April 13, 2025 • 49 mins
Tucked within the Old Testament lies a prophetic masterpiece so extraordinary that theologians have dubbed it "the fifth gospel." Isaiah 53, written seven centuries before Christ's birth, presents a portrait of the coming Messiah with such precision that it reads like an eyewitness account of Calvary.
This Palm Sunday message unveils five surprising truths about the suffering servant that challenge our human understanding and illuminate the wonder of God's redemption plan. From the servant's assured victory despite his appalling appearance to the shocking reality that those he came to save would largely reject him, each truth builds a comprehensive picture of how God would reconcile sinful humanity to himself.
At the theological heart of Isaiah's prophecy stands the doctrine of substitutionary atonement—the servant bearing our griefs, carrying our sorrows, being pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities. The language is unmistakable; our sin placed on him so that his righteousness might be credited to us. This divine exchange represents the answer to humanity's greatest dilemma: how can a holy God remain just while justifying sinners?
The servant's profound humility shines through his silent submission to undeserved suffering, creating a stark contrast with our natural impulse for self-preservation. Yet perhaps most astonishing is Isaiah's paradoxical declaration that through death, the servant would see offspring and prolong his days—a clear foreshadowing of resurrection and the spiritual children who would be born through his sacrifice.
For anyone struggling under the weight of guilt or shame, Isaiah 53 offers the liberating truth that Christ has paid the penalty for your sin. There is now no condemnation for those who trust in him. The highest court has declared you innocent. Will you accept this gift of grace today?
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good morning everyone .
Please turn in your Bibles toIsaiah 53, verses 1 through 5.
You can find this on page 613in your Pew Bibles.
Who has believed what he hasheard from us and to whom has
(00:23):
the arm of the Lord beenrevealed?
He said he was despised andrejected by men.
A man of sorrows and acquaintedwith grief, and as one from
(00:51):
whom men hide their faces, hewas despised and we esteemed him
not.
Surely, he has borne our griefsand carried our sorrows, yet we
esteemed him.
Stricken, smitten by God andafflicted.
But he was pierced for ourtransgressions.
He was crushed for ouriniquities.
Upon him was the chastisementthat brought us peace, and with
his wounds we are healed.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
This is the word of the Lord.
All right, good morning Midtree.
How are you guys doing?
Well, I hope it has been a longweekend.
We've had a lot going on SecretChurch, I think.
A group of us left here atabout 1.35, 1.45 Saturday
morning.
We came back and had an Easteregg hunt on Saturday which
lasted a good bit of the day,and then we are here back in
(01:43):
God's house this morning.
And so, if you guys are here,my name is Greg Despain, one of
the elders here at the church.
If you guys were here last week, you know that we have a group
of mission team folks that arein Thailand on a mission trip,
and among them is Will Hawk, ourlead pastor, and so I'm here
filling in for him this morning.
(02:03):
Thomas jokes that whenever hepreaches that he's the lead
pastor, and so I'm here fillingin for him this morning.
Thomas jokes that whenever hepreaches that he's the lead
pastor and that Will is fillingin for him, right and so that he
appreciates the fact that.
And so I'm just going to claimthat I'm the fourth string squad
team quarterback that really ishere to sort of keep you guys
warmed up until the lead pastorgets back, and so.
(02:25):
But we have a good word for youthis morning.
God is so good, and so thismorning we're going to be in the
book of Isaiah, chapter 53.
And by that I mean 52 verses 13through 15, the end of that
chapter, then Isaiah 53.
Isaiah is arguably one of themost important books of the Old
Testament.
Chapter 53 has been called thecrown jewel of this prophetic
(02:49):
book.
Polycarp, the disciple of theApostle John, called it the
golden passion of the OldTestament.
My good buddy Charles Spurgeondescribed it as the Bible in
miniature and the gospel inessence.
German theologian FranzDelitzsch commented that it
looks as if it had been writtenbeneath the cross, upon Golgotha
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, and forms the outer center ofthis wonderful book of
consolation.
It is the most central, thedeepest and the loftiest thing
that Old Testament prophecy hasever achieved.
It's further been called theRomans of the Old Testament, the
fifth gospel and the MountEverest of Messianic prophecy.
(03:32):
It truly is an amazing passageof Scripture whose importance is
really difficult to exaggerate,and so what a joy it is this
morning to be with you guys andbe able to walk through it
together on this Palm Sunday.
So a little bit about the bookof Isaiah.
It was written during the 8thcentury BC.
It contains the prophecies ofGod to the southern kingdom of
(03:53):
Judah around the time of KingsUzziah through Hezekiah, and so
the prophet Isaiah's name meansthe salvation of Jehovah, and
certainly that is one of themajor themes of this book.
And so the book is divided intotwo major sections.
Much like the Bible, itcontains 66 chapters, and so the
(04:16):
first book, as it's called, ischapters 1 through 39.
It focuses on God's judgmentand exile.
And the second book, the secondhalf of the book, is 27
chapters, much like the NewTestament, and it focuses on
God's salvation and deliverance,and so it's this second passage
that we're going to be lookingat this morning, on God's
(04:38):
salvation and deliverance, andthis section features four songs
that have become known as theServants Songs, and they're
located in chapters 42, 49, 50,and 53.
And so chapter 53 is the lastof these Servant Songs and may
be the most powerfulconcentrated argument for divine
(04:58):
inspiration of Scripture in thewhole Bible.
It was written 700 years beforethe birth of Christ, but
describes the events of Calvaryin astonishing detail.
Each stanza is divided intofive stanzas of three verses
each, and each stanza sort ofhas its own theme, and we'll
sort of walk through those andpresents a truth about the
(05:20):
Messiah that is very unexpectedor contrary to human reasoning.
And so all of these themes cometogether to sort of paint this
beautiful portrait of the personand work of Jesus Christ that
was written centuries before hisbirth.
And so, with that in mind, thismorning we're going to walk
through five surprising truthsabout the suffering servant, and
(05:46):
so number one his victory isassured, he will appall, yet he
will astound.
So if you've got your Bible, inverse 13, chapter 52, we'll
read that together.
Behold, my servant shall actwisely.
He shall be high and lifted upand shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at youfor parentheses here his
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appearance was so marred beyondhuman semblance and his form
beyond that of the children ofmankind.
So shall he sprinkle.
Many nations, kings shall shuttheir mouths because of him, for
that which has not been toldthem, they see.
And so I'm to the point where inmy life where I've had a couple
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of kinds of phone calls thatare pretty similar.
I've both received these andI've made these calls.
So I remember as a teenagercalling my mom and dad and
saying, first of all, I'm okay,but my car is not.
I was coming home from practiceand it was dark and foggy and
my car wound up in the ditch,but I wanted them to know that I
(06:59):
was okay.
And I have also received asimilar call that says, hey, we
had to take your dad to theemergency room, but just so you
know, he's okay, the doctorsfound something, and here's sort
of what we're doing, but he'sokay.
And so there's this sense inwhich when we have some bad news
to tell people, often we wantto reassure them up front, and
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that's sort of what the prophetIsaiah does in this first stanza
.
It serves as an introductorystanza that first summarizes the
whole song that we'll be goingthrough and also reassures the
reader that, although theservant will endure sorrow and
suffering and tragedy andinjustice, that he will
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ultimately succeed in hismission, us that he will
ultimately succeed in hismission.
He'll start out lowly anddespised, but in the end he will
be high and lifted up, exaltedand glorified.
So first of all, we're going tosee a portrait of human
suffering.
So we need to understand thatthe servant is a man who will
suffer unimaginably, and so thisis not just a metaphor, this is
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a literal person who willsuffer horribly.
In verse 14, it says, as manywere, as astonished at you, his
appearance was so marred beyondhuman semblance and his form
beyond that of the children ofmankind.
He'll be beaten beyondrecognition.
Isaiah 50 tells us that thissame servant will give his back
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to those who strike and hischeeks to those who pluck out
the beard.
He will not hide his face fromdisgrace and spitting.
So he'll be beaten to the pointof being hardly recognizable,
no longer resembles a human, andso, in short, his appearance
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will be appalling.
And that's the bad news thatIsaiah wants to sort of get out
on the table.
He wants you to know thatthat's coming.
But he also wants to softenthat really bad news with some
good news, and that is that theservant will succeed, his
efforts will be successful.
And so he starts out saying myservant will act wisely.
(09:11):
So we think of wisdom as sortof making right decisions,
applying knowledge in a good waythat makes good choices.
Some translations that you guyshave may read that my servant
will prosper, and that's gettingsort of closer to the idea that
we're looking at here.
Biblical wisdom is aboutsubmitting your life, coming
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under humble submission to God'splan and purpose for your life.
So it carries the idea of areverence and awe of who God is,
a humble submission to his willthat results in his
providential blessing.
And that's what Proverbs 8.35has in mind when it says for
whoever finds wisdom, findsfavor, finds life and obtains
(09:53):
favor from the Lord.
And so when Isaiah said myservant liked, wisely it's, he's
going to orient his life aroundwho God is, he'll be in humble
subjection and submission to hiswill, and because of that he
will be blessed by God.
And so let's zero in on thephrase shall be high and lifted
(10:14):
up.
And so he says my servant willact wisely, he'll be high and
lifted up.
And so that phrase occurs fourtimes in the book of Isaiah and
nowhere else in Scripture, andthe other three times it refers
specifically to God.
And so the most famous of thoseis probably Isaiah 6-1, where
Isaiah has his throne roomvision and he says in the year
(10:36):
that King Uzziah died, I saw theLord, high and lifted up,
sitting on the throne, and thetrain of his robe filled the
temple, and above him were thesix seraphim.
They had wings, and with twothey covered their face, and
with two they covered their feet, and with two, they flew, and
one called out to another holy,holy, holy is the lord of hosts,
the whole earth is filled withhis glory.
(10:59):
And so isaiah is looking intothe throne room of god, seeing
god and he uses this phrase todescribe him that he was high
and lifted up.
The other portions of Isaiahthat use this phrase high and
lifted up all refer to God aswell.
And so when we see Isaiah hererefer to the suffering servant
as being high and lifted up, notonly is it a portrait of human
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suffering, we have a declarationof divine origin.
So this is not just a humanservant who will suffer.
This is a long-awaited Messiahwho will save.
He's not just a human that willsuffer unjustly, although as
tragic as that may be.
(11:42):
He is the long-awaited Messiahthat all of the Jews have been
looking for, and he will bethere to save his people.
And so in verse 14 through 15,we'll see this contrast between
the many who were astonished,who were appalled at the
servant's appearance.
It says as many were asastonished by you, his
(12:03):
appearance was so marred, soshall he sprinkle many nations.
And so it's this comparisonbetween the astonishment that
met the servant's suffering, hishumiliation, his lowly sort of
origin, with that which willgreet his ultimate success and
exaltation.
And so this phrase sprinklemany nations whenever you see
(12:26):
that in the Old Testament.
Sprinkling, it signifies tocleanse, to purify, to be
consecrated, but in a sense alsostartling and surprise.
So if you squirt someone with awater bottle, they get startled
.
The Hebrew word means both ofthose things the cleansing, the
purification, and also thatsense of startlement that
(12:49):
happens when you're splattered.
Leviticus 4.6 says and thepriest shall dip his finger in
the blood and sprinkle part ofthe blood seven times before the
Lord and in front of the veilof the sanctuary.
And so we see throughout thesacrificial system that this
sprinkling signifies cleansing,purification, consecration.
(13:09):
Exodus 24, after Moses gave thelaw to the people, he sprinkled
blood on them as a symbol ofpurifying them and consecrating
them in service to God.
And so what is the result ofseeing the suffering servant?
It says that kings, many kings,will shut their mouths or be
(13:33):
rendered speechless when theyunderstand the role of the
servant, that he wouldinnocently suffer in their place
and die in their place, butthat he would be raised again to
life, be exalted, successfullyfulfilling God's plan and
purpose in their place.
But that he would be raisedagain to life, be exalted,
successfully fulfilling God'splan and purpose in redemption.
And so, in the same way thatmany people would be appalled at
his appearance, many people aregoing to be shocked at what God
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does to the person and work ofJesus Christ.
And so, through the sufferingof the promised seed, we see
that all the nations of theearth would be blessed,
fulfilling abraham's covenantpromise that was made.
And so they are astonished.
Which leads us to the secondsurprising truth the servant
(14:22):
will be rejected.
Not only will his success beassured, but the servant will be
rejected.
Not only will his success beassured, but the servant will be
rejected.
He will deliver, but we willdespise.
He will deliver, but we willdespise.
So verse 1, chapter 53 says whohas believed what he has heard
from us and to whom has the armof the Lord been revealed?
(14:43):
For he grew up before him likea young plant and like a root
out of dry ground.
He had no form or majesty thatwe should look at him, no beauty
that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected bymen.
A man of sorrows and acquaintedwith grief, and as one from
whom men hide their faces, hewas despised and we esteemed him
(15:06):
not.
So this passage ties directly tothe prior verse where we learn
the Gentile nations, the manynations so this is not the kings
of Israel, this is many othernations Would be shocked because
they'd never heard of thisdeliverer who had willingly laid
down his life, they were notpart of the covenant promises
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that God had made to Abraham,and so they didn't understand
that there was this Messiahcoming, a Messiah who would
willingly stoop so low in orderto save.
But what about those who hadheard?
Surely surely they would havebelieved and been anxiously
awaiting the promise deliverer.
(15:48):
And so here we see in Isaiah'sprophecy he looks down through
time and he is seeing eventsthat will come in the future,
but he describes them in pasttense, as though they had
already occurred.
And so the references to we andus, he had no form actually
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that we should look at him to be, that we should desire him.
Certainly, those applieddirectly to the nation of Israel
and more broadly, to Jews andGentiles alike.
But this morning I do want youguys to look and see yourself in
this passage.
And so, because of our sinfulstate, we have all rebelled
(16:29):
against Christ, bristled at hismessage and failed to properly
honor him as the sovereignMessiah and Son of God.
And so verse 1 says To whom hasthe arm of the Lord been
revealed?
And so the arm of the Lord,broadly, is God's power to save,
to redeem, to deliver hispeople.
(16:49):
We see in Exodus that it'sdescribed.
God talks about his mighty handand his outstretched arm.
And so the arm of the Lord,broadly, is God's power to save,
brought to bear to save, rescue, deliver his people.
Save, brought to bear to save,rescue, deliver His people.
But here in Isaiah andthroughout the book, it's
referring to this power mademanifest in the person and work
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of Jesus Christ and so madeflesh.
He's the ultimate expression ofGod's power to save and to
redeem and deliver His peoplefrom their greatest enemy, their
greatest captor, and that issin and death.
And so to whom has the arm ofthe Lord been revealed?
In this case Israelspecifically, but more broadly.
In our case, like even to us,the arm of the Lord, god's power
(17:32):
to save and deliver through hisson, has been revealed to us.
And so we see that, even thoughit's been delivered to us that
there was this faithful remnantwho did anticipate and proclaim
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the coming of the messiah that,in general, collectively, the
nation of israel missed him.
Not only did they miss him, buteven more, they despised him.
Twice in the New Testament wesee this very passage quoted
John 12, 38, romans 10, 16, toillustrate that the people's
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rejection of Jesus as theMessiah is the ultimate
fulfillment of this very OldTestament prophecy.
And so why did Israel despisehim?
Why was there this reaction tothe Messiah that they had been
waiting for, that they had beenanticipating?
And so the prophet here isgoing to unpack a couple of
reasons why the people missedthe coming Messiah.
Number one there was this humbleorigin.
(18:40):
It says he grew up before himlike a young plant and like a
root out of dry ground.
And so young plant.
Instead of appearing as amighty oak or some impressive
fruit tree, it says that heappears as a sprout or a sucker
shoot.
I don't know if we've got anylandscapers in here, but we
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generally don't like suckershoots, the little shoots that
show up at the bottom of a treeor from a stump that's been cut.
So not only a young plant, butit says he's a root out of dry
ground.
So this unexpected sign of lifein the middle of dry, barren
soil.
Earlier in Isaiah, the nation ofIsrael had been described as
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being cut off.
The tree was a stump and theground had been scorched.
And so in this passage herehe's using that metaphor, that
out of that state ofhopelessness comes this young
plant, this root, out of dryground.
Isaiah 11.1 says there shallcome forth a shoot from the
stump of Jesse and a branch fromhis roots shall bear fruit.
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And so it's the unlikeliest ofstarts.
We would expect that Jesus wouldcome as a majestic tree.
That would be the metaphor.
But no, he comes as a youngplant.
That's unlikely, that's small,that most people would cut off
and throw away.
And so for that reason he wasunexpected.
That was not what the nation ofIsrael was looking for.
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Not only was there a humbleorigin, there was an unseemly
appearance.
There was no form, no beauty ormajesty.
Isaiah tells us that we shoulddesire him.
And so King Saul, in 1 Samuel 9, 2, it talks about there was
not a man among the people ofIsrael more handsome than he.
From his shoulders upward hewas taller than any of the
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people.
And then even King David, hissuccessor, 1 Samuel 16.
Now he was ruddy and hadbeautiful eyes and was handsome,
right.
So there's no royal air aboutJesus.
And that's not saying thatJesus was not handsome, but it's
saying that there was nothingparticularly.
There was no royal air abouthim.
There was nothing impressivephysically.
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He was an unlikely king thatcame meek and lowly into this
world and didn't commandanyone's attention.
And then he tells us in Matthew20 that he came not to be served
but to serve and to give hislife as a ransom for many.
And so this king was the mostunlikely of kings, was not like
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anything that the Israeliteswere expecting and looking
forward to.
And so what was their response?
Total rejection.
He said he was despised andrejected.
So that's both sort of activecontempt and repudiation.
We see no redeeming value inhim.
We want nothing to do with him.
(21:37):
And it goes on to say as onefrom whom men hide their faces.
We esteemed him not.
We didn't think much of him.
When we did notice him, wedidn't think a whole lot about
him.
He was unworthy of ourattention.
We see this fulfilled in John 1, verses 10-11, where it says he
was in the world, the world wasmade through him, yet the world
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did not know him.
He came into his own and hisown people did not receive him.
And so this morning, in pulpitsall around the world, pastors
are proclaiming the good news ofthe gospel, the hope that the
Messiah has come, our greatdeliverer with power to rescue
and save us from our sin, hascome.
And yet people will reject him.
(22:23):
They won't see him as worthy oftheir attention, let alone
praise.
And why?
Because deep down, our sinfulhearts hate his message.
We want our best life now, hetells us.
Our best life is later.
We want to live for ourselves.
(22:44):
He tells us to forsake all andfollow him.
He talks too much about moneyand possessions and radical
generosity and completesurrender, not to mention waging
war against sin.
If your eye offends, you pluckit out.
So because this doesn't fit ouridea of who Jesus is and who he
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should be, we reject him and inso doing miss the great
deliverer of our soul.
So let's see him rightly thismorning.
Let's look on the servant whowas sacrificed in our place and
respond accordingly.
Let's not miss him this morning.
And so, third, we see atonementoffered.
(23:27):
Third surprising truth we havesinned, but yet he was
sacrificed.
We have sinned, but he hassacrificed.
And verse four says surely hehas borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows, and yet weesteemed him, stricken, smitten
(23:47):
by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for ourtransgressions, crushed for our
iniquities, and upon him was thechastisement that brought us
peace, and with his wounds weare healed.
All we, like sheep, have goneastray, we have turned everyone
to his own way, and the Lord haslaid on him the iniquity of us
all.
So this is the theologicalcenter of the passage, if you
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will, and that is, the servantwill be sacrificed so that we
can be saved.
He will be sacrificed so thatwe can be saved, and in
scripture and in theology wecall this atonement broadly the
process whereby sinful mankindcan be reconciled and made right
with God.
We see this throughout the oldtestament sacrificial system
(24:32):
that God ordained.
There was numerous sacrificeswhereby a sacrifice was made on
behalf, they're in the place ofsinners, and so two major ones
of this was the Passover, and soin the Passover sacrifice, a
lamb was brought into the homeon the 10th day of the month and
for four days would live amongthe family, a cute lamb, for
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four days almost would become apet, and then, on the 14th day
of the month, the lamb would besacrificed to provide an
atonement, a covering for thesins of the people.
And then on the day of atonementLeviticus 16, we see this
picture of atonement where agoat is brought to the priest.
(25:17):
He's sacrificed, his blood issprinkled, put on the atonement
cover.
Sprinkled before the Holy ofHolies is a symbol that the
price for sin, the penalty forsin, has been paid, a death has
occurred to cover or to atonefor the sins of the people.
And this was a picture ofpropitiation.
(25:38):
So this notion that God's wrathhas been satisfied, he has
absorbed the wrath due sinners.
And then a second goat wasbrought before the priest and
the priest would lay his handson the second goat, he would
confess all of the sins ofIsrael onto the head of this
goat.
The picture here wasunmistakable, that the goat was
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picturing symbolically the sinsof Israel, the sins of the
nation, being removed and placedon the goat.
And the goat would be led outalive into the wilderness, never
to return.
And so we call this expiationthe removal of sin, the removal
of guilt from God's people.
And what's fascinating is thatthe language used in Leviticus
(26:23):
16, the goat shall bear alltheir iniquities on itself is at
work here in Isaiah 53, wherethe suffering servant has borne
our griefs and carried oursorrows.
And so he will absorb the wrathof God and, in so doing, carry
away our sin, remove our guilt,remove our sin.
(26:44):
And so the problem with thesacrificial system is that it
was only temporary right.
It provided a temporary way forGod's people to live in
fellowship with God, but itnever permanently dealt with the
problem of sin.
And so, as the writer of Hebrewtells us in chapter 10, verse 1
(27:05):
, it's impossible for the bloodof bulls and goats to take away
sin.
We can't expect to offend God,who is infinitely holy,
infinitely just, infinitelyrighteous, and then make things
right by offering a common farmanimal.
But it did point to a futurereality.
(27:27):
What if there was a sacrificethat was holy enough, worthy
enough, valuable enough, whocould not just create a
temporary way for us to havefellowship with God, but who
could permanently remove guiltand sin?
What if there was such aninfinitely great sacrifice?
(27:52):
So John 1.29, john, he seesJesus coming over the hill and
he says behold the Lamb of Godwho, I know, takes away the sin
of the world.
He doesn't cover sin, hedoesn't just cover it, he
removes it.
So in Christ, we see that thereis this infinitely valuable
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sacrifice.
There has been a sacrificeprovided who is truly valuable
enough that no longer justatones for sin doesn't discover.
Sin doesn't temporarily providea way for you to be in God's
presence.
He provides an eternal remedyfor sin.
So how does he do this?
(28:36):
That sounds glorious, and so intwo ways.
First, it means the servantwill pay the penalty for sin.
First, it means the servantwill pay the penalty for sin.
So Romans 6.23 says For thewages of sin is death.
So that means you deserve it.
If I work a job and I havewages coming to me, that's what
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I deserve.
It's fair, it's right, it'sjust so.
That's what you deserve as aresult of sin is death.
It's just, it's fair, it'sright, it's just so.
That's what you deserve.
As a result of sin is death.
It's just, it's fair.
The penalty must be paid, andthe law of sin and death that
Paul refers to in Romans 8 isexactly this you plant sin, you
reap the harvest of death.
(29:22):
But look at what Isaiah sayshere.
He has borne our griefs, he'scarried our sorrows.
He was stricken, smitten,afflicted, pierced for our
transgressions, crushed for ouriniquities.
He was chastised, wounded Allof the physical and spiritual
suffering we see at the cross isa tangible demonstration of
(29:43):
Jesus bearing.
Absorbing the wrath of God dosinners.
Charles Spurgeon said it thisway the whole of the punishment
of his people was distilled intoone cup.
No mortal lip might give it somuch as a solitary sip.
Even when he put it to his ownlips it was so bitter he well
(30:07):
nigh spurned it Let this cuppass from me.
But his love for his people wasso strong that he took the cup
in both hands and at onetremendous draught of love he
drank damnation dry for all hispeople.
He drank it all.
He endured it all.
He suffered also that now andforever there are no flames of
(30:27):
hell for them, no racks oftorment.
They have no eternal woes.
Christ has suffered all thatthey ought to have suffered, and
they must.
They shall go free.
Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
(30:48):
Sin had left a crimson stainand he washed it white as snow.
So everyone today who may bestruggling under the weight of
their sin, the guilt of yourpast, wondering how God could
ever love you, how could youever stand in his presence and
(31:12):
be accepted.
Knowing all that you have done.
You can have hope, becauseJesus has paid the penalty of
death.
It was due your sin, as Roman8.1 says.
There is therefore now nocondemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus.
(31:35):
Secondly, not only will theservant pay the penalty for sin,
he will suffer in the place ofsinners.
Isaiah 53.4-6,.
If you'll read this, payattention to every time where it
has our we us.
Surely.
He has borne our griefs,carried our sorrows, yet we
(32:01):
esteemed him.
Stricken, smitten by God, hewas pierced for our
transgressions.
He was crushed for ouriniquities.
Upon him was the chastisementthat brought us peace.
With his wounds, we are healed.
All we, like sheep, have goneastray.
We have turned everyone to hisown way, and the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all.
(32:22):
And so this passage mentions 10times the servant will bear all
of this suffering in our place.
He's not just paying thepenalty due our sin, he is
taking the suffering that wasdue us.
The picture here is clear.
Had he not suffered, had he notbeen sacrificed, we would be.
(32:44):
Had he not been sacrificed, wewould be.
So he is suffering in the placeof sinners, as we saw about the
wrath of God.
It's due us in our sinful state.
Death is the payment that wedeserve, and the only way for us
to be saved, the only way forus to have hope, is for that
(33:07):
punishment to be placed onanother the sacrificial lamb,
the spiritual scapegoat whotakes away the sins of the world
.
So, at its most basic, sin isthe substitution of ourselves in
the place of God.
We see that in the garden, wesee that throughout history, we
(33:28):
see that in our own lives.
Verse 6 above says all we, likesheep, have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to ourown way.
So sin, as its most basic issubstituting ourself in the
place of God.
I know what's best, I am incontrol, I set the priorities in
my life and in so doing turnaway from God, who is infinitely
(33:51):
good, holy, righteous, worthyof our worship and our praise
and our obedience.
But like a small child, weshake our fist at God and say no
, I know what's best.
So we substitute ourselves inthe place of God.
The essence of salvation isthat God has substituted himself
(34:15):
in our place.
He's put his son, the sufferingservant, in the place of you
and me.
He pays the penalty for ourrebellion.
That is not just due our sin,but is also due me, you.
The servant has been sacrificedin our place so that we can be
(34:39):
saved by his blood, which leadsus to shocking truth.
Number four Humility displayed.
He will be slaughtered, yet hewill be silent.
Verse 7 says he was oppressedand afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth, like a lamb that isled to the slaughter and like a
sheep that, before its shearers,is silent.
So he opened not his mouth bypression and judgment.
(35:05):
He was taken away and asked forhis generation, who considered
that he was cut off, and askedfor his generation who
considered that he was cut offout of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgressionof my people.
They made his grave with thewicked and with a rich man in
his death, although he had doneno violence and there was no
deceit in his mouth.
So this stanza describesprofound suffering, unexpected
(35:26):
humility, substitutionaryatoning, sacrifice for the
servant on behalf of sinners.
And verse 7 creates this vividcontrast between the disobedient
sheep who all turn away, whoturn astray to the one true,
submissive servant sheep whohumbly obeys the Father's will
(35:48):
despite the cruelty andinjustice being demonstrated.
I'll move quickly.
We see that he was oppressedand afflicted, implying that he
was innocent.
We want to be clear that theservant was not suffering for
anything that he had done.
Verse 9 backs that up and saysthere had done no violence.
There was no deceit in hismouth.
His suffering will be a displayof unprecedented justice.
(36:13):
He was silent, opened not hismouth.
That doesn't mean that heliterally didn't say a word.
It means that he didn't defendhimself.
It's not a matter of literalsilence so much as a posture of
humble submission to the planand purpose of God in redeeming
sinful fallen mankind.
So he didn't proclaim hisinnocence, he didn't rail
(36:36):
against the unjust legal system.
He didn't rally the publicopinion, try to sway it in his
favor.
He humbly submitted to theFather's will and his plan of
redemption.
He was silent before Caiaphas.
He was silent before PontiusPilate.
He was silent before Herod.
(36:56):
Oppression and judgment.
He was taken away a lack oftrue justice in the process.
Then it says in verse 8, he wasstricken for the transgression
of my people.
Both his suffering and hisslaughter were tied to the sins
of the transgressors, not thesins of the servant.
Then it says that he was cutoff from the land of the living.
(37:19):
So this implies not only death,which was serious enough, but
also the forfeiture of yourfamily line.
In a sense, it's though you hadnever existed.
And so it's saying that Jesuswas cut off from the land of the
living.
We'll circle back in a minute tothe importance of that.
This would have been theultimate punishment in Jewish
(37:40):
culture.
We see that he made his gravewith the wicked Joseph of
Arimathea in Matthew 27.
On his evening, a rich man fromArimathea named Joseph came,
who himself had become adisciple of Jesus.
He approached Pilate and askedfor Jesus' body, and Pilate
ordered it to be released.
So Joseph took the body,wrapped it in clean, fine linen
(38:02):
and placed it in his new tomb.
So no violence, no deceit.
Jesus was truly innocent.
He suffered unjustly.
So when you read through thiscrucifixion accounts, it's as
though everyone at Jesus' deathhad read Isaiah 53 and is
playing their part to perfectionthe corrupt high priest, the
(38:26):
oppressive Romans, the rich manfrom Arimathea, pilate in
declaring that he could find nofault in Jesus.
This man is truly innocent.
All so that the humility of thesuffering servant could be put
on full display of thismessianic prophecy.
So it's my prayer this morningthat every follower of Christ,
(38:49):
your heart would be welling upwith praise and gratitude and
worship thanksgiving when yourealize that the work of Christ
on the cross, in which you haveplaced your faith, was
meticulously planned andordained by God himself,
prophesied with alarming clarityseven centuries before the
(39:11):
birth of Messiah.
And then finally, in closing,sinners.
The fifth surprising truthsinners will be justified.
He will suffer so that all canbe satisfied.
Verse 10 says yes, it was thewill of the Lord to crush him.
He's put him to grief.
When his soul makes an offeringfor guilt, he shall see his
(39:33):
offspring.
He shall prolong his days.
And so we see first that God isglorified, god's sovereignty
over suffering.
It was the will of the Lord tocrush him.
He has put him to grief.
So the servant's tragic storyis not just an accident of
history or a simple case of acorrupt justice system.
(39:56):
As Peter preached at Pentecostin Acts 2, this Jesus delivered
up according to the definiteplan and foreknowledge of God.
You crucified and killed byhands of lawless men.
God planned it and was pleasedby it.
So how could this bring God joyand delight?
The crushing of his son?
(40:18):
To understand this, you have tounderstand the great dilemma of
all human history.
What does an infinitely holyGod do with sinful people like
you and me.
How can a God who is infinitelyholy and righteous and just and
pure allow a fallen sinful maninto his presence and still
(40:42):
remain holy and pure?
How can a God who is just,committed to righteousness
pardon sinful man and stillremain just?
That's the great dilemma of allhuman history, and so there had
to be a way to redeem sinnerswhile also vindicating God's
(41:04):
holy name, preserving hischaracter and his attributes.
So the answer is in thesuffering and sacrifice of his
son on the cross.
2 Corinthians 5.21 says For oursake, he has made him Jesus to
become sin, who knew no sin, sothat in him we might become the
righteousness of God.
(41:25):
So at the cross, god'srighteous wrath and anger
towards sin are fully poured outonto his son, who bears the
full weight and punishment ofour sins.
God's wrath towards sin issatisfied by placing it on
another, his son.
All we who turn from our sinand rebellion and put our faith
(41:49):
and trust in Christ's savingwork on the cross will be
justified, reconciled to God anddeclared righteous.
This is the beauty of thegospel that the just and
gracious creator of the universehas looked upon hopelessly
sinful men and women and hassent his son, jesus Christ, very
(42:09):
God in the flesh, to pay thepenalty for sin on the cross, to
demonstrate his power over sinand the resurrection, so that
all who will turn from their sinand their self put their trust
in Christ as Savior and Lordwill be reconciled to God
forever.
This is the beauty of thegospel.
Jesus is satisfied and Jesuswill be glorified.
(42:31):
Through his death, he gives newlife.
We saw earlier that Jesus wascut off from the land of the
living, which means you havedied and you will have no
offspring.
But we see here that when hissoul makes an offering for guilt
, he shall see his offspring.
And so how can this be?
There's this miracle thatthrough his death, jesus gives
(42:52):
new life.
And so the great mystery isthat, even though he was deemed
to have been cut off, never tobe remembered, erased from
history, no offspring, sort ofthe great tragedy of a Jewish
man that through his death hegives new life.
And by his blood he hasransomed people for God from
(43:14):
every tribe and tongue andnation and people.
And there is coming a day amultitude without number will
gather around the throne,singing praises and honor to our
great God.
And then.
Not only that, he shall prolonghis days, which means he will
live for a long time, which ispretty good for someone who has
died, and so, though cut off andkilled, he shall live again.
(43:39):
God's power over sin and hisacceptance of Jesus' sacrifice
was demonstrated in theresurrection of Christ.
He's forever seated at theright hand of the Father, making
intercession for you and me andall who have placed their faith
and trust in him for theforgiveness of sin.
So he will see, he will see theoffspring of the successful
(44:02):
mission and he will be satisfied.
Philippians 2, 9 through 11says Therefore, god has highly
exalted him, bestowed on him thename that is above every name,
so that the name of Jesus, everyknee should bow in heaven, on
earth and under the earth, andevery tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory ofGod, the Father.
(44:24):
And so, finally, sinners willbe justified, the righteous one
will make many be countedrighteous.
That's the core message ofIsaiah 3, 53.
How can God make hopelesssinners righteous through the
crushing of his son?
So we'll close with Romans 3.23.
(44:46):
We read the first part earlier.
All have sinned and fall shortof the glory of God and are
justified by his grace as a giftthrough the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God putforward as a propitiation by his
blood, to be received by faith.
This was to show God'srighteousness, because in his
divine forbearance he passedover former sins.
(45:07):
It was shown his righteousnessat the present time so that he
might be both the just hemaintains his just standing and
the justifier of the one who hasfaith in Jesus standing and the
justifier of the one who hasfaith in Jesus.
So the beauty of Isaiah 53, wesee that it was God's plan, his
(45:28):
will is that men and womenthroughout history who are
guilty of their sin, deservingof God's wrath, will look to the
servant, trust in his sacrificeand be counted righteous.
In so doing, the Father will besatisfied, the Son will be
glorified, sinners can bejustified, and so that's what I
want to invite you to do today.
(45:51):
To any and every person who hasnever trusted in Christ and
sacrificed on the cross, knowthis he has suffered in your
place.
He is here to take your sinsupon himself.
Trust in him.
Don't carry the weight of yoursin any longer.
Trust in him as your Savior andLord.
(46:13):
I urge you to do it today and,for those of you who have
repented of your sins and arefollowing Christ.
I would urge you to follow thespiritual leading this morning.
You may want to come down,humble yourselves in prayer and
thanksgiving to God for all hehas done for you in Christ.
You may want to grab a memberof your MCG, pray together with
(46:35):
them, or you may want to gatheras a family right there in your
pew, just rejoice over what Godhas done for you in Christ.
And then a specialencouragement for those of you
who have accepted Christ butstill struggle with guilt over
your past sins or currentstruggles.
Remember Romans 8.1,.
(46:57):
There is therefore now nocondemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus.
The highest court in the landhas declared you innocent.
There's nowhere to turn foranother ruling.
So Jesus has paid the penaltyfor your sin.
He's taken the wrath of Godthat was due you on himself.
So now live in that freedom.
(47:18):
Continue to wage war on yourremaining sin, but never doubt
his love for you.
I'm going to pray for you, guys.
I'll be over here to the side.
We'll get maybe another pastorto come over here to this side.
You be obedient to the spiritsleading in your life this
morning.
Father, we love you.
We thank you for the finishedwork on the cross that we see
(47:41):
here.
We thank you for just thebeautiful gift of salvation
that's been offered through yourson.
Father, I just pray that heartsand minds in this room and
throughout the world would beobedient to call the gospel this
morning.
Father, I pray that you wouldbe working in people's lives.
(48:01):
Father, help us not to leavehere unchanged.
In your precious son's name, wepray Amen.
Good morning everyone .
Please turn in your Bibles toIsaiah 53, verses 1 through 5.
You can find this on page 613in your Pew Bibles.
Who has believed what he hasheard from us and to whom has
(00:23):
the arm of the Lord beenrevealed?
He said he was despised andrejected by men.
A man of sorrows and acquaintedwith grief, and as one from
(00:51):
whom men hide their faces, hewas despised and we esteemed him
not.
Surely, he has borne our griefsand carried our sorrows, yet we
esteemed him.
Stricken, smitten by God andafflicted.
But he was pierced for ourtransgressions.
He was crushed for ouriniquities.
Upon him was the chastisementthat brought us peace, and with
his wounds we are healed.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
This is the word of the Lord.
All right, good morning Midtree.
How are you guys doing?
Well, I hope it has been a longweekend.
We've had a lot going on SecretChurch, I think.
A group of us left here atabout 1.35, 1.45 Saturday
morning.
We came back and had an Easteregg hunt on Saturday which
lasted a good bit of the day,and then we are here back in
(01:43):
God's house this morning.
And so, if you guys are here,my name is Greg Despain, one of
the elders here at the church.
If you guys were here last week, you know that we have a group
of mission team folks that arein Thailand on a mission trip,
and among them is Will Hawk, ourlead pastor, and so I'm here
filling in for him this morning.
(02:03):
Thomas jokes that whenever hepreaches that he's the lead
pastor, and so I'm here fillingin for him this morning.
Thomas jokes that whenever hepreaches that he's the lead
pastor and that Will is fillingin for him, right and so that he
appreciates the fact that.
And so I'm just going to claimthat I'm the fourth string squad
team quarterback that really ishere to sort of keep you guys
warmed up until the lead pastorgets back, and so.
(02:25):
But we have a good word for youthis morning.
God is so good, and so thismorning we're going to be in the
book of Isaiah, chapter 53.
And by that I mean 52 verses 13through 15, the end of that
chapter, then Isaiah 53.
Isaiah is arguably one of themost important books of the Old
Testament.
Chapter 53 has been called thecrown jewel of this prophetic
(02:49):
book.
Polycarp, the disciple of theApostle John, called it the
golden passion of the OldTestament.
My good buddy Charles Spurgeondescribed it as the Bible in
miniature and the gospel inessence.
German theologian FranzDelitzsch commented that it
looks as if it had been writtenbeneath the cross, upon Golgotha
(03:12):
, and forms the outer center ofthis wonderful book of
consolation.
It is the most central, thedeepest and the loftiest thing
that Old Testament prophecy hasever achieved.
It's further been called theRomans of the Old Testament, the
fifth gospel and the MountEverest of Messianic prophecy.
(03:32):
It truly is an amazing passageof Scripture whose importance is
really difficult to exaggerate,and so what a joy it is this
morning to be with you guys andbe able to walk through it
together on this Palm Sunday.
So a little bit about the bookof Isaiah.
It was written during the 8thcentury BC.
It contains the prophecies ofGod to the southern kingdom of
(03:53):
Judah around the time of KingsUzziah through Hezekiah, and so
the prophet Isaiah's name meansthe salvation of Jehovah, and
certainly that is one of themajor themes of this book.
And so the book is divided intotwo major sections.
Much like the Bible, itcontains 66 chapters, and so the
(04:16):
first book, as it's called, ischapters 1 through 39.
It focuses on God's judgmentand exile.
And the second book, the secondhalf of the book, is 27
chapters, much like the NewTestament, and it focuses on
God's salvation and deliverance,and so it's this second passage
that we're going to be lookingat this morning, on God's
(04:38):
salvation and deliverance, andthis section features four songs
that have become known as theServants Songs, and they're
located in chapters 42, 49, 50,and 53.
And so chapter 53 is the lastof these Servant Songs and may
be the most powerfulconcentrated argument for divine
(04:58):
inspiration of Scripture in thewhole Bible.
It was written 700 years beforethe birth of Christ, but
describes the events of Calvaryin astonishing detail.
Each stanza is divided intofive stanzas of three verses
each, and each stanza sort ofhas its own theme, and we'll
sort of walk through those andpresents a truth about the
(05:20):
Messiah that is very unexpectedor contrary to human reasoning.
And so all of these themes cometogether to sort of paint this
beautiful portrait of the personand work of Jesus Christ that
was written centuries before hisbirth.
And so, with that in mind, thismorning we're going to walk
through five surprising truthsabout the suffering servant, and
(05:46):
so number one his victory isassured, he will appall, yet he
will astound.
So if you've got your Bible, inverse 13, chapter 52, we'll
read that together.
Behold, my servant shall actwisely.
He shall be high and lifted upand shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at youfor parentheses here his
(06:11):
appearance was so marred beyondhuman semblance and his form
beyond that of the children ofmankind.
So shall he sprinkle.
Many nations, kings shall shuttheir mouths because of him, for
that which has not been toldthem, they see.
And so I'm to the point where inmy life where I've had a couple
(06:36):
of kinds of phone calls thatare pretty similar.
I've both received these andI've made these calls.
So I remember as a teenagercalling my mom and dad and
saying, first of all, I'm okay,but my car is not.
I was coming home from practiceand it was dark and foggy and
my car wound up in the ditch,but I wanted them to know that I
(06:59):
was okay.
And I have also received asimilar call that says, hey, we
had to take your dad to theemergency room, but just so you
know, he's okay, the doctorsfound something, and here's sort
of what we're doing, but he'sokay.
And so there's this sense inwhich when we have some bad news
to tell people, often we wantto reassure them up front, and
(07:20):
that's sort of what the prophetIsaiah does in this first stanza
.
It serves as an introductorystanza that first summarizes the
whole song that we'll be goingthrough and also reassures the
reader that, although theservant will endure sorrow and
suffering and tragedy andinjustice, that he will
(07:41):
ultimately succeed in hismission, us that he will
ultimately succeed in hismission.
He'll start out lowly anddespised, but in the end he will
be high and lifted up, exaltedand glorified.
So first of all, we're going tosee a portrait of human
suffering.
So we need to understand thatthe servant is a man who will
suffer unimaginably, and so thisis not just a metaphor, this is
(08:07):
a literal person who willsuffer horribly.
In verse 14, it says, as manywere, as astonished at you, his
appearance was so marred beyondhuman semblance and his form
beyond that of the children ofmankind.
He'll be beaten beyondrecognition.
Isaiah 50 tells us that thissame servant will give his back
(08:30):
to those who strike and hischeeks to those who pluck out
the beard.
He will not hide his face fromdisgrace and spitting.
So he'll be beaten to the pointof being hardly recognizable,
no longer resembles a human, andso, in short, his appearance
(08:51):
will be appalling.
And that's the bad news thatIsaiah wants to sort of get out
on the table.
He wants you to know thatthat's coming.
But he also wants to softenthat really bad news with some
good news, and that is that theservant will succeed, his
efforts will be successful.
And so he starts out saying myservant will act wisely.
(09:11):
So we think of wisdom as sortof making right decisions,
applying knowledge in a good waythat makes good choices.
Some translations that you guyshave may read that my servant
will prosper, and that's gettingsort of closer to the idea that
we're looking at here.
Biblical wisdom is aboutsubmitting your life, coming
(09:32):
under humble submission to God'splan and purpose for your life.
So it carries the idea of areverence and awe of who God is,
a humble submission to his willthat results in his
providential blessing.
And that's what Proverbs 8.35has in mind when it says for
whoever finds wisdom, findsfavor, finds life and obtains
(09:53):
favor from the Lord.
And so when Isaiah said myservant liked, wisely it's, he's
going to orient his life aroundwho God is, he'll be in humble
subjection and submission to hiswill, and because of that he
will be blessed by God.
And so let's zero in on thephrase shall be high and lifted
(10:14):
up.
And so he says my servant willact wisely, he'll be high and
lifted up.
And so that phrase occurs fourtimes in the book of Isaiah and
nowhere else in Scripture, andthe other three times it refers
specifically to God.
And so the most famous of thoseis probably Isaiah 6-1, where
Isaiah has his throne roomvision and he says in the year
(10:36):
that King Uzziah died, I saw theLord, high and lifted up,
sitting on the throne, and thetrain of his robe filled the
temple, and above him were thesix seraphim.
They had wings, and with twothey covered their face, and
with two they covered their feet, and with two, they flew, and
one called out to another holy,holy, holy is the lord of hosts,
the whole earth is filled withhis glory.
(10:59):
And so isaiah is looking intothe throne room of god, seeing
god and he uses this phrase todescribe him that he was high
and lifted up.
The other portions of Isaiahthat use this phrase high and
lifted up all refer to God aswell.
And so when we see Isaiah hererefer to the suffering servant
as being high and lifted up, notonly is it a portrait of human
(11:22):
suffering, we have a declarationof divine origin.
So this is not just a humanservant who will suffer.
This is a long-awaited Messiahwho will save.
He's not just a human that willsuffer unjustly, although as
tragic as that may be.
(11:42):
He is the long-awaited Messiahthat all of the Jews have been
looking for, and he will bethere to save his people.
And so in verse 14 through 15,we'll see this contrast between
the many who were astonished,who were appalled at the
servant's appearance.
It says as many were asastonished by you, his
(12:03):
appearance was so marred, soshall he sprinkle many nations.
And so it's this comparisonbetween the astonishment that
met the servant's suffering, hishumiliation, his lowly sort of
origin, with that which willgreet his ultimate success and
exaltation.
And so this phrase sprinklemany nations whenever you see
(12:26):
that in the Old Testament.
Sprinkling, it signifies tocleanse, to purify, to be
consecrated, but in a sense alsostartling and surprise.
So if you squirt someone with awater bottle, they get startled
.
The Hebrew word means both ofthose things the cleansing, the
purification, and also thatsense of startlement that
(12:49):
happens when you're splattered.
Leviticus 4.6 says and thepriest shall dip his finger in
the blood and sprinkle part ofthe blood seven times before the
Lord and in front of the veilof the sanctuary.
And so we see throughout thesacrificial system that this
sprinkling signifies cleansing,purification, consecration.
(13:09):
Exodus 24, after Moses gave thelaw to the people, he sprinkled
blood on them as a symbol ofpurifying them and consecrating
them in service to God.
And so what is the result ofseeing the suffering servant?
It says that kings, many kings,will shut their mouths or be
(13:33):
rendered speechless when theyunderstand the role of the
servant, that he wouldinnocently suffer in their place
and die in their place, butthat he would be raised again to
life, be exalted, successfullyfulfilling God's plan and
purpose in their place.
But that he would be raisedagain to life, be exalted,
successfully fulfilling God'splan and purpose in redemption.
And so, in the same way thatmany people would be appalled at
his appearance, many people aregoing to be shocked at what God
(13:56):
does to the person and work ofJesus Christ.
And so, through the sufferingof the promised seed, we see
that all the nations of theearth would be blessed,
fulfilling abraham's covenantpromise that was made.
And so they are astonished.
Which leads us to the secondsurprising truth the servant
(14:22):
will be rejected.
Not only will his success beassured, but the servant will be
rejected.
Not only will his success beassured, but the servant will be
rejected.
He will deliver, but we willdespise.
He will deliver, but we willdespise.
So verse 1, chapter 53 says whohas believed what he has heard
from us and to whom has the armof the Lord been revealed?
(14:43):
For he grew up before him likea young plant and like a root
out of dry ground.
He had no form or majesty thatwe should look at him, no beauty
that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected bymen.
A man of sorrows and acquaintedwith grief, and as one from
whom men hide their faces, hewas despised and we esteemed him
(15:06):
not.
So this passage ties directly tothe prior verse where we learn
the Gentile nations, the manynations so this is not the kings
of Israel, this is many othernations Would be shocked because
they'd never heard of thisdeliverer who had willingly laid
down his life, they were notpart of the covenant promises
(15:27):
that God had made to Abraham,and so they didn't understand
that there was this Messiahcoming, a Messiah who would
willingly stoop so low in orderto save.
But what about those who hadheard?
Surely surely they would havebelieved and been anxiously
awaiting the promise deliverer.
(15:48):
And so here we see in Isaiah'sprophecy he looks down through
time and he is seeing eventsthat will come in the future,
but he describes them in pasttense, as though they had
already occurred.
And so the references to we andus, he had no form actually
(16:08):
that we should look at him to be, that we should desire him.
Certainly, those applieddirectly to the nation of Israel
and more broadly, to Jews andGentiles alike.
But this morning I do want youguys to look and see yourself in
this passage.
And so, because of our sinfulstate, we have all rebelled
(16:29):
against Christ, bristled at hismessage and failed to properly
honor him as the sovereignMessiah and Son of God.
And so verse 1 says To whom hasthe arm of the Lord been
revealed?
And so the arm of the Lord,broadly, is God's power to save,
to redeem, to deliver hispeople.
(16:49):
We see in Exodus that it'sdescribed.
God talks about his mighty handand his outstretched arm.
And so the arm of the Lord,broadly, is God's power to save,
brought to bear to save, rescue, deliver his people.
Save, brought to bear to save,rescue, deliver His people.
But here in Isaiah andthroughout the book, it's
referring to this power mademanifest in the person and work
(17:10):
of Jesus Christ and so madeflesh.
He's the ultimate expression ofGod's power to save and to
redeem and deliver His peoplefrom their greatest enemy, their
greatest captor, and that issin and death.
And so to whom has the arm ofthe Lord been revealed?
In this case Israelspecifically, but more broadly.
In our case, like even to us,the arm of the Lord, god's power
(17:32):
to save and deliver through hisson, has been revealed to us.
And so we see that, even thoughit's been delivered to us that
there was this faithful remnantwho did anticipate and proclaim
(17:53):
the coming of the messiah that,in general, collectively, the
nation of israel missed him.
Not only did they miss him, buteven more, they despised him.
Twice in the New Testament wesee this very passage quoted
John 12, 38, romans 10, 16, toillustrate that the people's
(18:18):
rejection of Jesus as theMessiah is the ultimate
fulfillment of this very OldTestament prophecy.
And so why did Israel despisehim?
Why was there this reaction tothe Messiah that they had been
waiting for, that they had beenanticipating?
And so the prophet here isgoing to unpack a couple of
reasons why the people missedthe coming Messiah.
Number one there was this humbleorigin.
(18:40):
It says he grew up before himlike a young plant and like a
root out of dry ground.
And so young plant.
Instead of appearing as amighty oak or some impressive
fruit tree, it says that heappears as a sprout or a sucker
shoot.
I don't know if we've got anylandscapers in here, but we
(19:00):
generally don't like suckershoots, the little shoots that
show up at the bottom of a treeor from a stump that's been cut.
So not only a young plant, butit says he's a root out of dry
ground.
So this unexpected sign of lifein the middle of dry, barren
soil.
Earlier in Isaiah, the nation ofIsrael had been described as
(19:22):
being cut off.
The tree was a stump and theground had been scorched.
And so in this passage herehe's using that metaphor, that
out of that state ofhopelessness comes this young
plant, this root, out of dryground.
Isaiah 11.1 says there shallcome forth a shoot from the
stump of Jesse and a branch fromhis roots shall bear fruit.
(19:45):
And so it's the unlikeliest ofstarts.
We would expect that Jesus wouldcome as a majestic tree.
That would be the metaphor.
But no, he comes as a youngplant.
That's unlikely, that's small,that most people would cut off
and throw away.
And so for that reason he wasunexpected.
That was not what the nation ofIsrael was looking for.
(20:06):
Not only was there a humbleorigin, there was an unseemly
appearance.
There was no form, no beauty ormajesty.
Isaiah tells us that we shoulddesire him.
And so King Saul, in 1 Samuel 9, 2, it talks about there was
not a man among the people ofIsrael more handsome than he.
From his shoulders upward hewas taller than any of the
(20:28):
people.
And then even King David, hissuccessor, 1 Samuel 16.
Now he was ruddy and hadbeautiful eyes and was handsome,
right.
So there's no royal air aboutJesus.
And that's not saying thatJesus was not handsome, but it's
saying that there was nothingparticularly.
There was no royal air abouthim.
There was nothing impressivephysically.
(20:50):
He was an unlikely king thatcame meek and lowly into this
world and didn't commandanyone's attention.
And then he tells us in Matthew20 that he came not to be served
but to serve and to give hislife as a ransom for many.
And so this king was the mostunlikely of kings, was not like
(21:15):
anything that the Israeliteswere expecting and looking
forward to.
And so what was their response?
Total rejection.
He said he was despised andrejected.
So that's both sort of activecontempt and repudiation.
We see no redeeming value inhim.
We want nothing to do with him.
(21:37):
And it goes on to say as onefrom whom men hide their faces.
We esteemed him not.
We didn't think much of him.
When we did notice him, wedidn't think a whole lot about
him.
He was unworthy of ourattention.
We see this fulfilled in John 1, verses 10-11, where it says he
was in the world, the world wasmade through him, yet the world
(22:01):
did not know him.
He came into his own and hisown people did not receive him.
And so this morning, in pulpitsall around the world, pastors
are proclaiming the good news ofthe gospel, the hope that the
Messiah has come, our greatdeliverer with power to rescue
and save us from our sin, hascome.
And yet people will reject him.
(22:23):
They won't see him as worthy oftheir attention, let alone
praise.
And why?
Because deep down, our sinfulhearts hate his message.
We want our best life now, hetells us.
Our best life is later.
We want to live for ourselves.
(22:44):
He tells us to forsake all andfollow him.
He talks too much about moneyand possessions and radical
generosity and completesurrender, not to mention waging
war against sin.
If your eye offends, you pluckit out.
So because this doesn't fit ouridea of who Jesus is and who he
(23:05):
should be, we reject him and inso doing miss the great
deliverer of our soul.
So let's see him rightly thismorning.
Let's look on the servant whowas sacrificed in our place and
respond accordingly.
Let's not miss him this morning.
And so, third, we see atonementoffered.
(23:27):
Third surprising truth we havesinned, but yet he was
sacrificed.
We have sinned, but he hassacrificed.
And verse four says surely hehas borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows, and yet weesteemed him, stricken, smitten
(23:47):
by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for ourtransgressions, crushed for our
iniquities, and upon him was thechastisement that brought us
peace, and with his wounds weare healed.
All we, like sheep, have goneastray, we have turned everyone
to his own way, and the Lord haslaid on him the iniquity of us
all.
So this is the theologicalcenter of the passage, if you
(24:09):
will, and that is, the servantwill be sacrificed so that we
can be saved.
He will be sacrificed so thatwe can be saved, and in
scripture and in theology wecall this atonement broadly the
process whereby sinful mankindcan be reconciled and made right
with God.
We see this throughout the oldtestament sacrificial system
(24:32):
that God ordained.
There was numerous sacrificeswhereby a sacrifice was made on
behalf, they're in the place ofsinners, and so two major ones
of this was the Passover, and soin the Passover sacrifice, a
lamb was brought into the homeon the 10th day of the month and
for four days would live amongthe family, a cute lamb, for
(24:56):
four days almost would become apet, and then, on the 14th day
of the month, the lamb would besacrificed to provide an
atonement, a covering for thesins of the people.
And then on the day of atonementLeviticus 16, we see this
picture of atonement where agoat is brought to the priest.
(25:17):
He's sacrificed, his blood issprinkled, put on the atonement
cover.
Sprinkled before the Holy ofHolies is a symbol that the
price for sin, the penalty forsin, has been paid, a death has
occurred to cover or to atonefor the sins of the people.
And this was a picture ofpropitiation.
(25:38):
So this notion that God's wrathhas been satisfied, he has
absorbed the wrath due sinners.
And then a second goat wasbrought before the priest and
the priest would lay his handson the second goat, he would
confess all of the sins ofIsrael onto the head of this
goat.
The picture here wasunmistakable, that the goat was
(26:01):
picturing symbolically the sinsof Israel, the sins of the
nation, being removed and placedon the goat.
And the goat would be led outalive into the wilderness, never
to return.
And so we call this expiationthe removal of sin, the removal
of guilt from God's people.
And what's fascinating is thatthe language used in Leviticus
(26:23):
16, the goat shall bear alltheir iniquities on itself is at
work here in Isaiah 53, wherethe suffering servant has borne
our griefs and carried oursorrows.
And so he will absorb the wrathof God and, in so doing, carry
away our sin, remove our guilt,remove our sin.
(26:44):
And so the problem with thesacrificial system is that it
was only temporary right.
It provided a temporary way forGod's people to live in
fellowship with God, but itnever permanently dealt with the
problem of sin.
And so, as the writer of Hebrewtells us in chapter 10, verse 1
(27:05):
, it's impossible for the bloodof bulls and goats to take away
sin.
We can't expect to offend God,who is infinitely holy,
infinitely just, infinitelyrighteous, and then make things
right by offering a common farmanimal.
But it did point to a futurereality.
(27:27):
What if there was a sacrificethat was holy enough, worthy
enough, valuable enough, whocould not just create a
temporary way for us to havefellowship with God, but who
could permanently remove guiltand sin?
What if there was such aninfinitely great sacrifice?
(27:52):
So John 1.29, john, he seesJesus coming over the hill and
he says behold the Lamb of Godwho, I know, takes away the sin
of the world.
He doesn't cover sin, hedoesn't just cover it, he
removes it.
So in Christ, we see that thereis this infinitely valuable
(28:15):
sacrifice.
There has been a sacrificeprovided who is truly valuable
enough that no longer justatones for sin doesn't discover.
Sin doesn't temporarily providea way for you to be in God's
presence.
He provides an eternal remedyfor sin.
So how does he do this?
(28:36):
That sounds glorious, and so intwo ways.
First, it means the servantwill pay the penalty for sin.
First, it means the servantwill pay the penalty for sin.
So Romans 6.23 says For thewages of sin is death.
So that means you deserve it.
If I work a job and I havewages coming to me, that's what
(29:00):
I deserve.
It's fair, it's right, it'sjust so.
That's what you deserve as aresult of sin is death.
It's just, it's fair, it'sright, it's just so.
That's what you deserve.
As a result of sin is death.
It's just, it's fair.
The penalty must be paid, andthe law of sin and death that
Paul refers to in Romans 8 isexactly this you plant sin, you
reap the harvest of death.
(29:22):
But look at what Isaiah sayshere.
He has borne our griefs, he'scarried our sorrows.
He was stricken, smitten,afflicted, pierced for our
transgressions, crushed for ouriniquities.
He was chastised, wounded Allof the physical and spiritual
suffering we see at the cross isa tangible demonstration of
(29:43):
Jesus bearing.
Absorbing the wrath of God dosinners.
Charles Spurgeon said it thisway the whole of the punishment
of his people was distilled intoone cup.
No mortal lip might give it somuch as a solitary sip.
Even when he put it to his ownlips it was so bitter he well
(30:07):
nigh spurned it Let this cuppass from me.
But his love for his people wasso strong that he took the cup
in both hands and at onetremendous draught of love he
drank damnation dry for all hispeople.
He drank it all.
He endured it all.
He suffered also that now andforever there are no flames of
(30:27):
hell for them, no racks oftorment.
They have no eternal woes.
Christ has suffered all thatthey ought to have suffered, and
they must.
They shall go free.
Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
(30:48):
Sin had left a crimson stainand he washed it white as snow.
So everyone today who may bestruggling under the weight of
their sin, the guilt of yourpast, wondering how God could
ever love you, how could youever stand in his presence and
(31:12):
be accepted.
Knowing all that you have done.
You can have hope, becauseJesus has paid the penalty of
death.
It was due your sin, as Roman8.1 says.
There is therefore now nocondemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus.
(31:35):
Secondly, not only will theservant pay the penalty for sin,
he will suffer in the place ofsinners.
Isaiah 53.4-6,.
If you'll read this, payattention to every time where it
has our we us.
Surely.
He has borne our griefs,carried our sorrows, yet we
(32:01):
esteemed him.
Stricken, smitten by God, hewas pierced for our
transgressions.
He was crushed for ouriniquities.
Upon him was the chastisementthat brought us peace.
With his wounds, we are healed.
All we, like sheep, have goneastray.
We have turned everyone to hisown way, and the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all.
(32:22):
And so this passage mentions 10times the servant will bear all
of this suffering in our place.
He's not just paying thepenalty due our sin, he is
taking the suffering that wasdue us.
The picture here is clear.
Had he not suffered, had he notbeen sacrificed, we would be.
(32:44):
Had he not been sacrificed, wewould be.
So he is suffering in the placeof sinners, as we saw about the
wrath of God.
It's due us in our sinful state.
Death is the payment that wedeserve, and the only way for us
to be saved, the only way forus to have hope, is for that
(33:07):
punishment to be placed onanother the sacrificial lamb,
the spiritual scapegoat whotakes away the sins of the world
.
So, at its most basic, sin isthe substitution of ourselves in
the place of God.
We see that in the garden, wesee that throughout history, we
(33:28):
see that in our own lives.
Verse 6 above says all we, likesheep, have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to ourown way.
So sin, as its most basic issubstituting ourself in the
place of God.
I know what's best, I am incontrol, I set the priorities in
my life and in so doing turnaway from God, who is infinitely
(33:51):
good, holy, righteous, worthyof our worship and our praise
and our obedience.
But like a small child, weshake our fist at God and say no
, I know what's best.
So we substitute ourselves inthe place of God.
The essence of salvation isthat God has substituted himself
(34:15):
in our place.
He's put his son, the sufferingservant, in the place of you
and me.
He pays the penalty for ourrebellion.
That is not just due our sin,but is also due me, you.
The servant has been sacrificedin our place so that we can be
(34:39):
saved by his blood, which leadsus to shocking truth.
Number four Humility displayed.
He will be slaughtered, yet hewill be silent.
Verse 7 says he was oppressedand afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth, like a lamb that isled to the slaughter and like a
sheep that, before its shearers,is silent.
So he opened not his mouth bypression and judgment.
(35:05):
He was taken away and asked forhis generation, who considered
that he was cut off, and askedfor his generation who
considered that he was cut offout of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgressionof my people.
They made his grave with thewicked and with a rich man in
his death, although he had doneno violence and there was no
deceit in his mouth.
So this stanza describesprofound suffering, unexpected
(35:26):
humility, substitutionaryatoning, sacrifice for the
servant on behalf of sinners.
And verse 7 creates this vividcontrast between the disobedient
sheep who all turn away, whoturn astray to the one true,
submissive servant sheep whohumbly obeys the Father's will
(35:48):
despite the cruelty andinjustice being demonstrated.
I'll move quickly.
We see that he was oppressedand afflicted, implying that he
was innocent.
We want to be clear that theservant was not suffering for
anything that he had done.
Verse 9 backs that up and saysthere had done no violence.
There was no deceit in hismouth.
His suffering will be a displayof unprecedented justice.
(36:13):
He was silent, opened not hismouth.
That doesn't mean that heliterally didn't say a word.
It means that he didn't defendhimself.
It's not a matter of literalsilence so much as a posture of
humble submission to the planand purpose of God in redeeming
sinful fallen mankind.
So he didn't proclaim hisinnocence, he didn't rail
(36:36):
against the unjust legal system.
He didn't rally the publicopinion, try to sway it in his
favor.
He humbly submitted to theFather's will and his plan of
redemption.
He was silent before Caiaphas.
He was silent before PontiusPilate.
He was silent before Herod.
(36:56):
Oppression and judgment.
He was taken away a lack oftrue justice in the process.
Then it says in verse 8, he wasstricken for the transgression
of my people.
Both his suffering and hisslaughter were tied to the sins
of the transgressors, not thesins of the servant.
Then it says that he was cutoff from the land of the living.
(37:19):
So this implies not only death,which was serious enough, but
also the forfeiture of yourfamily line.
In a sense, it's though you hadnever existed.
And so it's saying that Jesuswas cut off from the land of the
living.
We'll circle back in a minute tothe importance of that.
This would have been theultimate punishment in Jewish
(37:40):
culture.
We see that he made his gravewith the wicked Joseph of
Arimathea in Matthew 27.
On his evening, a rich man fromArimathea named Joseph came,
who himself had become adisciple of Jesus.
He approached Pilate and askedfor Jesus' body, and Pilate
ordered it to be released.
So Joseph took the body,wrapped it in clean, fine linen
(38:02):
and placed it in his new tomb.
So no violence, no deceit.
Jesus was truly innocent.
He suffered unjustly.
So when you read through thiscrucifixion accounts, it's as
though everyone at Jesus' deathhad read Isaiah 53 and is
playing their part to perfectionthe corrupt high priest, the
(38:26):
oppressive Romans, the rich manfrom Arimathea, pilate in
declaring that he could find nofault in Jesus.
This man is truly innocent.
All so that the humility of thesuffering servant could be put
on full display of thismessianic prophecy.
So it's my prayer this morningthat every follower of Christ,
(38:49):
your heart would be welling upwith praise and gratitude and
worship thanksgiving when yourealize that the work of Christ
on the cross, in which you haveplaced your faith, was
meticulously planned andordained by God himself,
prophesied with alarming clarityseven centuries before the
(39:11):
birth of Messiah.
And then finally, in closing,sinners.
The fifth surprising truthsinners will be justified.
He will suffer so that all canbe satisfied.
Verse 10 says yes, it was thewill of the Lord to crush him.
He's put him to grief.
When his soul makes an offeringfor guilt, he shall see his
(39:33):
offspring.
He shall prolong his days.
And so we see first that God isglorified, god's sovereignty
over suffering.
It was the will of the Lord tocrush him.
He has put him to grief.
So the servant's tragic storyis not just an accident of
history or a simple case of acorrupt justice system.
(39:56):
As Peter preached at Pentecostin Acts 2, this Jesus delivered
up according to the definiteplan and foreknowledge of God.
You crucified and killed byhands of lawless men.
God planned it and was pleasedby it.
So how could this bring God joyand delight?
The crushing of his son?
(40:18):
To understand this, you have tounderstand the great dilemma of
all human history.
What does an infinitely holyGod do with sinful people like
you and me.
How can a God who is infinitelyholy and righteous and just and
pure allow a fallen sinful maninto his presence and still
(40:42):
remain holy and pure?
How can a God who is just,committed to righteousness
pardon sinful man and stillremain just?
That's the great dilemma of allhuman history, and so there had
to be a way to redeem sinnerswhile also vindicating God's
(41:04):
holy name, preserving hischaracter and his attributes.
So the answer is in thesuffering and sacrifice of his
son on the cross.
2 Corinthians 5.21 says For oursake, he has made him Jesus to
become sin, who knew no sin, sothat in him we might become the
righteousness of God.
(41:25):
So at the cross, god'srighteous wrath and anger
towards sin are fully poured outonto his son, who bears the
full weight and punishment ofour sins.
God's wrath towards sin issatisfied by placing it on
another, his son.
All we who turn from our sinand rebellion and put our faith
(41:49):
and trust in Christ's savingwork on the cross will be
justified, reconciled to God anddeclared righteous.
This is the beauty of thegospel that the just and
gracious creator of the universehas looked upon hopelessly
sinful men and women and hassent his son, jesus Christ, very
(42:09):
God in the flesh, to pay thepenalty for sin on the cross, to
demonstrate his power over sinand the resurrection, so that
all who will turn from their sinand their self put their trust
in Christ as Savior and Lordwill be reconciled to God
forever.
This is the beauty of thegospel.
Jesus is satisfied and Jesuswill be glorified.
(42:31):
Through his death, he gives newlife.
We saw earlier that Jesus wascut off from the land of the
living, which means you havedied and you will have no
offspring.
But we see here that when hissoul makes an offering for guilt
, he shall see his offspring.
And so how can this be?
There's this miracle thatthrough his death, jesus gives
(42:52):
new life.
And so the great mystery isthat, even though he was deemed
to have been cut off, never tobe remembered, erased from
history, no offspring, sort ofthe great tragedy of a Jewish
man that through his death hegives new life.
And by his blood he hasransomed people for God from
(43:14):
every tribe and tongue andnation and people.
And there is coming a day amultitude without number will
gather around the throne,singing praises and honor to our
great God.
And then.
Not only that, he shall prolonghis days, which means he will
live for a long time, which ispretty good for someone who has
died, and so, though cut off andkilled, he shall live again.
(43:39):
God's power over sin and hisacceptance of Jesus' sacrifice
was demonstrated in theresurrection of Christ.
He's forever seated at theright hand of the Father, making
intercession for you and me andall who have placed their faith
and trust in him for theforgiveness of sin.
So he will see, he will see theoffspring of the successful
(44:02):
mission and he will be satisfied.
Philippians 2, 9 through 11says Therefore, god has highly
exalted him, bestowed on him thename that is above every name,
so that the name of Jesus, everyknee should bow in heaven, on
earth and under the earth, andevery tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory ofGod, the Father.
(44:24):
And so, finally, sinners willbe justified, the righteous one
will make many be countedrighteous.
That's the core message ofIsaiah 3, 53.
How can God make hopelesssinners righteous through the
crushing of his son?
So we'll close with Romans 3.23.
(44:46):
We read the first part earlier.
All have sinned and fall shortof the glory of God and are
justified by his grace as a giftthrough the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God putforward as a propitiation by his
blood, to be received by faith.
This was to show God'srighteousness, because in his
divine forbearance he passedover former sins.
(45:07):
It was shown his righteousnessat the present time so that he
might be both the just hemaintains his just standing and
the justifier of the one who hasfaith in Jesus standing and the
justifier of the one who hasfaith in Jesus.
So the beauty of Isaiah 53, wesee that it was God's plan, his
(45:28):
will is that men and womenthroughout history who are
guilty of their sin, deservingof God's wrath, will look to the
servant, trust in his sacrificeand be counted righteous.
In so doing, the Father will besatisfied, the Son will be
glorified, sinners can bejustified, and so that's what I
want to invite you to do today.
(45:51):
To any and every person who hasnever trusted in Christ and
sacrificed on the cross, knowthis he has suffered in your
place.
He is here to take your sinsupon himself.
Trust in him.
Don't carry the weight of yoursin any longer.
Trust in him as your Savior andLord.
(46:13):
I urge you to do it today and,for those of you who have
repented of your sins and arefollowing Christ.
I would urge you to follow thespiritual leading this morning.
You may want to come down,humble yourselves in prayer and
thanksgiving to God for all hehas done for you in Christ.
You may want to grab a memberof your MCG, pray together with
(46:35):
them, or you may want to gatheras a family right there in your
pew, just rejoice over what Godhas done for you in Christ.
And then a specialencouragement for those of you
who have accepted Christ butstill struggle with guilt over
your past sins or currentstruggles.
Remember Romans 8.1,.
(46:57):
There is therefore now nocondemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus.
The highest court in the landhas declared you innocent.
There's nowhere to turn foranother ruling.
So Jesus has paid the penaltyfor your sin.
He's taken the wrath of Godthat was due you on himself.
So now live in that freedom.
(47:18):
Continue to wage war on yourremaining sin, but never doubt
his love for you.
I'm going to pray for you, guys.
I'll be over here to the side.
We'll get maybe another pastorto come over here to this side.
You be obedient to the spiritsleading in your life this
morning.
Father, we love you.
We thank you for the finishedwork on the cross that we see
(47:41):
here.
We thank you for just thebeautiful gift of salvation
that's been offered through yourson.
Father, I just pray that heartsand minds in this room and
throughout the world would beobedient to call the gospel this
morning.
Father, I pray that you wouldbe working in people's lives.
(48:01):
Father, help us not to leavehere unchanged.
In your precious son's name, wepray Amen.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.