December 19: Isaiah 53:12b / Luke 22:36-37 (23:32-43)

[He] was numbered with the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12b)

What is a transgressor anyway? It’s not a word we’re familiar with or use often. In English, it merely means someone who “breaks the law,” which could imply anything from a small infraction to something more egregious. In Hebrew, “transgressor” is a person who “revolts against, breaks away from, or behaves as a criminal towards” authority or law. In fact, it is God’s most condemnatory term for his people, Israel—rebels.

The Servant of Isaiah 53 is counted among the most heinous of society—one who breaks from God’s perfect command to become a pariah among the faithful. There is nothing redeeming here. Beyond help and beyond hope, the Servant is counted as a criminal worthy of the eternal wrath and fury of a holy God.

Jesus tells his disciples (Luke 22:37) that Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in himself. The Messiah of God was about to be considered the law breaker par excellence of all humanity. He would trade his righteous robes for a criminal’s costume, condemned with two convicts for crimes he did not commit (Luke 23:32–43), an ignominious fall from glory to gutter.

This Christmas, consider the love of our Heavenly Father, who, for our sake he made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no 

sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He who was counted a rebel, so we could be counted righteous, forever.

Pastor Joe Pytleski

Sturgeon Bay Community