Isaiah begins with a question: “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Then he provides an unlikely description of the coming Messiah. If Peter had been there, he might have said, “Nope, Isaiah, this won’t do; He must have stately form and majesty!” I shouldn’t be so hard on Peter. I too wish Jesus would present Himself to the world in extraordinary ways.

Yet God ignored human wisdom, coming to us as an ordinary man. There was nothing distinguishing in His appearance. It is noteworthy those with preconceived notions about Him were not those who “believed the message nor to whom the arm of the Lord was revealed.”

Long after Isaiah recorded his prophecy, we learn something of God’s reasoning. Being an ordinary man positioned Him so that the stroke of God’s judgment would fall upon Him. I am surprised more do not believe based simply on the sheer impossibility that humans could invent such a bizarre story!

            Those who have believed the message have embraced the Son of Man whose life, for 30 years, was ordinary in appearance. That Jesus did not posture Himself as an elite reveals a surprising aspect of divine royalty—it is approachable. It is humble and does not seek to lord authority over people. Even though He is a king, He prefers to draw us by way of invitation rather than control us with mandates.

We do have a robed King with a scepter, but He loves us and desires we find Him accessible, not aloof. We think of Jesus as God’s disguise. Perhaps it was no disguise at all. Perhaps Jesus is the exact representation of the Father just as the book of Hebrews tells us.

Father, we have believed your message and your strong arm has been revealed to us in the wisdom of Your gospel. That you are our friend and not our dictator is tremendously good news. As common as Jesus may have appeared, You did extraordinary things through Him that drew men to You. May we too, whatever our appearance, be vessels of honor overflowing with the surprising Life of God to all those You permit us to serve. Amen.

 

 

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