Devotion by: Lynne Roots Isaiah 52:13--53:12
See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
Just as there were many who were astonished at him
—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals—
so he shall startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.
Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
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 with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Have you ever formed a judgment about someone from no information other than how they dress or their annoying laugh or how they chew their food -- or any one of a number of other superficial reasons? Be honest. We all have. There is a wonderful story about a gal during World War II who walked into Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas and headed straight for the fur department. She was dressed in her work clothes, which were overalls from the factory where she was employed. She was ignored. After having walked around the department for some time with no one coming up to offer help, she finally stopped a salesperson and told her she wanted to look at a selection of coats. She was summarily snubbed. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a huge wad of bills, mostly $100s -- more than enough to cover the cost of two coats. She told the salesperson that not only had she lost a huge commission, but also Neiman Marcus had lost a customer. This is a perfect example of the old maxim, “You can’t judge a book by its cover”.
In Isaiah, we read about the servant who was snubbed, reviled and abused. But in the final tally, he was the one who would be chosen by God. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that some act so “piously”, and yet God looks past them. Instead, he favors the humblest among us, who have nothing to bring to the table but themselves, their faith and their obedience to God.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, Give us the ability to see with tolerant eyes all around us. Help us understand that there is no magic formula to the throne beyond our own sincerity, faith and humility.
