Jesus the suffering Servant

Suffering is all around is and stirs up so many questions! Jesus identifies with us and is described as the suffering servant. Our lives, our worship and our perspective completely change when we understand God through the person as Jesus is the suffering servant.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

WILDFIRE, the youth branch of Hope to Families, seeking unity and community,  helping people come to know Jesus  and pointing people  to the local body.  The first question that I want to ask you is, who is Isaiah? Who is this guy? A guy, a dude, a man. He's just like me and you. Just a human. He's got a heart pumping, a brain thinking. But, what is Isaiah? That's the real question. Why are we talking about him this morning? You see, Isaiah is a prophet. What is a prophet? A messenger of God. Our God has elected to take this man and say of him,  I want you to communicate my message, my revelation. But to whom is Isaiah giving this revelation to? It is to the Israelite people, who at this point were a divided kingdom, going through strife, difficulty, longing for hope.  is this messenger who desires to communicate God's message, chosen to communicate God's message to the Israelite people, but what is the message of Isaiah? Well, Isaiah is 66 chapters reflecting the 66 books of scripture. This one unified story that points to a person, Jesus Christ, our Lord. But Isaiah was tasked by God to reveal to us that this Christ Jesus  was going to be a servant and there are defining characteristics that the Lord wants us to know, wanted the people of Israel to know about this servant. And with Daniel in the previous communion service,  we looked at this servant was going to be supreme. This servant was going to be significant. But in this song, in this prophecy from Isaiah about this servant, this morning, Isaiah wants the people of Israel to know, wants us to know that this servant is going to be surprising. Whenever Isaiah is communicating this prophecy to the Israelite people, he wants them to know, guys, this long-awaited Messiah, this anointed one, this servant, who's going to bring the year of Jubilee, who's going to set captives free, he's not what you think he's going to be. If you want to be aware of this servant and when he's coming, you need to know that whatever you have in your head about who he's going to be, what he's going to do, you're probably going to be wrong. So be aware of that. Israelite people. Do not reject your salvation, your hope coming through this servant. This surprising servant. If you want to turn to Isaiah 53 verses 1 to 3, we will read this portion of prophecy, this song. We will actually read, how is  this servant going to be surprising? And as you do that, want to give you the lens,  the frame in which I want you to think through this passage. These are the glasses that you're gonna put on to better help us understand these  verses. And it is from Ephesians 1. God has now revealed to us  His  mysterious will regarding Christ, which is to fulfill His own good plan. And this is the plan. At the right time, He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ. Everything in heaven  and on earth. God has now revealed to us,  that's you and me, as you sit in these chairs now, you are the us  in this text. Our God Yahweh has revealed to you His mysterious will that is Christ. So we are in a privileged position. All like the Israelite people who were hearing this message from Isaiah. They read of a servant who is coming, a surprising servant. We are a people who are reading and hearing these words  as a people who have had revelation. We know who this servant is. It's Jesus. We know how he is surprising. So let us take this lens and this frame and read these verses of scripture together as a people who have had this mysterious  will of Christ revealed. Verse  one of Isaiah 53, the Lord's words. Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance.  Nothing to attract us to him. He was despised  and rejected. A man of sorrows,  acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. Let me pray. Our God, we are so thankful that we are a people who have been given revelation of who you are, Christ. And we pray that you would just  minister to us this morning. This prophecy, this portion of song that helps us understand who you were, who you are  as the servant who is surprising. In your name we pray, amen. In verse one. Isaiah says to the Israelite people, who has believed our message? The who there is the Israelite people, that's the audience he's speaking to. Who has believed our, who is the our? That is the prophets,  the prophets of our God. God through the prophets speaking to the Israelite people time and time again, you have forfeited my will as a light to the nations.  I chose you to bring the nations to me and you failed. You're living in rebellion and sin, but I'm communicating through you to my prophet Isaiah that there's a servant, there's a hope, there's a salvation that you must not reject, that you must prepare yourselves for. This was the message to whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm. Again, Isaiah begins with two rhetorical questions to the Israelite people. Listen. Who's this message coming to? It's coming to you, Israel. Whom has the Lord revealed His powerful arm? It's you. Who led you out of Egypt? Who led you through the Red Sea? Who led you through the period of judges?  Through rebellious kings?  Who's been there time and time again? I have showed up for you, Israel. My powerful arm has been for you. This message of salvation and hope is for you. But the questions make us think,  do we know this?  Are we responding to this? We need to be ready for the servant. We cannot reject the salvation. As a people who've had this mystery revealed to us,  we know that whenever the Messiah came and walked this earth in his incarnation, Jesus, in John 12 37, after Jesus had performed many signs and miracles,  what did the Israelite people do? The very people who wanted the Messiah, desiring the Messiah, century after century, what did they do? They did not believe him. They did not believe Him. Isaiah warned them. He told them, this message was for you. The powerful arm of God is for you. The servant is for you. But it's not a foregone conclusion. You must accept, believe, confess.  You must accept the servant. And they didn't. and we, Gentile people, we were grafted into the vine. And as we turn the spotlight on us sitting here today, the same two questions apply. The Lord says to us,  have you believed my message? Have you seen my powerful arm for you? And as we come to the table, we triumphantly say, yes, Lord. Yes,  I have believed your message.  I've seen your powerful arm in my life. In verse two, it says, my servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot. What is this imagery? Well, this is a helpful time when it's good to know the Hebrew, because the Hebrew language there for the tender green shoot is the same language used to communicate a nursing child, a dependent child. Hold on a second. This is the Messiah, the servant who's gonna come and break chains and set captives free. He's gonna lead nations to freedom. The people that, the Israelite people, wanted this Messiah who was coming to do those things. They expected a king, a calvary. The surprising servant is a tandoor green shit. It's gonna be like a nursing child. This servant who's gonna set captives free is gonna be one who's dependent on a mother. As Ephesians 1 says,  this mystery has been revealed to us.  We know about the incarnation. We know that Jesus Christ was born of a woman. Think about this, Jesus Christ, this servant. The long-awaited servant, the Messiah, who's going to come and bring freedom is an embryo. Our Lord, a fetus, a child. The servant is surprising. This is not the way we would have rooped this script. For the servant, who was to come and bring freedom. My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shit, like a root in dry ground. What is the dry ground? Isaiah speaks to Israelite people and he says, you are the dry ground. Humanity, you are barren, desolate,  spiritually empty. And this Messiah, this servant is going to come out of the line of David, out of the barren ground, a tender green shit. A HOPE! This was  our expectation and as a people we have had this revealed to us.  We knew this tender green sheet. We knew this root out of dry ground is Jesus Christ our Lord. Now the next  portion of this song, this is one where we have to really strap ourselves in for. Because it's one of the most confusing verses in scripture. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. It's not that the content's confusing. That makes sense.  Not beautiful, not majestic. Nothing to attract us to him. What makes it so confusing is who it's talking about. The same person this is talking about, not majestic, not beautiful, nothing to attract us to him. Here's another description of this person and why this is so confusing. Revelation 1. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow and his eyes were like blazing fire, his feet like bronze glowing in a furnace.  And his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars and coming out of his mouth was a sharp double edged sword. His face was like the shining in all its brilliance.  When I saw him,  I fell at his feet as though dead. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. You see the difference? How is it that Jesus in his glory as God is described by Isaiah as someone who will not be beautiful or majestic? There's no human metric or measurement that's going to make you be attracted to Him. He's not going to have money, He's not going to have status.  He's not going to come and say, I'm the King, here's my glory,  eyes like the flame of fire, bow before me. Isaiah is warning the Israelite people, you have this  mindset that this is what the  servant is going to be. He's going to come in with force and with might,  military power and establish the kingdom. But there will be nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance.  Nothing to attract us to him. This is the surprising servant Isaiah is talking about. And we are people who have had this mystery revealed to us.  We've seen the humility of Jesus. We've seen how he arrived through the virgin birth. How for 30 years  of our Lord's life, we knew very little about. and then three years of ministry. Three years of ministry where Jesus slept on rude sides. Jesus lived a humble life, a contrite life in obedience to the Father. This was the servant and the Israelite people they knew that because Isaiah told them. So whenever Jesus is living his ministry they should have had this prophecy in mind and said no this this is the servant. But they didn't. They rejected. And as we turn the spotlight on us,  when we come to the table, we remember Jesus,  that although he is this revelation one picture, he humbled himself. So there was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing earthly that would attract us to him. This is why we remember him, because he's so beautiful and so majestic because of his humility. And finally in verse three. He was despised and rejected. You see Isaiah is writing in what is called the prophetic past. Isaiah is writing saying that this year events,  although it's a prophecy, using the prophetic past, he's writing as though it's already happened. Why? To show the eternal nature of God and to show that these events are going to happen and nothing will stop. This here prophecy that we're reading was written about 600, 700 years before Jesus ever arrived. yet it's saying he was  despised and rejected. Israel people Isaiah is saying to you don't reject  Don't despise the servant that you're longing for and we a people have had this  mystery revealed to us  What do we know about the Israelite people? They did exactly that they rejected and despised him. It was the religious leaders  who orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus  We knew that our Lord He was despised, he was rejected, he was mocked. man of sorrows,  acquainted with deepest grief. The mind of sorrows  acquainted with deepest grief.  that we all cherish so dearly is Hebrews 4, where Jesus, he is the high praise to sympathize us with our weaknesses. Well, we must understand what Isaiah is communicating is this servant will not be detached from humanity and its sufferings.  the pins of life. grief. This servant. is a man of sorrows.  Quinted, he knows.  Deepest grief. And we must remember our theology here. It's not that our God was sitting in the heavens and looked down at humanity and said, what is all this grief and sorrow about? I must become a human so I can then understand. Our God knows our sufferings, knows our griefs, because He is God. He is all-knowing. But this is what's He also knows our sufferings, knows our griefs,  because he experienced it. That's what separates Christianity from everything else in the world.  Our God is the God who stepped into the story. He's the servant who's a man of sorrows acquainted with deepest grief. We as a church family know these sorrows, know the deepest grief. But as we come  and remember at the table, we remember, Lord, you are a man of sorrows who knows my grief. You know my suffering. You know my pain. He comforts us in our afflictions.  This man of sorrows  acquainted with deepest grief. And we remember this servant because of that. This portion finishes with, turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not. It is the sad indictment  of the Israelite people that they turned their backs on their Messiah, their servant, alas they were warned time and time again, even now this warning. They looked the other way to the Messiah and the servant that they wanted. They despised him and they didn't care. and we are a people who have had this mystery revealed. So we must respond. We must not despise, we must not reject, we must not turn our backs  on this servant. And whenever we gather at the table, we take of his body, we take of his blood, we remember the servant. who we will not reject again, who we will not despise, who we will not turn our box on. because this  servant, this surprising servant. is the one who came, proclaimed his message,  revealed his powerful arm, was a tender green shoot, dependent. was a man of sorrows acquainted with deepest grief, who out of the dry grind proclaimed hope, liberty, salvation, of which we are testimony of. So whenever we read the prophecy of Isaiah to the Israelite people. We learn from the Israelite people not to reject these prophecies, this revelation, but instead we are a people who remember. We are a people who remind ourselves  this is our servant, this is why we sing, this is why we live, and this is why we will take of the table this morning, because of him, because of everything he is to us and everything that he has done for us.  This supreme servant who's significant, but this servant who so surprised us  that he loved us so much he would die, making it possible for us to sit and learn about him and then remember him. This is our surprising servant.  Let us remember.  Let me pray.   I know the girl   you