiah where He states of Himself, before me was no God formed, neither shall there be after me - Now this cannot be referring to any human, for all humans are 'brought forth' of the womb of their mothers except for Adam, but then many were brought forth After Him. Neither can it be referring to the Father, for the Father has always been, and there must one that 'is' in order to bring forth another. IT cannot be an Angel for we know that the Angels do not marry or Reproduce, in fact there is a line of thought which states that each Angel is an individual Creation - So this leaves only what the Text says Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. This leaves no doubt that The Son of God proceeded from the bosom of the Father. He is not being constantly generated nor is He less than the Father, (See Hebrews, For being in the Form of God thought it not robbery to be equal to the Father, but made Himself of no reputation).
2. Denying that He is equal to the Father. There is a line of thought that states that because Yeshua is the Son of God, He is not equal with the Father, and in fact calls Him a lesser God. This however cannot be the case, for Exodus 20 states clearly I am the Lord thy God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the House of bondage, Thou shalt have no other God before me. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 States Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one God, the word one here is Echad, the which I am indebted to Voice on Cf for the understanding that Echad is a compound unity. A compound unity is always made up of a group of equals. In the Gospels Yeshua tells us that He who has seen the Son has seen the Father, and that all the Father has He has given to the Son, and this includes His authority. In Hebrews Paul quotes the Text on Psalms that Yeshua has been given the Seat on the Right Hand of the Father, and in Philippians Paul states that Yeshua 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation , and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow , of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
3. Claiming that Yeshua was Created. Little needs to be said on this one except that it denies the very foundation of the Church. However there is one text which must be returned to before leaving this section: Revelation states that Yeshua is th beginning of the Creation of God. I understand this text to refer to the fact that before anything else was made the Father brought Forth His Son and Together they Created the Universe that we know.
4. Denying THat Yeshua came in the same flesh that you and I have. This one takes a little bit more time. There are many variations on this one, from the Catholic version of Mary being born sinless and thereby giving Jesus her Sinless nature, to just that Jesus had the nature that Adam had before the fall. It is not my intention though to focus on the wrong theories, but rather to hold up the truth and let the error drop away of itself. We know from what Isaiah says that there is nothing unusual about the Messiah, John states that any who deny that Jesus came in Human Flesh are to be anathema to us. However it is in Hebrews that we really find the complete picture of the nature which Yeshua took upon Himself. Paul states that: "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted , he is able to succour them that are tempted ." Hebrews 2: 16-18. If you look at Abraham, he had the very same nature that you and I have. We have recorded a lot of the mistakes and trials that Abraham went through and we see a very human,man who was by faith accounted Righteous - yet we have on Record also in Hebrews that Jesus was tempted in all ways like unto which we are tempted YET WITHOUT SIN. I ask now if, as some claim Yeshua had on Him the nature of Adam before the fall how could he have the mature of Abraham? or even be tempted in like manner to which we are tempted? IT doesn't hold up.
We need to be careful as to what we accept about our Saviour, who He is and what He is, and His unique place as Son of God (literal) and Son of Man, for our whole Salvation depends upon it.
Study to shew thy self approved.
More to come Tomorrow on Isaiah 53.....
Challenge: Who do you believe Yeshua is? Does you Idea of who He is line up with the picture portrayed in Scripture? Take a KJV bible, and Read through one of the four Gospels, and let the Holy Spirit guide you into the truth of who Yeshua is.
Will you Follow God's Road map?
*Messianic Christology by Arnold Fruchtenbaum Pg 54, 127
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