The Messiah was revealed in visions to the prophet Isaiah: This was the true appearance of Jesus as described by Isaiah

The vision of the life and purpose of the Messiah.

Text: Isaiah 53:1-3

Introduction:

In a time of captivity and despair, Israel could not imagine change. God, however, raised a prophetic voice: the announcement of the Messiah. This message would not be received by appearances, but by faith. Sometimes the greatest act of redemption begins as a whisper that only the humble can hear.

1. The Question of the Triune God. (v1)

   Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

   ● Isaiah's message begins with this question: Israel had been besieged, conquered, and deported to Babylon. The prophets had been announcing the manifestation of the Messiah to generate hope and repentance, but the people had not believed.

   ● God called Isaiah to preach in times of unbelief (Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me." 9 And he said, "Go and tell this people, 'Hear, but do not understand; see, but do not understand.'")

   ● No one in Israel expected that the outlook for their destiny in captivity would change. However, God showed through the seer that there was hope for salvation, but that for this they had to believe. In the end, they did not listen to any of the prophets and were deported to Babylon.

2. The appearance of the Messiah.

   And he will come up before Him like a tender plant, like a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; we will see him, but without any beauty that we should desire him.

● Isaiah sees Jesus in visions, describing his appearance, as a new growth of man before God, clothed in flesh and blood, in the sight of the world without the brightness of beauty, but with life in himself, because the world was dead, dry in every spiritual form, and Christ was the root in dry ground.

● Isaiah sees in visions an ordinary man, without physical resemblance and without beauty, for man always sees the superficial and judges appearances, looking for attractiveness in someone to imitate, and if that person is not attractive, he easily forgets that person.

● Human beings appreciate someone if their way of speaking, their way of dressing, their way of walking, their way of grooming are attractive. People would never follow a homeless person or a person with bad manners, nor would they follow a person with low self-esteem or an authoritarian person. They will follow someone who offers something incredible. Jesus was not attractive, but he offered attractive things, among them the greatest thing Christ offered was eternal life, and he distributed gifts, miracles, and many things that attracted the crowds.

● For 30 years, Jesus was not famous and did not attract crowds. It was only after he dedicated himself to his full ministry that things changed, and he gained thousands of followers who sought hope in his words and sought to follow God's ways.

● Israel was accustomed to kings with very good looks, men of war and brave men, with sword and shield and bow, however, they did not understand that these kings were not capable of ending the dominion of sin and all existing vanity, but Christ without any physical attractiveness ended sin.

3. The rejection of the world.

   Despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. We seemed to hide our faces from him and did not esteem him.

Isaiah sees Jesus' ministry, which, despite his great work and all the support of God, was despised and rejected by men. The multitudes of Jews who followed Jesus throughout his ministry made it very clear that they were not interested in being part of God's kingdom, that they were only interested in miracles and healings.

Everyone agreed on Christ's death; the authorities despised and rejected Jesus as the Christ and sentenced them to pain and suffering.

We do not value him for who he was, and for what he did. The people of that time did not value his miracles or his promises, nor did they value his atoning death, his resurrection, or the gifts he gave to men, so that they mocked the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

4. The Mission and Purpose of the Messiah.

   Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

Jesus bore our sicknesses and suffered our pains, not out of obligation, but out of love.

The Gospels were written so that different readers could understand the impact of the miracles and healings Jesus performed. Each miracle has a purpose and meaning for us; we just need to understand it.

In every miracle Jesus performed, He shows His love and mercy. Jesus performs miracles because He has compassion for us.

His mission was to heal us and give us the hope of eternal life.

5. The Final Sacrifice of the Messiah.

   But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement that brought us peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.

● What Isaiah saw in his vision is exactly what Jesus experienced and suffered in his ministry.

● Divine substitution: Christ takes what was our sin, sickness, and pain and gives us what is His: peace, healing, and forgiveness. He bore the punishment we deserved. And the healing we did not deserve, He gave us.

Conclusion:

We despise Jesus, yet he does not despise us.

We are not willing to suffer for the gospel; Jesus was willing to suffer for our peace to save us.

Because of Christ's suffering and sacrifice, we should be more committed to believing in him.