Scripture Reading: Isaiah 52:7-15, Isaiah 53:1-12, Hebrews 2:9-10, 1 Peter 2:24
One thing makes Christianity stand out from all other world religions: our deity suffered to save us. If you, like me, have been around the gospel message since childhood, then it is so easy to spout phrases like “Jesus died for our sins” without feeling or considering any of their outrageous import. And at no time in history has it ever made more sense for the one doing the saving to be the sacrifice. It has always been astounding and confounding.
Isaiah’s prophecy told the people of Israel about their future Messiah.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
—Isaiah 53:2–3
When they heard this, it likely seemed just as backward to them as it does to us now. Saviors conquer. Saviors are noble and mighty. Saviors save. They are not weak and unimpressive. It’s no wonder that Jesus’s contemporaries overlooked Him and couldn’t see Him as the fulfillment of this prophecy.
But Isaiah went even further. It wasn’t just that this Savior was unimpressive. He was to suffer. This wasn’t just an act of self-sacrifice on behalf of people. It was God’s intended purpose to provide salvation. The servant of Isaiah was the Savior because He suffered.
Yet the LORD was pleased to crush him severely.
When you make him a guilt offering,
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days,
and by his hand, the LORD’s pleasure will be accomplished.
—Isaiah 53:10
And lest we mute or dilute these texts, the Savior didn’t merely suffer, but He tasted death (Hebrews 2:9) and “bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1Peter 2:24). And he did so willingly and without complaining so that by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). This is diametrically opposite to earthly victory. We understand self-sacrifice for the sake of others, but that is measured in what it will cost and the value of the outcome. It is generally remembered somberly, not celebrated in victory. But Jesus did take pleasure in this kind of victory.
Therefore I will give him the many as a portion,
and he will receive the mighty as spoil.
—Isaiah 53:12
You and I, as believers, are the spoils of victory. Our salvation was earned by suffering. And our Savior died and lived again, unlike any other Savior there has ever been or ever will be.
Written by Barnabas Piper
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74 thoughts on "The Servant’s Suffering and Exaltation"
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Praise God for doing so much to give us a way to be forgiven for our iniquities.
Thank you God for loving us!!
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By His wounds, I am healed. I’m so unworthy, yet He suffered it all for me. Sometimes I forget that He didn’t only suffer on the cross, but Isaiah reminds me His whole life was full of suffering. People actually looked away from Him. He was rejected. He knew sickness. Jesus knows me. He suffered in order to know me. And He has healed me from my sins.
So thankful for this study and how much Isaiah points us to see the Lord as our salvation, rock, redemption…
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I’ve been blessed to hear about Christ dying for me all my life but man did this hit me hard today. To realize that not only did he sacrifice for me but that I’m considered a spoil of victory? That’s crazy. What a love!
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Without fault.
With full intent of the Father.
He died a solitary death.
To give new life to many.
Pray I be among the “spoils of victory”.
Pray I be among the “bearers of Good News”.
Thanks be to God.
He suffered so much. And because He was victorious, we are too. Praise Him for that!
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Anyone who has trekked through the book ofLeviticus knows the cost of sin wasn’t cheap. Blood had to be shed to be be able to come close to the Living G-d. In Judaism these sacrifices were called “korban”
which means to draw near or to come close”. These animals that were slaughtered allowed for trespass to be covered and man to be able to come close to a Holy G-d. The book of Leviticus is about Jesus. I am grateful Jesus,put on flesh and became the korban for us! He became the messy, bloody, sacrifice on the altar of the cross to do what the blood of bulls,goats, and sheep couldn’t do.My grandma sang a song:
Oh, what a Savior,oh hallelujah,
His heart was broken on Calvary
His hands were nail scared,
His side was riven,
He gave His life’s blood for even me,
Once I was straying in sins dark valley
No hope within could I see
They searched through heaven
And they found,found a Savior
To save a poor lost soul like me
Yes, that’s good!
And every time I hear someone “reference” their grandma as part of their faith journey it gives me SO much encouragement to keep planting the seeds and watering in my secular grandchildren!
Thank you for this powerful connection and imagery!
A song that comes to mind is Son of Suffering by Maverick City
“ Blood and tears, how can it be?
There’s a God who weeps
There’s a God who bleeds
Oh praise the One, who would reach for me
Hallelujah to the Son of Suffering” ♥️
So grateful for His sacrificial love!
Oh YES, thank you for the reminder of that song- I’m going to add to my Easter playlist!
We learned this song last week at church as part of lent!
These verses always humble me! To think that Jesus would go through all that for us!
What a wonderful savior we have!
Praying for all, and anyone affected by the tornadoes!
Guys, i haven’t been able to pray on paper for two weeks , and i was able to last night and b this morning!! I am so excited to connect with God and know/feel our connection
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He was pierced for my transgressions.
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Every lie I’ve ever told, every grudge I’ve every held, every judgment, jealousy, every gossip, EVERY WRONG I’ve every done — nailed Jesus to the cross. He was punished because of me. I was part of putting the nails in His hands and the spear in His side…and YET – He considers me spoils of the victory! Only God’s love is that deep, that wide, that high, that long!!
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And what does God expect in return? That I would die to sin and live for righteousness.
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Father God, help me to live for Christ each day. To flee sin and draw near to You. I can not do it in my own strength, help me to put on the armor daily and be strengthened by Your Holy Spirit that lives in me.
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The words of this song ran through my head as I was reading Isaiah 53…
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The Anthem
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By His stripes, we are healed
By His nail-pierced hands, we’re free
By His blood, we’re washed clean
Now we have the victory
The power of sin is broken
Jesus overcame it all
He has won our freedom
Jesus has won it all
Hallelujah, You have won the victory
Hallelujah, You have won it all for me
Death could not hold You down, You are the risen King
Seated in majesty, You are the risen King
By His stripes, we are healed
By His nail-pierced hands, we’re free
By His blood, we’re washed clean
Now we have the victory
The power of sin is broken
Jesus overcame it all
He has won our freedom
Jesus has won it all
Hallelujah, You have won the victory
Hallelujah, You have won it all for me
Death could not hold You down, You are the risen King
Seated in majesty, You are the risen King
Our God is risen, He is alive
He won the victory, He reigns on high
Our God is risen, He is alive
He won the victory, He reigns on high
Our God is risen, He is alive
He won the victory, He reigns on high
Our God is risen, He is alive
He won the victory, He reigns on high
Hallelujah, You have won the victory
Hallelujah, You have won it all for me
Death could not hold You down, You are the risen King
Seated in majesty, You are the risen King
Hallelujah, You have won the victory
Hallelujah, You have won it all for me
Death could not hold You down, You are the risen King
Seated in majesty, You are the risen King
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Praying for all your requests.
Have a blessed Thursday sisters. ❤️
A joyous “AMEN!!”
He is WORTHY! All Praise to Him! Thank you for the Cross Jesus, and the Living Hope!
Amen ❤️
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Thank you Jesus
Today is the highlight..the foundational truth of what was foretold, happened, and our hope for today!! If you grew up in church, they become familiar in way that we might skim over them! But that they were prophesied so many years before Jesus came is so important. And the Jewish people (most) didn’t recognize him as their Savior! He was not what they wanted even though they were told he would come with no importance. Is that what we do? We visualize or expect Jesus to be what we want? To be okay with our “sins” we don’t want to see as sin? We are told exactly what and why Jesus went to the cross…yet we (and churches) make him the way we want. Kind Jesus that loves everyone and everything. Although he very much expected His Father’s house and word to be respected.
Let’s not make “truth” our truth, but to KNOW by His word testimony God’s truth. Staying vigilant to stay close, in the Spirit daily, asking for guidance and understanding and discernment! It should be our passion, to love him as a Father and friend, but also…A Sovereign, Reigning King of justice that make us fall to our face in reverence. How often do we get on our knees in remembering honor? Wash the feet of the less? Go to the prisons and homeless, and break bread. Lord, keep my eyes open and ears listening. I don’t want to lift myself above the Savior, I don’t want church to be my idol, but to glorify You. I want everything in my life to point to you, not what I do for you, but because I want them to know what you did for me.
“Exaltation” that is the word I was looking for!
Amen. Well said Rhonda. ❤️
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Amen!!
“We visualize or expect Jesus to be what we want? To be okay with our “sins” we don’t want to see as sin?”
Thank you, Rhonda J.
Clarion call to conscience.
This is the message of Easter. The clear, harsh, reality and picture of what our precious Jesus suffered. For me. For us. And what a gift, what good news to proclaim that He saves and He reigns.
“How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Thank you Father.
Praying for your requests, SRT sisters. Eyes on Jesus.
Isaiah 53:2b And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
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The depictions of Jesus usually show him with a kind face, but we aren’t drawn to Him by looks. What Christ did for me – laid down His life and suffered unimaginably to provide me with the opportunity to accept His gift of salvation, to have my sins forgiven and to have the assurance of eternal life with Him – that drew me to Him, there is nothing more beautiful than what He did. Hallelujah, whoop worthy, KELLY (NEO).
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Praying for the lost, that they would accept His gift.
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MERCY ❤️
TAMI – continuing to pray for help and resources needed
CEE GEE – ❤️
KERRY ROWLEY – praying DIL and new granddaughter are doing well
SHARON JERSEY GIRL- praying for Jonathan
MEAGAN C – praying a house that works for your family and budge is found soon, and that your son will adapt quickly to all the changes.
FOSTER MAMA – continuing to pray
Yes and Amen, Searching!
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Thank you so much for your prayers – I don’t know how God can “make a way” for Jonathan, but am hopeful and confident that He will.
Whoop, indeed❣️
“He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him,…” v2 I have often heard that our Jesus during the time He walked on earth wasn’t considered “good-looking” (hope not to offend anyone) for that very reason we read in V2. BUT as we have often heard the saying: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” For us “our” JESUS is Beautiful! Happy Thursday sweet She’s! I have to share this as it touched-my-heart SO much! Yesterday, we were on the play ground when I heard a student shout my name from afar and next thing I know, she’s wrapped around my waist. It was one our TK students who showed up later morning and was so happy to see me! The TK teachers and other para thought it was SO cute when this student shouted out for me and ran. Me…..my heart felt “warm-fuzzies” I absolutely love this little munchkin! I love that she feels safe at our school with the teacher and I. LOVE my job!
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When do you find out if you get to stay with the teacher next year?
I think I’ll know by the end of the school year maybe even the beginning of the next school year. I have all of you, praying for me and a few of my close friends, and of course, my TK teacher is also requesting to stay with her.
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Over the last couple of months God impressed upon me that Jesus knew everything about me. He knew everything I would ever do or think. Nothing in my life was a surprise to Him. Even in this He came to earth was mocked, rejected, beaten, killed and resurrected for me and for you, that is an unbelievable love!
I come with praises and a prayer request. I had my follow up with my surgeon yesterday. The lesion was benign and a 1. A 1 means likely not coming back. I also don’t need radiation. My prayer is because it is not clear if I had a seizure on 3/5, I’m currently not able to drive for six months. I know God is in control, trustworthy and He will show me how getting to and from work can be possible.
Praying for the Lord to send a way to and from work, Danielle.
Praying for transportation options to be provided, Danielle.
Praying that God will make a way – and praise that the lesion was benign and not likely to come back!
Praise the Lord for good news, and praying
Praying for you
So much to celebrate! The driving situation is so challenging. Since if it was a seizure it was likely caused by the tumor and now the tumor is gone, would your neurologist be willing to write a letter so that you can get your driving privileges back? Maybe not, but might be worth a try? Regardless, I know God will provide all that you need. ❤️
Yes, I need to talk to the neurologist, but the earliest appointment is August 7 and I had no need for a neurologist before everything happened on 3/5. I’m on the waitlist for cancellations. The Lord is good and I already have people to reach out to about driving me to and from work. I live in an area where this is common due to the plain community.
Praying that this will all work out Danielle and praise God it was benign.
Praise God for the good news! Praying your needs for transportation would be met ❤️
Yes, Danielle B
Give it time.
Give it over to God.
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HE gained victory THROUGH suffering. I get reminded of the scripture (I’m bad with addresses but I know what it says) that says “For the JOY set before Him He endured the cross…”. To think I was that joy. His joy was that after He endured this, He never had to be without me. What a though! What. God! What a Redeeme… What a Love!
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Yes, what love!
All Hail King Jesus! Hallelujah! Amen!
Amen indeed Aimee!
Amen!
Amen
Amen❤️
Agreed, Sally
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Spoils (Webster) – “something taken from another by force or craft, . . . applies to what belongs by right or custom to the victor in war or political contest.”
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The battle belongs to the Lord, and ALL the spoils are His.
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KERRY ROWLEY – hope all went well with the birth of your granddaughter.
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TAYLOR – sage travels to TX
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ABIGAIL LOPEZ – any word on your missing cousin? Praying❣️
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No movement in my young mama’s situation:-(
Praying for her Kelly.
Repeat as necessary… The battle belongs to the Lord, and ALL the spoils are His.
Thank you, Kelly ❤️
Continuing to pray for your young mama
Praying for your young Mama.
@ABIGAIL LOPEZ, I too am wondering…any updates/clues?!
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Praying for your young mama’s situation.
Praying
“You and I, as believers, are the spoils of victory. Our salvation was earned by suffering. And our Savior died and lived again, unlike any other Savior there has ever been or ever will be.”
Jesus – the only way to the Father and eternal life. Amazing love how can it be!?!
Hallelujah, What a Savior indeed!
Sunday’s coming, Ladies!!
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Amen! ❤️