“Jesus Life Was Predicted by Isaiah long before Jesus was born.
I bring this up before Palm Sunday was actually the fulfillment of one of those prophecies. In a book in the Old Testament are the writings of the prophet Isaiah. In his prophecy, he sees the Lord getting spit upon and ridiculed. Even His beard is being pulled as He is mocked and beaten. Imagine God who became man to teach us how to get to Heaven, and this is how we treat Him. The Passion of our Lord is something we should meditate on often, because it shows us just how much our God cares for us and loves us. No matter what suffering we endure, He knows what it is like to be hurt and wounded by those He loved. So this week as we shout “Hosanna”, think about how great a love God has for you that He would send His only begotten Son to suffer and die for us that we may attain everlasting life. Perhaps we could read some of those scriptures and do some meditating? Something to think about.
1) He hath no form nor comeliness:
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.
{This text predicts that Jesus would have the physical appearance of an average man of that time. The verse explains that he would have no distinguishable beauty or attractiveness, and that he would look like an ordinary Jew. This is quite a powerful prophecy of the coming Messiah, in that he would not appear in the glory of a king or a god, but rather a normal human being.}
{Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. John 8:58-59} This New Testament verse in the book of John confirms the prophecy found in verse Isaiah 53:2. When the Jews were about to stone Jesus, he was able to escape and blend into a crowd, because he was an average looking man. Had Jesus been a beautiful, awe-striking man, the Jews would have been able to pick him out of the crowd of people.
3) Rejected by the World Fulfillment: Isaiah 53:3&4
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. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
{Jesus Christ was clearly reject by the Jewish people when he was tried and crucified. His charges were blasphemy, because of the claims he made of deity. We can clearly see from the crucifixion that Jesus was neither accepted nor respected by his people as the Messiah.}
Rejected by the World Fulfillment: Isaiah 53:4
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
{Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.}
5) He was wounded for our transgressions: Isaiah 53:5&6
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.
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.
{Crucifixion Fulfillment:
Christ would be “wounded” for our transgressions by being crucified by the Romans. The Lord would put the punishment for our sins on Jesus’ shoulders.
{This Isaiah 53 Bible prophecy predicts the sacrifice that Jesus Christ would placed on the cross for our iniquities.}
6) He opened not his mouth:
Isaiah 53:7 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.
{This is perhaps the most specific Isaiah 53 Bible prophecy that Jesus fulfilled. Verse 7 predicts that Jesus would not speak, and not defend himself. Just like a “lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb” Christ would not defend himself when on trial. The passage predicts that he would remain silent, accepting his fate.}
5) He was cut off out of the land of the living:
Isaiah 53:8 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.
6) He made his grave with the wicked:
This prophecy from Isaiah 53 is two fold. First, the prophet predicted that Jesus would make his grave with the wicked, meaning he would die with the unrighteous. Secondly, this verse predicts that Christ would live a sinless life, doing no violence nor lying.
Isaiah 53:9 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.
7) Sinless Life and Crucifixion Fulfillment:
The first part of the prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified with two thieves on the cross. With this, Jesus “made his grave with the wicked” being killed with two unrighteous criminals.
The second part of the Isaiah 53 Bible prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus lived a sinless and blameless life. He did no violence nor lied about who he was. Because Jesus had no “deceit in his mouth”, everything he said about his deity was true. Isaiah 53 in turn confirms his deity by declaring he did not lie, hence everything he claimed was true.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
Isaiah 53 Atonement For Sin Fulfillment:
1 Peter 3:18: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
This Isaiah 53 Bible Prophecy fulfillment is confirmed by so many verses in the New Testament, however 1 Peter 3:18 is one example. Jesus’ death was a sacrifice because of sin, so that we may be right with God in the day of judgement. There is no amount of good deeds or works man can do to be in good standing with a perfect and holy God. So in an act of unconditional love and sacrifice, God sent his only son into the world to pay the price that we could not.
Isaiah 53 Silent Sacrifice Fulfillment:
Isaiah 53:11-12
After he has suffered,
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 give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53 Silent Sacrifice Fulfillment:
Matthew 27:11-14
And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.
{As we can see in the book of Matthew, Jesus Christ did not defend himself against the accusations of the chief priests and the elders. Jesus fulfilled this Isaiah 53 prophecy by remaining silent at his sentencing. Like a lamb to the slaughter, Christ made no defense.}
Isaiah 53 Crucifixion Fulfillment:
Jesus would obviously fulfill this Isaiah 53 Bible prophecy of being “cut off out of the land of the living”, by dying on the cross. He would no longer be in the “land of the living” because he would die a gruesome and horrible death.
"Only Life Changes" 