Re: Verse reading–Isaiah 52:13-15, Isaiah 53 (day six)
“…yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God.”-The People, Isaiah 53:4b
In the ancient Hebrew mind (and even now with the prosperity gospel) suffering comes to the unfaithful. The verse above is a confession; the people believed that the suffering servant was receiving what He deserved, that He was being punished by God. The irony is, they were exactly right but for all the wrong reasons. God did punish Him (Isaiah 53 says so more than once.) but not because of His unfaithfulness, but rather for theirs. Their sin (and ours) required justice and God would provide it through the suffering of His righteous servant. That’s Good News.