Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed.
Ahoy there me fine Friends on this good ship of faith, Christianity! (smile) Yes my people, we have indeed embarked on a voyage of trust, faith, hope, belief and surrender on an excellent sailing ship, whose Captain and helmsman is Jesus. Some days the seas are rough and stormy, but He keeps the ship on an even keel, keeps it from floundering in the billows with His strong hand and vast experience, until the calm eventually returns. And when there is no wind to boost the sails, He keeps the vessel from drifting idly, again through His unique and incomparable seaman skills. So in essence, whatever the nature of our voyage, be it rough or smooth, our master helmsman is able to carry us safely. Please give Him some thanks and praise for that my Friends, because ONLY He can accomplish that arduous task successfully. And please let us not be like the generations of old, who forced Isaiah to ask, sort of tongue in cheek: ‘Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?’ According to the scholars, he’s not so much asking a question as exclaiming it. He’s calling attention to the lack of faith generally found in his world, even from the time of the earlier prophets. Oh Friends, the same thing can be said of our time: ‘Who hath believed our report?’ Unfortunately, not as many as expected. Why? Because ‘the root of Jesse, my servant’ that Isaiah prophesied of, came before our time and fulfilled all the olden prophesies, yet we believe not. Again I ask, why? At least in Isaiah’s time there could have been some legitimate doubts about his prophecies, but not so us, who have full proof and validation of them all. ‘For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.’ (Is.53:2) And so it came to pass my brethren. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus grew up as a young suckling or shoot, having His roots based in the heritage of Bruh David’s father, Jesse, thus the Davidic line connection. And as Isaiah foretold He had no stately form or splendour. He did not come with any kingly regalia, but came from humble origins. Neither was His appearance dazzling or elegant. In other words Jesus was just going to be an ordinary human being in appearance, not necessarily ugly or homely, but there’d be nothing special or spectacular about His outer appearance or His trappings. That Friends, thoroughly disproves the worldly belief that to be somebody worthy, our outward appearance must be eye catching. But it just so happens that most eye catching humans these days are really, empty, shallow, vacuous souls, who have nothing but their outward form to contribute to society. Take away their physical beauty or their regalia, and they’re just empty shells. So please, let’s not be too quick to bow to outer looks and trappings and equate them to inner substance. Another problem there, is that beauty is defined differently in different cultures. That reminds me of the repartee a school chum, James, Telemaque, Phillip, Prince Albert Jack, would shoot back at us when we teased him about his flat head and broad nose. Oh, his real name was James Telemaque Jack, but even at a young age, he was full of heifer dust. (smile) Anyway, he’d haughtily reply; ‘You’re judging me by European standards. In Africa, I would be a handsome African prince.’ Of course this would draw loud laughter, but it was true. Beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder, for two persons can view the same human and have differing opinions on their outer beauty. So this first lesson here Friends is not to judge by outer appearances, or as another cliché truly declares; ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ for many with pretty, eye catching covers have nothing much to offer inside, that’s why the outside looks so appealing, while the plain Jane covers might have oodles of good reading and advice. Isaiah then goes on to describe Jesus’ earthly life. ‘He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.’ (Is.53:3) What better description can we get of a life foretold centuries before eh? ‘Despised and rejected.’ Hn! Jesus wrote the book on those words, cause He was indeed scorned and abandoned, by His own people to boot. And He was certainly ‘a man of sorrows,’ for pain, both emotional and physical were integral parts of His earthly journey. Neither can anyone question that He was ‘acquainted with grief;’ that’s sickness and injuries, because that’s what His ministry was about; helping the sick and suffering physically as well as enriching their spiritual lives. And Praise His Holy Name my Friends, because he’s still doing that today for those of us who believe in, trust, worship and glorify Him. Yes people, Jesus is soothing our troubled hearts, souls and minds in this crazy, confused, violent, ungodly world with His gentle, caring, comforting and compassionate persona since He understands personally the hellish times we undergo down here on earth. Here Bruh Paul in this regard: ‘For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched (sympathize) with the feeling of our infirmities (our weaknesses); but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’ (Heb.5:15) So though Jesus could not sin or be truly tempted to do evil, He did undergo stuff like us, and did not use His divine powers to mitigate them, but relied on the Word. So too should we Friends, for the Good Book is our basic map, guide, dictionary, encyclopaedia, all wrapped in one, on handling this earthly voyage. Oh Friends, time and space have run out, but we’ll continue this topic tomorrow, God willing of course, because the prophecy continues and it’s worthy of much contemplation, for sadly, what happened back then is still happening now. Friends, please, let’s get serious about Jesus, RIGHT NOW, cause He’s the only one who can save us in these tense and trying times. Much LOVE!…wake up my people…wake up…for the time is drawing nigh…
Ahoy there me fine Friends on this good ship of faith, Christianity! (smile) Yes my people, we have indeed embarked on a voyage of trust, faith, hope, belief and surrender on an excellent sailing ship, whose Captain and helmsman is Jesus. Some days the seas are rough and stormy, but He keeps the ship on an even keel, keeps it from floundering in the billows with His strong hand and vast experience, until the calm eventually returns. And when there is no wind to boost the sails, He keeps the vessel from drifting idly, again through His unique and incomparable seaman skills. So in essence, whatever the nature of our voyage, be it rough or smooth, our master helmsman is able to carry us safely. Please give Him some thanks and praise for that my Friends, because ONLY He can accomplish that arduous task successfully. And please let us not be like the generations of old, who forced Isaiah to ask, sort of tongue in cheek: ‘Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?’ According to the scholars, he’s not so much asking a question as exclaiming it. He’s calling attention to the lack of faith generally found in his world, even from the time of the earlier prophets. Oh Friends, the same thing can be said of our time: ‘Who hath believed our report?’ Unfortunately, not as many as expected. Why? Because ‘the root of Jesse, my servant’ that Isaiah prophesied of, came before our time and fulfilled all the olden prophesies, yet we believe not. Again I ask, why? At least in Isaiah’s time there could have been some legitimate doubts about his prophecies, but not so us, who have full proof and validation of them all. ‘For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.’ (Is.53:2) And so it came to pass my brethren. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus grew up as a young suckling or shoot, having His roots based in the heritage of Bruh David’s father, Jesse, thus the Davidic line connection. And as Isaiah foretold He had no stately form or splendour. He did not come with any kingly regalia, but came from humble origins. Neither was His appearance dazzling or elegant. In other words Jesus was just going to be an ordinary human being in appearance, not necessarily ugly or homely, but there’d be nothing special or spectacular about His outer appearance or His trappings. That Friends, thoroughly disproves the worldly belief that to be somebody worthy, our outward appearance must be eye catching. But it just so happens that most eye catching humans these days are really, empty, shallow, vacuous souls, who have nothing but their outward form to contribute to society. Take away their physical beauty or their regalia, and they’re just empty shells. So please, let’s not be too quick to bow to outer looks and trappings and equate them to inner substance. Another problem there, is that beauty is defined differently in different cultures. That reminds me of the repartee a school chum, James, Telemaque, Phillip, Prince Albert Jack, would shoot back at us when we teased him about his flat head and broad nose. Oh, his real name was James Telemaque Jack, but even at a young age, he was full of heifer dust. (smile) Anyway, he’d haughtily reply; ‘You’re judging me by European standards. In Africa, I would be a handsome African prince.’ Of course this would draw loud laughter, but it was true. Beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder, for two persons can view the same human and have differing opinions on their outer beauty. So this first lesson here Friends is not to judge by outer appearances, or as another cliché truly declares; ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ for many with pretty, eye catching covers have nothing much to offer inside, that’s why the outside looks so appealing, while the plain Jane covers might have oodles of good reading and advice. Isaiah then goes on to describe Jesus’ earthly life. ‘He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.’ (Is.53:3) What better description can we get of a life foretold centuries before eh? ‘Despised and rejected.’ Hn! Jesus wrote the book on those words, cause He was indeed scorned and abandoned, by His own people to boot. And He was certainly ‘a man of sorrows,’ for pain, both emotional and physical were integral parts of His earthly journey. Neither can anyone question that He was ‘acquainted with grief;’ that’s sickness and injuries, because that’s what His ministry was about; helping the sick and suffering physically as well as enriching their spiritual lives. And Praise His Holy Name my Friends, because he’s still doing that today for those of us who believe in, trust, worship and glorify Him. Yes people, Jesus is soothing our troubled hearts, souls and minds in this crazy, confused, violent, ungodly world with His gentle, caring, comforting and compassionate persona since He understands personally the hellish times we undergo down here on earth. Here Bruh Paul in this regard: ‘For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched (sympathize) with the feeling of our infirmities (our weaknesses); but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’ (Heb.5:15) So though Jesus could not sin or be truly tempted to do evil, He did undergo stuff like us, and did not use His divine powers to mitigate them, but relied on the Word. So too should we Friends, for the Good Book is our basic map, guide, dictionary, encyclopaedia, all wrapped in one, on handling this earthly voyage. Oh Friends, time and space have run out, but we’ll continue this topic tomorrow, God willing of course, because the prophecy continues and it’s worthy of much contemplation, for sadly, what happened back then is still happening now. Friends, please, let’s get serious about Jesus, RIGHT NOW, cause He’s the only one who can save us in these tense and trying times. Much LOVE!…wake up my people…wake up…for the time is drawing nigh…
SCRIP-BITS 