Tags
Christ in Isaiah, disobedience to God, hearing God, I saw the Lord, Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, Jesus in Isaiah, obedience to God, Old Testament, Pharisees, Prophet Isaiah, prostration, revelation of the Messiah, the glory of God, voice from heaven, we wish to see Jesus
If you ask most people how many times a voice came from heaven when Jesus was on earth, they would probably say two, baptism and transfiguration. The way I phrased the question sort of requires you to answer “I have no idea” because I didn’t ask how many are recorded. But let’s stick with what we CAN find in Scripture. I would want to add one that is sort of sneaky: when He met Paul on the road to Damascus. He was certainly “on earth” that hour and had just come “from heaven” but let’s not push it for now. So two, right?
Let us, however, not forget this one in John’s gospel, chapter 12:
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them. These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.“
Okay, so there’s three at least. But I’m not bringing this up so you can win at Trivial Pursuit Bible Edition. I want to bring up Christ in the period of the Old Testament. It is my firm conviction that, as a rule of thumb, whenever you see God in the form of a man (or a voice) it has always been and will always be Christ Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever. I would go further to say that all speaking, including the first spoken word recorded “LIGHT”, comes from the lips of our Lord. The exceptions would be these three events when He tabernacled in flesh with us.
I’m saying there is a very good reason John chose to refer to Christ Jesus as the Word (not a static object like a word on the page, but a living, acting, dynamic spoken Word that is to be HEARD and OBEYED.) If the Bible is not speaking about Christ on every page and in every recorded event, then it is not the Word of God. I thank God at LEAST daily that He quickened men of old to be scribes of the Word of God. But not just for the books that I am privileged to read, but for the Word that comes alive in me when I read it.
These books, that we have agreed are the inspired Word of God, are not just stories about Him and pictures of Him, they are HIS WORDS about THE WORD. And that means they are not like ANY other writings ever written. They are ALIVE because He is alive and they come alive when we are committed to hear and obey. And perhaps the most gracious act He performs when He quickens you by His Spirit is when He injects into you a hunger and a thirst for His Word. Why do you suppose our Lord said that we MUST eat of Him or we will not have His life in us? The Bible is more than books that talk ABOUT Him.
Before we get to Isaiah, look at verse 23. Note the depth of His words here. Note how responsive He is to the request by the Gentiles for an interview. A trickle from the stream whose dam is about to burst gets Jesus’ attention. But the cross must come first.
The hour is come for Jesus to be glorified – so why is He talking about suffering and dying? Very backward to our way of thinking, I know. Where He is, His followers will be. And He says this on His way to a cross. So where do you think you and I are going – Tahiti? He didn’t stay there on the cross forever, but He did have to go through that valley to get where He was going. The only road to resurrection runs straight into a cross.
For THIS hour He came to earth, for what cause? dying? Yes, but that is only a means to the ultimate end: To GLORIFY THE NAME of HIS FATHER. Through His death, yes, and resurrection, certainly, and anything else that pleases Him and brings Him glory. He seems to say so much about the glory of His Father’s name, doesn’t He? And the voice says “I have glorified it already and I’ll glorify it again!”
I’m going to save for another time the obvious contrast between the Gentiles (who came to worship Him) and the Pharisees and their crowd who accuse Jesus of not knowing the Law that He wrote. The very fulfillment of the Isaiah passage below: hard hearts, slimed eyes, plugged ears. And as John fortifies: “He hid Himself from them.”
Look in verse 41: “These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him”
That’s what is says. It was Christ’s glory that Isaiah saw which flattened him like a pancake and brought out the wail “WOE is me. I am unclean.” And it has done the same thing for every man before and every man since, including the one writing these words. “I saw the LORD” says Isaiah and the whole earth is filled with His glory. “Restore me to the glory I had before, Father” our Lord prayed in the garden. If there are degrees of glory, I would bet that His glory has been restored to AT LEAST that which He had before.
There was a special relationship between Isaiah and our Lord Jesus. There is a reason that Jesus quotes Isaiah so often, along with David and Moses. These were men of metanoia, men who had been radically transformed and were thereafter lifelong turners from themselves unto God. They were men of contrite hearts and broken wills who had an unseen King to whom they gave full allegiance all the time.
Quoting Isaiah 53, Jesus asks, “Who will amen our message? To whom has God’s arm been revealed?” Very good question. In the passage preceding, Isaiah speaks of the beautiful feet of the mobasar (good news-er) who brings the good news “Our God Reigns!” He goes on to say all nations will one day see His arm revealed. But who will amen the message? When you encounter the Lord, will you Amen what He says? Or does this refer to you: “Go, and tell this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”
If you reject the message of the true gospel yet still want to appear like a Christian, the enemy will send you a nice substitute. He’ll send you a Joel Osteen to please your ear. Or perhaps that is not the enemy’s work, but actually God giving you what you want. Judgment of our sin may not look like the picture you have in your mind. It might have a nice suit and a big smile.
And we can end with this, the failure we can blame most of our self-righteousness on: “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”