1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form orcomeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4. Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. Isaiah 53: 1-7

This is one of the most powerful scripture passages in the bible. This scripture is a prophecy telling about an event that was to take place in the future. Isaiah didn't even know who was going to fulfill it because he knew it would never be fulfilled in his life time. But he tells about this event as though he were there testifying as to what he saw transpire that day, as if he was there looking at it happen. That was the power of the prophets in those days and the anointing they had from God, they could see clearly the events that were to unfold as if they were standing there even though they might take place centuries later. Isaiah starts out with a simple, but direct question that is asking us to make a logical decision that is based on the limited information that he is imparting to us to challenge us to look beyond our own logic.

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed ?
He is asking us who is going to believe us ?
Doesn't that remind you of the way people think today ?
That is a question that has existed from day one, but why is that ?

Some people think that the sacrifice of Jesus is just another nice fairytale that you share with your kids while sitting at the dinner table or at Sunday school bible class. Our culture has washed down the meaning of this tremendous prophecy to make it as insignificant as the rest of the life that is all around us. They don't look at the scriptures in the bible as the living word of God because the churches have for centuries completely diluted the power and meaning out of these scriptures and replaced them with a less dramatic, nicer versions, that are less offensive to the people they are referring to…sinners.

So for Isaiah to say who has believed us really isn't such a bad question after all. The scripture then goes on to describe this person that was to come as being as ordinary as we are. He wasn't the Hollywood version Jesus that we are so used to seeing in every gospel movie. In verse two we read: He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

What does the word comeliness mean ?

Webster defines it as this :

So why is it that a lot of homeless people hate someone who was just like them ?

People have the idea that Jesus was a prominent man who had all the wealth of the world at His finger tips and that couldn't be further from the truth. All prophecy said that the Savior of the world would come for the brokenhearted, widows and orphans. No where in prophecy does it say that he would come for the affluent and well to do when he did come.

So why would people think that ?

Because they don't know what the scripture says because they have never really read or studied it and they go by what they hear.

So how could they know he would be like us ?

And like a lot of us here, not everyone liked Him and He probably wept for them constantly because they were so set in their sinful ways that not even He could help them. It says that we did not esteem him which is to hold Him in high regard, to respect Him for who he is.

Do you think that has changed much in the last 2,000 years ?

But that was OK with Him because as we read on He had a mission to accomplish. He had to heal our sickness, carry our grief, be beaten for our transgressions and be hung on a cross for our sin:

Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

So do you think He knew what was going to happen to Him while He was with us ?

Yes, because it was the Trinity's predetermined plan to bring back those who had no hope back into the fold of God's love and grace. God has always wanted to be involved in everyone's life and have a personal relationship with them because He really loves His creation more than what people can see or believe.

But there is a problem: All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; God has never turned His back on His creation ever, His creation has turned their backs on Him. But even after that His hand is still stretched out to you for Him to save you and bring you out of your darkness, short comings and the failures in your life to transform you into the kingdom of His light. God is always pursuing us to save us from the harm we bring on our selves.

Jesus Himself said in the parable of the Lost Sheep:  “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it ? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:4-7

What does this scripture say about the way God feels about His creation ?

He will not stop looking for His lost sheep until He has found it.

What if that sheep runs away after he sees him ?

He will not stop looking for His lost sheep until He has found it.

What if the sheep purposely does what God doesn't like ?

He will not stop looking for His lost sheep until He has found it.

Because he loves that sheep as much as the other 99 sheep and He will never give up until that sheep refuses to be found.

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way;

Until we can see how much God wants to free us from our imposter selves and bring out the men and women we were created to be He will never give up on us unless we just hate Him to the point where it is useless for Him to pursue us any longer. Yes, we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God to where He lets us destroy ourselves.

Take a look around, can you see anyone in this area that is destroying them selves ?

God wants to bring all His sheep into the sheepfold under His protection. In from the dangers that could harm them like wolves, that roaring lion called Satan.

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'

Does that sound like a God that wants to condemn mankind ?

He goes on to say:

I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

So how valuable are you to your Father in heaven ?

Valuable enough for God to plan your rescue by the only way that you could be redeemed, with the blood of His Son on a cross.

Would you sacrifice your only son for people who would reject you over and over when all you want to do is just set them free ?

I know I wouldn't, but that's where God and I are different, I know I don't have the ability, strength or enough love for mankind to do such a thing, none of us do. We could sacrifice ourselves but we can't sacrifice those that we love. It takes a special kind of love to do that, a Godly sacrificial love that has no boundries for His creation that is the apple of His eyes no matter how misguided they are. That's why the scriptures go on to say:

Jesus said before He died, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me ?

Did Jesus know how he was going to die ?

Yes, it was planned long before Jesus was born.

This prophecy that I shared with you today was written 800 years before Jesus Christ was ever born. He knew exactly how He was going to die, He knew that He would be beaten worse than any man was ever beaten, He knew that he would go to the cross as an unrecognizable human being bleeding out every cut and tear that covered every inch of his body.

He knew that they would whip him with sticks worse than any man has ever been beaten. He knew that Simon the Cyrenian would have to help him carry His cross to Calvary so that they could nail His hands and feet to it and hang him up for everyone to see.

There is no sin where God is, so there was only one sacrifice that could fit the requirement needed for our redemption, only one sacrifice could buy us back from Satan and hell, that was the death of His Son who was born to a virgin, who like us was tempted in every way but overcame all things to present us holy before our God and acceptable before Him.

He had to die on that cross a heinous death and then rise from the dead 3 days later, because if He failed in just one of the areas needed to fulfill God's purpose, then I would not be here telling you about it today, and I would not be here every Sunday evening passing out food for you to eat…because I would be hopelessly lost and I probably wouldn't care what happens to any of you.