Messiah

  • Responding to the Servant

    Isaiah 55

    God works through means. In justification, the sole instrumental means He uses is the faith He gives us to lay hold of Christ’s perfect righteousness—the sole ground of our being declared righteous before Him. We must trust Jesus ...Read More

  • The Vindicated Sufferer

    Isaiah 53:10–12

    If we are not careful, we will miss what is perhaps the most beautiful truth taught in Isaiah 53: the Messiah does not fail to save His people. He actually and fully saves them from first to last. Isaiah will ...Read More

  • The Willing Sufferer

    Isaiah 53:4–9

    Born in Adam, we are God’s enemies as long as we remain in Adam and are unwilling to obey Him. This disobedience must be atoned for, but only willing obedience can cover disobedience. When the Messiah went to the ...Read More

  • Cyrus, the Lord’s Anointed

    Isaiah 45:1–13

    It might be a clichè to say that we should “expect the unexpected.” Yet because God is fully sovereign, there is a real sense in which we should expect Him to act in ways we have not anticipated because His ...Read More

  • The Servant of the Lord

    Isaiah 42:1–9

    The Jewish view of the Servant Songs is not wrong in what it affirms but in what it denies. Because Israel’s failure to be the Lord’s servant is so clear in Isaiah, the Servant Songs must ultimately be ...Read More

  • The Consolation of Israel

    Luke 2:22–35

    Only when we have seen the Messiah—when we have acknowledged Jesus for who He is and bowed in worship—will we be ready to meet our Creator. There is only one way to stand before God unafraid, and that ...Read More

  • The Advent of Christ

    Romans 1:1–7

    Today, we expect the second advent of Christ to judge the living and the dead (Acts 1:11; 2 Tim. 4:1). Sometimes we are tempted to be discouraged, to doubt that He is coming back, because it has been ...Read More

  • The Glory of Christmas

    Luke 2:8–20

    The shepherds were eager to see the Savior of the world, and we should be eager to see Him as well. This involves not only coming to Him in our conversions but also seeking His face each and every day ...Read More

  • The Messiah’s Mother

    Luke 1:26–38

    As followers of Christ, we must contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Yet in so doing, we must be careful about going to the opposite extreme, for we often commit other errors when we ...Read More

  • Christmas in Time and Space

    Luke 2:1–7

    The Bible insists that the Son of God entered history at a specific point and remains united to a human nature in the person of Jesus Christ forever. This is radically different from the Hindu concept of incarnation, which says ...Read More

  • A Shoot from Jesse’s Stump

    Isaiah 11:1–11

    One of the things that makes Jesus the Messiah greater than even David himself is His righteousness in judging the poor and deciding with equity for “the meek of the earth” (Isa. 11:4). Christ is the incomparably noble and ...Read More

  • A Child is Born

    Isaiah 9:1–7

    Some have argued that today’s passage predicts the birth of King Hezekiah, but given the failures of even righteous Hezekiah (Isa. 39), it is clear that these verses must refer ultimately to the Son of David, who is also ...Read More

  • A Blessedness No One has Imagined

    Isaiah 7

    Scholars have long debated whether the original Hebrew of today’s passage is better translated “virgin” or “young woman.” This is a worthy debate, but if we are not careful, we could miss this key point: just as the son ...Read More

  • The LORD’s Glorious Branch

    Isaiah 4:2-6

    When we come to the New Testament, we find that the unexpected—from our perspective—has happened. The latter days of judgment and blessing have been extended for many years, with the Lord’s blessing being emphasized through the preaching ...Read More

  • Seated at God’s Right Hand

    Ephesians 1:20–23

    Even now, Jesus is seated on the throne of His father David at the right hand of God. This means that He is ruler over all and that the kings of the earth rule only according to His sovereign permission ...Read More