WEDNESDAY February 5th
Isaiah 53:8–12
‘By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.’
Now, as we consider these verses today, you will recall that I mentioned yesterday that often these verses come under the heading of ‘The Suffering Servant’, but if we re-read the first part of verse 11 ‘Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied’, we see that the suffering Servant is going to be the satisfied Servant! All the awful suffering and anguish and pain was going to be worthwhile for the latter part of the same verse says ‘by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities’.
He went to the Cross, he willingly suffered, because he knew that the result would be that his righteousness would be counted to all who would come to believe on him and accept him as Saviour. And I believe that as one by one, men and women come to accept the Lord Jesus Christ he is overwhelmed as it were with satisfaction, yes, when you came to faith, Jesus would have said ‘It was worth it’, when I came to faith, Jesus would have said ‘It was worth it’, it was as we read in Hebrews 12, for the joy that was set before him, that he endured the Cross, despising the shame, yes, the joy of being exalted and seated at the right hand of God, but I think even more than that was the joy of seeing men and women being saved and becoming the children of God.
And the more I ponder all that Jesus was willing to suffer and go through as the suffering servant to bring about my eternal redemption, the very thought of it with sweetness fills my breast, and so it should for each one of us and cause us to be full of gratitude and thanksgiving, for putting it personally, I am amazed that he should love me, I am an undeserving sinner that has been saved by his grace. His suffering has rescued me and set me on a road that leads me away from Hell and upward toward heaven. His suffering has brought me into the incredible family of God, his suffering has given me an eternal hope.
When with the ransomed in glory,
His face I at last shall see,
‘twill be my joy through the ages,
To sing of his love for me.
How marvellous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be,
How marvellous! How wonderful!
Is my Saviours love for me!