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The Suffering Servant: Isaiah's Vision of Christ | Elder Greg Dispain | April 13th, 2025
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?
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Good morning everyone. Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 53, verses 1 through 5. You can find this on page 613 in your Pew Bibles. Who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He said he was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him. Stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Speaker 2:This is the word of the Lord. All right, good morning Midtree. How are you guys doing? Well, I hope it has been a long weekend. We've had a lot going on Secret Church, I think. A group of us left here at about 1.35, 1.45 Saturday morning. We came back and had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday which lasted a good bit of the day, and then we are here back in 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 are in Thailand on a mission trip, and among them is Will Hawk, our lead pastor, and so I'm here filling in for him this morning. Thomas jokes that whenever he preaches that he's the lead pastor, and so I'm here filling in for him this morning. Thomas jokes that whenever he preaches that he's the lead pastor and that Will is filling in for him, right and so that he appreciates the fact that. And so I'm just going to claim that I'm the fourth string squad team quarterback that really is here to sort of keep you guys warmed up until the lead pastor gets back, and so. But we have a good word for you this morning. God is so good, and so this morning we're going to be in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53. And by that I mean 52 verses 13 through 15, the end of that chapter, then Isaiah 53.
Speaker 2:Isaiah is arguably one of the most important books of the Old Testament. Chapter 53 has been called the crown jewel of this prophetic book. Polycarp, the disciple of the Apostle John, called it the golden passion of the Old Testament. My good buddy Charles Spurgeon described it as the Bible in miniature and the gospel in essence. German theologian Franz Delitzsch commented that it looks as if it had been written beneath the cross, upon Golgotha, and forms the outer center of this wonderful book of consolation. It is the most central, the deepest and the loftiest thing that Old Testament prophecy has ever achieved. It's further been called the Romans of the Old Testament, the fifth gospel and the Mount Everest of Messianic prophecy. It truly is an amazing passage of Scripture whose importance is really difficult to exaggerate, and so what a joy it is this morning to be with you guys and be able to walk through it together on this Palm Sunday.
Speaker 2:So a little bit about the book of Isaiah. It was written during the 8th century BC. It contains the prophecies of God to the southern kingdom of Judah around the time of Kings Uzziah through Hezekiah, and so the prophet Isaiah's name means the salvation of Jehovah, and certainly that is one of the major themes of this book. And so the book is divided into two major sections. Much like the Bible, it contains 66 chapters, and so the first book, as it's called, is chapters 1 through 39. It focuses on God's judgment and exile. And the second book, the second half of the book, is 27 chapters, much like the New Testament, and it focuses on God's salvation and deliverance, and so it's this second passage that we're going to be looking at this morning, on God's salvation and deliverance, and this section features four songs that have become known as the Servants Songs, and they're located in chapters 42, 49, 50, and 53. And so chapter 53 is the last of these Servant Songs and may be the most powerful concentrated argument for divine inspiration of Scripture in the whole Bible.
Speaker 2:It was written 700 years before the birth of Christ, but describes the events of Calvary in astonishing detail. Each stanza is divided into five stanzas of three verses each, and each stanza sort of has its own theme, and we'll sort of walk through those and presents a truth about the Messiah that is very unexpected or contrary to human reasoning. And so all of these themes come together to sort of paint this beautiful portrait of the person and work of Jesus Christ that was written centuries before his birth. And so, with that in mind, this morning we're going to walk through five surprising truths about the suffering servant, and so number one his victory is assured, he will appall, yet he will astound. So if you've got your Bible, in verse 13, chapter 52, we'll read that together. Behold, my servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you for parentheses here his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. So shall he sprinkle. Many nations, kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them, they see.
Speaker 2:And so I'm to the point where in my life where I've had a couple of kinds of phone calls that are pretty similar. I've both received these and I've made these calls. So I remember as a teenager calling my mom and dad and saying, first of all, I'm okay, but my car is not. I was coming home from practice and it was dark and foggy and my car wound up in the ditch, but I wanted them to know that I was okay. And I have also received a similar call that says, hey, we had to take your dad to the emergency room, but just so you know, he's okay, the doctors found something, and here's sort of what we're doing, but he's okay.
Speaker 2:And so there's this sense in which when we have some bad news to tell people, often we want to reassure them up front, and that's sort of what the prophet Isaiah does in this first stanza. It serves as an introductory stanza that first summarizes the whole song that we'll be going through and also reassures the reader that, although the servant will endure sorrow and suffering and tragedy and injustice, that he will ultimately succeed in his mission, us that he will ultimately succeed in his mission. He'll start out lowly and despised, but in the end he will be high and lifted up, exalted and glorified. So first of all, we're going to see a portrait of human suffering. So we need to understand that the servant is a man who will suffer unimaginably, and so this is not just a metaphor, this is a literal person who will suffer horribly. In verse 14, it says, as many were, as astonished at you, his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. He'll be beaten beyond recognition. Isaiah 50 tells us that this same servant will give his back to those who strike and his cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. He will not hide his face from disgrace and spitting. So he'll be beaten to the point of being hardly recognizable, no longer resembles a human, and so, in short, his appearance will be appalling. And that's the bad news that Isaiah wants to sort of get out on the table. He wants you to know that that's coming. But he also wants to soften that really bad news with some good news, and that is that the servant will succeed, his efforts will be successful. And so he starts out saying my servant will act wisely. So we think of wisdom as sort of making right decisions, applying knowledge in a good way that makes good choices.
Speaker 2:Some translations that you guys have may read that my servant will prosper, and that's getting sort of closer to the idea that we're looking at here. Biblical wisdom is about submitting your life, coming under humble submission to God's plan and purpose for your life. So it carries the idea of a reverence and awe of who God is, a humble submission to his will that results in his providential blessing. And that's what Proverbs 8.35 has in mind when it says for whoever finds wisdom, finds favor, finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. And so when Isaiah said my servant liked, wisely it's, he's going to orient his life around who God is, he'll be in humble subjection and submission to his will, and because of that he will be blessed by God. And so let's zero in on the phrase shall be high and lifted up. And so he says my servant will act wisely, he'll be high and lifted up.
Speaker 2:And so that phrase occurs four times in the book of Isaiah and nowhere else in Scripture, and the other three times it refers specifically to God. And so the most famous of those is probably Isaiah 6-1, where Isaiah has his throne room vision and he says in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, sitting on the throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple, and above him were the six seraphim. They had wings, and with two they 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 with his glory. And so isaiah is looking into the throne room of god, seeing god and he uses this phrase to describe him that he was high and lifted up. The other portions of Isaiah that use this phrase high and lifted up all refer to God as well.
Speaker 2:And so when we see Isaiah here refer to the suffering servant as being high and lifted up, not only is it a portrait of human suffering, we have a declaration of divine origin. So this is not just a human servant who will suffer. This is a long-awaited Messiah who will save. He's not just a human that will suffer unjustly, although as tragic as that may be. He is the long-awaited Messiah that all of the Jews have been looking for, and he will be there 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 as astonished by you, his appearance was so marred, so shall he sprinkle many nations. And so it's this comparison between the astonishment that met the servant's suffering, his humiliation, his lowly sort of origin, with that which will greet his ultimate success and exaltation. And so this phrase sprinkle many nations whenever you see that in the Old Testament.
Speaker 2:Sprinkling, it signifies to cleanse, to purify, to be consecrated, but in a sense also startling and surprise. So if you squirt someone with a water bottle, they get startled. The Hebrew word means both of those things the cleansing, the purification, and also that sense of startlement that happens when you're splattered. Leviticus 4.6 says and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord and in front of the veil of the sanctuary. And so we see throughout the sacrificial system that this sprinkling signifies cleansing, purification, consecration.
Speaker 2:Exodus 24, after Moses gave the law to the people, he sprinkled blood on them as a symbol of purifying them and consecrating them in service to God. And so what is the result of seeing the suffering servant? It says that kings, many kings, will shut their mouths or be rendered speechless when they understand the role of the servant, that he would innocently suffer in their place and die in their place, but that he would be raised again to life, be exalted, successfully fulfilling God's plan and purpose in their place. But that he would be raised again to life, be exalted, successfully fulfilling God's plan and purpose in redemption. And so, in the same way that many people would be appalled at his appearance, many people are going to be shocked at what God does to the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so, through the suffering of the promised seed, we see that all the nations of the earth would be blessed, fulfilling abraham's covenant promise that was made. And so they are astonished.
Speaker 2:Which leads us to the second surprising truth the servant will be rejected. Not only will his success be assured, but the servant will be rejected. Not only will his success be assured, but the servant will be rejected. He will deliver, but we will despise. He will deliver, but we will despise.
Speaker 2:So verse 1, chapter 53 says who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not.
Speaker 2:So this passage ties directly to the prior verse where we learn the Gentile nations, the many nations so this is not the kings of Israel, this is many other nations Would be shocked because they'd never heard of this deliverer who had willingly laid down his life, they were not part of the covenant promises that God had made to Abraham, and so they didn't understand that there was this Messiah coming, a Messiah who would willingly stoop so low in order to save. But what about those who had heard? Surely surely they would have believed and been anxiously awaiting the promise deliverer. And so here we see in Isaiah's prophecy he looks down through time and he is seeing events that will come in the future, but he describes them in past tense, as though they had already occurred. And so the references to we and us, he had no form actually that we should look at him to be, that we should desire him. Certainly, those applied directly to the nation of Israel and more broadly, to Jews and Gentiles alike. But this morning I do want you guys to look and see yourself in this passage.
Speaker 2:And so, because of our sinful state, we have all rebelled against Christ, bristled at his message and failed to properly honor him as the sovereign Messiah and Son of God. And so verse 1 says To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? And so the arm of the Lord, broadly, is God's power to save, to redeem, to deliver his people. We see in Exodus that it's described. God talks about his mighty hand and 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 and throughout the book, it's referring to this power made manifest in the person and work of Jesus Christ and so made flesh. He's the ultimate expression of God's power to save and to redeem and deliver His people from their greatest enemy, their greatest captor, and that is sin and death.
Speaker 2:And so to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? In this case Israel specifically, but more broadly. In our case, like even to us, the arm of the Lord, god's power to save and deliver through his son, has been revealed to us. And so we see that, even though it's been delivered to us that there was this faithful remnant who did anticipate and proclaim the coming of the messiah that, in general, collectively, the nation of israel missed him. Not only did they miss him, but even more, they despised him. Twice in the New Testament we see this very passage quoted John 12, 38, romans 10, 16, to illustrate that the people's rejection of Jesus as the Messiah is the ultimate fulfillment of this very Old Testament prophecy. And so why did Israel despise him? Why was there this reaction to the Messiah that they had been waiting for, that they had been anticipating? And so the prophet here is going to unpack a couple of reasons why the people missed the coming Messiah.
Speaker 2:Number one there was this humble origin. It says he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. And so young plant. Instead of appearing as a mighty oak or some impressive fruit tree, it says that he appears as a sprout or a sucker shoot. I don't know if we've got any landscapers in here, but we generally don't like sucker shoots, the little shoots that show up at the bottom of a tree or from a stump that's been cut. So not only a young plant, but it says he's a root out of dry ground. So this unexpected sign of life in the middle of dry, barren soil.
Speaker 2:Earlier in Isaiah, the nation of Israel had been described as being cut off. The tree was a stump and the ground had been scorched. And so in this passage here he's using that metaphor, that out of that state of hopelessness comes this young plant, this root, out of dry ground. Isaiah 11.1 says there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And so it's the unlikeliest of starts.
Speaker 2:We would expect that Jesus would come as a majestic tree. That would be the metaphor. But no, he comes as a young plant. That's unlikely, that's small, that most people would cut off and throw away. And so for that reason he was unexpected.
Speaker 2:That was not what the nation of Israel was looking for. Not only was there a humble origin, there was an unseemly appearance. There was no form, no beauty or majesty. Isaiah tells us that we should desire him. And so King Saul, in 1 Samuel 9, 2, it talks about there was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. And then even King David, his successor, 1 Samuel 16. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome, right. So there's no royal air about Jesus. And that's not saying that Jesus was not handsome, but it's saying that there was nothing particularly. There was no royal air about him. There was nothing impressive physically. He was an unlikely king that came meek and lowly into this world and didn't command anyone's attention.
Speaker 2:And then he tells us in Matthew 20 that he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And so this king was the most unlikely of kings, was not like anything that the Israelites were expecting and looking forward to. And so what was their response? Total rejection. He said he was despised and rejected. So that's both sort of active contempt and repudiation. We see no redeeming value in him. We want nothing to do with him.
Speaker 2:And it goes on to say as one from whom men hide their faces. We esteemed him not. We didn't think much of him. When we did notice him, we didn't think a whole lot about him. He was unworthy of our attention. We see this fulfilled in John 1, verses 10-11, where it says he was in the world, the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came into his own and his own people did not receive him.
Speaker 2:And so this morning, in pulpits all around the world, pastors are proclaiming the good news of the gospel, the hope that the Messiah has come, our great deliverer with power to rescue and save us from our sin, has come. And yet people will reject him. They won't see him as worthy of their attention, let alone praise. And why? Because deep down, our sinful hearts hate his message. We want our best life now, he tells us. Our best life is later. We want to live for ourselves. He tells us to forsake all and follow him. He talks too much about money and possessions and radical generosity and complete surrender, not to mention waging war against sin. If your eye offends, you pluck it out. So because this doesn't fit our idea of who Jesus is and who he should be, we reject him and in so doing miss the great deliverer of our soul. So let's see him rightly this morning. Let's look on the servant who was sacrificed in our place and respond accordingly. Let's not miss him this morning.
Speaker 2:And so, third, we see atonement offered. Third surprising truth we have sinned, but yet he was sacrificed. We have sinned, but he has sacrificed. And verse four says surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and yet we esteemed him, stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Speaker 2:So this is the theological center of the passage, if you will, and that is, the servant will be sacrificed so that we can be saved. He will be sacrificed so that we can be saved, and in scripture and in theology we call this atonement broadly the process whereby sinful mankind can be reconciled and made right with God. We see this throughout the old testament sacrificial system that God ordained. There was numerous sacrifices whereby a sacrifice was made on behalf, they're in the place of sinners, and so two major ones of this was the Passover, and so in the Passover sacrifice, a lamb was brought into the home on the 10th day of the month and for four days would live among the family, a cute lamb, for four days almost would become a pet, and then, on the 14th day of the month, the lamb would be sacrificed to provide an atonement, a covering for the sins of the people.
Speaker 2:And then on the day of atonement Leviticus 16, we see this picture of atonement where a goat is brought to the priest. He's sacrificed, his blood is sprinkled, put on the atonement cover. Sprinkled before the Holy of Holies is a symbol that the price for sin, the penalty for sin, has been paid, a death has occurred to cover or to atone for the sins of the people. And this was a picture of propitiation. So this notion that God's wrath has been satisfied, he has absorbed the wrath due sinners. And then a second goat was brought before the priest and the priest would lay his hands on the second goat, he would confess all of the sins of Israel onto the head of this goat. The picture here was unmistakable, that the goat was picturing symbolically the sins of Israel, the sins of the nation, being removed and placed on the goat. And the goat would be led out alive into the wilderness, never to return.
Speaker 2:And so we call this expiation the removal of sin, the removal of guilt from God's people. And what's fascinating is that the language used in Leviticus 16, the goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself is at work here in Isaiah 53, where the suffering servant has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. And so he will absorb the wrath of God and, in so doing, carry away our sin, remove our guilt, remove our sin. And so the problem with the sacrificial system is that it was only temporary right. It provided a temporary way for God's people to live in fellowship with God, but it never permanently dealt with the problem of sin. And so, as the writer of Hebrew tells us in chapter 10, verse 1, it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. We can't expect to offend God, who is infinitely holy, infinitely just, infinitely righteous, and then make things right by offering a common farm animal.
Speaker 2:But it did point to a future reality. What if there was a sacrifice that was holy enough, worthy enough, valuable enough, who could not just create a temporary way for us to have fellowship with God, but who could permanently remove guilt and sin? What if there was such an infinitely great sacrifice? So John 1.29, john, he sees Jesus coming over the hill and he says behold the Lamb of God who, I know, takes away the sin of the world. He doesn't cover sin, he doesn't just cover it, he removes it. So in Christ, we see that there is this infinitely valuable sacrifice. There has been a sacrifice provided who is truly valuable enough that no longer just atones for sin doesn't discover.
Speaker 2:Sin doesn't temporarily provide a way for you to be in God's presence. He provides an eternal remedy for sin. So how does he do this? That sounds glorious, and so in two ways. First, it means the servant will pay the penalty for sin. First, it means the servant will pay the penalty for sin.
Speaker 2:So Romans 6.23 says For the wages of sin is death. So that means you deserve it. If I work a job and I have wages coming to me, that's what I deserve. It's fair, it's right, it's just so. That's what you deserve as a result of sin is death. It's just, it's fair, it's right, 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, and the law of sin and death that Paul refers to in Romans 8 is exactly this you plant sin, you reap the harvest of death.
Speaker 2:But look at what Isaiah says here. He has borne our griefs, he's carried our sorrows. He was stricken, smitten, afflicted, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. He was chastised, wounded All of the physical and spiritual suffering we see at the cross is a tangible demonstration of Jesus bearing. Absorbing the wrath of God do sinners.
Speaker 2:Charles Spurgeon said it this way the whole of the punishment of his people was distilled into one cup. No mortal lip might give it so much as a solitary sip. Even when he put it to his own lips it was so bitter he well nigh spurned it Let this cup pass from me. But his love for his people was so strong that he took the cup in both hands and at one tremendous draught of love he drank damnation dry for all his people. He drank it all. He endured it all. He suffered also that now and forever there are no flames of hell for them, no racks of torment. They have no eternal woes. Christ has suffered all that they ought to have suffered, and they must. They shall go free. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain and he washed it white as snow. So everyone today who may be struggling under the weight of their sin, the guilt of your past, wondering how God could ever love you, how could you ever stand in his presence and be accepted. Knowing all that you have done. You can have hope, because Jesus has paid the penalty of death. It was due your sin, as Roman 8.1 says. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2:Secondly, not only will the servant pay the penalty for sin, he will suffer in the place of sinners. Isaiah 53.4-6,. If you'll read this, pay attention to every time where it has our we us. Surely. He has borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him. Stricken, smitten by God, he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. With his wounds, we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. And so this passage mentions 10 times the servant will bear all of this suffering in our place. He's not just paying the penalty due our sin, he is taking the suffering that was due us.
Speaker 2:The picture here is clear. Had he not suffered, had he not been sacrificed, we would be. Had he not been sacrificed, we would be. So he is suffering in the place of sinners, as we saw about the wrath of God. It's due us in our sinful state. Death is the payment that we deserve, and the only way for us to be saved, the only way for us to have hope, is for that punishment to be placed on another the sacrificial lamb, the spiritual scapegoat who takes away the sins of the world.
Speaker 2:So, at its most basic, sin is the substitution of ourselves in the place of God. We see that in the garden, we see that throughout history, we see that in our own lives. Verse 6 above says all we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to our own way. So sin, as its most basic is substituting ourself in the place of God. I know what's best, I am in control, I set the priorities in my life and in so doing turn away from God, who is infinitely good, holy, righteous, worthy of our worship and our praise and our obedience. But like a small child, we shake our fist at God and say no, I know what's best. So we substitute ourselves in the place of God. The essence of salvation is that God has substituted himself in our place. He's put his son, the suffering servant, in the place of you and me. He pays the penalty for our rebellion. That is not just due our sin, but is also due me, you. The servant has been sacrificed in our place so that we can be saved by his blood, which leads us to shocking truth.
Speaker 2:Number four Humility displayed. He will be slaughtered, yet he will be silent. Verse 7 says he was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that, before its shearers, is silent. So he opened not his mouth by pression and judgment. He was taken away and asked for his generation, who considered that he was cut off, and asked for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth. So this stanza describes profound suffering, unexpected humility, substitutionary atoning, sacrifice for the servant on behalf of sinners. And verse 7 creates this vivid contrast between the disobedient sheep who all turn away, who turn astray to the one true, submissive servant sheep who humbly obeys the Father's will despite the cruelty and injustice being demonstrated.
Speaker 2:I'll move quickly. We see that he was oppressed and afflicted, implying that he was innocent. We want to be clear that the servant was not suffering for anything that he had done. Verse 9 backs that up and says there had done no violence. There was no deceit in his mouth. His suffering will be a display of unprecedented justice.
Speaker 2:He was silent, opened not his mouth. That doesn't mean that he literally didn't say a word. It means that he didn't defend himself. It's not a matter of literal silence so much as a posture of humble submission to the plan and purpose of God in redeeming sinful fallen mankind. So he didn't proclaim his innocence, he didn't rail against the unjust legal system. He didn't rally the public opinion, try to sway it in his favor. He humbly submitted to the Father's will and his plan of redemption. He was silent before Caiaphas. He was silent before Pontius Pilate. He was silent before Herod. Oppression and judgment. He was taken away a lack of true justice in the process.
Speaker 2:Then it says in verse 8, he was stricken for the transgression of my people. Both his suffering and his slaughter were tied to the sins of the transgressors, not the sins of the servant. Then it says that he was cut off from the land of the living. So this implies not only death, which was serious enough, but also the forfeiture of your family line. In a sense, it's though you had never existed. And so it's saying that Jesus was cut off from the land of the living.
Speaker 2:We'll circle back in a minute to the importance of that. This would have been the ultimate punishment in Jewish culture. We see that he made his grave with the wicked Joseph of Arimathea in Matthew 27. On his evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had become a disciple of Jesus. He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered it to be released. So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen and placed it in his new tomb. So no violence, no deceit. Jesus was truly innocent. He suffered unjustly.
Speaker 2:So when you read through this crucifixion accounts, it's as though everyone at Jesus' death had read Isaiah 53 and is playing their part to perfection the corrupt high priest, the oppressive Romans, the rich man from Arimathea, pilate in declaring that he could find no fault in Jesus. This man is truly innocent. All so that the humility of the suffering servant could be put on full display of this messianic prophecy. So it's my prayer this morning that every follower of Christ, your heart would be welling up with praise and gratitude and worship thanksgiving when you realize that the work of Christ on the cross, in which you have placed your faith, was meticulously planned and ordained by God himself, prophesied with alarming clarity seven centuries before the birth of Messiah. And then finally, in closing, sinners.
Speaker 2:The fifth surprising truth sinners will be justified. He will suffer so that all can be satisfied. Verse 10 says yes, it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He's put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. And so we see first that God is glorified, god's sovereignty over suffering. It was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. So the servant's tragic story is not just an accident of history or a simple case of a corrupt justice system.
Speaker 2:As Peter preached at Pentecost in Acts 2, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by hands of lawless men. God planned it and was pleased by it. So how could this bring God joy and delight? The crushing of his son? To understand this, you have to understand the great dilemma of all human history. What does an infinitely holy God do with sinful people like you and me. How can a God who is infinitely holy and righteous and just and pure allow a fallen sinful man into his presence and still remain holy and pure? How can a God who is just, committed to righteousness pardon sinful man and still remain just? That's the great dilemma of all human history, and so there had to be a way to redeem sinners while also vindicating God's holy name, preserving his character and his attributes. So the answer is in the suffering and sacrifice of his son on the cross.
Speaker 2:2 Corinthians 5.21 says For our sake, he has made him Jesus to become sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. So at the cross, god's righteous wrath and anger towards sin are fully poured out onto his son, who bears the full weight and punishment of our sins. God's wrath towards sin is satisfied by placing it on another, his son. All we who turn from our sin and rebellion and put our faith and trust in Christ's saving work on the cross will be justified, reconciled to God and declared righteous. This is the beauty of the gospel that the just and gracious creator of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful men and women and has sent his son, jesus Christ, very God in the flesh, to pay the penalty for sin on the cross, to demonstrate his power over sin and the resurrection, so that all who will turn from their sin and their self put their trust in Christ as Savior and Lord will be reconciled to God forever. This is the beauty of the gospel. Jesus is satisfied and Jesus will be glorified.
Speaker 2:Through his death, he gives new life. We saw earlier that Jesus was cut off from the land of the living, which means you have died and you will have no offspring. But we see here that when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. And so how can this be? There's this miracle that through his death, jesus gives new life. And so the great mystery is that, even though he was deemed to have been cut off, never to be remembered, erased from history, no offspring, sort of the great tragedy of a Jewish man that through his death he gives new life. And by his blood he has ransomed people for God from every tribe and tongue and nation and people. And there is coming a day a multitude without number will gather around the throne, singing praises and honor to our great God. And then. Not only that, he shall prolong his days, which means he will live for a long time, which is pretty good for someone who has died, and so, though cut off and killed, he shall live again.
Speaker 2:God's power over sin and his acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice was demonstrated in the resurrection of Christ. He's forever seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for you and me and all who have placed their faith and trust in him for the forgiveness of sin. So he will see, he will see the offspring of the successful mission and he will be satisfied. Philippians 2, 9 through 11 says Therefore, god has highly exalted him, bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. And so, finally, sinners will be justified, the righteous one will make many be counted righteous. That's the core message of Isaiah 3, 53. How can God make hopeless sinners righteous through the crushing of his son? So we'll close with Romans 3.23.
Speaker 2:We read the first part earlier. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he passed over former sins. It was shown his righteousness at the present time so that he might be both the just he maintains his just standing and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus standing and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So the beauty of Isaiah 53, we see that it was God's plan, his will is that men and women throughout history who are guilty of their sin, deserving of God's wrath, will look to the servant, trust in his sacrifice and be counted righteous. In so doing, the Father will be satisfied, the Son will be glorified, sinners can be justified, and so that's what I want to invite you to do today.
Speaker 2:To any and every person who has never trusted in Christ and sacrificed on the cross, know this he has suffered in your place. He is here to take your sins upon himself. Trust in him. Don't carry the weight of your sin any longer. Trust in him as your Savior and Lord. I urge you to do it today and, for those of you who have repented of your sins and are following Christ. I would urge you to follow the spiritual leading this morning. You may want to come down, humble yourselves in prayer and thanksgiving to God for all he has done for you in Christ. You may want to grab a member of your MCG, pray together with them, or you may want to gather as a family right there in your pew, just rejoice over what God has done for you in Christ. And then a special encouragement for those of you who have accepted Christ but still struggle with guilt over your past sins or current struggles. Remember Romans 8.1,. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The highest court in the land has declared you innocent. There's nowhere to turn for another ruling. So Jesus has paid the penalty for your sin. He's taken the wrath of God that was due you on himself. So now live in that freedom. Continue to wage war on your remaining sin, but never doubt his love for you.
Speaker 2:I'm going to pray for you, guys. I'll be over here to the side. We'll get maybe another pastor to come over here to this side. You be obedient to the spirits leading in your life this morning. Father, we love you. We thank you for the finished work on the cross that we see here. We thank you for just the beautiful gift of salvation that's been offered through your son. Father, I just pray that hearts and minds in this room and throughout the world would be obedient to call the gospel this morning. Father, I pray that you would be working in people's lives. Father, help us not to leave here unchanged. In your precious son's name, we pray Amen.