先知以賽亞和作曲家以撒華特在世的時間相距二千四百多年，然而今天的經文和下列這首動人的詩歌──都是關於這位受苦僕人無私的犧牲奉獻──卻異曲同工之妙！
        每逢思想奇妙十架，
                榮耀之主在上懸掛。
        萬般尊貴頓看有損，
                從前所誇今覺鄙下。
        試看其頭其手其足，
                慈愛憂愁和血並流，
        如此愛憂自古焉有？
                荊刺反成榮耀冕旒。

        發現新大陸的哥倫布寫了一本關於太空旅行的書。
        喬治華盛頓預言一九九二年美國選舉總統的結果。
        荒謬嗎？當然！除了上帝的先知沒有一個人能預言幾世紀後的事！
        當你讀以賽亞書五十二、五十三章的時候，細節栩栩如生，讓你以為以賽亞就站在十字架之下。一幕幕情景清楚的浮現在他的腦海裡，他甚至用過去式來描寫，彷彿基督的死難已經發生，但事實上，以賽亞著手寫預言的時候，比耶穌受難的時間早了七個世紀！
        用幾分鐘安靜默想今天的經文。
        把你自己放進經文裡，更深的體會上帝給你的信息：「祂為我的過犯受害，為我的罪孽壓傷……因祂受的鞭傷，我得醫治。」然後闔上讀經日程，誠心向上帝說「感謝祢」，因祂差愛子在十字架上代死──為了你！

        安慰的重心
        在以賽亞安慰的預言裡（四十到六十六章），最中間的章節就是這篇預言的重心，你同意嗎？（如果你找不到「中間的章節」，在此告訴你：是五十三章六節！）

基督的寶血是天國的鑰匙。

English

        Isaiah the prophet, Isaac Watts the hymnist—more than 24 centuries separate their lives. And yet the words you will read today about the selfless sacrifice of the Suffering Servant bear a striking similarity to these familiar, yet ever-moving stanzas:
        When I survey the wondrous cross
                On which the Prince of Glory died,
        My richest gain I count but loss,
                And pour contempt on all my pride.
        See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
                Sorrow and low flow mingled down:
        Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
                Or thorns compose so rich a crown ?

        Christopher Columbus writing a book about space travel.
        George Washington predicting the outcome of the 1992 presidential election.
        Absurd? Of course! No one can predict events like those centuries in advance. No one, that is, except a prophet of God.
        As you read Isaiah 52-53, the details appear so vivid as to make you think Isaiah is standing at the foot of the cross. In his mind the events are so clear that he narrates them in the past tense, as if Christ's death had already occurred. Yet Isaiah penned his prophecies seven centuries before!
        Spend some time meditating on today's reading.
Put yourself into the passage: "He was wounded for my transgressions, he was bruised for my iniquities . . . with his stripes I am healed." Then close your devotional time by giving God a heartfelt "thank you" for sending His Son to die on the cross—for you.

        The Bull's-eye of Comfort
        In Isaiah's prophecies of comfort (chapters 40-66), locate the middle chapter and the middle verse. Wouldn't you agree that's a good "central passage" on comfort? (In case you get lost, it's 53:6!)

Christ's blood is heaven's key.