Why?

Isaiah 53

I don't know how I can narrow this chapter down to one verse. It is obviously a specific prophecy concerning the life and death of Jesus. Frankly, I don't see how anyone can miss it. I mean, how do Jewish people deal with this? I know that the Jews have a rich heritage. They are religious people. I just went to a Jewish wedding and it was filled with spirituality and symbolism. The problem is, they miss the whole point - Jesus. I am not going to write about this prophecy, however. I am going to write about what Jesus did as it is outlined in this chapter.

He grew up. He wasn't handsome. Just an ordinary guy. Then everything hit the fan. He was despised. He was rejected. He was sorrowful and had grief. He was wounded. He was bruised. He was punished. He was whipped. He was oppressed. He was afflicted. He was slaughtered. He was stricken. He labored. He was made a part of sinners. He was killed...and He did not say a word through it all.

Why? Why would a guy do this? Let's assume it was just an ordinary guy, not the Son of God. If He was just a man this would make no sense. It would make no sense for a guy to die like this. To take this punishment because of a lie that He had been promoting. That is stupid. I mean, if Jesus was just an ordinary man He could have said: "Guys, its been a fun ride, but I am not going to go through all of this and die for a hoax that I have been playing these three years. Let me go. I won't be a pain any more."

But He didn't. Why not? Because He was the real deal. Because He was who He said He was...God in the flesh. The Messiah.

So again, Why? Why would God in the flesh do this? This really makes no sense either, does it? Yes it does. He did it because He realized that we were, I was, in need. We have griefs. We have sorrows. We have sin. We have rebellion. We have guilt. We are in need of peace. We need healing. We are lost. We need to be declared righteous when we are inherantly dirty. The only way that all of these needs were going to be met was by cleansing through blood. (Reference Old Testament sacrifices.) There had to be a substitute. The blood of bulls and rams could never take away sins forever so Jesus was that substitute. He did it because He hates the ugly state that we are in. He hates our need. He hates what we have to deal with. And He loves us. He loves us so much that He did something about it. He took all of our garbage on Himself and died. For you...for me. This is why.

Warped

Is. 47:10 "For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, 'No one sees me'. Your wisdom and knowledge have warped you. And you have said in your heart, 'I am and there is no one beside me'".

I read the front page of yesterday's Plain Dealer. It outlined how political corruption in this country is nationwide. It itemized various arrests and investigations that have taken place all over the U.S. . (In light of the Governor from Illinois' problems.) It described how this seems to be a national epidemic. Now, take that with the banking bailouts, and the Big 3 problems and the forecosure rates and Union's unwillingness to bend when needed. Everyone is trusting in their own wickedness. That is what is happening. We have a nation of people who have said: "No one sees me." Our wisdom and our knowledge have warped us. We say: "I am and there is no one beside me." That is - "No God is going to tell me what to do. No Bible is going to tell me how to live. There are no absolutes. I will live according to the dictates of my own wisdom and knowledge. I will do what is right for me because there is no right or wrong."

Where has this humanistic mindset left us? Where we are. Political corruption. Institutional corruption. Individual corruption. Now we are going to reap the consequences. v11 - "Therefore evil shall come upon you...".

Unfortunately, we haven't learned from the past. We don't look at nations that ignored God and went their own way in history. We forget about Babylon. We forget about Rome. We forget about Germany. Now we are warped and are repeating the wickedness of the past and will have to live with the results. God be merciful, please.

The Big 3

Is. 33:2 "Lord be gracious to us; We have waited for you. Be their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble."

I am sure that Israel was going through some pretty amazing days back when Isaiah wrote these words. The plunderer was going to be plundered. The treacherous were going to dealt with treacherously. (v1) In other words, what goes around comes around. What you sow, you will eventually reap. People were experiencing this and many were distressed over what was happening.

Kind of sounds like today. The plunderers, those who take advantage of people for gain, are going down. The treacherous, those who devised plans only for their own gain, are taking a hit. The problem is, our financial structure was being built on people who really did not care about the economy or capitalism. They could only think greedily about themselves. Now true captialism is coming back to bite them and they want the government to bail them out. Unfortunately this will effect all of the rest of us. There will be collateral damage. Even though the Big 3 mismanged their companies for years, those who supplied goods for Ford, Chrysler and GM and rely on the Big 3 for their existence may take a hit as well.

What does the believer do? How do we react during these times? The way Isaiah reacted. Oh God please be gracious to us. We should be praying. We should be pleading. We should be looking to God who is the giver of all grace and the supplier of every need. Why? Just like Isaiah, we should be waiting. That actually means that we are looking with hope. We are expecting that God is at work in all of this and we are eagerly watching to see what He is going to do. God, be our arm. Be our shoulder to lean on. Be our strength every morning. As we go through this, let us go through it one day at a time and realize that you are faithful every day. Let us just deal with today and today's strength. (Matt. 6:34) You are our salvation, our deliverer, our victory in this time of trouble and distress.

There is going to be a lot of fall out in the next year or so over what is happening in this country and around the world. We as believers need to go to the Lord and petition Him, relying on Him every day for our strength and realize that He alone is our salvation. Not our bank accounts, not the stock market, not our 401k's, not the government, not the Big 3. Only God. He is the Lord. Jehovah is our deliverance.