#1022 Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 Part 6 Sucker Branch

 

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

14 As many were astonished at you—

his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

15 so shall he sprinkle many nations.

Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,

for that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand.

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

9 And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

Isaiah 53:2 Sucker Branch

For He grew up before Him like a young plant - The Hebrew word for young plant here is yoneq. When me and my brother were little, my mom had a rather large garden with lots of tomatoes, and one of our responsibilities was pulling suckers. These are shoots that come up in between branches, and while they don't fruit they still demand nutrients from the plant. Farmers do the same in their orchards, removing sucker branches from the main stalk to increase the tree's yield. Under the careful eye of His Father, Messiah would grow up under circumstances that none of the religious elite or wealthy would ever acknowledge, much less consider. He was born in a manger, to a very young mother, a poor earthly father, and He grew up in the town of Nazareth, a branch they would just as soon discard. There are two great comparisons here:

1. The way His Father sees Him

1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,

And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;

And He will reign as king and act wisely

And do justice and righteousness in the land. Jeremiah 23:5

2. The way the world views Him

They had already had uprisings from the Zealots, who did not appreciate Roman rule, and this would give them cause for concern when people started following anyone. Rome would answer forcefully, and so even though they looked for Messiah, hoped for Messiah, they wanted to be sure that this individual was a military prodigy who could break Rome. Jesus was a carpenter's son with no training as a soldier, no degree from any esteemed university, and no capital. So to them, by their wise estimation, up against their perceived need in a Messiah, Jesus was as useless as a yoneq. The Bible says He grew in favor with God and man, that He had wisdom from a young age. His mother was from the line of David, and His earthly father, Joseph, was also from Judah, so He was not without pedigree. 

…2When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles? 3Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well? And they took offense at Him. 4Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”… Mark 6: 2-4

And like a root out of dry ground - It has nothing to draw from, the ground is parched, the well too far away; it is a root destined to go nowhere. He was a nobody from nowhere with no means. This is the womb of their revered mother Sarah, Abraham's wife. Here is the Seed promised in the garden, and all they can think to do is mow it down. What did you read of the barren womb? What did you believe?

…6While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.… Luke 2: 6-8

57As they were walking along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 Jesus replied, “ Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head. 59Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”… Luke 9: 57-59

…45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46“Can anything good come from Nazareth? Nathanael asked. “Come and see, said Philip. 47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”… John 1: 45-47

He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him - The word for form here is toar, so there was nothing in His outward appearance that pointed toward majesty. He did not look like royalty, and the Jews were greatly offended when Pilate had a sign put above His head, "King of the Jews." Kings had flowing robes, were more like the picture of Christ described in Isaiah 6, high and lifted up on His throne. They carried an immense presence with them, the clothes, the gold, the entourage, but he grew up poor, all he owned was wisdom. He was average looking, and his followers were the most ignorant of sorts, and they smelled like fish. 

18Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”19“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”… Judges 8: 18-19

…6Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.… Philippians 2: 6-8

He had no one from their esteemed clubs standing up to sponsor Him, to nominate Him. His brothers were embarrassed by Him. When you're the brother of a king, of anyone important, it comes with perks, but He didn't bring such things. He was humble and set upon fulfilling the will of His heavenly Father, boring right? Sure, there were times when people thought this could be the guy, the Messiah, even a time when they were willing to force Him to be king. This Jesus could take 5 loaves and 2 fish and feed 5,000 with baskets of food left over. That would be a socialist's dream, a guy that could fulfill everything they promise. He could heal the sickest, the lame, even raise people from the dead, and here we are all wearing mask, mandated, but people still die, everyone will. He turned water into wine, and His wine was the best. Who wouldn't want a party favor like that? Jesus did amazing things, but then He had to go and talk about His body and His blood. His own disciples rebuked Him for talking about His suffering; they blocked that out of their minds. And what is this talk of repentance? We are Abraham's children. He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes, did stooping things like washing people's feet. Only a slave would do those things, not a king, there was no beauty in that. The law required that we walk a mile with a Roman soldier, but He says, "walk two." This passage is removed from the daily reading in the synagogues today, and the deeper we go, the more we will see why. His was eternal glory, a love that upheld the righteousness of God, the beauty of His justice, and the majesty of His grace.

13children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ ”… John 1: 13-15

…9Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. 11While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently.… Luke 19: 9-11

…12I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ 13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner! 14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”… Luke 18: 12-14