In a Canadian city a Christian man named Mr. Glass was able to witness to a very bright Jewish youth who bitterly opposed him, and even ordered him out of the house. But when Mr. Glass read to him the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, he could not reply.
Soon after, the young man went to, hear special lectures given by a learned rabbi, who was speaking to counteract the influence of the missionaries. The young man asked the rabbi, “Rabbi, the missionaries here always point us to the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, saying it is a perfect picture of the suffering Messiah, and that the Messiah described is none other than Jesus Christ. As far as I can see, it certainly resembles the crucifixion of Jesus. What can you tell me so that I can refute these missionaries and silence them?”
The rabbi answered, “This chapter refers to the nation Israel as the suffering servant of Jehovah as she suffers for the other nations.”
“In that case,” replied the Jewish lad, “what does the Prophet mean by the statement, ‘For the transgression of MY PEOPLE was He stricken’? If Israel is meant here as the suffering servant, whom does he mean by My PEOPLE, and who is the ‘HE’ that was stricken?”
The rabbi crimsoned and colored, but could produce no reasonable or logical answer.
The young man said, “I see, Rabbi, you have no answer”; and having said that, the young man turned on his heel and left. He forthwith accepted Christ as his Saviour, and has been living for Him ever since.
ML 10/04/1959