Advent Reading- Isaiah 53:1-6

This verse is humbling to us. It shows that Jesus was not a celebrity of sorts by mere appearance. He was God in flesh, but it seems like most people by mere appearance saw him as an ordinary man. But then they got to know Jesus and you begin to realize he was no mere man. He healed. He taught with authority. He loved like nobody else. He was wiser than any wise man they knew. When we think of Jesus life we see his birth, and incident when he is child, and then we see him as a 30 year old man beginning a 3 year intense public ministry. For many years he was just Jesus- Mary and Joseph's son- the carpenter. In fact, thy had a hard time accepting Jesus' ministry in his hometown because they thought he was just another average man like the rest of them.

In the long-term the ministry he led would lead to being pierced for us, for being crucified in our place. We need to look carefully at the life of Jesus and not settle for Jesus being just a good man or just a good teacher. Jesus is God in flesh who would take on the sins of the world. We also need to look at ourselves carefully. We are compared to sheep who go astray. To be called a sheep is not a compliment. But don't forget how much Jesus loves the sheep.