He gets; We gets Isaiah 53:4-6 Good Friday (mini sermon #1)

Big Idea: He was in our place Purpose: To appreciate and love Christ Prayer: Father may our love and appreciation for your Son’s substitutionary sacrifice inhabit our hearts and change what we love, for your glory alone Amen

A number of years ago we were privileged to have two days in Austria; and during our stay in we were taken to the Palace. It is an extraordinary place. It was the winter residence of the Habsburg empire. It is now home of the Austrian jewels…amongst the Austrian is a nail (reputedly) driven into on the

1 cross and a piece of wood (supposedly) from that same cross. Now Austria as you can imagine gets extremely cold in winter in fact on the days we were there it was minus 15 degrees Celsius. I remember my nose being particularly frozen in the wind. Now as we were taken around this palace it was fascinating to see that the whole palace had been designed with a maze of secret rooms and passages; And the idea behind those secret passages was that staff could walk in them and stoke the fires in each room from behind and so as they did that they would never be seen by the nobility. So they could carry the coal in and keep the fires alight by stoking them completely out of sight from the rich and famous…who were reclining in their rooms sipping their Pims. That is substitution…the rich get warmth and comfort and pleasure while the servants have to carry the coal and the work and the 2 discomfort and the dirt and the muck and the horror.

Now as we lift our gaze this morning off the chaos of our country, the petty fights of politicians, the selfish and corrupt activity of the elite and we place our eyes on the cross; as we listen to God speak to us from that cross we will hear the word ‘substitute’. At its heart Easter speaks of substitution. A concept that is not difficult for us to understand - one person in the place of another. One person for another. Now for the sake of our memories I am going to use the phrase “he gets, we gets…” I know that it is not grammatically correct, the English teachers amongst us will have to forgive me but I hope it will help you to remember…the heart of Easter…’he gets, we gets…’

3 It all starts with something called sin. A rather unpopular word, not a word you will hear used in or in the press this week. Sin is an all-encompassing word; a word that speaks of corruption; it a word that includes authoritarianism and rebellion. A word that blankets greed and theft. Sin includes racism and oppression of the poor by the rich. We live in a world where husbands murder their wives; where men rape women as an expression of power. But sin at its heart is the universal human rejection of God…and so we look all around us and we see its consequences - a world of grief where actions cause hurt; a world of sorrow, and of pain and disease; a world of frustration and conflict and death. It is a world where wrongdoings and transgressions are everywhere. We live in a world of iniquity…and the worst shock of all is the moment when we realise that those things are resident right here in our own hearts -

4 there is no one that is exempt from sin…our sin manifests differently that is for certain, sometimes it is very sophisticated and even cultured, sometimes it is just downright crude…but it is there in every heart. Each of us has turned our face away from God…so that now we can even deceive ourselves. So great is our deception that we lie even to our own hearts about ourselves. So great is our blindness that we cannot see the truth about ourselves and instead of listening we lash out at those who don’t agree with us. We call them names and we insult them and we protest our innocence…

And the Bible says that every human being is deserving of punishment as a result. It says that God will judge us. Punishment will come…justice is certain. We do not need to worry about political intrigue or evil men and women in power because justice is coming…and yet the problem with justice is 5 that justice is just. Justice is fair. Justice does not favour us because we are white or black. Justice does not favour us because we are rich or poor. God promises us that justice is coming for all; and then there is this moment of terror when we realise that if we are sinners we are on the wrong side of justice. There is this moment when we realise that God is angry with me, God is actually angry with me. God does not think that I am the nice guy that I think I am. God sees the truth about me. He sees deep into my heart. He sees my motives and my feelings. He sees that my heart is turned away from him. It is evil. It invents ways to get its own way. My heart does not naturally love - love is a struggle and a discipline. And my heart does not seek to forgive or find peace. My heart wants its own desires and its own way…and so does yours… And when that truth dawns on us then Easter becomes the most staggering news. When 6 that truth is appropriated to our hearts then Good Friday becomes spectacularly good. Because at the centre of Good Friday is a servant who is our substitute…

Let’s read a portion of Isaiah 53 together. This morning in two mini episodes we are going to focus in on two stanzas in the famous Isaiah 53, Servant Song. Stanza 3 is now up on the screen…as we read it together can I ask you to notice the words that speak about us - they are the words ‘we’ and ‘our’ and ‘us’; but then I also want you to notice the words that speak of Jesus they are the words ‘he’ and ‘him’

Isaiah 53:4-6 - read together

As we read, did you notice what…’he gets’…and what ‘we gets’…?

7 V4 as Jesus hangs on that cross he gets our infirmities; he gets our sorrows and our griefs. As Jesus dies he gets stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. V5 Jesus gets pierced for our transgressions. He gets punished and crushed for our iniquities. Our punishment is laid on him. The cross was terrible news for Jesus…at the cross he gets all the things we are guilty of and in return…

We gets v5 peace. He gets wounds…we gets healed. He gets our iniquities laid on him…we gets forgiveness and freedom and adoption and grace and mercy and sonship and redemption and eternal life… It is the most extraordinary cosmic swap. All our stuff, all our sin, all our transgressions, all our chastisement laid on him…

8 And then laid on us is peace and forgiveness and approval and acceptance and pardon and kindness and compassion and restoration… Jesus gets my sin and we gets the reward.

That is the message of Easter – it is the most extraordinary news.

If you have never taken it for yourself…let’s do it together now. If you have been running from God or if your heart has grown cold or you have drifted away…let’s fix that right now. I am going to pray a prayer…pray it quietly in your heart with me. Father I have been running away from you for too long now. I realise afresh today that you did not run away from me. 9 Your son died and took all my muck. Thank you. I acknowledge my sin. I turn from it. In place of judgement you offer me friendship, forgiveness, peace and healing. All that comes about when we know you. I turn towards you and I pledge today to live my life turned towards you. Amen

If you are a Christian today and you prayed that prayer many years ago…will you let your heart be warmed as you contemplate that – ‘he gets differently, to what we gets’. God challenges us to take substitution into our lives. He calls us to take evil into ourselves, to absorb it and destroy it…and in its place to return good. As you contemplate your relationships take your wife’s sin and carry it for her and return to her

10 blessing; take your husband’s stuff and carry it for him…and return to him blessing. You gets pain; you gives blessing. Do it for our country, do it for the poor, do it for our world…that is the message of Easter. God did it for you…and so you can do it for them…

11 The Silent Innocent One Isaiah 53:7-9 Good Friday (mini sermon #2)

Big Idea: Jesus was innocent Purpose: to worship the innocent one who died in our place

Prayer: Father you exercised considerable restraint as your innocent son died in our place. Give us restraint not anger. Grace not revenge. Peace not hatred. Meekness not arrogance. Mercy not vengeance. As we worship you alone…

In June 2015 Thembekile Molaudzi was released from prison after 11 years behind bars. In 2002 a policeman by the name of Dingaan Makuna was murdered during a 12 botched hijacking. Eight men were rounded-up and arrested – including Molaudzi. During two identity parades, Makuna’s daughter, who witnessed her father’s murder, pointed out four suspects. Molaudzi, an easily identifiable two-metre giant of a man with an imposing presence, was not one of them. During a bungled investigation characterised by shoddy detective work, no gun residue was found, there was no independent corroboration, no fingerprints and no tangible evidence linking him to the crime. The only evidence implicating Molaudzi was a recanted confession by a co-accused whom a full bench of the North West High Court later described as a “reckless liar”. Despite all this he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. For 11 years he fought his conviction claiming his innocence. Zonderwater warder Levi Maphakane listened to his 13 repeated protestations of innocence and contacted the Wits Justice Project for help. After a long struggle in June 2015 the Constitutional Court reversed its own ruling regarding Molaudzi and ordered his immediate release…after 11 years wrongfully behind bars Thembekile Molaudzi was set free…

Well can you imagine being innocent, found guilty and sentenced to prison…or worse, innocent, found guilty and executed.

Not only was Jesus our substitute…but he was an innocent substitute…completely and utterly silent in the face of his accusers…

Let’s read together the fourth stanza in Isaiah’s servant song…

14 Isaiah 53:7-9

As Jesus was tried, beaten, scorned and killed; as his life ebbed away and his death unfolded he remained silent. He did not complain or object at the injustice of it all, he did not protest his innocence…instead like a silent lamb he faced his own brutal death. As that day worked itself out, oppression and judgement were laid upon him and death was the ultimate result. V8 he was cut off from the land of the living - he died; he really died; God the son - died. He was assigned a grave with the wicked. He didn’t even own his own grave it was lent to him by the rich man Joseph of Arimathea. He died though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit found in his mouth…

15 When Luke wrote his gospel he wanted to ensure that we hear the same message. Over and over he emphasises this truth. The one on the cross, the one who died for us was innocent. Pilate declares it, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” Later Pilate says, “I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him…he has done nothing deserving death…” Then a third time Pilate declares, “I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty.” As the thieves hang on either side of Jesus they discuss their co-accused. The one says to the other, “This man has done nothing wrong…” And as the Centurion watches Jesus die the soldier declares, “This was a righteous man.”

16 The righteous man gets death, we gets life… The righteous man gets judgement, we gets grace. The righteous man gets pain, we gets healing. The righteous man gets condemnation, we gets forgiveness. The righteous man gets deserted, we gets sonship…

At the age of 17 I crashed the family car. I remember the occasion it is burned in my memory. I was not entirely at fault but nevertheless I was driving and I should have done better. I was young inexperienced naïve and simply did not react fast enough. I crashed the family car…but I never paid for it and I never paid the guy I crashed into…my parents did that for me. They were

17 innocent, I was guilty…they got the pain and I got to go free…

Now the apostle Peter, takes Jesus death on the cross and calls us to embrace it in our own lives. He says 1 Peter 2:22 “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

The cross changes our eternal destinies but it also shapes our attitude to life now. No

18 longer do we have expectations of justice now we have the expectation of suffering. Now we are called to absorb evil into our lives. We are called to be silent and non- violent when we protest. We are called to return insults and abuse with grace and mercy. We are called to resist the desire for revenge and instead to return injustice with grace. This weekend God challenges us to embrace the pattern of Christ’s suffering in our marriages – to make them places of cross shaped forgiveness. This weekend God challenges us to embrace the pattern of Christ’s suffering in our friendships – to make them places of cross shaped forgiveness. Perhaps you have a friendship that you need to resolve today. This weekend God challenges us to embrace the pattern of the Christ’s suffering in our work places – to make them places of cross shaped grace.

19 He was innocent we are guilty…he dies we are set free. He gets, we gets…

Pray

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