The Suffering Servant
Isaiah 52:13 – 53:11
Let’s turn to Isaiah 53. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Isaiah 53 is on page 613 in the Bibles we are passing out.
I met Carol (not her real name) when I was a pastor in southern California. She had visited our church and told us she was Jewish and not interested in Jesus Christ. But she asked if she could come by the office during the week to have the pastors pray for her because she had been diagnosed with cancer. So we made an appointment for her to come by.
Right before the appointment I prayed and asked God how we could help this Jewish woman. And I felt like God said I should start by reading Isaiah 53 with her.
So that’s what I did. So she came in, sat down in my office, I gave her a Bible opened to Isaiah 53, and I had my Bible opened to Isaiah 53, and I started reading slowly out loud. After a few verses I looked up and saw that there were tears running down her face. I asked her what was going on. She said – “God is here; He’s talking to me.” I said: “what’s He saying?” She said: “He’s saying that this is Jesus. That Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.”
That day we not only prayed for her cancer, but we prayed with her as she received Jesus Christ into her life as her Lord, her Savior, her heart-satisfying Treasure.
Isaiah 53 is one of the most powerful passages in the Old Testament. It was written around 700 BC, and it is a very specific and detailed prophecy of how Jesus would come to earth and die on the Cross to pay for our sins.
The prophecy actually starts in ch.52 v.13. So let’s start by reading through this passage:
13 [God is talking about Jesus:] Behold, my servant shall act wisely [everything He does will be perfectly wise; as a result]; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted [everything in the universe will end up recognizing His pre-eminence. But look at what happens first:]
14 As many were astonished at you [the Messiah] -- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle [bring forgiveness to] many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. [So kings will be blown away by Him.]
1 [And yet] Who [among Israel] has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom [among Israel] has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For he [the Messiah] grew up before him [before God] like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground [he looked weak and insignificant]; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 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.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows [which we deserved for our sins]; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment [false charges] he was taken away; and as for his generation [Israel at the time Jesus was alive on earth], who [among them] considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring [there will be a vast multitude saved that no one can count]; he shall prolong his days [resurrected from the dead]; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul [remember the Garden of Gethsemane?] he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong [God the Father will reward Him], 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 [He brings to the Father His death for our sins, and His perfect life, as the basis for which the Father can save and love us.]
Powerful passage. And this morning God wants to use this passage to prepare our hearts for celebrating Communion. And to help us I want to focus on three questions.
First, what have we done? Look at how Isaiah puts it in v.6 –
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The Bible teaches that God is the perfect shepherd, and He created us – not to be shepherds, but to be sheep. God is the shepherd; we are the sheep.
Sheep need everything. Sheep need to be led to pasture, or they will starve. Sheep need to be led to water, or they will die of thirst. Sheep need to be led away from cliffs, or they will fall to their deaths. Sheep need to be protected from wolves, or they will become dinner.
We are needy sheep, and God is the perfect shepherd. So all we need to do to have full hearts and meaningful lives is to admit that we are sheep, and turn to trust the shepherd.
But all we like sheep have gone astray. We have refused to admit that we are needy sheep and that God is the perfect shepherd. We’ve wanted to be the shepherd. We’ve wanted to call the shots, find our own pasture, be in control. And so we’ve all turned away from God.
And because God is perfectly good, perfectly just, perfectly glorious, He must punish everything that opposes His purposes. So all of us face punishment forever.
But the story doesn’t end there. Second, what has the Servant done? To understand the wonder of what He has done we need to understand a few things about who He is. First, in ch. 9 Isaiah told us the Messiah would be born – so he would be a human being – fully man. Second, in ch. 11 Isaiah also told us that His name would be “mighty God” – so He would also be fully God. So the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord, is fully man and fully God.
But third, here in ch.53 Isaiah tells us that the Messiah will be perfectly morally good and righteous. You can see that in v.11 --
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
So the Messiah is fully man, fully God, and perfectly righteous.
And what would He do? Something unbelievable. Something that displays such love and mercy that we could not believe it if it were not written in God’s book.
He was punished for our sins in our place. Look at vv.5-6 –
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
But there’s more. He also gave us the gift of His perfect, moral righteousness. You can see that in v.11 --
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
So here’s an illustration I’ve used before which I want to use again – because it’s helped me so much in picturing this.
This board is you and me. And this board is Jesus. My board has all kinds of sin written on it -- greed, pride, lust, self-righteousness, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness. And because of this, I am cut off from God now, and I face God’s udgment forever.
But in great mercy, God decided to save us. He came to earth in the person of Jesus. Jesus is fully man and fully God. He came to earth and lived a life of perfect moral righteousness.
So Jesus’ white board is morally perfect: love and truth and integrity and compassion and mercy and goodness and righteous indignation and love for God. Let this sink in – there’s only been one human being who has ever lived a morally blameless life – Jesus Christ.
And Jesus chose to die on the Cross. And if you are trusting Jesus, then here’s what this means. The moment you trusted Jesus all your sin – past, present, and future -- was transferred from you to Jesus; and Jesus was punished by God the Father on the Cross for all of your sin.
You are over here – no punishment on you. Jesus is on the Cross – being punished by God the Father for your sin. So all of your sin, past, present, and future, is put upon Jesus and all the punishment deserved for your sin is poured out upon Jesus.
But that’s not all. To be accepted and loved and welcomed by God you need to have trusted him perfectly and loved Him supremely and loved others flawlessly. But none of us has done that. So is it hopeless? No. Look at what God does.
God takes Jesus’ perfect moral goodness and gives it to you. You don’t actually become perfectly morally good. You will grow in moral goodness. You are a work in progress. And yet you are clothed with Jesus’ perfect moral goodness, so when God looks at you, He sees you as perfectly morally good – because you are trusting in Jesus.
So because of Jesus you will never face any punishment for sin, you are completely forgiven for all your sin, and because God sees you as righteous He passionately loves you, welcomes you, rejoices to do you great good.
Now let’s be clear. What did you do to have this happen to you? Did you make yourself good enough? Did you say ten Hail Mary’s? Did you meditate for 3 hours? No.
To have this happen you do one thing – trust Jesus Christ. Come to Him as you are, surrender to Him as you are, trust Him as you are. The result? You are forgiven, all your sins are punished in Jesus, and you are clothed with his perfect righteousness.
Now if you are honest, you will be thinking – this is too good to be true. So how can we know this is true?
Ask this question – who has fulfilled this prophecy? At around 700 BC Isaiah wrote these words about someone who would be alive in the future. So who has fulfilled these prophecies?
V.14 – “His appearance was so marred, beyond human resemblance.” Jesus was beaten, scourged, with a crown of thorns rammed onto His head – beaten so severely that he was unrecognizable.
V.3 – “He was despised and rejected by men.” At the hour of His arrest, not only had all Jerusalem turned against Him, but all His disciples fled from Him.
V.7 – “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.” During His trial Jesus would utter not one word in His defense.
V.9 – “And they made his grave with the wicked.” Jesus was crucified between two thieves. “And with a rich man in His death.” And Jesus was buried in a tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man.
V.10 – Even though he would be crushed by God, yet Isaiah says that “he will prolong his days.” After being crucified, Jesus rose from the dead, and is alive today.
Isaiah wrote these words in 700 BC. Who else in history has fulfilled these prophecies? No one. But Jesus has. That’s how you can know this is true.
Let’s have the band come up and prepare for leading us into Communion.
2,000 years ago Jesus gave us Communion as a way for those who are trusting Jesus Christ to celebrate what He has done.
Communion is not for people who think they are good enough; none of us is. Communion is for people who know we are not good enough, but we also know that Jesus is – and we are trusting His death to pay for our sins, and His righteousness to clothe us.
And Communion is not just for people who have been trusting Jesus for a long time. If you walked in here never having trusted Jesus, but now you want to trust Jesus – Communion is for you.
So in a moment Dave will lead us in songs that focus on what Jesus has done on the Cross. And during the first three songs you can get up at any time and go to one of these tables and take the bread and the cup. Then return to your seat. And worship Jesus Christ, confess your sins, thank Him for what He has done, and commit afresh to living for His glory.