20th June. 2020. Daily Devotion.

Isaiah 53:1-9

53 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

We live in a world which admires strength and power and have leaders who constantly try to project power and strength to elicit our support. This was the case in Old Testament times until Isaiah spoke the words above.

The messianic prophecies are breath-taking in their description of Jesus, both in their detail and in the very non-Jewish theological implications. The great Jewish heroes — Moses, Joshua, David — were men of earthly power, beloved leaders in battle, political forces who strengthened and increased the nation of God’s chosen people. One would expect to see the prophets predicting the return of such a man. Even Elijah, a holy man, destroyed the priests of Baal with the sword and stood as a prophet to the extinguishing of Ahab, Jezebel, and their entire line.

But Isaiah prophesies a messiah who will not walk in worldly majesty or political power, one oppressed and afflicted, who “opened not his mouth” one who would be led “like a lamb to the slaughter” and be “pierced for our transgressions.”

Isaiah 53 describes a quite different kind of power from traditional political strength, (regardless of its colour or direction). Human strength can be an illusion and those who appear strong may at heart be very weak. One of the challenges of Christian faith is to remember that God most often works through human weakness when it is placed in his hands. Pray that leaders worldwide may have the humility to find their true strength in God.

Prayers

Remember God During the Day

Lord God, the heavens are telling of your glory and the wonders of your love, the sun by day, and the moon and stars by night. Yet, as clouds will cover your sky in gloom, as the ceilings of men’s buildings hide the sky from my sight, so the cares of this existence block your majesty from my mind.

I look with hope to the day when my knowledge of your glory will never be hidden by the concerns of the world, and I may know you every moment of time, forever; but until then, forgive me for all the time I spend with my face bent to the things of earth, your Spirit ignored and forgotten; for you are always there, willing to show yourself to me and guide me and comfort me, if I only lift up my head and see the sky above. Amen.

For Those Who Protect Us in any way.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women who put themselves in danger for our protection. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Your loving care

Lord Jesus when you walked with us on earth you spread your healing power. We place in your loving care all who are affected by Coronavirus. Keep us strong in faith, hope and love. Bring relief to our sick, console our bereaved, protect those who care for us. We lift our prayer to you Lord, and trust in your infinite mercy, as we wait for the daybreak. Amen.