Have you believed the message yet? Today is our last look at this passage from the prophet Isaiah. The man whose words we heard in the gospels was revealed in such depth almost eight hundred years before Mary heard his first cry. We’ll go over the full passage next week, but don’t delay trusting in the truth of this life-changing Word.
After all the suffering of this servant of God, today we will glimpse its purpose and fulfillment.
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:11-12 (NIV)
Have you ever seen a person who hangs on to suffering? They give their all (just short of death) for another person or their children, but when it’s not acknowledged or appreciated, they go through it all again. It’s like it never accomplishes anything.
Not so with Jesus. Yes, he suffered, anguished, as other translations use. It’s a deep, agonizing suffering that led to death. We know, as horrible as his physical suffering was on our behalf, it was nothing in comparison to the spiritual suffering he endured by being separated from Father God at that moment when the sins of the world were laid on his shoulders.
He endured it all—once for all.
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
1 Peter 3:18a
I can imagine that Peter was thinking of Isaiah’s prophecy when he wrote those words under the inspiration of the same Spirit. Isaiah tells us, again eight hundred years earlier, that after the suffering was endured, “he will see the light of life and be satisfied.”
I don’t crucify Christ, as some would say, every time I sin. No, he died once to cover my sins, past, present, and future. Past, at the moment I confessed my need for a savior; present, when I ask for his forgiveness in the moment; and future, because his blood was enough to cover whatever wrongdoing lies ahead.
Jesus satisfies my debt and yours too, and he recognized that when he said the words on the cross, “It is finished.” He had accomplished that for which he came, and once done, he would again see the light and be able to offer justification to all who believed.
Ultimately, the Suffering Servant has defeated death and gained the victory; and though in his death, he was numbered among the transgressors, in life, he now makes intercession for them and offers salvation they could never have known without his sacrifice.
The arm of the Lord has been revealed to you today through this message that is good news for all mankind. Yes, God allowed and even willed his Son to die, but not without purpose and confidence in a sure victory over sin and death. Now, because Christ has fulfilled the Father’s plan, we too can know victory over sin and death in our own lives.
That’s a great message to believe and share!
Grace and Peace