Coming of a Deliverer
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The steadfast among the Jewish nation, descendants of that holy
line through whom a knowledge of God had been preserved, strength-
ened their faith by dwelling on these and similar passages. With
exceeding joy they read how the Lord would anoint One “to preach
good tidings unto the meek,” “to bind up the brokenhearted, to pro-
claim liberty to the captives,” and to declare “the acceptable year of
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the Lord.”
Isaiah 61:1, 2
. Yet their hearts were filled with sadness as
they thought of the sufferings He must endure in order to fulfill the
divine purpose. With deep humiliation of soul they traced the words
in the prophetic roll:
“Who hath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of a dry ground:
He hath no form nor comeliness;
And when we shall see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
“He is despised and rejected of men;
A Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And we hid as it were our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
“Surely He hath borne our griefs,
And carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities:
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
And with His stripes we are healed.
“All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned everyone to his own way;
And the Lord hath laid on Him
The iniquity of us all.