By His Stripes-6

BY HIS STRIPES-VI—Isaiah 52:13—53:1-12

OR: God’s Remedy For Sin

Attention:

Spider webs:

Spider webs have been studied by scientists for years.

“A single spider can produce up to seven different types of silk for different uses.”—‘Spider Silk’ @ en.wikipedia.org

“Spider silk stands out for its extreme mechanical properties. It is the fibre that can absorb the most energy before it breaks, due to a combination of tensile strength & extensibility. It can absorb three times more energy than Kevlar before breaking. ‘It’s not the strongest & it is not the most elastic material, but it’s the best material at combining these features,’ says Thomas Scheibel, professor of biomaterials at Bayreuth University in Germany.”—Anthony King(2017) @ ChemistryWorld.com. “Weight for weight, [spider]silk is stronger than steel, but not as strong as Kevlar. [spider]Silk is, however, tougher than either.”—Wiki. “15 years ago, there were maybe five to 10 groups working on spider silk & almost no companies. Now there are a few dozen groups & at least three nicely running biotech companies.’” “basic science researchers are seeking novel applications, ranging from nerve regrowth to consumer packaging & glue. Its lure is not simply toughness: spider silk does not appear to cause a strong immune, allergic or inflammatory reaction & it biodegrades to harmless end products, all especially useful in biomedicine. Crucially, as a recombinant protein, researchers have been sticking bioactive molecules onto it, for added functionality.”—A. King(2017) @ ChemistryWorld.com

Spider silk is so small & thin as to be almost imperceptible. It is ‘seemingly’ insignificant. Yet it it a source for chemical & physical engineering in numerous applications.

It is a seeming paradox that something that is produced in nature, something so thin & minuscule, is the subject of such research as to produce better, tougher, & lighter products than is currently available.

It is also a paradox that the Savior of mankind was treated as a criminal.

Background:

~700 years prior to the Cross of Christ Jesus, Isaiah prophesied of the substitutionary atonement which would one day come thru God’s “Servant”(52:13a). Isaiah records details of the coming Servant’s willing sacrifice for the sake of all sinners.

The prophet Isaiah declared a future time when God’s unique Servant would provide the remedy for sin.

Jesus is God’s remedy for sin.

Why/How/When is Jesus God’s remedy for sin?

Our reception of Jesus as God’s remedy for personal sin.

‘RECEIVE’—More than mental acceptance, which only makes possibilities plausible. ‘Receiving’ has to do with acceptance by the heart, so that what is received, is taken to the point of actual reliance upon what or Who is received.

We have already found that By His stripes we recognize & receive His...

1. WILLING ENSLAVEMENT(52:13a_a)

2. PRUDENCE(52:13a_b)

3. UNAPPROACHABLE HEIGHT Of EXALTATION(52:13b)

4. DISARMING PERPLEXITY(52:14-15--53:1a)

5. INSTRUMENTATION(53:1b)

6—By His stripes I receive His...

ESTEEM(53:2-3)

Explanation/Argumentation:(53:2-3)Value

53:2—“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

The “He” is reference to the “Servant”(52:13ff).

The “Him” is reference to YHWH God.

The promised Servant of God will “grow up” in God’s presence(“before Him”). The fact that the Servant will “grow up” tells us that He will be a Son of Man, Yet with God’s full parentage & direction...

“Grow up”—hle aw-law’—Qal Imperfect—1) To go up, ascend, climb—1a) (Qal)--1a1) To go up, ascend, 1a2) To meet, visit, follow, depart, withdraw, retreat, 1a3) To go up, come up(of animals), 1a4) To spring up, grow, shoot forth(of vegetation), 1a5) To go up, go up over, rise(of natural phenomenon), 1a6) To come up(before God), 1a7) To go up, go up over, extend(of boundary), 1a8) To excel, be superior to. Strong—a primitive root; To ascend, intransitively--Be high or actively--Mount; used in a great variety of senses, primary & secondary, literal & figurative.

Thus he will also be Divine or of heavenly origin...

Jn. 1:15, 29-30—“John[the Baptist] bore witness of Him & cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”.....“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, & said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”

Mat. 3:16-17—“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; & behold, the heavens were opened to Him, & He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove & alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

“Before Him” is not so much a statement of God’s omniscience as it is a statement of the constancy of God’s divine specific direction, guidance, & care for the Servant. That is, looking from our perspective after the Cross with more perfect knowledge, back to the time of Isaiah before the Cross, we know that the Servant, will be ‘raised’ in(Mat. 11:27; Lk. 10:22; Jn. 14:10-11, 20; Jn. 1:18; Jn. 6:46; Jn. 8:38) & because of(Lk. 1:34-35; Rom. 8:2-4; Gal. 4:4-5; 1Jn. 4:9-10) God’s presence.