Isaiah 53- The Jews Were Expecting the Messiah (TMF:494)

Thursday, September 15, 2016
Peace to Live By: The Jews Were Expecting the Messiah (TMF:494) - Daniel Litton
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       It is true that a lot of the Israelites, including the Scribes and Pharisees, were expecting the Messiah to come, to be the Savior of Israel. It’s just that they—at least the leaders—thought he would come as a Glorious King in fine robes, with much pomp and riches. They thought he would be high and lifted up in the realm of higher society. The leaders thought he would be like them. Jesus hadn’t come to the earth to be king—not yet. He had come to die for sins—to reconcile people with God. To put it in Jesus’ Words, he said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17, ESV). The righteous, of course, were those who were seemingly righteous, but were whitewashed tombstones, clean on the outside but full of death on the inside. That was the elitists of Israel. So, Isaiah calls Jesus a “man of sorrows.” This is a very interesting name for the Messiah, and one that I think many in the Christian life can relate to. Remember that Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14, ESV). Jesus had befriended his twelve disciples. They were close to him. But at the end, they all let him down. He had one who became a traitor against him, and gave him up to the Jewish leaders. And then he had the rest abandon him at his arrest.