The Ordinary

“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” - Isaiah 53:1-6

Even though Isaiah prophesied that the Lord’s servant would have “no beauty or majesty,” and “was held…in low esteem,” many Jews believed their Savior and King would come as a grand figure. This was not the case, Jesus was born to young parents who were common townsfolk. Although he was “like a root out of dry ground,” Jesus would grow up to do miraculous works and suffer for our transgressions. His example can give us the hope that even if we’re just ordinary people, we can still do extraordinary things for God’s kingdom.

Prayer

Dear God, Thank you for your son who came to this earth to do wonderful things. Help me do great things to benefit Your kingdom. Amen.