April 5, 2018

On Tuesday night I had the opportunity to tell a young man who is planning to get married later this year that Isaiah 53 speaks about the Messiah. Although I had spoken with him several times while volunteering at the Bell Centre, it was only this week that I learned that he is Jewish. He asked me what church I was affiliated with and I told him that I am with Global Outreach Mission and go to a church where another man is the pastor. For those who have no idea who Isaiah was, he was a prophet who lived approximately 700 years before Jesus was born. His name means “Yahweh (God) is salvation” and the book that he authored contains 66 chapters, which corresponds to the number of books in the Bible (39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament).

John A. Martin (in “The Bible Knowledge Commentary”) writes about the One who was despised and rejected by Israel: “He was the kind of individual people do not normally want to look at; they were repulsed by Him. For these reasons the nation did not esteem Him; they did not think He was important. Yet He was and is the most important Person in the world, for He is the Servant of the Lord.” Christians around the world just celebrated Easter, remembering how Christ Jesus bore our sins on the cross and rose triumphant over death. Near the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus was called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Although He went on to heal the sick and give sight to the blind, many people did not understand that He willingly died to atone for the sins of mankind.

The Word of God declares that the Lamb was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Dr. David Jeremiah observes: “When Christ appeared on the scene to begin His earthly ministry, the Jews in Israel were confused. They had been expecting Daniel’s ‘Ancient of Days’ (Daniel 7:9 to establish His throne … they were tired of suffering at the hand of other nations.” Isn’t that very much like the situation in the world today? People are crying out for peace and looking for a leader to make that a reality.

Dr. Jeremiah continues: “What they overlooked was their sin and the repentance needed to make them suitable citizens of God’s coming kingdom. When Jesus talked about sin, they failed to see His point – most of them, anyway. Do we fail to see His point as well? Jesus’ earthly ministry was about the cross, not the crown.” My late father-in-law, Clarence Shelly, put his faith in Christ on Easter Sunday in 1946. If you have not yet trusted the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour, I urge you to ask God’s forgiveness for your sins and receive the gift of salvation that His death made possible.

Scripture for the weekend: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know – Him, being delivered by the predetermined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts 2:22-24 (NKJV) 

Thought for the weekend:  “The empty cross and the empty tomb provide a full salvation.” – from “The Promise of Easter” by Our Daily Bread Ministries – www.ourdailybread.org.