40 Days in the Word - Day 14

Day 14 – Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Coming Messiah

Isaiah 9, 53, and 61

People often say that the message of the Old Testament prophets is difficult to understand, remarking that the symbols and language of prophecy are mysterious.  Today’s reading takes us to the prophecies of Isaiah, but these prophecies are quite easy to interpret as they point directly to the coming of Jesus.  Writing some 700 years before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Isaiah encourages his people that God would send a Messiah—the Christ—to save them and redeem them.  Some of the most beloved and familiar Old Testament verses about Jesus are found in these prophecies of Isaiah.  It is difficult for me to read some of them, such as 9:6, and not to think of majestic music anthems and sermons that proclaim Jesus as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.  Isn’t it interesting that Isaiah had such a clear picture of Christ, even centuries before He was born?  Don’t forget also that these prophecies remind us that God had prepared to send Jesus to be our Savior before the foundations of the world (Revelation 13:8).  Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection were not some last minute, hastily prepared emergency relief plan.   Aren’t you glad that God is always in control, even before the foundations of the world?

As I read through the famous prophecy in Isaiah 53, I was drawn to the phrase in verse 10, which says: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him . . .”  What do you think the prophet meant by saying that the death of Christ would “please” the Almighty God?  Surely it doesn’t mean that He took pleasure and delight in seeing His only begotten Son brutally crucified, does it?  This prophecy also clearly states that Jesus would die for the sins of others, not for His own sins since He was sinless.  I am emotionally moved to consider that God was willing to suffer loss for me.  It “pleased” Him to come to my rescue, even though it would cost Him more that I could ever possibly imagine, or ever possibly repay.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you that God is a mean-spirited, wrath filled God who delights in punishing people.  Instead, remember that He was willing to suffer loss and humiliation for our benefit.  God was “pleased to bruise Him” for our sake.  As the old song says:

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.