By: Dr. Steven K. Parker
Take a few moments to gather your week together. What have you been through this week? Have you experienced God’s presence in any way? Have you faced any struggles or challenges? How might God be using those difficulties?
Prepare to read God’s word by quieting your minds with a few moments of silence.
“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 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. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
On Sunday we will be taking the Lord’s Supper together. In preparation for that, take a few moments in the next few days to make sure you have some crackers or bread of some sort and some type of juice to use in this symbolic meal.
Take time now to prepare your hearts for sharing in this special, powerful meal on Sunday. In the passage we read together, Isaiah describes a Suffering Savior who would come to redeem God’s suffering people by His own pain and affliction. How did Jesus fulfill this prophecy? How did God use Jesus suffering to save us from our sin?
How might God be using the difficulties we’re facing right now in the wake of this global pandemic and all the issues that surround it? Can God transform even that kind of suffering by the power of Jesus? What might that look like?
Spend a few moments praying together. Thank God for Jesus and His great sacrifice. Ask God to take whatever struggles you’re experiencing and use them as only God can.
“Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to save us from sin. Show us anything in our lives that does not honor His sacrifice and mold us in His image. Open our eyes to the need around us and help us to move our feet in your service. Where there is pain, we ask you to heal. Where there is need, we ask you to provide. Where there is brokenness, we ask you to restore. Take all of our fear, insecurity, and doubt and replace them with faith, hope, and trust. Take all of our hardship and suffering and use them to prepare us for your kingdom. Keep us united in your love, even when we cannot be together in person. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.”