Who Will Put Faith in This Good News?

After describing the amazing transformation of the Messiah-from 'disfigured' to "exalted very much"-Isaiah asks:  "Who has put faith in the thing heard by us?  And as for the arm of Jehovah, to whom has it been revealed?"  (Isaiah 53:1) These words of Isaiah raise intriguing questions:  Will this prophecy be fulfilled?  Will "the arm of Jehovah," representing his ability to exert power, reveal itself and make these words come true?

The answer is unquestionably yes!  In his letter to the Romans, Paul quotes  Isaiah's words to show that the prophecy  heard and recorded by Isaiah came true in Jesus. The glorification of Jesus after his sufferings on earth was  good news.  "Nevertheless," says Paul with reference to the unbelieving Jews, "they  did not all obey the good news.  For Isaiah says:  'Jehovah, who put faith in the thing heard from us?'  So faith follows the thing heard. In turn the thing heard is through the word about Christ."  (Romans 10:16, 17)  Sadly, though, few in Paul's day put faith in the good news about God's Servant. Why?

 The prophecy next explains to the Israelites the reasons for the question recorded in verse 1, and in so doing, sheds light on why many will not accept the Messiah:  "He will come up like a twig before [an observer], and lie a root out of waterless land.  No stately form does he have, nor any splendor; and when we shall see him, there is not the appearance  so that we should desire him."  (Isaiah 53:2) Here we see the backdrop against which the Messiah is to enter the earthly scene. He is to have a lowly start, and to observers  he will appear unlikely to amount to anything.  Moreover, he is  to be like a mere twig, a tender sapling, that grows on the trunk or branch of a tree. He is also to be like a water-dependent root in dry, unpromising  soil.  And he is not to come with regal pomp and splendor-no robes of royalty nor any sparkling diadems.  Instead, he start is to be humble and  unpretentious.

How well that describes Jesus' lowly beginning as a human!   The virgin Jewish Mary gave birth to him in a stable in a little town known as Bethlehem.  (Luke 2:7; John 7:42)  Mary and her husband,  Joseph, were poor.  About 40 days after Jesus' birth, they brought the sin offering permitted in the case of the poor, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."  (Luke 2:24l Leviticus 12:6-8)  In time, Mary and Joseph settled in Nazareth, where  Jesus grew up in a large family, likely in modest circumstances. -Matthew 13:55, 56.

It seemed that as a human, Jesus did not have his roots in the right soil.  (John 1:46; 7:41, 52) Although he was a perfect  man and a descendant of King David, his humble circumstances did not impart to him any "stately form" or "splendor"-at least not in the eyes of those who were expecting the Messiah to come from a more impressive background. Spurred on by the Jewish religious leaders, many were led to overlook and even despise him.  In the end the crowds saw nothing desirable in the perfect Son of God. -Matthew 27:11-26. 

Next time: 'Despised and Avoided by Men'

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001