The Heart of Christ

A Contemplation on Isaiah 53

What must it have been like for Him?

Think about it. Really try and put yourselves in His sandals as much as is possible this side of life, and ask: What does He teach us without a word?
I believe understanding His heart is a step toward the perfect unification of the Holy Spirit in us.

Isaiah 53 (ESV)

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Section 1 — Christ’s Formation

“He grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.”

Christ lived fully within the Father, and the Father fully in Him — at all times.

But what does that look like in practice? We cannot fully conceive it — lest we be undone.

Think of a flame. It consumes all it touches, ever spreading, ever growing. So too must Love and Truth have burned as a flame within the young heart of Yeshua. He was fully seen, fully known, and the Father embodied in perfect totality — all within fragile flesh.

Within Him there could be no envy, malice, contempt, lust, or unrighteousness, because He was the embodied Way, the Truth, and the Life. That does not mean He had no understanding of such things — for all learning is done through the wilderness. And He had to know their weight if He was to be a faithful minister, mediator, and intercessor for us, His children.

He knew the tantalizing burn of anger and yet did not sin.
He understood sadness, yet never gave in to despair.
He knew of lust, yet burned it at the root, allowing it no ground to germinate.
He knew of envy and yet did not give in to the craving of another’s possessions.
He lived among us, loved us, and now lives within us still.

He is faithful.

He could have been proud — knowing all. He could have denounced our foolishness and lack of insight. And yet He loved us unto death. He was and is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.

Why did His ministry begin when it did?
Because He was in the desert — experiencing the full breadth of human emotion — all so He could reflect compassion. He was in the fire, prepared, preserved, and offered as a sacrifice on the altar of our transgressions, out of a Love so pure it could not die.

Section 2 — The Cost of All in All

“He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces,
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

How would we behave if we heard every thought, from every person, every moment of every day?

How did He do it?

How could He hear our basest instincts, our vile impulses, our two-faced internal dialogue — and not run in horror?

How could He believe in us when all we can bring is our filthy rags disguised as gold?

And yet He did. Perfectly. Without sin. In full union with the Father of Eternal Glory, who is blessed forever.

How much must it have hurt His heart to be rejected — not only openly, but within the secret thoughts of others? He did not require us to speak to be heard.

Think of it: a Savior sent to gather into His arms the beloved children of His inheritance — only to be reviled, mocked, beaten, crucified, and denied.

And His response?

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

He came to give us everything. But we — the ones who awaited Him — already had our hands full. Even if all we clutched were grubs.

Each moment was a price paid.
Each rejection, another hope denied.
Each curse, another nail in a coffin.

How must He have wept? Not just for His heart — but for ours?

We would break under that weight. But Holiness carried it to the cross.

“And as one from whom men hide their faces… he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

Why do we hide?

Because we know the truth when it walks among us.
And it terrifies us.

We hide from the Light that exposes our shadows.
We scorn the gift because it demands our surrender.

He came to embrace — and we turned away.

Section 3 — The Price Paid

“Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.”

What must it have been like, surrounded by souls in need, knowing the cost — and still trying to open eyes unwilling to see?

How did He not give in to hopelessness? I would have, a million times.

He did not. Because His heart, His hope, was and is Eternal — enthroned above the cherubim of glory.

He poured out not just His life on the cross, but on the stones He walked upon, the hearts He touched, the hands that hammered the nails, and even the voices raised in judgment.

He gave us the final Word — a Son so in love with the Father that He embodied Him in perfect unity, from birth to death, and death to life everlasting.

The heart of Christ is not something we can fully know this side of heaven — 
but we can see its footprints in Scripture,
in hearts worshipping in secret,
and in our daily laying down of self to embrace Him.

He took our burdens, bore our guilt, wrapped in flesh, and carried it to the cross.
And in His transcendent glory, He made propitiation for our sins and reconciled us to the Father.

Where once there was only separation, now there is mercy.
Where once there was fearful judgment, now there is peace.
Where once there was no hope — now we hope in Him.

Section 4 — His Heart

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth…
yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him…
out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied…
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

Now let us reflect on His heart — in full.

• He is faithful. Our unfaithfulness cannot nullify His faithfulness.
• He is worthy. He poured Himself out without counting the cost.
• He is willing to go to any lengths to save us.
• He knows Himself as He is fully known — and He knows us.
• He is love incarnate, perfected through suffering.
• He is patient, not desiring that any should perish.
• He is truth laid bare — searing and healing.
• He is the Way, the only path to the Father.
• He is the Life — the firstborn of the resurrection.
• He is alive within us, dwelling in the inner temple.
• He is working still — behind our eyes, through our words, in our love.
• He is among us — not far away.
• His heart lives on — echoing through eternity.

Final Prayer

Lord Yeshua, King of Kings and Eternal Glory incarnate — 
may Your name be praised forever,
and every lip confess You as Christ,
to the glory of the Father through the Holy Spirit.

You alone have seen and known the Father in fullness.
Let Your perfection shine upon us,
that You might live once more through Your children — 
that You would be our hands, our eyes, our hearts, our voices.

Let all who draw breath bow in their inmost being
and glorify the name of the Lamb who was slain — and yet lives.

I pray now for those who read this — 
that they may be One, as You are One with the Father.
Guide them in merciful compassion.