*Scripture: Isaiah 52:13—54:10 (NKJV)* 52:13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; 15 So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.
53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 54:1 "Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman," says the LORD. 2 "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited. 4 "Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. 5 For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. 6 For the LORD has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused," says your God. 7 "For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. 8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer. 9 "For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. 10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, Who has mercy on you. *Devotion* Today's reading depicts the manner in which the King and Savior sets man free from sin, death, and the devil: by being a servant, Who sacrifices His life so that mankind might live for all eternity. Yes, Jesus is a King like no other King and Savior! Isaiah writes, "Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high." Luther says, "He shall prosper, be exalted and lifted up," meaning, His reign does not begin until after His death. Yes, we've just celebrated another Christmas remembering the prophesied Jesus born in a manger, yet remembering, He was born the God/man in order that He might die. No, not everyone believes this report! But for those who by faith believe in the Word made flesh are able to rejoice in knowing that a great and marvelous sacrifice has been made for them to live in eternity. Yes, it is a bittersweet to rejoice each year at the birth of Christ, and yet hear the descriptive suffering and agony as described by Isaiah; and yet we know it was necessary that sin was atoned for by Christ; because mankind does not exist without the sin. Tomorrow we enter into His presence on yet another Sabbath and receive the Word made flesh in Word and Sacrament as our celebration continues. Let us pray: O'er every foe victorious, He on His throne shall rest, from age to age more glorious, all blessing and all-blest. The tide of time shall never His covenant remove; His Name shall stand forever,—that name to us is Love. Amen.
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