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Luke 23: 26-31; Matthew 27:32-34;Mark 15:21-23; John 19:17-18 "AN ANCIENT PROPHECY FULFILLED"

Day 317 – Luke 23

Text: Luke 23: 26-31; Matthew 27:32-34;Mark 15:21-23; John 19:17-18

AN ANCIENT PROPHECY FULFILLED

Jesus had undergone at least six different sets of intensive trials! Firstly, he was brought to Annas. Then, he was hauled to Caiaphas. Thirdly, he was brought before the Great Council. After what must be called a mockery of a trial, Jesus was delivered to Pontius Pilate. He was then sent to Herod Antipas to be tried. Finally, Jesus was handed over to Pilate for the final judgment.

It would have been difficult to imagine that all these things could have happened all of a sudden. Just a little while ago, Jesus was still teaching the Word of God in public. People had crowded around to hear Him expound the Scriptures. Nobody could explain the Scriptures the way He did! Suddenly, He was taken prisoner, scourged and sentenced to die by crucifixion! How could it happen thus?

The prophet Isaiah proclaimed an amazingly sharp word on this subject. He wrote,

“Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men.”
Isaiah 52:13-14

Jesus had indeed been prudent all His life. The way He conducted Himself at all His trials showed great prudence. He did not retaliate when accused falsely. He kept silent when He saw no point in speaking. When He did speak, He continued to maintain the calm demeanour that reflected tremendous spiritual power. Such control of self is impossible without great Divine help.

Isaiah prophesied about how Jesus would suffer. How much had the soldiers hurt Him? We are truly astonished to read these words.

“His visage was marred more than any man
and His form more than the sons of men.”
Isaiah 52:14

The beating of Jesus must have been terrible indeed. The phrase “his visage” would refer to His face. When the soldiers slapped Jesus with their calloused hands, those blows must have bruised Him so badly, that you could barely recognize Him after the ordeal was over.

Isaiah was right when he wrote about the form of Jesus being marred too. This would certainly refer to the suffering He had to endure when He was cruelly flogged by scourging. As if the scourging was not bad enough, they plaited a crown of thorns and put that on His head.

These things affected the “form” or “body” of Jesus badly. You could hardly know that just a while ago, Jesus was ministering to the masses in public!

“WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?”

Isaiah knew that he had a hard prophecy to preach. He had been teaching ancient Israel much about the Messiah that God would send. He would come as The Anointed Servant of God and He would display the fullness of the Spirit in His life and ministry. His wonderful ministry of preaching, teaching and healing were gloriously prophesied!

Jesus had fulfilled every prophecy that was made about Him. Yet, Isaiah also knew and prophesied that The Anointed Servant would come to a tragic end. Thus he wrote,

“Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
Isaiah 53:1-3

Jesus was well described as a “tender plant”. This was a reference to how young He still was when His life was cut short! He was anointed by John the Baptiser when He was about thirty. That was the age when priests were ordained and anointed for public ministry. He ministered publicly for about three years. He was a “tender plant” indeed.

The circumstances in which Jesus grew up may indeed be considered “dry ground”. The way the religious leaders hounded Jesus to death would confirm that the spiritual condition of Israel was indeed “dry ground”.

“Behold the Man…” (John 19:5) so Pilate presented Jesus to the Jews after he had flogged Him! After a Roman flogging, one may well describe Jesus as having “no form or comeliness”. And “there is no beauty that we should desire Him”.

There is only one way in which you could describe the trials of Jesus. “He was despised and rejected of men.” Jesus was indeed “A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He was despised by the very people He came to offer salvation!

How could this be? Isaiah was right when he preached, “Who has believed our report?” It is hard to imagine that Jesus would have to suffer so!

IT WAS ALL FOR US

Isaiah’s prophetic word did not stop at the proclamation of the suffering of Jesus. He also taught a deep theological meaning behind the suffering that Jesus had to endure. Let us consider again why Jesus had to suffer the way He did.

“Surely He has borne OUR griefs
and carried OUR sorrows…
But He was wounded for OUR transgressions,
He was bruised for OUR iniquities;
The chastisement for OUR peace was upon Him.
And by His stripes WE are healed…
The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of US all.”
Isaiah 53:4-6

Isaiah understood just why the Messiah was made to suffer. He realized that Jesus was suffering vicariously for us. Few understand just how God views sin. Few comprehend that sin because of its vile nature, because it violates God’s commandments, must be dealt with and punished!

He who sins must also be prepared for the penalty of transgression. The sinner deserves to suffer grief and sorrow. The sinner could be chastised physically for the sins he has committed! If God were to demand satisfaction for all the sins that we have committed, we would all be dead!

Jesus understood the holiness of God as no one else would be able to comprehend it. The righteousness of God had to be satisfied. God being the holy and just Judge that He is has to condemn sin!

There was only one way to satisfy God’s sense of holy justice. Jesus took that way. He would symbolically and vicariously bear every form of punishment meted out. Every blow received, every stripe laid on His back – He would receive it on our behalf!

The suffering of Jesus must be understood theologically thus. He underwent more than just physical abuse. Even as He bore terrible pain, He bore it bravely – on our behalf, and for our sakes!

THE PROPHECY OF JESUS’ DEATH

Isaiah also prophesied the death of Jesus. With amazing prophetic insight he wrote,

“He was taken from prison and from judgment,
and who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.”
Isaiah 53:8

In fulfillment of this prophetic word, the Gospel writers solemnly added their observations and confirmed the prophecy of Isaiah as entirely true.

“And when they had mocked Him,
they took the purple off Him,
put His own clothes on Him,
and led Him out to crucify Him.”
Mark 15:20

“Who has believed our report?” – Isaiah was right when he penned those words. Many still do not believe in Jesus. Many do not own Him as Saviour and Lord.

Do you believe? Have you gone beyond simple acceptance of Jesus as your Saviour? How do you actually see Jesus?