Tracing Messiah Series

This is confirmed in the NT through the words of the followers of Jesus…

Acts 3:22-23 (HCSB) show now…

22Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He will say to you. 23And everyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from the people.

But Jesus Himself also confirms His calling as a prophet through His life and actions AND he did NOT have to proclaim anything as the people proclaimed to be a prophet…

Matthew 21:11 (HCSB) show now…

And the crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee!”

There are a great deal of OTHER verses from the OT that confirm and describe the Messiah, and the NT confirms this to be Jesus of Nazareth…

This morning I want us to focus in on one particular Messianic prophecy that reveals the true nature of WHY Jesus HAD to come… He came to die for our sins…

Turn in your Bibles with me to Isaiah 53 and we will read v.2-6. I am reading from the HCSB and it will also be on the screen…

SHOW Isaiah 53:2-6 on screen now… follow along as I read…

2He [this is a reference to Messiah] grew up before Him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He [Messiah] didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him[Messiah]. 3He [Messiah] was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering [Messiah] who knew what sickness was. He [Messiah] was like someone people turned away from; He [Messiah] was despised, and we didn’t value Him. 4Yet He Himself [Messiah] bore our sicknesses, and He [Messiah] carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him [Messiah] stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5But He [Messiah] was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him[Messiah], and we are healed by His [Messiah] wounds. 6We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him [Messiah] for the iniquity of us all.

Now you notice that I have inserted the word Messiah to reveal the identity of the masculine personal pronouns used by Isaiah…

You see in this passage God was using Isaiah to describe the coming Messiah! However, this morning I want us to look at it from another perspective… today I want us to take out the personal pronouns and the word “Messiah” where Isaiah was implying “Messiah” and I want us to INSERT the name “Jesus”… let’s do that and then read these verses with that change!

SHOW Isaiah 53:2-6 AGAIN on screen now… follow along as I read…

2He [this is a reference to Jesus] grew up before Him [God] like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. [Jesus] didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at [Jesus], no appearance that we should desire [Jesus]. 3[Jesus] was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering [Jesus] who knew what sickness was. [Jesus] was like someone people turned away from; [Jesus] was despised, and we didn’t value [Jesus]. 4Yet [Jesus] bore our sicknesses, and [Jesus] carried our pains; but we in turn regarded [Jesus] stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5But [Jesus] was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on [Jesus], and we are healed by [Jesus] wounds. 6We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished [Jesus] for the iniquity of us all.