Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows… Isaiah 53:1-4
Gracious Jesus, before now, I’ve never thought of the manger as the garden spot the Father “planted” you—the “tender shoot” of Isaiah’s vision. But truly, you are the “root” which broke though the dry ground in a fallen, barren universe. Who could have imagined that the humble estate of a stable would become such a greenhouse of grace and glory? Who could have dreamt that the mighty arm of the Lord would be revealed most powerfully in the weakness of your birth?
Jesus, I praise you for the humility and tenderness of your incarnation. You who created the very category of beauty… you who are quintessential beauty… became the one with “no beauty” for us. Though I don’t fully understand all that entailed, one glance beyond your cradle to your cross brings this difficult and demanding prophecy to life.
You literally became sin for us—everything ugly and vile about my sin. You became sin for us that in you we might become the very righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:20-21). What an exchange!
You, who’ve enjoyed the eternal delight of the Godhead, and the adoration and esteem of angels, became the despised and rejected one for us… for me. There’s no way of measuring such condescension and humility.
Jesus, you are the fountain of pleasures… your laughter fills heaven… your joy is our strength… yet you became the man of sorrows for us… for me. And though you didn’t remain a tender shoot, you retained all your tenderness. No one is familiar with suffering like you. In taking up your cross, you took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows… all of them. What a wonderful, merciful, tender Savior you are. Why would we ever look for life and salvation anywhere else?
If we could make progress in only one thing this Advent season, Jesus, may it be to have a much greater esteem you. Reignite and intensify our love for you, as you deepen our awe of your manger and gratitude for your cross. Gentle us by the gospel and reveal your tenderness through us, wherever you’ve planted us, hard soil or not. So very Amen, we pray, in your holy and loving name.
