The Coming Messiah
The opening of Isaiah 63 is a profound passage with respect to the
coming of the Lord’s Messiah as well as the coming of His great Day of
Judgment. Look closely at the first
verse and you will see that there are two quite profound questions that will be
asked about the time when the Messiah comes.
“Who is this?” “Why are your
garments crimson?”
Who Is This?
The first question is jaw-dropping stunning if you think about
it. The subject of this question is the
Lord’s Messiah! This is the one for whom
people have been waiting! This is the
be-all-and-end-all of people ever to come into view. Yet the question that will be asked is, “Who
is this guy?” From the perspective of
the fact that every faithful person from nearly the beginning of time has been
looking for this Messiah, we should be absolutely astounded that people would not
recognize Him.
Yet, is that not exactly what happened when Jesus came? His own people did not recognize Him. Gentiles didn’t recognize Him, either. Very few people recognized this Jesus, God’s
Messiah. Here we have it in God’s Word
that this very thing would happen.
Why Are Your Garments Crimson?
The second question is stunning, but in a much more subtle
flavor. God’s Messiah will be dressed in
crimson. His clothes will be crimson
because, as we are told in Isaiah, when the time comes to tread in the
winepress there will be nobody who will help Him. Treading in the winepress is an analogy for
God’s wrath. Simply put, God’s Messiah
is saying that when it came to enacting upon and enduring God’s wrath, nobody
was there to help God’s Messiah.
Here’s the subtle truth that is every bit as stunning as the first
question. God is telling us in a subtle
manner something we already know. There
is nobody righteous. No human being can
save themselves, much less any other.
There is nobody that can endure God’s wrath, much less who deserves to
be upheld during the process. So when it
comes to dealing with God’s wrath, God’s Messiah must do it alone. God’s Messiah must shoulder the fullness of
God’s wrath because there was nobody to help.
Again, is this not precisely what happens with Jesus? Does not Jesus come to this earth to die
alone? Does not Jesus bear the guilt of
humanity’s sin upon the cross alone? Is
there anyone who could have done what Jesus did except for Jesus? The Messiah’s garments are crimson because
Jesus bears out God’s wrath upon Himself and treads in God’s winepress alone on
our behalf.
Humanity Revealed
What has human history done to deserve such a reality? Why is it that God’s wrath is upon us? We rebelled.
However, this word in verse 10 is pretty neat in the Hebrew. This is not the typical word for rebel. This is a word that speaks not to an action
but rather to a character flaw. This
word means to be contentious or to be rebellious. What is the problem with humanity? We are contentious. We contend with God. We struggle for our independence from
Him. {I
am reminded of my teenage years and I am forced to acknowledge my rebellious
and contentious spirit within me.}
God’s right. We are a rebellious
and contentious people. We do deserve
wrath.
Humanity’s Only Hope
What is the only response that we can have in the realization of
our rebellion? How can we even look to
God when our contentious nature is made clear?
In whom does our hope rest?
Our hope rests upon He who has every right to dole out wrath. But the reality is that it is this same
person that hands out wrath who also promises to be our Redeemer. He has always been humanity’s Redeemer. The plan was for Him to always be humanity’s Redeemer. God knows our issue. He knows our free spirit. He knows how we desire to abuse our free
will. He knows it all and He still
promises that He shall be our Redeemer.
How great is God! {I really struggled to punctuate that last
sentence. It is great with an
exclamation point, but it is just as great with a question mark. So read it both ways!}
He must restore us. He will
restore us. We but need to humble
ourselves to Him and then His promise is our salvation.
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