Isaiah 52:13-53:12

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each one of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

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“Van said it would be like this.”  That’s a common saying at our house.  Whenever the weather is just what the meteorologist said it would be, one of us will say, “[insert the name of whatever meteorologist we saw] said it would be like this.”

Take a moment to read Isaiah 52:13-53:12, commonly known as the Suffering Servant passage.  Scholars still debate about exactly who Isaiah’s original audience thought he was referring to;  in fact, I had to write college paper on exactly that topic.  (Not that I’m a scholar!)  Of course, we know who Isaiah was inspired to write this about, even if they (and even he) didn’t.

Compare Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection with what Isaiah said here.  Hundreds of years before Christ, Isaiah said it would be like this, and it was.

Tomorrow you’ll read Psalm 22 (you can go ahead and read it now if you’d like).  In it, David uses phrases like “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord,’ they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him’” (v. 7-8); “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment” (v. 18); and most poignantly, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v. 1).  A thousand years before Christ, David said it would be like this, and it was.

Finally, consider Revelation 13:8, which refers to Jesus as “the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”  From the very beginning of the world, God knew it would be like this, and it was.

It’s so amazing.  God knew that if He created the world, it would cost the life of His Son — and He did it anyway!  He inspired His prophets to tell us over and over that it would be this way.  And, beginning with Advent and going through Easter, it was.

And so it will be, when God finishes doing what He’s already told us He will do.

– Rev. Dale S. Cain