“Like a tender shoot… like a root out of dry ground; he (Jesus) had… no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief… and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. Isa. 53:1–4
Lord Jesus, Isaiah’s prophecy about your 1st coming makes the manger seem like a “garden of grace.” For there our Father planted you as a “tender shoot”—as the “root of life” breaking through the parched ground of our fallen world for our lifeless hearts.
You created beauty, yet became the one with “no beauty,” that one Day we will become as lovely and loving as you (1st John 3:1-3). Though you eternally enjoyed intimacy with our Father, for our sake, you were despised and rejected. You are the fountain of pleasures and your laughter fills heaven; but for our salvation, you suffered and grieved in ways we cannot imagine.
In taking up your cross, you took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. You bore our guilt and exhausted our judgment. Your affliction placed us in our Father’s affection, now and forever. Hallelujah…
Oh, to esteem and love you as you deserve, Lord Jesus. Next to your 2nd coming, that’s what we want more than anything else Christmas 2020—to love and worship you afresh. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.