A Devotional Walk Through How Jesus Fulfills Isaiah
“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
— Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)
Buried Words, Living Promise
Imagine standing on the rocky shore of the Dead Sea.
It’s hot, dry, and silent—until a shepherd boy tosses a stone into a cave and hears pottery shatter.
Inside those jars are scrolls. Old scrolls. Fragile scrolls. Among them, a nearly complete copy of Isaiah, written about 100–150 years before Jesus was born.
So when you hear at Christmas:
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
— Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)
…you are not reading a prophecy rewritten to “fit” Jesus.
You are reading words that were already being read, recited, and treasured in Jewish communities long before Mary ever held her baby in Bethlehem.
Those desert scrolls are like God whispering to our skeptical age:
“My promises were there all along.”
As a modern-day Esther, a woman who loves both Israel and Jesus, you are invited to see how Isaiah’s words point straight to your Savior.
Let’s walk through some of them together.
Immanuel: God With Us in Real Time
In Isaiah 7, the prophet is speaking to a frightened king, Ahaz. Enemies are closing in. The ground under his feet feels shaky.
God offers a sign:
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
— Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)
In Ahaz’s day, there was an immediate sign—a child in his own time. But Matthew tells us there was more going on. When Joseph is wrestling with Mary’s unexpected pregnancy, an angel quotes this very verse and says:
“They will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
— Matthew 1:23 (NIV)
In other words, God didn’t just send Ahaz a sign.
In Jesus, God came Himself.
Maybe you know that in your head. But where do you need that truth in your heart right now?
Where is your own “Ahaz place”—the situation that feels surrounded, pressured, and out of control?
You can almost hear the Lord say:
“Immanuel still stands. I have not stepped away. I am with you.”
A Great Light in the Dark
A few chapters later, Isaiah paints a picture that sounds like an evening news headline:
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”
— Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)
He’s talking first about the north—“Galilee of the nations”—a place battered by invasion and looked down on spiritually.
Then comes the promise:
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given…” (Isaiah 9:6)
This Child is no ordinary king. He carries titles that almost take your breath away:
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Wonderful Counselor
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Mighty God
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Everlasting Father
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Prince of Peace
Centuries later, when Jesus begins His ministry, He doesn’t start in polished Jerusalem. He starts in that very region.
“Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum… in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah…”
— Matthew 4:13–14 (NIV)
The “great light” rises right where the darkness has been thickest.
If you’re honest, where does life feel dim or confusing right now?
Isaiah’s promise isn’t just for a map on the wall of ancient Israel. It speaks to every corner of your heart that feels like “Galilee of the nations”—wounded, overlooked, or under attack.
The same Jesus who stepped into that land steps into yours.
A Shoot From the Stump
Isaiah doesn’t pretend things are fine. He pictures Israel’s royal line as a stump—cut down, finished, and dead-looking.
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him…”
— Isaiah 11:1–2 (NIV)
A stump is what’s left when the story seems over. No leaves. No branches. Just a reminder of what used to be.
But God likes to start where we see endings.
Out of what looks hopeless, He promises:
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A new King from David’s family
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Filled with wisdom, understanding, counsel, and might
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Bringing justice and peace so deep it touches even creation itself
When Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, the Spirit descends on Him like a dove. Heaven’s voice says:
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
— Luke 3:22 (NIV)
The Branch has arrived.
Think for a moment: where do you see “stumps” in your own life?
A relationship that feels finished.
A dream that feels dead.
Even your hope about Israel or the world feeling chopped down.
Isaiah gently asks: What if God sees a shoot where you see a stump?
What if Jesus—the Spirit-filled Branch—is already at work in places you’ve written off?
A Voice in the Wilderness
Later, Isaiah shifts gears:
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem…”
— Isaiah 40:1 (NIV)
And then:
“A voice of one calling:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”
— Isaiah 40:3 (NIV)
For a long time, that was just a promise on the page.
Then John the Baptist appears in the wilderness, calling people to repentance. All four Gospels say he is that “voice” Isaiah heard so long ago.
John’s message is simple and sharp: “Get ready. The Lord is coming.”
Sometimes, as a modern-day Esther, you stand in a kind of wilderness too:
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A church that isn’t sure how to talk about Israel
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A family that’s weary and distracted
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A world that doesn’t want to hear about sin or repentance
But Isaiah reminds you: the way is still prepared the same way—by turning hearts back to God.
Is there a “crooked place” in your own heart that the Lord is highlighting?
A place where you’ve just gone along with the crowd?
A place where fear or fatigue has dulled your courage?
The voice in the wilderness is not only for ancient Israel. It’s for us:
“Make room. Straighten the path. The King is near.”
The Gentle Servant
Isaiah also shows us a breathtakingly tender picture:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight…
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
— Isaiah 42:1, 3 (NIV)
A bruised reed is almost broken.
A smoldering wick is almost out.
Maybe you feel like that sometimes—especially in seasons when headlines about Israel, antisemitism, and war press on your spirit. You care deeply. You pray. You give. You speak up. And you can still feel small and tired.
Matthew tells us this image of the Servant is fulfilled in Jesus:
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Healing the sick
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Welcoming outcasts
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Lifting up people everyone else is ready to discard
He doesn’t crush bruise-hearted people.
He doesn’t blow out flickering faith.
If part of you is tired, or discouraged, or quietly scared about the future, hear this: Isaiah’s Servant sees you. He knows how much you carry. And His first instinct is not to rebuke, but to uphold.
Light for Israel and the Nations
Isaiah goes even further:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
— Isaiah 49:6 (NIV)
Too small a thing.
God’s heart is big enough to hold Israel and the nations at the same time.
The Servant is for the Jewish people and for the world.
When Simeon holds the baby Jesus in the Temple, he echoes Isaiah:
“A light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
— Luke 2:32 (NIV)
Not “instead of.”
Both.
As a Christian woman who loves Israel, you stand right in that tension:
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You bless the Jewish people—the root that supports your faith.
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You also carry the gospel into your own community and beyond.
Isaiah reminds you: this was always God’s plan.
He Bore Our Griefs
At the very center of Isaiah’s book is a passage many of us can barely read without tears—Isaiah 52:13–53:12.
You hear the familiar words:
“He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” (53:3)“He was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.” (53:5)“We all, like sheep, have gone astray…
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.” (53:6)
When you look at the cross, Isaiah gives you language for what you see:
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Jesus suffering for you
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Jesus standing in your place
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Jesus carrying your sin, your shame, your judgment
But remember: when that scroll lay in the cave by the Dead Sea, Jesus had not yet been born.
Jewish hands had copied this chapter with care, long before Golgotha.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Can I trust this? Is the gospel real?”—Isaiah and the Dead Sea scrolls gently answer:
“These words are older than you know.
God’s plan did not begin in the manger.
The manger was the unfolding of a plan already written.”
Maybe today you need to stop and let Isaiah 53 be personal again—not just theology, but love:
He was pierced for my transgressions.
He was crushed for my iniquities.
The punishment that brought me peace was on Him.
By His wounds, I am healed.
Good News to the Poor
Isaiah isn’t finished. In chapter 61, the Servant speaks:
*“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners…”
Living as Women of Fulfilled Promise
When you put all of this together—the scroll in the cave, the child in the manger, the Servant on the cross, the risen King in glory—you start to see a pattern:
God does not make casual promises.
He speaks, He preserves, He fulfills.
Isaiah’s words were copied by Jewish scribes, hidden in desert caves, and kept through empires and wars. Today, you and I read those same words and see Jesus all over them:
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The Child and King of Isaiah 7 and 9
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The Spirit-filled Branch of Isaiah 11
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The gentle Servant of Isaiah 42
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The light for Israel and the nations in Isaiah 49
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The suffering, saving Servant in Isaiah 53
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The anointed Healer of Isaiah 61
As a Christian Woman For Israel, you are standing in the middle of that story. You love a Jewish Savior who fulfills Jewish prophecies written on a Jewish scroll—so that salvation can reach the ends of the earth, including your living room and your church and your circle of friends.
You don’t have to hold this only as an idea. You can let it shape how you move through this season:
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When you hear Isaiah read at church, whisper a quiet thank You for the scroll in the sand and the God who kept it.
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When you pray for Israel, remember you’re praying into promises Isaiah saw centuries ago.
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When you feel small or discouraged, remind your heart: the same God who watched over His Word will watch over me.
You are a modern-day Esther and a watchman on the walls. Part of your calling is simply to remember—and to help others remember—that none of this is random. Christmas is not a pretty add-on. It is Isaiah’s promise, kept.
