Posted by Illuminati on 5/16/2009, 10:31 am, in reply to "God's Love"
64.6.35.162
Because Isaiah 53 is poetic, it is subject to interpretation.
The Jews who reject Jesus have been forced to interpreted this passage as a description about the travails of the Jewish nation. Their interpretation represents a break from the usual Old Testament message which attributes the disasters experienced by the Jewish nation to their own faulty behavior. If this passage describes the Jews, it appears that they are to suffer for the sins of other people vicariously. Perhaps this happened in Germany during the holocaust, however, even here the comparison fails since Hitler was not in any way equivalent to God.
From the beginning, Christians have recognized that Isaiah 53 is a description of Jesus and His ministry. Based on Amir’s posts, it seems that he also recognizes that it refers to Jesus.
Since we both understand this passage to be Messianic, perhaps this passage will help us to achieve some common understanding. I will go through each verse and discuss its meaning.
Isaiah 53:1-3
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Even today, most people reject Jesus, ignore His message, and miss the meaning of His life.
Isaiah 53:4-6
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
This passage presents Jesus, the Messiah, who has suffered for our sins. He suffered our punishment for our sins. By becoming our vicarious substitute, Jesus provided us with unlimited forgiveness, unlimited love, and unlimited possibilities for righteousness. Whereas Muslims believe that they must face the judgment on the basis of their works, Christians know that they will face the judgment covered with Jesus’ grace because of His good works. By faith in Jesus, we are already saved. Good works are the result of the transformation in our inner being brought about by God’s unlimited love and grace.
The verses also speak of how Jesus was cut off from the land of the living and made His grave among the wicked and with the rich in His death. Afterwards, it speaks of Him alive again. It says God has prolonged Jesus’ days, and that Jesus will divide the spoils with the strong. This chapter of Isaiah contains the gospel of Jesus Christ long before Jesus was born. Along with the elaborate sin offerings in the temple service, Isaiah 53 explains the plan of salvation through the suffering and death of the Messiah.
Isaiah 53:7-9
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Here we discover that Jesus was “cut off from the land of the living.” This refers to His death. Because He was crucified, according to Roman society He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but He was buried with the rich. He had not done violence or deceit, yet He was rejected. That is because their society was a violent society which rejected goodness and honesty. By allowing Himself to be unjustly sacrificed, Jesus showed us another way, a new morality.
Isaiah 53:10-12
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 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. 12 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.
NIV
Jesus didn’t die because “he was helpless.” He died because His Father allowed the wicked people to torture and kill Him. Jesus knew and consented to His sacrifice. Because of our wickedness, it was apparently the only way that God could communicate His unconditional love and goodness to us. And yet, although Jesus was killed, He did see the light, and He was satisfied with the results of His perfect life. By His knowledge, He justified many. He bore my sins and He bore your sins. He now lives to make intercession for my sins and for your sins.
Because I know that this passage refers to Jesus, I am determined to accept His offer of unconditional love and unlimited grace which He has offered to me and to you. I am also determined to accept His teachings which He conveyed to His chosen followers. They passed on the story of His life and of His knowledge to us. To reject Jesus’ teachings and His life is to reject Jesus Himself.
I am open to the possibility that Mohammad was given as a prophet to the Arabs. If Mohammad was a true prophet, then the Koran when properly understood must acknowledge who Jesus is and what He has accomplished. Jesus was not an ordinary prophet, He was the Messiah, the lamb of God. He is the one who has died to take away the sins of the world. He died but He is alive forever.
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