Isaiah 53:1-12
The Suffering Servant
1 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.
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.
11 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.
12 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.
We seek happiness and pleasure and try to satisfy our different desires so we might be touched us in a good way...We do not seek to suffer...But the way of suffering is something in life that man will touch at least sometime in his life, and from man's touches with suffering he might be able to learn the most about life...I believe that the suffering experience makes us think deeper about life and what life is about...I personally believe that suffering directs our thoughts toward the sacred...When I am suffering I think of God and His Son...I wonder where They are..I wonder if Jesus is with me...Is He guiding me or is the Holy Spirit with me and guiding me to the Truth, during these times of heartfelt pain?...
While happiness and pleasure satisfy a certain need, suffering is not something satisfying to me at all...I may be learning a lesson about suffering, but the pure act of suffering is not one I think is of satisfaction (especially at the time of the suffering)...And I think it is almost sad to say that one can become familiar with suffering and chronic suffering and familiar with pain, but one can...And yet these words were written thousand of years ago, and we see that they touch the heart of those who suffer...Those who believe the message of the Bible are the ones to whom the LORD has revealed His message...There is One who grew up long ago 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...He was despised and rejected by mankind, a Man of suffering, and familiar with pain...
The Suffering Servant is the One who suffered and eventually went to the cross and suffered greatly and died for us...He suffered and died for our sins...And yes, He is familiar with pain, and He is familiar with our suffering...And He is beside us on His knees praying with us, when we are praying to Him in these times...