Today's Scripture
One Year Bible Daily Reading – Esther 9-10; Luke 13:23-35
Scripture: Isaiah 53:1-6
Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering[a] and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces[b]
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
Contributed by Sue McCoy
Many believed that Isaiah was writing about the nation of Israel, however, the authors of the New Testament quoted Isaiah more than any other Old Testament book. They believe Isaiah anticipated the coming of the Messiah with remarkable clarity and that Jesus Christ was the suffering servant described in this passage. The suffering servant was rejected by men; they looked down on him and thought of him as “scum”. He suffered and knew pain first hand.
In chapter 2 of “Not a Silent Night”, the author imagines the pain that Mary felt as she watched her son suffer throughout his last day of humiliation and pain. The horror and fear she felt as she listened to the crowds screaming to crucify her son. The trauma of watching his flesh torn and his body pierced with nails. The deep sorrow as she watched her son’s life fade away as he hung on the cross. She watched, she wept, and she prayed as she tried to be strong for her son. She tried to understand how this could have happened. She did not know that Isaiah had said “God’s servant would be punished instead of us.” It was our pain he carried; it was our sin that ripped and tore and crushed him. He took the punishment that made us whole. “Through his bruises, we are healed.”
As we anticipate celebrating the birth of the baby boy that Mary loved as she held him in her arms, remember her pain and confusion at the time of his death. Do you know anyone whose life is filled with pain and questions? Share the love of Christ, the meaning of Christmas and your healing arms as they try to put the pieces of their life back together. Help them get all the way to the sunrise of Easter morning. That is when Mary could celebrate again.
Prayer
Heavenly and gracious Father. Please help us to see the pain in others and move us to share the story of Jesus with them. As we celebrate His birth, never let us forget the pain of His death and the healing we receive because of his bruises.
In Christ’s name, we pray, Amen.
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