12-19-12 strength in weakness Isaiah 53:1-12

The passage I read was Isaiah 53:1-12

You can find that passage here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+53%3A1-12&version=NIV

The verse that most stood out to me:

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed. 

As I reflect:

If you were to picture yourself about to be destroyed on a battlefield with many enemies of all types of weapons and then you pictured a hero coming to save you, what would that hero look like?  Would your hero be invincible?  Would they be as superman?  Would they fly onto the battlefield with bullets bouncing off them, swoop you up into one arm, drop you off on a hill to watch as they return to defeat all of your enemies before you?  How strong would that hero be?  Picture it.  Would your hero be as mighty as the hulk; picking up tanks and throwing them thousands of feet?  In most of our generation, we have come to see heroes as impervious to damage and immediate responders to our needs.  We don’t picture them as docile or timid.  We don’t see them as silent, but as outspoken representatives of the people, often making great and glorious speeches after having defeated some evil foe.  But here, we have a much different picture of our Messiah being prophesied and so Isaiah starts out with, “who has believed our message”.  He knew already that this prophecy will be a hard pill for many to swallow because it is a different image than most were expecting.  This Messiah whom we have come to call Savior is not at all like our dc and marvel comic heroes. 

The Messiah didn’t portray strength in the way that most of us are used to seeing it.  He instead, allowed His enemies to hurt Him.  When He was accused, He didn’t give a patriotic speech as music from nowhere built up to climax before He broke chains and destroyed the bad guy.  Nope, He was silent before His accusers.    He wasn’t 6’2” and 250 lbs of perfectly sculpted body builder standing in some flexible costume with blonde hair blowing in the wind and blue eyes.  He was a Jew who was likely short in stature, with dark waves or curls of short hair, bearded, brown eyed, and likely had a larger nose.  He had rough hands from working with wood and His skin was probably scared from multiple encounters working with wood and being in the elements for a lifetime.  He wasn’t met with the entirety of the world’s population cheering Him as their hero.  He was instead accused, spat upon, beaten, pierced, hung, and killed for something we alone were guilty of… Sin.  That’s my Hero.      

That’s the hero that Isaiah is prophesying about in this passage.  He said that we would look on Him and see Him punished by God and afflicted.  We would see Him taking our pain and bearing our suffering, being pierced and crushed because of us.  He says that is was by this punishment on Him that you and I receive peace today and are healed.  He says what Paul many years later said, that we all have sinned.  Calling us sheep and saying we all turned away.  Not a single one of us stood up for Him and protested during that time when He was led away.   But you see the point of this act being so different from that of common day heroes in the books is that this act was one with an eternal exchange being offered. 

Jesus could have appeared in a cape and flown down to the battlefield destroying enemies… But then there would not be any humans left alive.  For we were all enemies of God.  He could have come down and saved each of us from ourselves, but then we would have no free will to choose.  He could have forced the whole world to listen to what He said and taught us a new way, but how many generations would have passed before we again began to be disobedient and thusly deserve death?  I tell you it would not have taken even one lifetime before we again disobeyed the Lord.  God, in all His wisdom and majesty knew that for justice to truly be served (as our Lord is just), a price for the sin that we commit, must be paid.  And so Jesus stepped into time and became my Hero.  He set an example for us all, teaching what true strength is, what true love is.  Let us learn from the example of Our Savior and show by our actions how thankful we are for His taking our place. 

My response to the Lord:

Lord, I am thankful beyond words for what you have done.  You took my place, bore my pain, wore my shame for a sin you didn’t commit.  You healed me and gave me life and peace.  You alone deserve all my praise and worship and I am eternally grateful.  To you be all the glory forever.  Yeshua, teach me to be strong and silent before my accusers.  Teach me to lay down my comfort for others.  Help me not to be led astray, but to follow you in serving others.  My life is not my own; I am yours.