Lent 2020 Day 39

Scripture Reading

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

The fourth and final Servant Song is one that we are most familiar with because it is often quoted in the New Testament. It presents an image of the Servant of God as one who must suffer hardship and persecution and ultimately death. This is contrary to what Israel believed about God and his servant. The Jews were expecting a mighty, majestic Messiah who would come and defeat their enemies and rule with strength and force, but that is not the picture that Isaiah gives us here. 

We learn in this passage that the Servant of the Lord was not really anything special or impressive, he was rejected by men, and he was all too familiar with suffering and pain, and "he poured out his life unto death" (vs. 12). Our Savior suffered and died for us, not just for us, but because of us. Jesus endured the cross because it was the Lord's plan to save the world through the redemptive death of his son. Could God have chosen another way to forgive us and restore us to a right relationship with himself? Yes, but he didn't. He chose to use the cross to point the way home to him. 

The depiction of the servant in Isaiah 53 is also a reminder to us that if we are truly disciples of Christ then we must take up our own cross and follow him. We have believed a lie if we think that living for God is going to be easy, happy, and never have problems. If Christ experienced the things that Isaiah 53 mentions then why do we think that we won't? God is with us when things are good, but he's also with us when things are bad, the same way he was with Jesus. 

Bill Leonard writes, "The life of the living Christ is with us, even in the darkest places of our lives. So let us come once more to the cross and observe with trembling the suffering God-despised, rejected, rejected, wounded, and bruised. And perhaps with him, in the midst of our own suffering, we shall be made whole. Who would ever have believed it? A suffering God! Hallelujah!"

Prayer: Father, thank you for your servant Jesus who suffered and died so that I might have a relationship with you. Help me to see you in the midst of the darkness and suffering of my own life and cry out to you for help.