WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:06.879 Well, happy Holy Week and Good Friday and Monday Thursday or Holy Thursday. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:08.880 Holy Week is made up of those days. 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:16.000 On Friday, we celebrate and we contemplate the cross of Jesus, which we know this day is Good Friday. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.760 The night before is called Holy Thursday or Monday Thursday. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:26.399 And this is the evening that Jesus had the Last Supper with his disciples, which was a Passover meal. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.280 Now the Passover meal was a tradition. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:33.439 This would have been a traditional meal that people would have had. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:40.240 These people would have had every single year to remember, to remember the Exodus. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.320 Now, if you remember the Exodus, and that was the Old Testament, so let me catch you up to speed on that story. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:48.799 If you've forgotten it or maybe you just never learned it, that was way back at the beginning of the Bible. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:57.920 The people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt, and it's the story of their exit or their exodus out of Egypt, their rescue. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:07.200 See, from the very beginning of the Bible, the entire biblical story, our story, is a story about moving from slavery to freedom. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:16.640 And so the night before Jesus goes to the cross at the time of the Passover festival there in Jerusalem, they're having the Passover meal. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:24.799 And Jesus is sharing this there with them because this has always been a story about moving from slavery to freedom. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:38.879 And there, that's when Jesus gets up from the meal, if you remember the story, and he grabs a towel and he grabs a bucket of water, like the lowliest of servants would do, and he begins to wash the feet of his disciples. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:46.000 Now, these aren't the beautiful, dainty feet of my wife that you know goes and gets her toes, you know, perfectly painted. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:47.439 It's not washing those feet. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:52.560 These are sandal wearing feet, walking dirt paths type of feet. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:57.359 These are dirty, rough feet, and he is washing these feet. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.359 This would have been a normal task of a servant. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.000 And so we're just getting this clue, right? 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:12.560 It's like with Jesus, we get clue after clue after clue, image after image after image of who he is and what he's gonna do. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.319 This leads us into Good Friday, certainly. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:31.520 We can even remember there in John 13, 8, where Peter, this is going on, is washing of feet and Jesus washing the feet, his teacher washing feet, and Peter says, No, no, no, you'll never wash my feet, you'll never wash my feet. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:39.280 And Jesus replies and says, If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me. 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:51.520 And so this is Jesus saying, if you don't receive that you have nothing, and you have to receive me as your cleansing, this is the only way of relationship with God. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:59.199 We are in right standing with God because of his grace to us, not our work toward him or anything in of ourselves. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:08.960 It is God's grace and pursuit and regard and acceptance and absolution and righteousness to us in the person of Jesus. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.560 And he delights in us because of Jesus. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:18.000 So the next day, this Jesus, incarnate God, is crucified. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:24.400 It's that moment in history where we see our sin put upon the cross and his righteousness given to us. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:30.479 That's why Good Friday is a day that we see we have to contemplate this cross, this work. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:34.560 That we know our forgiveness and we know our righteousness. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:38.240 We know this amount of riches of grace for us. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:51.280 So, in order for us to do that during this time, I want us to look through Isaiah 53 because Isaiah, prophet in the Old Testament, he wrote about this years and years and years, long before any of this happened. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.159 So Isaiah 53, verse 3. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:05.599 He, he's talking about the Messiah, he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:12.960 And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:22.639 So maybe you're wondering, can God even relate to the suffering we're feeling in this last month? 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:29.360 Can God even relate to people being sick or losing their jobs or being alone? 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.680 And maybe your question has been, how can God allow that? 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:39.360 And to that, there's not going to be an intellectual answer by which you will ever have peace in your hearts. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:47.519 But God uses suffering, and he's in suffering, and he knows suffering, and he knows grief. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:49.360 And that's what this passage is saying. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:51.519 That's what Jesus shows us. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.839 That he himself took on suffering and grief. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:04.079 That we have a God who himself knows it and has compassion on it and on us as we process through it. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:14.240 Verse 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:20.959 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:29.519 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:33.120 So I do have a few points this morning. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:36.639 One point relates back to Palm Sunday that we've talked about. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:40.000 It's this point that God always moves toward us in humility. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:45.439 God always moves toward us in humility and love, even while we don't move toward him. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:48.240 So much of Palm Sunday is about that. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.120 So much of Holy Thursday is about that. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:52.800 The cross is about that. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:02.720 And point number two is this healing and peace of our souls are by his wounds, not ours. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.360 See, it's by his work, not ours. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:08.000 It's by his grace, not our merit. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:14.079 Healing and peace of our souls are by his wounds, not ours. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:21.120 So if we skip down to verse 12 there in this Isaiah 53, the last passage for us to contemplate. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:40.560 Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:41.680 Now, what does all this mean? 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.079 Just that first line, we can break that first line apart. 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:47.600 Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:50.079 Now that could be or the great. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:54.160 God will divide him a portion with the great. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:58.879 As to say, Jesus will always be the great one. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.600 Jesus will always be the glorious one. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:06.959 It is with him that God is, God is dividing a portion with. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:14.240 And then we get the second part, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:25.360 Okay, so God is dividing this portion with Jesus, this riches of grace, this riches of worth and glory. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:30.560 And he shall divide the spoil, that spoil of riches with the strong. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:36.639 And that word strong actually should be numerous, strong in number is what it means. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.439 And he shall divide the spoil. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:44.720 That's the reward, the good stuff, the riches of joy and peace. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.319 Jesus divides that with us. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:50.480 And that's point number three. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:57.519 The spoils are shared with you because he is victorious and he is gracious. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:03.120 The spoils are shared with you because he is victorious and he is gracious. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.720 Nothing about the cross feels like a victory parade. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:09.920 It doesn't read like that, it doesn't seem like that. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:13.839 If you've seen the movie Passion of the Christ, it doesn't look like that. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.000 But it absolutely was. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.000 It absolutely was. 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:23.439 Verse 12 is the imagery of Jesus returning from a great conquest. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:36.720 So the image that we have to behold of the cross and that we certainly celebrate on Easter Resurrection Sunday in a few days when we get new life and Jesus coming back from the dead. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:40.240 But all of it is imagery of victory. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:42.559 It is victory over sin. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.240 It is victory over even death. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:49.200 Never more than now. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.039 Do we need a message of hope and the darkness? 00:08:53.360 --> 00:09:02.240 Do we need a message of rest from demand, of comfort when we are in anguish? 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:12.080 And the cross of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus is not only his new life, but we have the riches of the spoils. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:18.480 That we too have the same power that raised Christ from the dead in us. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:21.840 And we share in these riches. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:26.639 That in him we have all of the righteousness we ever need. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:28.480 We are beloved with God. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:34.159 We are fully worthy, fully loved before we do a single thing. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:42.240 So church rests in this cross of Jesus, where you find your complete absolution and complete righteousness.