Isaiah 52-53

“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (53:3). Isaiah’s beautiful prophecy about the coming Messiah, the suffering servant of God, says that no one expected God to save like this (53:1).  We follow leaders who are strong, good-looking, and successful, but our King was marked by the grief and brokenness we think of as failure (53:4).  Yet he was carrying the consequences of our transgressions, not his own (53:5).

“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied” (53:11).  Because Jesus chose to suffer in our place, we receive peace, forgiveness, and healing (v5).