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Home , Isaiah 53

The Suffering Servant ( 53:1-12) Easter • April 12, 2020

HOOK: ————————————————————————————————————————— Portland, OR: on Feb. 29, Gail Murphy and her boyfriend, Chris Murray, began their adventure down the scenic Colorado River away from cell service, Internet, and far from the outside world. Occasionally, the group would encounter other rafters on the river, also unaware of how the coronavirus had exploded in the outside world. On Mar. 24, the adventures were paddling toward the end of their journey when a woman from the rafting company waved anxiously from the shore saying, “the world is different now!” Can you believe that? Can you imagine the biggest news in the world, and you were completely oblivious to it? That would be like you walking into work on September 12, 2001 and your co-workers talking about the terrorist attacks in NYC, and you saying, “What are you talking about?” How could you not know! Nearly two thousand years ago a similar situation showed up. The world had changed. Not everyone understood it, but they knew about it. And then someone showed up who hadn’t heard the news. Let me summarize the story to you and then read one verse… • Two of ’ followers were walking from to the village of Emmaus (about seven miles away) • As they walked along, they were talking about Jesus crucifixion. • Just then, Jesus came and began walking with them (but God kept them from recognizing him). • Jesus asked what they were talking about and one of the men said, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.” “What things?” Jesus asked. They explained. Then Jesus took them through the writings of and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. :27 (NLT) Wow! What I would have paid to be a fly on the wall for that conversation! Jesus opened up the entire Hebrew and showed them how the prophecies about the Christ we all fulfilled in him! Every year I read through the Bible, and I’ve got to admit, I don’t always see Jesus in the . But according to Jesus, he is there written on every page! (ILLUS: Where’s Waldo?)

BOOK: ————————————————————————————————————————— As an avid Old Testament reader, I do know one passage that I’m absolutely confident that Jesus did share with these two men. It’s Isaiah 53: The Suffering Servant. This is the best single chapter in the entire Bible to explain what happened when Jesus died for you and for me. These words were written 700 years before Jesus was even born, and every preacher in the pointed out Isaiah 53 to explain why Jesus died for our sins. So, for today, for Easter 2020 I want to share these words with you. It begins, Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm? Isaiah 53:1 (NLT) Isaiah starts off with two questions: 1) Who is going to believe this? And 2) to whom has God revealed his power? The arm of the Lord has a very specific, very definite meaning in the —especially in the . The arm of the Lord is the Lord himself who comes into history to do something specific and tangible. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the arm of the Lord is often spoken of in combination with his mighty hand—and together they speak of God’s power to save and to judge. The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings speak about God’s mighty hand and outstretched arm. The arm of the Lord is not just any power from God, but God’s power in history. It’s about God’s supernatural providence in moving and shaping our story. What Isaiah is saying is this: “Who is ever going to believe that God came down into history and accomplished such a supernatural thing? To think, the God of all creation has once again entered into his creation with his mighty power!” My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. Isaiah 53:2 (NLT) A tender green shoot is an unwanted sucker that grows under a tree. It produces nothing and has no value. (ILLUS: Mary Beth) A root out of dry ground has nothing to offer. It is useless. It is barren. According to Isaiah, when people looked at Jesus, he was just a normal looking human being. He wouldn’t have been a male model. He wouldn’t have won a Mr. Universe contest. They dismissed him, were disappointed with him, and despised him. He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Isaiah 53:3 (NLT) The word despised means to be taken lightly, to be laughed at. The crowds that had shouted “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” just days later shouted, “Release for us Barabbas,” and ultimately, “Crucify him!” Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! Isaiah 53:4 (NLT) This doesn’t mean that merely our sins and sorrows were put on Jesus. It says he lifted them off of us and took them on himself. His death was absolutely voluntary. But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Isaiah 53:5 (NLT) Literally that word pierced means pierced through. It means to be run through, to have something come in the front of your body and go out the back. It is a term that describes the most painful and excruciating possible death. Isaiah uses every kind of way to describe our human disfunction, evil, and sin. You have weaknesses, sorrows, rebellion, and sins. But Jesus willingly went through the piercing, the crushing, the beatings, the whipping, and the experience of a brutal death so we could be whole, and we could be healed! Every arrow of divine judgment that should have struck us, struck him. Every arrow of divine judgment that should have come our way was deflected and sent toward Jesus. All of the arrows for all of our sins were directed to him. He took the wounds, and we received the healing. Every one of us deserves to be punished. Every one of us has wandered away from God. Every one of us has deliberately rebelled and turned to our own way. Every one of us has done what we wanted to do, regardless of what God wanted for us. And every one of us deserves to be punished. But instead, God loaded all of our sins onto the arrows and aimed them at his Son. He died for us in our place. But he did not deserve any of this. :14 gives more detail… But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. Isaiah 52:14 (NLT) The Lord’s servant will suffer horribly. His face would be brutally smashed and beaten—almost beyond human recognition. It’s not implying that he will be marred more than any other man, but that his face will be so disfigured that you can hardly recognize his features. Everyone who sees him will be shocked at the extent of his suffering. The word amazed is a very strong word, which means “to be shattered.” It was used to describe a city that was so completely destroyed that you couldn’t recognize it. When it was used of a person it means that they were so shattered by something that people looking would want to vomit. ILLUS: Passion of the Christ We are told here that Jesus’ appearance was so marred that it was disfigured beyond human likeness. His beatings were so severe that he didn’t look human anymore. To look at him was to be nauseated. He allowed that to happen to him because of his great love for you! Why? Back to Isaiah 53… All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6 (NLT) All throughout the Bible you see the metaphor of God being a shepherd and us being his sheep. ILLUS: Luke 15, the Lost Sheep ILLUS: Sin as breaking a glass window vs. breaking a few clay pots. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7 (NLT) This was a miscarriage of justice. This was a kangaroo court. He didn’t deserve to be so shamelessly treated and rejected. An unfair judgment was pronounced upon him. But he went willingly and quietly to his death, like a lamb to the slaughter and he didn’t fight for his freedom. His enemies questioned him, provoked him, falsely accused him, and yet he did not open his mouth. He could have called down legions of angels to destroy his accusers, but he remained silent in order to secure our salvation. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. Isaiah 53:8 (NLT) Medical doctors tell us there are five types of wounds: 1) There is a contusion (which Jesus received when men punched him in the face), 2) There is a laceration (which he received when the whips stripped the skin off his back and shoulders), 3) There is penetration (which he received when a crown of thorns was beaten into his forehead, 4) There is perforation (which he received when the spikes pierced his hands and feet), and 5) There is incision (which he received when a soldier stuck a spear in his side). Why did Jesus accept those wounds? So that we could be healed. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. Isaiah 53:9 (NLT) Seven hundred years before the actual event, Isaiah prophesied with such accuracy that he even knew about giving Jesus his grave! But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands. Isaiah 53:10 (NLT) Yet, in everything that happened, God was working his purposes. God was making his life the sacrificial offering that would satisfy all of the wrongs we’ve ever done. And when it was finished, God was satisfied and exalted him. Sin is you and me substituting ourselves for God (putting ourselves where only God should be). That’s sin! Salvation is God substituting himself for us (putting himself where only we should be, on the cross). That’s salvation! All real love is a substitutionary sacrifice (friendship, marriage, parenting). By stepping into our place and actually dying the death we should die, God poured out the wrath that our sins incur upon himself. That’s substitution! When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. Isaiah 53:11 (NLT) Our sorrows went onto Jesus. Our punishment went onto Jesus. Ten times in this passage we read that Jesus took upon himself something that wasn’t his, but ours. That means that Jesus’ death was not just violent and not just voluntarily—it was also vicarious—which means he took our punishment. Let me make it personal: Jesus bore my sins. Jesus bore your sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. Isaiah 53:12 (NLT)

LOOK: ————————————————————————————————————————— A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is about Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay who both love the same young woman. She ends up marrying Charles and they have children, but because this is the French Revolution, Charles is arrest, taken to prison, and awaits his execution. On the night before his execution, Sydney, who looks quite a bit like Charles, sneaks into the prison and says, “Look, Charles. You have a wife. You have children. Let’s switch places. Let’s change clothes. I’ll die in your place.” Charles says, “No way! Are you kidding? I will never let you do such a thing!” But Sydney knocks him out, switches clothes, and takes his place in the prison, waiting to be executed. Also, in the prison is a young woman who is also about to be executed. She knew Charles in the past, and when she hears he’s there, seeks him out and starts to talk to him. It only takes a short time, but she realizes it’s not Charles, and her eyes get big, and she says to Sydney, “Are you dying for him?” He replies, “Shhh! Yes, and for his wife and his children.”

TOOK: ————————————————————————————————————————— The theologian, J.I. Packer, once asked, “Are you melted by spiritual understandings of how much God loves you? Are you walking in the reality of it? Can you breathe it? Can you feel it? Can you taste it? Can you touch it? Do you know how different you’d be if you’d realize the magnitude of God’s love for you?” My friends, as I draw this message to a close, let me remind you of something Jesus said in John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. John 10:11 (NLT) Jesus laid down his life, so you could have true life. The crucifixion is something has happened in history that changes everything. The servant has come to take your punishment. Isaiah 53 gives us a complete picture of what the death of Jesus Christ accomplished on your behalf. His death satisfied God’s righteous demands for judgment against your sin. The only questions are this: Will you believe he died for you? Will you receive his payment for your sin? Today we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, but before he rose, he died for you and for me. The only reason the resurrection has meaning is because it proved his death was enough for you and for me. He is the victor over death! PRAYER