“Who would have believed what we just heard? When was the Lordʼs power revealed through him? He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him. He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed. All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth. He was led away after an unjust trial – but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.” Isaiah 53:1-8

“Mums the word”

Mum is a Middle English word meaning ‘silent’, and may be derived from the mummer who acts without speaking. Note the similarity to the word “mime”, which of course in an actor who does not speak with words, but with fluid and dramatic motions.

Although Isaiah is an Old Testament prophet, this passage has been used referentially to Jesus Christ by scholars because the earliest church leaders used it in teaching inquirers about Christ. Acts 8:26-40 relates the story of the Holy Spirit directing the evangelist Philip to an Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Isaiah 53 – and the instant Philip came alongside the chariot the man had his finger on verses 7-8. When Philip asked if he understood the words, the eunuch invited him to explain them. Luke records the grand response: “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Philip preached Jesus as the unquestionable Messiah of the passage. We can and should do the same. We cannot stay mum on Jesus any more than we can stop eating food. If we are to remain strong physically by eating food, then we need to remain spiritually strong by preaching Christ.

Pastor Dave