behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
as many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
[isaiah 52:13-14]
the irony in these verses reveals such deep wisdom of God. the Lord Jesus, the servant of the Father, is also the Son. he is God, and as God, he is high and lifted up. but his reward of exaltation is for his obedience to the Father, in which he was high and lifted up on a cross of punishment, high and lifted up in shame. this shame was wholly undeserved, as he was righteous, without spot or blemish, the perfect sacrificial Lamb. yet in his wisdom, he knew that being lifted up in this way, he was redeeming his people by his blood.
the people of israel needed redemption. they had turned from their God, and his discipline was heavy upon them.
o Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a whispered prayer
when your discipline was upon them.
like a pregnant woman
who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, o Lord;
we were pregnant, we writhed,
but we have given birth to wind.
we have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
[isaiah 26:16-18]
God’s children knew they needed redemption, but what they misunderstood was that the Messiah, the Savior, the Chosen One, Holy and Righteous was coming to redeem their hearts forever, not their nation. he would come to fix the root of their problem, their sin, not to put a bandage on the symptom, but true healing. Jesus came to redeem their souls to God. he came to redeem our souls to God.
therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. the old has passed away; behold, the new has come. all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, [2 cor 5:17-19a]
because Jesus was lifted up on the cross, you are lifted up to your Father in heaven.
because Jesus was humiliated, your humiliation is removed.
because Jesus became sin for you, your record of sin is removed.
because Jesus was marred beyond recognition, you are recognized by your Father.
because Jesus was rejected by man, you will never be rejected by your Holy Father.
child of God, and follower of Christ… Jesus paid it all. you have been redeemed and reconciled to God. you have been fully restored and fully cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. praise his glorious name!
“weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” and they sang a new song, saying,
“worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
then i looked, and i heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
and i heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
and the four living creatures said, “amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. [revelation 5:5,9-14]
~arwen eastman