Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering…He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:1, 4-6).
Our Father in heaven, long ago You gave Your people a way to "test" truth: "You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken" (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).
Your prophet Isaiah documented details of Your "Suffering Servant" hundreds of years in advance of His death by crucifixion, "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain" (53:3).
Your disciples told a scoffing crowd that “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God...by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did...through Him." He "was handed over to [death] by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge...but God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him" (Acts 2:22-24).
The disciples pointed out that those in the crowd themselves had been eyewitness to God's accreditation of Jesus, but yet they continued in unbelief. It was true of them that "even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: 'Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?'” (John 12:37-38)
Jesus Himself had said of them, “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them’” (Matthew 13:13-14).
Lord, thank You for "the message God sent...announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36). I pray today for those with calloused hearts. We read in Your word that "the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Let Your message of grace and truth pierce the darkness and unbelief and bring hope and healing. Thank You for Your "indescribable gift" (2 Corinthians 9:15)!
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