Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read Numbers 30, Isaiah 53, and 2 Thessalonians 1. This devotional is about Isaiah 53. Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities, and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. we all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each one has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. 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 her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can recount his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living. He was stricken for the transgression of my people. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and to cause him to suffer. And when his soul is made a guilt offering, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the anguish of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he has poured out his life unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. This is God's Word. Isaiah 53 is one of the most detailed prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament. And that means it's an important passage for believers in Jesus to know. Verses 1 through 3 introduced us to the life of Christ that was coming by explaining that there would be nothing spectacular about the life of Christ on the surface. His family background would be unspectacular. Verse 2 used two images from the natural world to describe what the early life of Jesus would be like. When verse 2 says that, he grew up before him like a tender shoot. The image compares Jesus' childhood to one of those little sucker plants that grows up next to a tree. If we walked out into the woods and saw a large tree surrounded by a bunch of those little sucker plants, we would know instinctively that those sucker plants would never amount to very much at all. In fact, most landowners cut those things off so that they won't sap nutrients from the big tree. If that's what this passage in the Bible says Jesus' early life would be like. If you met his family, if you saw where they lived, if you listened to them talk, you'd say, nice family, but those kids will never be anyone important. Verse two goes on to prophesy that Jesus would be like a root out of parched ground. If you were traveling through a vast desert in Nevada and saw a little tomato plant growing out of the ground, you might stop to look at it because it would be almost miraculous. But you'd also probably conclude that there is no way that little tomato plant could survive for very long under the withering heat and dryness in the desert. And that's what Jesus' childhood would be like according to Isaiah 53. No one looking at his childhood would expect him to amount to much. Verse 2 tells us that Jesus would not be physically attractive. He did not look the part of a leader. If you or I saw Jesus without knowing who he is, but if we saw Jesus as he appeared when he was on this earth, we would not have been struck by his appearance at all. He looked like an ordinary, everyday person. Joe average, to use our terminology. Furthermore, he would not succeed because of his winning personality either, because according to verse 3, Jesus was not accepted by people who knew him. Now given these descriptions and these descriptive words of Christ, you would naturally expect him to struggle as a young man, growing into adulthood. And according to verses 4 and 5, you would be right. Those verses describe pain and suffering in the life of Jesus, even saying that those who saw him suffer would consider him punished by God and crushed. Those are the words of verse 5 in the NIV. Yet this section told us that it was not his own deficiencies, weaknesses, or sins that caused this suffering. No. It was for our pain and our suffering, according to verse 4. It was for our transgressions and our iniquities, according to verse 5. This is what theologians call the vicarious atonement of Christ. His death was on our behalf. And why? Because his punishment brought us peace, as verse 5 in the NIV says. It was a direct act of God, placing the punishment for our sins on Christ, that caused him to suffer so much, according to verse 6b. It isn't just suffering that Christ would endure for us. Verses 7-9 tell us that he would die silently for us. Verse 9 put it this way, he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people he was punished. Lest we miss it, verse 9b says that Christ suffered all of this despite his own innocence. That verse says, verse 9b in the NIV, though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth. And why did all this happen to him unjustly? Because it was God's will according to verse 10. Although Jesus suffered and died for the sins of others, according to verse 10b, God would reward his offspring, as verse 10c says. That is, those who would be born again because of him. And Christ himself would be happy that he endured all of this. Because verse 11 says, he will be satisfied with the results of his suffering. Specifically, by his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. That's verse 11, C and D in the NIV. And that verse means that those who know Jesus will be justified, meaning will be forgiven, when we know that he died for our sins. The reward for all of this is described in verse 12. Because of what Christ did and accomplished on the cross, God's word says in verse 12, I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong. In other words, Jesus will receive the glory he deserves when all is said and done. It is truly amazing what God in Christ has done for us. My amazement is amplified by the fact that the core message about him was described for us in detail hundreds of years before Jesus was born. So take a moment today and let these truths sink deeply into your soul. And thank the Lord for the plan of salvation that Christ accomplished on our behalf. And if you found this devotional helpful, please go to my website, dailypbj.com slash subscribe, and enter your email address, and then every day for free, these devotionals will show up in your inbox, and that will cue you to be in God's word every single day. Please consider becoming part of my financial support network so we can keep making video content like this and more. 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