Isaiah 53:1-5

¹ Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of Yahveh been revealed? ² Because he grew up like a stalk before him, and like a root from dry ground. He had no form and no majesty that we should consider him, and no appearance that we should take pleasure in him. ³ Men despised and rejected him, a man of suffering, and knowing sickness, and people hiding their face from him. He was despised, and we did not hold him in high regard. ⁴ However, he was the one who lifted up our sicknesses, and he carried our pain, yet we ourselves assumed him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the beating which brought us wholeness was placed upon him, and by his wound healing happened for us.

deceptive assumptions

Isaiah’s people were a despised lot. No one would have expected the Son of God to make his appearance among men as one of the Israelites. But that is exactly what Isaiah predicts. And just to show that God rejects all our deceptive assumptions, Isaiah predicts that when the Messiah does show himself, he will be despised and rejected by those same people. He will appear weak, struck down and afflicted. But this beating he would take would be as a substitute for the transgressions of the world.

Before we run off with this idea as it relates to Christ, and his suffering on the cross, we need to see the message from Isaiah’s standpoint. He was speaking to a group of people who had deceptive assumptions about themselves. He was trying to encourage them to stop believing those lies. The truth is, God did want to work though them. Example: the Messiah himself would be seen as a beaten, condemned criminal. But God would work in that reality to save us all.

What deceptive assumptions cloud your vision? What keeps you from trusting God? Remember that God has chosen you, so stop doubting that.

LORD, give us the vision to see through the deceptive assumptions.