Isaiah 50:1–52:12

Isaiah 50:1–5

- Israel was sent into captivity because God was punishing Israel for its disobedience and pride.

- The Servant is Jesus Christ, the Messiah and the Son of the Sovereign Lord.

- The Lord is able to give us strength, “to know the word that sustains the weary.” Hence, it is important to give time each day to receive the Word of God. His Word will awaken our ears and open our eyes, so that we would be open to the teachings of the Lord and will not lose our Way.

Luke 2:40–52

- During the Feast of the Passover when Jesus was 12 years old, Jesus was found teaching the people in the temple courts of Jerusalem. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” To which Jesus responded, “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Jesus’ parents couldn’t understand what Jesus meant by that, but today, we know that Jesus is the Son of God, and that at that God had called upon Jesus to do His will.

Luke 4:14–21

- Jesus, with the Spirit of the Lord, preached the good news throughout Galilee and Nazareth. In Nazareth, Jesus read the scroll of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He then looked at the people and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This shows that blessed by the Lord, Jesus is the anointed Messiah, the one who would bring good news and great healing to the people by serving His people.

Matthew 11:28–30

- Jesus told the people who are weary and burdened to seek Him, for He can provide rest for our souls.

Matthew 14:23

Mark 1:35

- Just as we are servants of God and pray for His guidance, Jesus also prayed, and many times in solitude, to communicate with and to receive guidance from God.

John 12:49–50

- Jesus acts in accord with the will of God, the Father. Everything that Jesus has said and done is all done according to the guidance of God.

Isaiah 50:6–11

- As mentioned in Isaiah, Jesus talked about offering His back to those who beat Him, His cheeks to those who pulled out His beard, how He did not hide from mocking nor spitting. And with the Lord’s help, Jesus knew He would not be disgraced. Jesus knew God would vindicate Him and therefore asks those who challenge Him to face Him in person. Jesus knew with the support of God, no one will be able to condemn Him, and such people will wear away. Jesus therefore trusts and relies on the Lord and instructs us to do the same. 

Comparably, in Matthew 27:30–31, the people “spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again” before they took him away to crucify him.

In Luke 9:51, Jesus knew if He were to set foot in Jerusalem, He would be captured and killed. However, Jesus still went to Jerusalem, because He knew it was part of God’s plan for His return to Heaven and to provide man’s salvation. And as God’s servant, He therefore resolutely marched forward to His death.

Both Romans 8:33–34 and Acts 2:23 explain that God is our ultimate Judge, and He knew wicked men would crucify Jesus. However, this was part of God’s plan to redeem His children who remain loyal and faithful to Him, for it is only with Jesus’ blood that God can wash away our sins and grant us redemption.

- Those who fear the Lord will walk in the light and rely on the Lord. Those who walk in the dark and aggravate others, they will die in torment.

Isaiah 51:1–16

- To those who obey God to pursue righteousness, God first reminded them of how Abraham and Sarah started out as one and how He blessed them to father nations of nations. God then promised them that He will bring comfort to Zion and show compassion. The Lord will make the deserts like Eden and the wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will once again be found in Zion, with thanksgiving and singing. The Lord’s justice will be a light to the nations, bringing forth righteousness and salvation. God’s salvation will last forever; His righteousness will never fail.

- As we await for God’s deliverance of His justice, righteousness, and salvation, we should take comfort in knowing that the Lord is our Maker, who created the heavens and the earth. No matter what our circumstances are, we need not fear sons of men, for in comparison to God, they are nothing but grass.

Isaiah 51:17–52:12

- Jerusalem drank from the cup of the Lord’s wrath and thus had no sons to guide nor to support its way. Jerusalem rotted in ruin and destruction, famine and war, with no one to comfort or to support it. The descendent's of Jerusalem all fail, for they were all filled with the wrath and the rebuke of the Lord.

- God then intervened and removed the cup from the hands of Jerusalem to defend His people and promised them that they will never drink from that cup again. Instead, God will have Jerusalem’s enemies drink from that same cup, enemies who tormented Jerusalem and walked all over Jerusalem.

- God therefore encouraged Jerusalem with strength and glory and promised it will never be overtaken by its enemies. The people of Jerusalem will once again know the Lord, and God will take them out of captivity.

- It has been said, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14–15)

In saying this, Paul is telling us that we need to call on God (either for help or to just praise the Lord), to believe in Him, to hear the Gospel (the Good News!), and then preach the Gospel to others.

We should thus learn from the mistakes of the Israelites and realize that if we are to fear anyone or anything, we ought to fear only God, for He is our Maker, and there is none greater than He. God’s arms are open, encouraging us to take shelter under His righteousness and justice so that we may overcome the temptations of Satan.

The very basis of salvation is for us to realize just how imperfect we are. We may be “very nice people,” but this doesn’t—and will never—make up for the fact that we all falter one time or another. To not admit our imperfections, to only cite the things we are good at, that is pride. And pride, in itself, can be said to be the sin of all sins.

Once we make this realization, we can then fully understand the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He was a PERFECT man. And therefore, only His blood could wash away our sins. We can try as hard as we want to, to be good, to be nice! But no matter how hard we try, there is no way we can ever wash away the sins we have committed or the sins we will commit. The ultimate goal is for us to return to Heaven, to be with God, our Father! And therefore, it is not about being “good;” it is about becoming CLEAN, so that we can once again be in God’s presence! And how can we become clean? With Jesus Christ’s blood. And only with His blood, the blood of the Lamb.

And so, what Paul emphasizes is that before we can call on the Lord for help and salvation, we must first believe in Christ and the salvation that He offers. For if we do not believe in Him, why should we then believe that Christ will save us?

And for us to believe, we must first hear of Christ and of the Good News He brings. And thus, to those who bring such Good News (for example, preachers and missionaries), “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news!”

The greatest tragedy would be those who hear the Gospel reject it, and we see how this happened to the Israelites, and we see how they suffered from their decision, and how they are still suffering. Turn to the Lord and seek His shelter, and let us not repeat Israel’s fate!