Tag Archives: isaiah 53

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A Hope We Cannot Resist

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Max Lucado

In a concentration camp, a guard announced a shovel was missing. Screaming at the men, he kept insisting someone had stolen it.  He shouldered his rifle, ready to kill one prisoner at a time until a confession was made. As the story continues, a Scottish soldier broke ranks, stood stiffly at attention, and said, “I did it.”  The guard killed the man. As they returned to camp, the shovels were counted. The guard had made a mistake.  No shovel was missing after all.

Who does that?  What kind of person would take the blame for something he didn’t do? When you find the adjective, attach it to Jesus. Isaiah 53:6 says, “God has piled all our  sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on Him.”

Christ lived the life we could not live and took the punishment we could not take, to offer the hope we cannot resist!

from Facing Your Giants

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — That’s Jesus!

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Our Daily Bread

Isaiah 53:4-12

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. —Isaiah 53:5

As a Jewish kid growing up in New York, Michael Brown had no interest in spiritual things. His life revolved around being a drummer for a band, and he got mixed up with drugs. But then some friends invited him to church, where he found the love and prayers of the people to be irresistible. After a short spiritual struggle, Michael trusted Jesus as Savior.

This was a monumental change for a wayward Jewish teen. One day he told his dad he had heard about Old Testament texts describing Jesus. His dad, incredulous, asked, “Where?” When Michael opened his Bible, it fell to Isaiah 53. They read it, and Michael exclaimed, “That’s Him! That’s Jesus!”

Indeed, it is Jesus. Through the help of Christians and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Brown (today a Bible scholar and an author) came to recognize the Messiah of Isaiah 53. He experienced the salvation that changes lives, forgives sin, and gives abundant life to all who trust the “Man of sorrows” (v.3). Jesus is the One who was “wounded for our transgressions” and who died for us on the cross (v.5).

The Bible reveals Jesus, who alone has the power to change lives. —Dave Branon

God, I struggle with this idea of Jesus as Savior.

I know He’s a good man, but I need to see that He is

more than that. Please show me—through others or

through the Bible—how I can know for sure who Jesus is.

The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change hearts.

Bible in a year: Psalms 4-6; Acts 17:16-34

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The mission of the Son of man

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CharlesSpurgeon

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

Suggested Further Reading: Luke 15:1-7

It is strange what unusual places Christ finds some of his people in! I knew one of Christ’s sheep who was found out by his Master while committing robbery. I knew another who was found out by Christ, while he was spiting his old mother by reading the Sunday newspaper and making fun of her. Many have been found by Jesus Christ, even in the midst of sin and vanity. I knew a preacher of the gospel who was converted in a theatre. He was listening to a play, an old-fashioned piece, that ended with a sailor drinking a glass of gin before he was hung, and he said, “Here’s to the prosperity of the British nation, and the salvation of my immortal soul;” and down went the curtain; and down went my friend too, for he ran home with all his might. Those words, “The salvation of my immortal soul,” had struck him to the quick; and he sought the Lord Jesus in his chamber. Many a day he sought him, and at last he found him to his joy and confidence. But for the most part Christ finds his people in his own house; but he finds them often in the worst of tempers, in the most hardened conditions; and he softens their hearts, awakens their consciences, subdues their pride, and takes them to himself; but they would never come to him unless he came to them. Sheep go astray, but they do not come back again by themselves. Ask the shepherd whether his sheep come back, and he will tell you, “No, sir; they will wander, but they never return.” When you find a sheep that ever came back by himself, then you may hope to find a sinner that will come to Christ by himself. No; it must be sovereign grace that must seek the sinner and bring him home.

For meditation: We all like sheep have gone astray; we have all gone our own way (Isaiah 53:6); we have all ended up like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). The Lord Jesus Christ is the great shepherd (Hebrews 13:20), the good shepherd (John 10:11,14) and the giving shepherd who gave his life for his sheep (John 10:11) and who gives eternal life to his sheep (John 10:28). Have you been found by him and returned to him (1 Peter 2:25)?

Sermon no. 204

11 July (1858)

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Max Lucado – All Like Sheep

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Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all have wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way.”  You wouldn’t think sheep would be obstinate.  Of all God’s animals, the sheep is the least able to take care of himself. Sheep are dumb.  Have you ever met a sheep trainer?  Ever seen sheep tricks?  Know anyone who’s taught his sheep to roll over?  No.  Sheep are just too dumb.

When David said in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” couldn’t he have come up with a better metaphor than a Shepherd for sheep?  When David, who was a warrior and ambassador for God, searched for an illustration of God, he remembered his days as a shepherd.  He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep.  How he watched over them. David rejoiced to say, “The Lord is my Shepherd” and in doing so, he proudly proclaimed, “I am His sheep!”

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Alistair Begg – Then and Now

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Many followed him, and he healed them all.   Matthew 12:15

What a variety of sickness must have been presented to the gaze of Jesus! Yet we do not read that He was disgusted but patiently waited on every case. What a combination of evils must have met at His feet! What sickening ulcers and putrefying sores! Yet He was ready for every new shape of the monster of evil and was victor over it in every form. Wherever the arrow landed, He quenched its fiery power. Fevers, lameness, sadness, or the cold of dropsy; the lethargy of madness, leprosy, and blindness–all knew the power of His word and fled at His command. In every aspect of the battle He was triumphant over evil and received the homage of delivered captives. He came, He saw, He conquered everywhere.

It is still the case today. Whatever my own condition may be, the beloved Physician can heal me; and whatever may be the state of others whom I may remember at this moment in prayer, I may have hope in Jesus that He will be able to heal them of their sins. My child, my friend, my dearest one–I can have hope for each, for all, when I remember the healing power of my Lord; and on my own account, however severe my struggle with sins and infirmities, I can still rejoice and be confident. He who on earth walked the hospitals still dispenses His grace and works wonders among the sons of men: Let me go to Him immediately and earnestly.

Let me praise Him this morning as I remember how He worked His spiritual cures, which brings Him the most renown. It was by taking upon Himself our sicknesses. “With his stripes we are healed.”1 The church on earth is full of souls healed by our beloved Physician; and the inhabitants of heaven confess that “he healed them all.”

Come, then, my soul, declare far and wide the virtue of His grace, and “it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”2

1-Isaiah 53:5

2-Isaiah 55:12

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Max Lucado – Deception is Never an Option

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For the Christian, deception is never an option. It wasn’t an option for Jesus.

Isaiah 53:9 says, “He had done nothing wrong, and he had never lied.”  His every sentence true.  No cheating on tests. No altering the accounts.  Not once did Jesus stretch the truth.  He simply told the truth. No deceit was found in His mouth.  And if God has His way with us, none will be found in ours. He longs for us to be just like Jesus.

Proverbs 12:22 says, “The Lord hates those who tell lies but is pleased with those who keep their promises.”  Why the hard line?  Why the tough stance?  One reason is that dishonesty is absolutely contrary to the character of God.  God always speaks truth.  When He makes a covenant, He keeps it. When He proclaims the truth, we can believe it!  Because He cannot be false to Himself.

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Alistair Begg – Weep for His Pain

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With his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

Pilate delivered our Lord to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were intertwined among the sinews, so that every time the lash came down, these pieces of bone inflicted fearful laceration and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Savior was, no doubt, bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before; but this from the Roman soldiers was probably the most severe of His flagellations. My soul, stand here and weep over His poor, stricken body.

Believer in Jesus, can you gaze upon Him without tears as He stands before you, the mirror of agonizing love? He is at once fair as the lily for innocence and red as the rose with the crimson of His own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing that His stripes have wrought in us, does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely we must feel that affection glowing now within our hearts.

See how the patient Jesus stands,

Insulted in His lowest case!

Sinners have bound the Almighty’s hands,

And spit in their Creator’s face.

With thorns His temples gor’d and gash’d

Send streams of blood from every part;

His back’s with knotted scourges lash’d.

But sharper scourges tear His heart.

We may long to go to our bedrooms and weep; but since our business calls us away, we will first ask the Lord Jesus to print the image of His bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune with Him and sorrow that our sin should have cost Him so dearly.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “He was numbered with the transgressors.” / Isaiah 53:12

Why did Jesus suffer himself to be enrolled amongst sinners? This wonderful  condescension was justified by many powerful reasons. In such a character he  could the better become their advocate. In some trials there is an  identification of the counsellor with the client, nor can they be looked upon  in the eye of the law as apart from one another. Now, when the sinner is  brought to the bar, Jesus appears there himself. He stands to answer the  accusation. He points to his side, his hands, his feet, and challenges Justice  to bring anything against the sinners whom he represents; he pleads his blood,  and pleads so triumphantly, being numbered with them and having a part with  them, that the Judge proclaims, “Let them go their way; deliver them from  going down into the pit, for he hath found a ransom.” Our Lord Jesus was  numbered with the transgressors in order that they might feel their hearts  drawn towards him. Who can be afraid of one who is written in the same list  with us? Surely we may come boldly to him, and confess our guilt. He who is  numbered with us cannot condemn us. Was he not put down in the transgressor’s  list that we might be written in the red roll of the saints? He was holy, and  written among the holy; we were guilty, and numbered among the guilty; he  transfers his name from yonder list to this black indictment, and our names  are taken from the indictment and written in the roll of acceptance, for there  is a complete transfer made between Jesus and his people. All our estate of  misery and sin Jesus has taken; and all that Jesus has comes to us. His  righteousness, his blood, and everything that he hath he gives us as our  dowry. Rejoice, believer, in your union to him who was numbered among the  transgressors; and prove that you are truly saved by being manifestly numbered  with those who are new creatures in him.

 

Evening  “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.” / Lamentations  3:40

The spouse who fondly loves her absent husband longs for his return; a long  protracted separation from her lord is a semi-death to her spirit: and so with  souls who love the Saviour much, they must see his face, they cannot bear that  he should be away upon the mountains of Bether, and no more hold communion  with them. A reproaching glance, an uplifted finger will be grievous to loving  children, who fear to offend their tender father, and are only happy in his  smile. Beloved, it was so once with you. A text of Scripture, a threatening, a  touch of the rod of affliction, and you went to your Father’s feet, crying,  “Show me wherefore thou contendest with me?” Is it so now? Are you content to  follow Jesus afar off? Can you contemplate suspended communion with Christ  without alarm? Can you bear to have your Beloved walking contrary to you,  because you walk contrary to him? Have your sins separated between you and  your God, and is your heart at rest? O let me affectionately warn you, for it  is a grievous thing when we can live contentedly without the present enjoyment  of the Saviour’s face. Let us labour to feel what an evil thing this  is–little love to our own dying Saviour, little joy in our precious Jesus,  little fellowship with the Beloved! Hold a true Lent in your souls, while you  sorrow over your hardness of heart. Do not stop at sorrow! Remember where you  first received salvation. Go at once to the cross. There, and there only, can  you get your spirit quickened. No matter how hard, how insensible, how dead we  may have become, let us go again in all the rags and poverty, and defilement  of our natural condition. Let us clasp that cross, let us look into those  languid eyes, let us bathe in that fountain filled with blood–this will bring  back to us our first love; this will restore the simplicity of our faith, and  the tenderness of our heart.

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Alistair Begg – Jesus Our Counselor

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He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.  Isaiah 53:12

Why did Jesus cause Himself to be enrolled among sinners? This wonderful condescension was justified by many powerful reasons. By doing so He could better become their advocate. In some trials there is an identification of the counselor with the client, nor can they be looked upon in the eye of the law as separate from each other. Now, when the sinner is brought to the bench, Jesus appears there Himself. He stands to answer the accusation. He points to His side, His hands, His feet, and challenges Justice to bring anything against the sinners whom He represents. He pleads His blood, and pleads so triumphantly, being numbered with them and having a part with them, that the Judge proclaims, “Let them go, deliver them from the pit, for He has provided a ransom.”

Our Lord Jesus was numbered with the transgressors in order that they might feel their hearts drawn toward Him. Who can be afraid of one whose name appears on the same list with us? Surely we may come boldly to Him and confess our guilt. He who is numbered with us cannot condemn us. Was He not entered in the transgressor’s list that we might be written in the red roll of the saints? He was holy and written among the holy; we were guilty and numbered among the guilty. He transfers His name from that list to this dark indictment, and our names are taken from the indictment and written in the roll of acceptance, for there is a complete transfer made between Jesus and His people.

All our condition of misery and sin Jesus has taken; and all that Jesus has comes to us. His righteousness, His blood, and everything that He has He gives us as our dowry. Rejoice, believer, in your union to Him who was numbered among the transgressors; and prove that you are truly saved by being clearly identified with those who are new creatures in Him.

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Greg Laurie – Surrender at Gethsemane

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Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”—Mark 14:34

Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever felt as though your friends and family had abandoned you? Have you ever felt like you were misunderstood? Have you ever had a hard time understanding or submitting to the will of God for your life?

If so, then you have an idea of what the Lord Jesus went through as He agonized at Gethsemane.

Hebrews tells us, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it” (4:15–16 NLT).

The Bible tells us that Jesus was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3 NLT). But the sorrow He experienced in Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion seemed to be the culmination of all the sorrow He had ever known and would accelerate to a climax the following day. The ultimate triumph that was to take place at Calvary was first accomplished beneath the gnarled old olive trees of Gethsemane.

It is interesting that the very word Gethsemane means “olive press.” Olives were pressed there to make oil, and truly, Jesus was being pressed from all sides that He might bring life to us. I don’t think we can even begin to fathom what He was going through.

But look at what it accomplished. It brought about your salvation and mine. Because of what Jesus went through at Gethsemane and ultimately at the cross, we can call upon His name. Though it was an unfathomably painful, horrific transition, it was necessary for the ultimate goal of what was accomplished.

Maybe you are at a crisis point in your life right now—a personal Gethsemane, if you will. You have your will; you know what you want. Yet you can sense that God’s will is different.

Would you let the Lord choose for you? Would you be willing to say, “Lord, I am submitting my will to Yours. Not my will, but yours be done”? You will not regret making that decision.

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Our Daily Bread — Pack Up Your Sorrows

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Isaiah 53:1-6

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. —Isaiah 53:4

During the turbulent years of the 1960s, popular music in America was a strange mixture of protest and patriotism. Some songs lashed out against war, greed, and injustice in society, while others affirmed duty to country and traditional values. But “Pack Up Your Sorrows,” written by Richard Farina and Pauline Baez Marden, seemed to fit all of the categories with its focus on the quest for personal peace. The refrain said the following:

Well, if somehow you could pack up your sorrows, / And give them all to me / You would lose them, I know how to use them, / Give them all to me.

Perhaps everyone hoped that someone really could bring them peace.

The good news is that there is Someone who can! Isaiah 53 is a prophetic picture of Israel’s promised Messiah. Christians see its fulfillment in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows . . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (vv.4-5).

Jesus took our sins and sorrows on Himself so that we could be forgiven and have peace with God. Will you give Him your sorrows today? —David McCasland

Never a burden that He does not carry;

Never a sorrow that He does not share;

Whether the days may be sunny or dreary,

Jesus is always there. —Lillenas

No sorrow is too heavy for our Savior to bear.

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God’s Loving Desire – Charles Stanley

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1 Timothy 2:1-6

Throughout the New Testament, we see God’s universal call to salvation repeated a number of times (John 1:12; 3:16; 6:40; 2 Peter 3:9). But each of us must make a personal decision about answering Him.

God wants mankind saved for several reasons. First, He loves us (Eph. 2:4). Divine love isn’t based on any worthiness in us; rather, care for His creation is part of God’s nature. Second, the Lord’s grace is made evident through His followers (v. 7). Believers were once rebellious beings, whom God transformed into obedient servants—that’s a change He wants to celebrate for eternity. What’s more, our good works glorify the Lord (Matt. 5:16). Everything we do in His name increases other people’s awareness of Him.

Salvation is possible only through Christ, who reconciles sinful people to holy God. Isaiah 53:6 teaches that every one of us is a sinner, and Romans 6:23 adds, “The wages of sin is death.” Without a divine solution, we’d be indebted and hopeless. But the Savior’s death on the cross paid the penalty for all humanity so anyone who wants a relationship with the Father can have one. Believing Jesus died for our sins and submitting to the Lord’s will are all that’s necessary for us to enter into eternal fellowship with Him.

Our heavenly father loves us and wants to be with us forever. The only thing that can separate us from Him is a decision to reject His invitation. Once we receive His Son as Savior, we are God’s, and no human action or character flaw can sever our eternal relationship with Him.