WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.959 All right, let's take our Bible and go to Isaiah chapter 53. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:04.400 Isaiah 53. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:14.080 If you don't have a Bible, you can find one in the front of you in the pew, and page 650 will get you right in the ballpark of Isaiah 53. 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:23.280 Years ago, I was serving as a senior pastor in Northern California in a fairly large church, and there was a couple there. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:25.440 Most people didn't know. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:33.920 They were quiet, very unassuming, um, just largely unknown, not one of the more prominent families in the church. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:42.000 Uh they they dressed very simply, they spoke very softly, and they carried themselves without any pretense at all. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:50.240 And they came up to me one day after the service and asked if I would officiate the wedding of their nephew and his fiancee. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:01:00.799 And when the day came, uh they gave me the address, and it was uh their home, one of their homes, uh up on the shore of Lake Tahoe. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:02.159 Beautiful place. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:07.200 And I drove up, and it was a large walled, fenced compound with a gate. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:11.760 And as I entered in, there was this magnificent uh building. 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:21.200 The ceremony and the reception were held out on this large patioed area uh overlooking Lake Tahoe. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:34.239 And we all sat down, it looked beautiful, and uh I came home telling my sons that we had uh gazpacho in handcrafted ice uh goblets, which was really kind of fun. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:44.319 And the house had uh a boat dock, its own private boat dock with several several boats could be uh moored there, and they gave me a tour of the home. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:55.439 And as we went through the home, they took me into a room that was had just had a piano in it, and they said from time to time Paul McCartney would rent out their home and he would compose some of his songs on that piano. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:58.000 I was stunned. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:16.800 They were very soft-spoken, plain in appearance, modest in their speech, often overlooked, and um they didn't carry any airs, they never sought attention, they lived without any sense of ostentation as far as you could tell. 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:26.719 And I remember thinking to myself then, how many times have they passed in the halls of our church and nobody ever paid any attention to them? 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:46.960 Last week, when we introduced the fourth servant song, we talked about small things subtly happening, so soft and so quietly, so easily misunderstood and overlooked. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:52.159 And here in the fourth song, we have some more of that. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:03:08.639 A small, unremarkable, unassuming Savior who enters into this world, but not with fanfare or a spectacle, not with accolades of a king, but silently and quietly. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:18.960 The scriptures tell us that the day would come when kings would be in silence over him, but before that he had to suffer in silence. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:24.159 And that this exalted and lifted up one would be marred by humanity. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:34.159 And so here in Isaiah chapter 53, in the first six verses, the paradox that was introduced to us in the last few verses of chapter 52 is deepened. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:45.199 Because this servant comes to us quiet, unassuming, silent, but in reality, he is the arm of the Lord. 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:58.000 And when he is revealed, he is revealed to us and sadly received by us with disbelief, with resistance and rejection. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:15.599 But the passage invites us, despite how unassuming and unimpressive he might be, that there's something vital and necessary for us to see in him, because he is the very means of our redemption. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:33.759 And so let's walk through the first six verses of Isaiah 53 together and see this person who's unoppressive in appearance but divine in nature, who's despised by men but bears our grief, who's pierced for our transgressions and brings us peace. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:37.199 Let's listen closely to this humble Savior. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:43.279 And our first point will be in verses 1 and 2, where we see the servant's appearance. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:48.000 Who has believed what we've heard? 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:51.439 And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:56.160 He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of a dry ground. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:04.000 He didn't have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:09.759 What a remarkable way to speak about the Savior whose coming. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:14.720 No majesty, no beauty, no outward impressiveness, no grandeur. 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:16.240 Humility. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:24.079 And this isn't a comment comment about his physic any physical deformity or any of that. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:27.120 This is a statement about his condescension. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:34.480 He doesn't meet us with the worldly expectations of grandeur and greatness. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:42.160 He grows up like a tender shoot, fragile, overlooked, easily dismissed. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:52.240 He's like a root out of a dry ground, unlikely to have one, unimpressive, maybe even seemingly lifeless. 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:55.759 And Jesus fulfilled all of that. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:03.360 Born in the obscurity, not in royalty, born in Nazareth and not in Jerusalem. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:11.439 His arrival is announced to shepherds and not to sages and senators. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:15.680 And when people meet him, they're shocked. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:23.040 Even his own disciples in John 1, 46, Nathaniel, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:29.920 Matthew 13, the people say, Isn't this the carpenter's son? 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:32.480 And they were offended by him. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:39.439 And therefore they reject him. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:50.079 Every line of Isaiah 1 to 6, every line of Isaiah 1 to 6 finds its fulfillment in the New Testament. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:55.600 It echoes all the way through everything we read from Matthew to Revelation. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:59.040 But here's the mystery behind it all. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:12.000 This one who comes without greatness, this one who comes without fanfare, this one who doesn't come seemingly connected like we would expect, with nothing that we might desire when we first look upon him. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.000 Look at verse 1. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:18.800 He is the arm of the Lord. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:26.079 This arm of the Lord is a metaphor for God's power. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.800 Power displayed in deliverance. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:31.120 God's power displayed in judgment. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:34.240 God's power displayed in salvation. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:38.160 Listen to some verses that say that. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:39.439 Exodus 6.6. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:45.759 I'll redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.000 Deuteronomy 4.34. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:53.279 God delivering Israel by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.000 Psalm 44 and verse 3. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.959 It was not their sword by which they won. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:02.240 It was your hand, your arm. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:04.399 Psalm 89. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:07.279 You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:12.160 Psalm 98, his right hand and his holy arm to work salvation. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.720 Isaiah 51, 9. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:18.240 Awake, awake, put on strength, old arm of the Lord. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:21.759 Isaiah 52, 10. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:29.839 Right before this, the Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:37.919 And you would think, you know, like teenage boys would do, roll up the sleeve and show you the biceps, right? 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:44.000 God says, let me roll up my sleeve, and you're like, is that all you got? 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:46.799 Is that all you got? 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.120 Isaiah 53. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:53.200 This servant is the arm of the Lord. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.080 And what does he look like when we look at him? 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:57.440 Unimpressive. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.080 Not desirable. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:06.960 This is the embodiment of God's saving power. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.399 And this is how he came here. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:16.879 The arm of the Lord in human flesh. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:20.159 Divine strength in human weakness. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:23.360 Eternal word made vulnerable. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:27.840 Augustine put it very well. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:36.799 The word of the Father, by whom all time was created, was made flesh and born in time for us. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:46.320 He without whose permission no day completes its course desired a day for his human birth. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:50.799 The maker of man became a man. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:56.799 The ruler of the stars had to be nourished at his mother's breast. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:01.919 He that's bread, the bread, became hungry. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:06.960 He that's the fountain cried out that he was thirsty. 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:10.960 He that's the light had to fall asleep. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.960 He that's the way was weary on his journey. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:20.799 He that's the truth bore the testimony of false witnesses. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:27.440 He that's the judge had to be brought to a trial before a mortal judge. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:33.759 He who's the foundation had to be suspended on a cross. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:40.080 He, courage, became weakened, he, security, became wounded, he, life, died. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:49.919 Isaiah chapter 6 saw the Lord high and lifted up. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:58.879 And Isaiah 52 said that this servant would be high and lifted up, because he is none less than God Himself. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:03.039 But here he is revealed to us in humility and humanity. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:12.639 So much so that he's easily overlooked and quickly dismissed by all those who look at him. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:23.919 From the throne to the manger and from majesty to meekness, the servant's path is one of fulfilling God's redemptive plan. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:30.799 And he speaks with one voice, a lowly one, a quiet one. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:42.559 And here he confronts humanity's perennial temptation to judge by appearances. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:56.000 We assume people are worthy or unworthy of our attention or our allegiance based upon whether they can capture our attention, whether they can gain our respect, whether we can give them our allegiance. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:03.039 God said, You want a king? 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:05.360 I'll give you a king. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:12.240 And here's Saul, and this is what it says about him a handsome young man. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:16.159 There was not a man among the Israelites more handsome than he. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:23.440 A little bit, anyway. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:27.679 He stood head and shoulders above everybody else. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:29.919 Why was that there? 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.320 Because that's what a king was. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:39.279 Strong, vigorous, tall, good looking, that's our king. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:48.799 And when the people saw him, they said in 1 Samuel 10, 24, Long live the king! Why did they want him to be the king? 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:50.159 Because he looked the part. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:54.960 He had stature, he had presence, he was impressive. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:58.879 It made the people feel secure that they could have a leader like that. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:02.799 But his reign unraveled. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:10.399 His heart wasn't aligned with God, and his physical strength didn't match his inner obedience. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:22.240 And so when God was to choose a successor to him, Samuel the prophet said to the people, Do not look at his appearance or his stature. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:31.440 Because humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:35.360 And it's that lens that Isaiah is calling us to adopt. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:40.399 The servant doesn't come with Saul's stature. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:46.720 The servant doesn't come with Saul's physical impressiveness, but he's divinely appointed. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:48.720 He is the arm of the Lord. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:52.720 We fall into this trap still, don't we? 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:57.759 Charismatic speakers, well, they've got the wisdom I don't have. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:03.279 Polished resumes, well, they've got the abilities we're looking for. 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:11.200 And we assume that the people with the deepest and most assuring voice is the one that needs to be followed. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.559 Be careful. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:16.399 Be careful. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:22.240 Because if we think like that, we're going to miss the servant. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.759 Because he doesn't come to meet our expectations. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:28.480 In fact, he comes to confront them. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:34.480 He is the arm of the Lord, but he's clothed in humility. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.919 The gospel doesn't flatter us. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.600 The gospel is meant to confront us. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:46.879 But in confronting us, it frees us. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:52.080 And so look again. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:55.120 Don't dismiss this one, Jesus. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:59.360 Look at your expectations again. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:05.600 And look at what he is, not what you think he ought to be. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:16.639 Here's his assurance, his appearance, but let's let's look at his rejection because it's tied hand in hand into the second point in verse 3. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:26.720 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering, who knew what sickness was. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.519 He was like someone people turned away from. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:34.159 He was despised, and we did not value him. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:43.600 Now, Isaiah brings us face to face with the emotional and relational cost of the servant's mission. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:46.320 It's a sorrowful, sorrowful moment. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:50.559 He's not just overlooked, he's despised. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:54.080 He's not just misunderstood, he's rejected. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:16:00.240 He's not just received with honor, he's received with contempt. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:06.080 And at the end of it, we did not value him. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:16.720 He's treated as if we would we would push him to the margins of our social connections. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:20.320 We would dismiss him as irrelevant. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:24.480 And we would avoid him as if he was an offense. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:29.840 And all of this, again, in the life of Christ. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:35.919 John 6, many disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:37.519 They were offended by him. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:41.120 John 11, rejected by the religious leaders. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.879 Luke 23, condemned by the state. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:52.080 The political, the religious, and the populace all said no to him. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:53.440 Everybody. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:17:02.799 And he wasn't just rejected once, he was rejected repeatedly in every slice and sector of society. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:13.759 The scriptures tell us that this rejection is found in all the places of the New Testament. 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.400 It is God's divine blueprint of salvation. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:24.240 Now, for us, this is both a comfort and a challenge as believers. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:30.400 It's a comfort to us because this is a Savior who understands sorrow. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:37.519 He is a man of sorrow, as the scriptures say, acquainted with grief. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:41.279 He knows suffering intimately. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:44.880 He doesn't know grief from a distance. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:46.799 He's entered into it. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:48.160 He walked into it. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.839 He carried it. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:54.480 And this is part of who he is as a redeemer. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:59.839 He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:06.720 He became human. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:12.960 He's not surprised by our grief, and he's not impatient with our pain. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.799 He walked the path of rejection. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:23.599 And he walks with his children still as they walk that path. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:26.400 There's a song. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:31.119 Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:34.880 Nobody knows but Jesus. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:36.000 He does. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:43.920 Now, there's also a challenge here. 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:48.400 If he was despised, so may his children also be. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:53.839 His faithfulness didn't bring applause. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:56.400 Your faithfulness may not bring applause. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:58.400 In fact, it might bring rejection. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:02.960 His obedience didn't win popularity. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.279 Your obedience will not bring popularity. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.400 But we're not alone in that. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:15.920 Our servant savior also suffered those things. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:30.480 If you're here this morning and you don't know Christ as your Savior, like all of us, you can feel rejected, alone, suffering and silent, nobody understanding. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:40.720 Here is a savior who's not recoiled by pain, who's not overwhelmed by the depth of your discouragement. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:47.759 You see, he hasn't come and asked you for a list of credentials in order to be impressed by him. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:51.279 He's invited you to come in the middle of your need. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:54.640 He doesn't ask you to be impressive. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:58.640 He wants you to be honest and to come as you are. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:04.640 And I'm not just talking about suffering and difficulties and heartaches that life brings. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.359 I'm talking about the worst of who you are. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:15.279 Those things you wouldn't even share with your family that you think or maybe have done. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:23.440 You see, he came for that as much as he came for all the other things. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:28.640 He was rejected so that you might be received. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:30.960 And we'll talk about that in just a moment. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:34.720 There was once a man who had a skin disease. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:36.240 The people avoided him. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:37.440 He was untouchable. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:39.039 They kept their distance. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:44.079 He was cast out among the people and from the people, considered unclean. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:50.079 But when he approached Jesus, Jesus didn't step back like the others had. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.240 But he did more than that. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:54.240 He touched the leper. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:58.319 He touched him and said, Be clean. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:04.160 There's a woman also who carried years of shame. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:07.200 The scriptures say that her story was complicated. 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:19.359 And she was put on the outward edges of society, so much so that she had to go in the middle of the heat of the sun in the middle of the day in order to get water alone. 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:25.279 When other women would have gladly have gone together early morning to get the water from the well. 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:35.359 This is the servant Isaiah's describing here. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:44.640 Yes, he's been rejected and he's moved by it all, but he's entered into it that we might be brought to healing. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:54.240 So if you feel cast aside, if you wonder if God would ever draw near to you considering who you are, look again. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:56.799 Look again. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:03.839 Because the arm of the Lord is clothed in humility. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:09.119 And this brings us to our third point, verses four and five. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:21.279 Where the servant's appearance and then rejection brings us to a place where the servant's a substitute, the servant's substitution. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:24.400 Look at verse four and five with me. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:28.480 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:33.759 But we in turn regarded him stricken, struck and down by God and afflicted. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:38.720 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:44.160 The punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.519 And now we're coming to the heart of the servant's mission here. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:52.640 That the servant is not only despised, he's also burdened. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:23:03.279 And he's not only burdened, he's pierced, and he's suffering not as a victim of circumstance, but as a substitute under divine judgment. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:08.079 And Isaiah corrects our thoughts here. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:24.000 Because we can see this person, unimpressive as he is, refused by us, and we might think that everything that's happening in him is because of who he is and how bad he was. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:29.519 My watch is talking to me. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:33.279 But the scriptures here give us a correction. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:41.359 He was born our sicknesses, he carried our pains. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:45.519 He was cursed for us. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:53.599 He was despised for our rebellion and our iniquities. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.079 This is substitution. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:02.319 This is how the atonement, the being right with God happens. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:12.240 Because the servant stands in our place and takes the punishment we deserve and carries a weight that we cannot bear. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:17.200 And this is specific and complete. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:26.000 And we'll talk about how complete in a second, but the punishment for our peace was upon him, and we're healed by those wounds. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:34.559 The cross wasn't just some arbitrary ridding of this man that everybody should have rejected. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:40.559 This was the arm of the Lord brought to a particular place for us. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:54.319 No tragic accident, nothing to be overshadowed, nothing like Islam to say, well, it was just, it just looked like Jesus was being crucified. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:56.799 No, he actually was. 00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:06.160 Paul said, if there's anything to glory in, I'm going to glory in the cross as shameful as it is. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:16.720 Because he was pierced so that we might be pardoned, and crushed so that we be cleansed and wounded so that we would be healed. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.519 And the scriptures are full of this language. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:25.119 1 Corinthians 15, Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:29.599 1 Peter 2, he bore our sins in his body on the tree. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:37.440 Matthew quotes this and says, He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:43.359 Again, every line of Isaiah 53 finds its echo in the New Testament. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:49.759 The servant crushed, pierced, burdened, and risen. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:53.680 And here's the scope. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:59.680 We all, like sheep, have gone astray. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:04.240 We all, everyone. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:13.200 No exceptions, no exemptions, no alternate path. 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:15.759 Every one of us. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:28.160 We're not divided into categories of the righteous and the unrighteous, the great and the small, every single person in the same place. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:39.359 We all unified in our wandering like sheep going astray, each of us going down our own way. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:48.480 The image is pastoral, but the indictment is universal. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:55.680 But here is the Lord who's come into the middle of that reality. 00:26:55.680 --> 00:27:13.839 He's come into the middle of this willful lost society with every one of human creatures that he made running away from him and running away from his design and purposes for them. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:16.240 Every single one. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:19.839 And yet he comes. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:37.680 And so he is here, coming after the sheep. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:40.640 This is the heart of the Savior. 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:51.279 1 Peter 2, we read it, for you were like sheep going astray, but now you've returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:54.640 Not that we just woke up one day and said, I need to go back. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:56.640 No, he went and got us. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:58.720 He went and got us. 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:12.319 You know, there's two steps, and you're like, oh, look, the Lord is walking with me in my trouble. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:17.519 And then there's the one footprint, and you go, Oh, the Lord's carrying me through my trouble. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:27.839 Well, one guy went up to the gates of heaven and had the asked the Lord, he said, What was that sort of one set of footprints with the long mark in the sand? 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:30.559 And he said, That's when I had to drag you back. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:39.519 This is the Lord grabbing us in our rebellion and bringing us back. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:43.599 He bears our sins to bring us home. 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:47.519 And I want to speak to us as a church. 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:49.839 This is the foundation of why we're here. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:54.960 And this is the Savior that we proclaim and that we adore. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:58.319 He's not impressive. 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:07.839 We can't put him on the eye-level shelf of our grocery store and have everybody go, Well, I think I'll buy that. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:11.920 There's nothing we can do that can market that. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:16.000 He didn't come to be treated that way. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:28.160 He came to bear sin and to do so in humility and suffering to death. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:34.000 But through that punishment, we have peace. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:40.319 He came so that we don't have to live under the shadow of condemnation. 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:44.720 But we can be embraced under in the shelter of grace. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:50.079 And we don't have to approach God with fear, but we can approach him with warmth and confidence. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:53.440 It's humbling, I know. 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:56.799 It levels us, it reminds us daily of who we are. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:59.680 But it's true and it's wonderful. 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:03.839 And it's something we need to remind ourselves of every day. 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:12.480 Just like Martin Luther said, he said, I preach the gospel to myself every day because I need the gospel every day. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:24.480 And if we walk into these doors without remembering the gospel, we're going to start acting like you need to be impressive for me to be impressed. 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:29.039 You need to be of stature for me to follow you. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:38.240 We're going to have worldly judgments amidst this Savior and His people, in which there's nothing impressive. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:51.200 But when we come rejecting comparison and rejecting pride, we're going to find no limit of his grace and of his mercy to us. 00:30:51.200 --> 00:31:02.880 And so let us adopt the posture of our chief pastor, Jesus Christ, the shepherd of our souls. 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:10.960 This brings us to our last point, the effect. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:19.279 We've seen the servant's appearance, the servant's rejection, the servant's substitution, but now the servant's effect. 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:24.640 In verse 5, he was pierced because of our rebellion. 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:27.440 He was crushed because of our iniquities. 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:31.680 The punishment for our peace was upon him. 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:36.400 And we are healed by his wounds. 00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:42.160 So now Isaiah wants us to see the effect of this servant's suffering. 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:46.000 He's shown us his burden. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:48.880 He's shown us his piercing. 00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:51.359 But now he wants us to see the result. 00:31:51.359 --> 00:32:04.400 That the wounds of this Savior are not wasted, but redemptive, and they accomplish what no earthly power can accomplish and what we ourselves cannot receive in and of ourselves. 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:08.559 Peace with God and healing for our soul. 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:13.759 And he gives these two phrases and he puts immense weight on them. 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:20.240 The punishment for our peace and healed by his wounds. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:24.559 We can't leave the cross ever. 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:30.720 How's it going today? 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:31.599 Good. 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:34.079 How are you doing before God? 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:35.119 I'm well. 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:37.359 Do you have a confidence about heaven? 00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:38.480 Yes. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:39.440 Why? 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:42.880 Because of the wounds of Christ. 00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:45.839 Because of the suffering of the Savior. 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:48.799 Why do you feel peaceful today? 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:52.720 Because you have a Savior who received no peace. 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:53.839 That's why. 00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:56.079 Why are you whole today? 00:32:56.079 --> 00:33:00.240 Because you had a Savior who was broken on your behalf. 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:07.920 He's absorbed the chastisement we deserve so that we might receive a peace we could never earn. 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:16.799 And here we hear these words reverberating in the gospels and reverberating in the letters of the apostles. 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:21.680 He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:26.400 And yes, Jesus in his earthly ministry raised people from the dead. 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:28.799 He healed broken bodies. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:39.200 And there's a big question today: is there healing in the atonement? 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:49.359 And people will use that term and they will go off and they will do nothing but think about lengthening somebody's leg or getting somebody out of an armchair. 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:53.279 He's going to get you out of the grave. 00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:54.160 Okay? 00:33:54.160 --> 00:33:55.039 Right? 00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:58.480 He's going to lift you into a glorious presence. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:02.240 That's the healing of the atonement. 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:07.519 Those things in Jesus' earthly ministry are just whispers of the wonder that's coming. 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:12.159 This is it. 00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:17.519 Everything that sin is broken, including our bodies, will be redeemed. 00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:23.199 Here is our Savior. 00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:31.519 Giving us peace and giving us wholeness, the likeness of which we can't even begin to imagine yet. 00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:41.599 Eye is not seen, nor is ear heard, nor is it entered into the hearts of men, the things God has prepared for those who love Him. 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:43.360 What is it like? 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:45.760 We don't know. 00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:52.000 We just throw images out and kind of amazed at the images. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:55.760 But the reality behind those things is beyond us. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:57.519 Beyond us. 00:34:57.519 --> 00:35:04.719 But here it is, bought for us with a price. 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:17.840 The Savior who has suffered, suffered our rejection, suffered the condemnation from the Holy Father for us. 00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:21.199 What does this tell us? 00:35:21.199 --> 00:35:26.639 Your past does not define you. 00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:31.760 Your failures do not disqualify you. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:35.519 Your grief does not isolate you. 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:44.719 All of these things are born by the Savior, and in Him you can have peace with all of it. 00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:48.079 And this is why we worship. 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:52.559 This is why we come to someone so unimpressive as Him. 00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:57.679 And it shapes our life and it anchors our hope. 00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:02.000 And it gives us strength even at our weakest moments. 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:06.719 Because the punishment that brought our peace was upon him. 00:36:06.719 --> 00:36:09.760 And by his wounds we're healed. 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:17.360 And if you don't know the Lord is your Savior this morning, you don't have to pretend that you're whole. 00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:27.519 Right? 00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:35.119 He's not asking you to carry your wounds and suffer so he might receive you. 00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:38.320 He suffered those for you. 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:45.840 There's once a woman who suffered for years. 00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:51.360 She spent everything she had trying to get better, but nobody could help her. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:59.920 And therefore she lived in isolation and shame, silence, and perhaps even the suffering of poverty, because she spent all that she had to try to get better. 00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:03.599 And one day she saw Jesus and touched him. 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:07.840 And Jesus said, Go, go. 00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:09.519 You are well. 00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:11.920 Go in peace. 00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:24.800 All the strivings that we might go through to try to feel better about ourselves, or to try to cover our guilt, or try to sort of fill that gnawing ache in our soul. 00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:29.840 You could spend everything you have in aura and still find that well empty. 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:35.360 But you come to Jesus, He'll say, Go in peace. 00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:36.639 You are well. 00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:47.920 We can't ignore him. 00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:52.079 And it's a question of recognition here, isn't it? 00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:54.400 It's a question about our attention. 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:57.519 It's a question about our response. 00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:01.119 Because he's not going to be clamoring for it. 00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:07.119 He comes quietly, like a root out of dry ground. 00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:14.320 He doesn't have any majesty, no beauty, no physique or form that catches our eye. 00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:18.559 And when we do look at him, we quickly look away. 00:38:18.559 --> 00:38:23.760 But look again. 00:38:23.760 --> 00:38:26.559 Look again. 00:38:26.559 --> 00:38:30.880 And look again until you understand why he's here. 00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:40.480 And when you see who he is and why he's here, you'll understand more about yourself and who you are. 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:46.880