“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.” Isaiah 52:13
September 26, 2023
Horatio Alger (1832-1899) wrote a famous series of books for boys. His heroes were rags-to-riches success stories. He wrote over 100 books. But let the truth be told. There is no greater success story than the one about the Servant of God, Israel’s coming Messiah. Israel needed a deliverer. She was in the midst of a staggering social crisis – as is our nation and the whole world. Israel could not save herself. Neither can we, but we won’t admit it. Why? Because social problems always find their source in the sinful human heart. Evil’s power springs from human depravity. To this point in the book of Isaiah there have been three(Isa. 42,49,50)Servant songs giving us increasing hints as to who the Deliverer will be. Now we come to what has been called the Mount Everest of Messianic prophecy. Flashing in bold literary lights is Isaiah 52:13-53:12. At the very outset we are to know that the Servant of God is destined for exaltation. A final piece of the puzzle emerges. He will be a success in carrying out the will of God. He will not fail, though it may appear to sin-blinded man that He was a failure. The cross of Jesus Christ was a success! Crucifixes that hang around necks could be giving a wrong impression. Jesus is not now on the cross. He has been triumphant. The Servant’s experience of disfigurement (52:14) is not the period at the end of the sentence. He will astonish kings and nations (52:15). The human mouth will be hushed into guilty silence before God at the final judgment (Rom. 3:19). The world will have gotten it all wrong. Let the politicians and pundits wag their tongues all they want. Being on the wrong side of history is to have failed to bow the knee of the heart before Jesus Christ in humility. He alone can save us from our sins. Let the whole world know.
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Pray for our nation that the gospel of Jesus Christ will break out in extraordinary ways.