The Faces of Jesus - Isaiah 51-55

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:3 (ESV)

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

As many were astonished at you—

his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

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.

Who has believed what he has heard from us?

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

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.

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.

Isaiah, in the above lines, is telling us about our Savior, Jesus, regarding His future crucifixion.   God is giving the prophet insight into what will happen.   When a savior comes you would think it would with royal robes and someone with a crown of gold, jeweler and an escort of mighty soldiers.  But Jesus is going to come and the above is what others will behold.   Note that is says: 

... his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

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

and no beauty that we should desire him.

This is the face of Jesus during the crucifixion.   It is a face described as beyond semblance and with no desire to see.  The face of Jesus would be so marred, others would look away.  Yet, this is the face of our Savior.    

The above describes Jesus’ suffering face.  But note some other faces of Jesus:

Shining Face - as seen by Peter, James, John

Matthew 17:1-2 (ESV)

(At The Transfiguration) 

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

Saddened Face - As seen by Peter

Luke 22:60-61 (ESV)

But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.”

Sacrificial Face - As seen by the Soldiers 

Matthew 26:67-68 (ESV)

Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

Stern Face - As seen by the Church at Thyatira

Revelation 2:18 (ESV)

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

Supremacy Face - As seen in the end times by the Devil and his leadership 

Revelation 19:11-12 (ESV)

The Rider on a White Horse

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

Saving Face - As seen by all Believers 

Revelation 22:3-4 (ESV)

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Yes, the suffering face may not be one others want to see, but because we know He took our pain and paid for our sins, we can behold the face and see salvation.  

Right Theology - Wrong Application - Again! Job 20-21

Job 21:18-19 (ESV)

That they are like straw before the wind,

and like chaff that the storm carries away?

You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’

Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.

To understand the above verses we have to go back to what the proceeding friend of Job, Zophar, has just told Job. In the proceeding chapter Zophar’s syllogistic thought can be summarized as follows

Destruction comes upon the wicked. 

You, Job, have experienced destruction. 

Therefore, you, Job, are wicked.  

Here is just one glimpse of Zophar’s previous argument:

Job 20:4-7 (ESV)

Do you not know this from of old,

since man was placed on earth,

that the exulting of the wicked is short,

and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

Though his height mount up to the heavens,

and his head reach to the clouds,

he will perish forever like his own dung;

those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

Job’s response to Zophar is as follows:

Job 21:7-10 (ESV)

Why do the wicked live,

reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

Their offspring are established in their presence,

and their descendants before their eyes.

Their houses are safe from fear,

and no rod of God is upon them.

Their bull breeds without fail;

their cow calves and does not miscarry.

Job’s argument is that if what Zophar is saying is true, then why does not life show it.  Job is seeing something opposite of Zophar’s commentary.   Job’s syllogistic argument is as follows:

The wicked seem to prosper.

Job is not prospering.

Therefore Job must not be wicked.

In the above passage Job is praying that what Zophar is saying would be true.  But that will not change Job’s claim to his own innocence.   He just wants the scales of justice to be balanced.  Why?  Because he knows if that is how God works (giving justice to evil), God will be gracious to him, the innocent.  Again, we can’t read any of this without recalling the first and last chapter of Job.   He is declared righteous in the first and he is justified as righteous in the last.  In between we have human experiences that don’t always look like they match our eternal truths.  Zophar is right.  The wicked will be judged.  But not as immediately as we might think.  Job is right. The wicked often prosper (Psalm 73) right in front of us.  But the wicked will be judged.  And, Job is a sinner.   However, God declared him righteous.   Zophar is right in his theology but, regarding Job, wrong in his application.  His syllogism is right, but incomplete.   Job’s syllogism is right, but incomplete.  Both of them fail to understand the forbearance and patience of God. 

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God Controls Each Moment of the Storm - Psalms 27-29

Psalms 29:10-11 (ESV)

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;

the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.

May the LORD give strength to his people!

May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Six time in Psalm 29 David declares something about the power of God’s voice. He is singing about the power of God and our ability to experience that power in our lives.  Note how he starts the song:

Psalms 29:1-4 (ESV)

A PSALM OF DAVID.

Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;

worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD, over many waters.

The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

David uses the experience of thunder and the storm to declare God’s mighty power.   He tells us that God’s voice is over the waters.  This brings us to the above verses where David tells us that during the flood, God sat enthroned over the Noahic flood.   The Hebrew word for flood used here is only used one other time in the Old Testament and that is the flood during Noah’s day.  The picture David draws for us is to think about how God’s power is in control of chaotic events.  A storm seems so unpredictable.  You don’t know where the wind is coming from, or where it will stop.  You don’t know where the lightning will strike.  You can’t predict what the flood waters will do.  Yet, to David’s point, God is in control of it all.   

When Isaiah was writing to Israel and warning them about things to come, he wrote about a future ruler named, Cyrus.   This Cyrus (who actually did accomplish the things Isaiah prophesied) was to come and bring calamity on the world, including Israel.  (God calls Cyrus by name before Cyrus was even conceived.) God was going to discipline Israel, at the hands of Cyrus.  He would also deliver them, at the hands of Cyrus.   Note what Isaiah says about this ruler, who wouldn’t know God, but would be used by God:

Isaiah 45:5-7 (ESV)

I am the LORD, and there is no other,

besides me there is no God;

I equip you, though you do not know me,

that people may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is none besides me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

I form light and create darkness;

I make well-being and create calamity;

I am the LORD, who does all these things.

God used Cyrus to both make well-being and create calamity.  This is the storm.  This is the thunder and the flood that display God’s power.  Cyrus would be God’s tool for calamity, but God would still be in control.  He controls the storms we experience.  Right down to the very last rain drop, lighting strike, thunder sound and flood water.   It may look like calamity to us, but God uses it for His purpose.  His power is so great He can even send and control the snow storm:

Psalms 147:16-18 (NASB)

He gives snow like wool;

He scatters the frost like ashes.

He casts forth His ice as fragments;

Who can stand before His cold?

He sends forth His word and melts them;

He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.

As unpredictable as a storm to us, so powerful and predictable is His power for us.  Never forget that.  He controls it all and uses the storms in our lives to give us a glimpse of His majestic power.  

Love Foreigners- Ruth

Ruth 2:8-11 (ESV)

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.

Before we dive into this passage, we should read this one:

Leviticus 19:34 (ESV)

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

God fully intended his people to welcome the foreigner with open arms.  In fact, as Boaz told Ruth, they were commanded to allow foreigners to glean in their field:

Leviticus 19:9-10 (ESV)

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

It is important to note, as well, that the mark of true spiritual growth is seen in the command of Jesus:

Mark 12:29-31 (ESV)

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This is all the backdrop for understanding Boaz’s response to Ruth gleaning in his field.  He was obeying the commands of God.  The last portion of the above is the best part, however.  Ruth was also obeying the commands of God.  She was not expecting to be simply given anything.   Note the last line in the above, again. When she asked Boaz why she found favor with him, he states:

“Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.

Also, her own diligence to contribute and obey the law of the land was the key to this beautiful story.   God is in the business of uniting mankind.  Jesus came to do this.  God gave Abraham the promise that through his seed (Jesus) the nations of the world would be blessed:

 Genesis 12:3 (ESV)

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

We are to bless the foreigner among us by following all of God’s commands and presenting to them the gospel of Christ.