Christmas 2025 Worship: The Prophecy About Jesus' Life (Isaiah 53:1-6)

The Prophecy about Jesus' Birth (Isaiah 53:1-6)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is nobeauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Introduction

I remembered a testimony from a pastor once a long time and there was a beautiful female student. But the mother said her mother’s face was considered ugly and distorted. Since the mother’s face was so distorted, this daughter never showed her mother’s face or introduced her to anyone. But one day, the daughter forgot her lunch so the mother was so worried about her daughter that she went to her daughter’s school to bring her lunch. The mother went to her daughter’s school but when she saw her mother, the daughter went pale. Her friends started asking the daughter who this lady was but in front of her friends, the daughter told her friends that her mother was her maid. The daughter snatched the lunch out from her mother’s hands and took her lunch. When she went home, the daughter yelled at her mother and cried about why her mother went to her school. The daughter told her mother that she was so embarrassed. The mother told her daughter a story when she was young, the mother was doing laundry outside of the home when her father was at work. But one day, the house caught on fire but there was only the daughter in the house. When the mother found out that the fire was set inside her home, the entire house was entirely engulfed in flames. And without thinking, the mother ran inside the house and people around her tried to stop her since the entire house was on fire. The firefighters arrived but couldn’t do anything because the fire was too big and the entire house was already engulfed. But the mother ran inside the home and into the room where the daughter was, and she held her daughter tight into her arms and chest. Since the house was engulfed in flames, the mother’s face was burned when she was rescuing her daughter. That is why the mother told her daughter that this is why her face was like that. When the daughter heard this, she started crying and started crying while embracing her mother. The daughter asked her mother to forgive her and that she was wrong. After that, whoever the daughter they met, she would boast about her mother. That student, the daughter, told everyone that what the daughter should’ve endured, her mother endured for her and her mother saved her. This is the story of Jesus Christ on the cross. In order to save us, Jesus Christ died on the cross. The moment Jesus Christ was born, a problem arose. 

1. Jesus' Birth

1) Verse 1 - This was talking about the people of God, the Jews. The Jews kept waiting for the Messiah who would save them. But none of them believed that Jesus was the Messiah. We can see that the prophecy of the Messiah was fulfilled when Jesus Christ was born. 

John 1:5, 11 “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” - When Jesus Christ came, no one could recognize who He was. 

John 1:11 - When Jesus Christ came, no one welcomed His entrance into this world. The Jews didn’t welcome Jesus but it was other people who welcomed Him.  

2) Matthew 2:2 “Saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’ ” - There was a rumor spreading but no one knew. But the three wise men heard and knew the news. This is showing that God’s own people didn’t welcome Jesus but the Gentiles did. 

Luke 2:11 “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” - God said this to the shepherds. The people who heard about the news of the birth of Jesus were not wealthy or privileged people. But God approached the poor and who had nothing. God went to the Gentiles. 

2. Childhood

1) Verse 2 - When a plant is taken care of well, then they grow well. But when Jesus was born, He was born into this world like a root coming out of a dry ground. The circumstances where Jesus was born into. The world that Jesus was born into was a world that was in a dire place. How does a plant grow when the ground is too dry? This was the condition that Jesus was born into and raised in. There was no place where Jesus could be born in so He was born in a manger. The moment He was born, people were already threatening to kill Him. Jesus was born in harsh conditions. There was no form, comeliness or no beauty when Jesus was born. Being a carpenter was a very hard job and you didn’t earn much money either. Do you think that Jesus was born into a privileged household? No, this is what it meant that there was no form, comeliness, or beauty. As a Son of God, you would think the face of Jesus was the most beautiful face but it said that His face had no beauty. 

3. Jesus' Earthly Ministry

1) Verse 3 - Since Jesus’ father was a carpenter, his family and household was not acknowledged. 

Mark 6:3 “ ‘Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?’ So they were offended at Him.” - Jesus said that He was the Son of God but when He proclaimed that, the people were shutting Him up since He had human siblings and parents. The people were looking at Jesus as a liar and scam. 

John 8:57 “Then the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’ ” - When Jesus said that He was the prophecy of the Messiah, the people scolded Him and said that Jesus was not even 50 years old so this was impossible. During that time, Jesus was only 30 years old. Apparently at that time, Jesus looked older than His actual age at that time. This shows that Jesus had a very rough life and upbringing. 

Luke 9:58 “And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’ ” - The fact that Jesus had nowhere to lay His head means that He had no place to live. While Jesus was doing His earthly ministry, He was homeless and had no home. 

Verse 3 - As Jesus continued to do His earthly ministry, many people rebuked and scolded Him. 

2) Mark 1:38-39 “But He said to them, ‘Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.’ 39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.” - Jesus continued to do His ministry of sharing the gospel and showing His power despite the persecution that He was facing. 

While Jesus sharing the gospel, we can see how the Jews reacted in Luke 4:28-29 “So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.” - Jesus was proclaiming the word of God was being proclaimed through Him and continuing His ministry, the people in the synagogue became angry at Him that they tried to kill Him. 

Mark 3:21 “But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind.’ ” - Even when His family members heard what Jesus was doing, they tried to stop Him and called Him crazy. When we look at the background of when Jesus was with His disciples, we can see the harsh circumstance that Jesus had to do His earthly ministry. From the start, people started calling Jesus crazy and tried to kill Him. 

4. His Passion on the Christ

1) Verse 4 - Many people think that Jesus was born with our griefs and sorrows but this was not the case. Jesus took over our sufferings and griefs. Jesus took our sufferings and griefs on our behalf voluntarily. 

2) John 10:17-18 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” - We can see the clear purpose of Jesus Christ. The reason why Jesus was laying down His life on the cross was to resurrect. The death of Jesus allowed our sins to die on the cross with Jesus. We can see the evidence that eternal life was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus chose to die on the cross for us. Jesus said that He was not forced to do this but He chose to do this. Jesus was saying that He is not dying because He has no power but Jesus said that He was choosing to do it for God’s plan. 

5. The Meaning of His Passion on the Christ

Verse 5 - Jesus was wounded for our transgressions. Jesus chose to die and be wounded on the cross for us. 

Wounded - He was speared while on the cross and nailed on the cross. For our transgressions and sins, Jesus went through all of this on the cross. 

Bruised - Jesus was whipped on the cross and wore the crown of thorns. And, His feet and hands were nailed to the cross. In order to solve our original and fundamental sins, Jesus was bruised and suffered on the cross. 

Chastisement - Jesus bore all of our burdens on the cross. He was chastised by the Jews, Pilot, and by the Roman soldiers. Why was that? For our peace and to solve our spiritual problems. Jesus solved all of our spiritual problems on the cross. 

Stripes - Some theologians say that Jesus was whipped on the cross for three hours straight. Jesus was whipped for hours and hours, and He was bleeding continuously for hours as well. Jesus did all of this so that He could heal our problems on the cross. From head to toe, every inch of Jesus’ body was bruised and whipped. Jesus decided to do this on our behalf to save us and solve our problems. In order to solve our problems, Jesus did this for us. This is why we celebrate Christmas. 

Conclusion

Verse 6 - This was God’s absolute plan. God’s absolute plan was for His one and only Son, Jesus to come to Earth. This plan was set even before the creation of this world. God’s plan decided and chose to send His one and only Son to earth to die for us. God sent His one and only Son to come down to Earth in human flesh to die for us. In order to solve all of our problems, our spiritual, mental, and physical problems, Jesus died on the cross for us in gladness. We are able to give thanksgiving to God for this because Jesus died on the cross for us. Not only that but Jesus gave us His word in Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” - When Jesus ascended to heaven, Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to be with us to stand as witnesses of Jesus to continue to share His gospel. This is the ministry of the work of the Triune God. We who are saved, what we must do is stand as God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. Let us celebrate the day that Jesus came to earth and hold onto this word, and be victorious in the name of Jesus Christ.