Note from Pastor Peter: In the second week of Lent our focus switches from the Challenge of the Cross to the Christ of the Cross. May you be blessed in the truth.
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
(Isaiah53:1 NASB)
If you are willing, please take note of the number of occurrences there are of the third person singular pronouns speaking of Jesus in chapter 53 of Isaiah. How many do you find?
Depending upon the translation, we should note there are over forty. Without question, the Lord is intentional about revealing the Savior to mankind.
But there is a question with which the chapter begins: ‘Who has believed our message?’ There is a sense of wonder, if not bewilderment in the question. It speaks into the future about the human heart’s response to the One described in the verses that follow. Any mystery to the question would be clarified in years to come when the same question would be quoted twice again in Scripture. First John offers it as a reference to the Jews of his day and their reaction to Jesus’ miraculous works (John 12:38). Then later the Apostle Paul harkens back to it as he explains Israel’s refusal of God’s repeated attempts to reveal their Messiah to them (Romans 10:16). From our vantage point of today in Scripture, we now know why Isaiah wonders out loud with the question. The reaction of unbelief was foretold.
The question in light of the revelation that follows it reminds me of the depths of my own unbelief from which the Lord Jesus saved my soul. It reminds me I could do nothing toward my own salvation, but only Jesus. I could not even muster a faith to believe in order to receive the Good News offered by God’s mighty right arm to save. No, the Holy Spirit had to do that through the Message. What a dependent I am upon the grace of God in Christ. What a debtor I am.
We should also be reminded of another truth. Every worker of the Gospel must come to appreciate this question if he or she is to go on through the cloud of disappointment and the fog of frustration inherent to faithful service. In spite of the Lord’s clear revelation of the Savior and the incredible Good News offered by His work, many do not believe. In serving the Gospel of Jesus, we have to ask ourselves another question: If the Lord’s Good News cannot break through the unbelief and heart hardness confronting His work of salvation, then can any servant of His devise a greater means and produce a better plan to bring about greater reception? No we cannot. This truth should provide insight into the focus of the church’s work. Romans 1:16 tells us what is sufficient.
There is one other question asked in verse 1. The answer is to all, but one…the One and only Son. As Jesus would suffer man’s brutality and suffer the anguish of Calvary’s cross, God reveals no power…none of His mercy to save. He must not.
Lord, as I ponder You, may I not only be concerned with Your work on the Cross but overwhelmed by Your love that led You to do so – for helpless me. I pray, conquer every hint of unbelief in my heart with Your grace. May I never refuse any of it, ever.
