The Astonishing Servant of Jehovah (Isaiah 53)

now for this morning I'm going to need a little bit of mercy and grace from you on a number of fronts it might take me five or ten minutes longer than it normally would to give my morning message because of the nature of this message secondly you're going to feel like you're in an upper division class at the master seminary because this is going to it's going to force you to think through carefully and to stay in the process I know how it works you come and you go and you wander off mentally and come back and try to reconnect from point to point and find your way back to wherever you were when you left but if you could if you can sort of focus in and concentrate it'll be to your advantage because there's some profound of things to grasp about the message this morning I also want to confess to you that it is very difficult to to spend about I suppose at the length of the longest and the eight or nine months at the shortest the last month and a half in very intense study of Isaiah 53 and to condense a sort of overview of that chapter into one hour but I'm going to make an effort at that the good news for you is the bad news for me I'll start with the bad news I'm going to leave a lot of things out that I would love to tell you the good news is you won't know what they are because I left them out so I will I will just leave it the way it it comes so all of that to say we're going to begin this morning our study of the Lord Jesus Christ as he appears in the Old Testament we're going to begin in Isaiah chapter 53 you can open your Bible to Isaiah 53 you can just kind of clear your mind and and your lap of anything but your Bible your pen and paper if you want to write some things down as we embark upon what is going to be an overview of this chapter and then we're going to launch into it for a couple of months together okay I want you to know that a couple of months in Isaiah 53 is not a lot I am the process of reading a 900-page book on Isaiah 53 alone not on the whole of Isaiah on that one chapter so much could be said so much has been said and written on this chapter but for us we're going to spend a number of weeks in what I believe will be one of the great experiences of your spiritual life in this chapter now I could only wish that the people who said in the chapter headings after the original was written and after many early copies were made had put it three verses before they put it it should really come at verse 13 of chapter 52 so just know this when I refer to Isaiah 53 I'm really referring to 52:13 through 53:12 you have to include verses 13 14 and 15 from the prior chapter in Isaiah 53 because they belong there they're very much a part of that chapter in fact they are kind of the summary of the chapter the chapter then goes on to expand the details now this chapter Isaiah 53 is very familiar to Christians very familiar to preachers very familiar to students of the Bible because of it's amazing uniqueness those of you who have been in and around the Bible for any length of time have made yourself familiar with Isaiah 53 and it's very likely that much of it whether by by effort or simply by default has fallen into memory in your mind because of its familiarity so this is not a chapter with which you are not familiar but it is one I promise you with which you are not as familiar as you need to be and that's going to be my endeavor over the next number of weeks the accolades for this portion of scripture are really endless the the writer David Barron the English writer back in 1921 called this chapter the fifth gospel the fifth gospel because it is so clearly a testimony to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ as they are the four Gospels it was a Gustin the great church leader the fifth-century who said it is not a prophecy it is a gospel again the same perspective it was Polycarp one of the early church fathers and a friend of and a disciple of the Apostle John who called the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah the golden passional of the Old Testament it was Martin Luther who said every Christian ought to be able to repeat it by heart and in honor of Martin Luther that is your assignment to memorize this as we go a couple of German scholars writing back in 1866 said it looks as if Isaiah 53 had been written beneath the cross of Golgotha they further said many an israelite has had this chapter melt the crust of his heart those same German scholars of the 19th century said Isaiah 53 is the most central the deepest and the loftiest thing that Old Testament prophecy outstripping itself has ever achieved unquote it is an epic chapter it contains the root of gospel theology it contains the root of Christian thinking its phraseology has entered into Christian speech it has supplied more texts to gospel preachers than any other portion of the Old Testament in fact Isaiah 53 is the heart of Hebrew writings it is the prophetic messianic epic of the Old Testament it is the pinnacle it is the peak it rises above everything else and the lustre of this particular prophetic Jim is intensified by its settings and there are a number of those settings that I'm going to give to you this more so that it will really shine in your minds now let's kind of begin with just the structure of the Book of Isaiah Isaiah's prophecy is an extensive prophecy it is 66 chapters long it is divided into two sections one to 39 and 40 to 66 it is penned around 680 some years before Christ we assume that Isaiah finishes his ministry and goes to be with the Lord about 685 or 686 and sometime just before that he writes this massive prophecy of the revelations that God has given to him by the Holy Spirit the first half thirty-nine chapters 1 to 39 majors on coming judgment coming judgment and in fact looks at the captivity of the kingdom of Judah the southern kingdom the only remaining kingdom in Israel in that era the first thirty nine chapters judgment and captivity starting in chapter 40 then to the end chapter 66 that's 27 chapters the theme is Grace and salvation so the first half is judgment and captivity and the second half is grace and salvation in fact the 39th chapter which is the final chapter of the first half of Isaiah ends with these words behold the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon nothing will be left says the Lord and some of your sons who will issue from you whom you will beget will be taken away and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon so when I say judgment in captivity I mean that for thirty nine chapters God has given revelation to I ay-ay-ay about the sins of israel the sins of judah that are going to cause judah to be taken as an act of divine punishment into captivity by the Babylonians that begins to happen in the year 603 the first deportation the second 597 and the third 586 BC and they remain in captivity after that third deportation for 70 year period Isiah is declaring that and I just read you from the 39th chapter verses 6 & 7 where he says specifically that's going to happen and it was still 80 years from the fulfillment of that prophecy so the prophecy of the Babylonian captivity given by Isaiah 80 years before it happened again is an indication that the author is God because only God knows the future only God can specifically detail an event that will happen 80 years before it happens the opening section then features the warnings about Israel sin disobedience rebellion that is going to lead not only to their eternal punishment the eternal punishment of those unbelieving rebels in the nation but is going to lead to national captivity in Babylon when you come to chapter 40 a dramatic change takes place because immediately after the threat of that chapter 40 begins comfort oh comfort my people says your God speak kindly to Jerusalem call out to her that her warfare has ended that her iniquity has been removed what a dramatic change and now the second half looks at the salvation of the people of God the salvation of the people of God it is one long prophecy from chapter 40 through chapter 66 dominated by a vision a series of revelations of the salvation that will be brought by the Messiah himself it is a sublime section of Holy Scripture it is an unparalleled section of Holy Scripture to the comprehensive section it is one that would be worthy of our careful study sometime in the future now to give you a little more of the character of the second half of Isaiah 42 66 it begins where the New Testament begins and it ends where the New Testament ends that is why it has been called the fifth gospel because it it really parallels the New Testament this is how the the final section the back section of Isaiah begins a voice is calling make way for the Lord in the wilderness make smooth in the desert a highway for our God that's where the New Testament began the New Testament began with the arrival of John the Baptist and John the Baptist is the voice of one crying in the wilderness make ready a path for the Lord a highway for our God that's how the New Testament begins the beginning of the New Testament story contained in the Book of Luke is the story of the birth of John the Baptist who is the one who speaks the very words of Isaiah 40 this section ends the same way the New Testament ends in chapter 65 for example in verse 17 we read this for behold I create new heavens and a new earth that's in chapter 65 and then in the last chapter of Isaiah 66 in verse 22 again just as the new heavens and the new earth will I make Endor before me declares the Lord and so that's exactly how the New Testament ends revelation 21 revelation 22 with the new heaven and the new earth so this marvelous gospel of Isaiah starts where the New Testament starts with the Ministry of John the Baptist ends where the New Testament ends with the creation of the new heavens and the new earth so it sweeps through the whole redemptive work of the Messiah the Redeemer just a glorious unparalleled portion of Scripture now all of this vision was written in the ancient book of the Bible the Old Testament about 700 years before the Messiah came to fulfill it and the details are startlingly accurate in our section that we're looking at that's going to be chapter 53 we are introduced to the Messiah the one who will provide salvation we're introduced to him under the name servant you will notice in chapter 52 and verse 13 this portion begins behold my servant now this isn't the first time the Messiah is identified as servant that's the word abed in Hebrew which is also the word slave the slave of Jehovah this is the fourth section of Isaiah in which the slave is presented and revealed chapter 42 is the first servant song or slave song chapter 49 is the next servant song chapter 50 is the next servant song this is the fourth chapter 53 there are four chapters 40 to 49 50 and 53 all of which focus on the Messiah and he's called the servant of Jehovah the servant of God this section then is the most comprehensive Old Testament presentation the Messiah that exists and as I say as such it is worthy of careful study through all of it now let me give you a little bit of background that Moses is certainly a prophet in that he speaks for God but the official office of the Prophet really began with Samuel now Samuel is the first sort of official profit or spokesman for God and he's a he's 300 years before Isaiah he's a thousand years before Christ and Samuel is the one who begins to tell the people of Israel about an age that is coming in which God will rule and reign in Israel and through Israel over the world okay now remember this is this little tiny group of insignificant people at the east end of the Mediterranean surrounded by a sea and by other nations hostile to them this little group of people who by any world measurement were utterly insignificant and they are being told that they will have a righteous king who will come and lead them to prominence in the world and through them the world will be blessed that was all bound up in the Abrahamic covenant that was all reiterated in the Davidic covenant as well so the prophets pick up on that message that there is coming a time when God will rule and reign in Israel and through Israel over the world by means of a righteous King a righteous king this King will bring salvation to his people that's the prophets promise temporal salvation deliverance from enemies and spiritual salvation forgiveness of sins so there's coming this great righteous King all the prophets write about the coming of the righteous king and the promised kingdom that will extend through Israel to the world and bless the nation's okay so from the time of Samuel on everybody is looking for the king hopes start out with Saul they wanted a king how are we ever going to have a righteous king if we don't even have a king so they they want a king and so they picked the guy whose tallest to be the king who's the most physically imposing to be the king his name is Saul and he turns out to be totally a disaster and he is rejected by God because of his intrusion into the priestly office overstep his bounds does wickedly before God and he is dethroned by God and his line is cut off as to any future kings so Saul is not going to be the righteous King first of all he's a very unrighteous man then their hopes rested in the very one that Samuel anointed who would be David and and for all that was evil about Saul all seemed to be good about David but as the story of David begins to unfold David turns out to be anything but a righteous King he turns out to be a very wicked King who has an adulterous affair with another man's wife puts that man in a vulnerable position in a battle and he loses his life and as a result of that the life of David is just fraught with disasters the child of that dolorous union dies another one of his sons leads a rebellion against him and ends up getting hanged in a tree and then killed and the story is horrible David becomes a man of blood there's blood all over his hands as he slays people in every direction and when he goes to Nathan the prophet and says I want to build a temple to God I live in a house of cedar - God's still in a tent I want to build a temple for God's second time you're seven Nathan says do it do it God comes to Nathan in the night and says why are you telling him that he's a man of blood I wouldn't let him build my house and David's life is stained with sin and David's life is tragic and David's not going to be that a chess King two of the most penitential sums ever prayed psalm 32 and 51 come out of the heart of David as he pours out the wretchedness of his own heart he can't be the righteous King well he has a son and his son is Solomon and hopes are focused on Solomon will Solomon be that righteous king and it looks pretty good at the beginning because Solomon is wise God gives him a special dispensation of wisdom and he demonstrates that wisdom and as a result it becomes massively wealthy and successful however his heart has turned away from God because he engages in physical relationships with literally hundreds if not thousands of women and his life is so corrupted by the time he gets to the end of his life not only has he not maintained the development of the kingdom he has fractured the kingdom into two pieces and in the North the Kingdom of Israel there's a series of kings and not one of them is righteous not one of them honors God every single King in the Northern Kingdom was a wicked corrupt wretched King that was the legacy of Solomon and in the South most of the kings were corrupt and wicked and wretched with a few exceptions of good and God honoring Kings it got so bad the line of David out of the loins of David was so bad that a king finally came in Judah by the name of Manasseh now when Isaiah starts his ministry in about 739 the King is named Isaiah and you remember in chapter 6 he dies and he's followed by joram and he's followed by a has and he's followed by Hezekiah so Isaiah goes through those four kings at the end of Isaiah's life another king is enthroned in Israel his name is Manasseh Manasseh if you want to know about Manasa you only need to listen to one verse of scripture and that's the second chronicles 33 verse 9 here is the post-mortem on Manasseh Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nation's whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel this is a child of David this is a son of David in the Davidic line who led the children of Israel to behave themselves worse than the pagan idolatrous Canaanites and the other nations that God removed from the land when he brought Israel in they were back to worse than pre day's pre Israel days back to paganism how bad was Manasseh Manasseh was so bad that he had Isaiah sawn in half with a wooden saw the record of which is recorded in Hebrews 11 verses 36 and 37 where was the righteous King where was the righteous King and now no wonder Isaiah is saying God is fed up with you God is tired of you God his weary uses all those kinds of terms you're going to be judged you're going to be hauled off into Babylonian captivity and you're going to be punished there was a bloody massacre when the Babylonians came thousands were killed it was a disaster of divine judgment and where is the righteous king and where is the future it's as bad as it's going to get in the time of Isaiah it's as bad as it's going to get and it is at that moment right before Manasseh saws Isiah in half and by the way Isiah is the best man in the kingdom because in Chapter six God said who will I send and who will go for me and Isaiah said here am I send me in and God said go he was the only missionary Jeremiah tried they threw him in a pit but at the worst of times right at the point when Israel had descended to being no better than the pagan nations it replaced in that land God reveals a dramatic new prophecy and what is the new prophecy it is this there will be a righteous King there will be a righteous king who will deliver you who will save you and that righteous King is the main character of this great section of the Book of Isaiah but this righteous King isn't going to be what you expect he's not just going to be listen a reigning king he is going to be a suffering king his glory will not come until he has suffered and he will be a righteous King so he will not suffer for his own sin but he will suffer vicariously for the sins of his people wonderful news hopeful news there is going to be a righteous king all the kings are bad all the kings are horrible all the kings are wicked it's as bad as it could get had they lost all hope and at the moment when they're about to lose all hope and they are on the brink of judgment and they do go into judgment the message comes there will be a righteous king that righteous King will be a King eventually but before he's a reigning king he will be a suffering King he will suffer not for his own sins because he will be righteous but he will suffer vicariously for the sins of his people he will pay the price for their sins through a substitutionary death by which he will be glorified and his people glorified with him that's the message of Isaiah 53 a suffering vicarious substitutionary sacrifice for sin that was being symbolized in the sacrificial system every time they killed an animal but it didn't become clear to them until it was revealed here exactly what that symbol of animal sacrifice men let me read the section to you starting in verse 13 of chapter 52 with all that in mind behold my servant will prosper he will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted just as many were astonished at you so his appearance was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men thus he will sprinkle or startle many nations Kings will shut their mouths on account of him for what had not been told them they will see what they had not heard they will understand who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed for he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched ground he has no stately form or Majesty that we should look upon him nor appearance that we should be attracted to him he was despised and forsaken of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and like one from whom men hide their face he was despised and we did not esteem him surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted but he was pierced through for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the chastening for our well-being fell upon him and by his scourging we are healed all of us like sheep have gone astray each of us has turned to his own way but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he didn't open his mouth like a lamb that has led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before it's Shearer's so he did not open his mouth by oppression and judgment he was taken away and as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due his grave was assigned with wicked men yet he was with a rich man in his death because he had done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth but the Lord was pleased to crush him putting him to grief if he would render himself as a guilt offering he will see his offspring he will prolong his days and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand as a result of the anguish of his soul he will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge the righteous one my servant will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities therefore I will allot him a portion with the Great and he will divide the booty with the strong because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors that is an incredible portion of Scripture it speaks about suffering and glory it speaks about prospering and being marred it speaks about dying and living and the fulfillment of it is Jesus Christ if there was nothing else to prove that God wrote the Old Testament this would be enough seven hundred years before Christ comes and fulfills all of this every detail is given by the prophet Isaiah minut precise exact details the record of fulfillment is written in the New Testament this passage is so important that Jesus referred to it the Apostles referred to it the New Testament writers referred to it it is quoted or referred to in Matthew Mark Luke John acts Romans first Corinthians second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians first Timothy Titus Hebrews first Peter and first John this chapter no Old Testament scripture is so often and so convincingly applied to Jesus in the New Testament as this one is New Testament writers refer virtually to every verse that I just read it contains the sum and substance of the Gospel according to the New Testament writers and to reject its fulfillment in Christ is to demonstrates one's depravity it's a stunning account of Christ 700 years before he showed up who is this righteous king who will reign after he suffers who is this they wouldn't know first Peter 1:10 says they looked into the prophecy to see what person they were writing about who is this Jesus reached back and showed them why he had to suffer and rise and no doubt took them to this chapter the apostles in the book of Acts are preaching the necessity of the Messiah to die and rise and no doubt they went back to this chapter because in this chapter you have the death of Christ you have the burial of Christ you have the resurrection of Christ you have the intercession of Christ you have the coronation of Christ and you have the salvation of Christ from historical standpoint this is such a critical portion of Scripture but let's get on a personal scale you could admire the clear testimony to the fact the Bible is a divine book because only God can predict the future the 80 year future of the Babylonian captivity in the 700 year future the arrival of the Messiah fulfilling in perfect detail everything here along with everything else in the Old Testament prophetically that is fulfilled by his arrival you could admire the authenticity of divine inspiration you could affirm that God is the author of holy scripture that would be good that would be correct that would be sensible that would be reasonable that would be actually erudite and learned to do that but that in and of itself that kind of admiration wouldn't solve your biggest problem because God didn't write the Bible so you could admire it God didn't write the Bible so that you could say isn't it amazing that God knows the future and God can predict the future there's something much bigger going on here much much bigger and it's that that I want to talk about for a minute on a far grander scale a far more personal level a far more important plane is this this is very important this chapter answers the most important essential critical crucial significant primary paramount weighty serious meaningful question of all questions and if I had a thesaurus I'd I'd read it this is more important than any other question that anyone would ever ask it listen to me it is more important than all other questions combined this chapter answers a question that transcends all other issues and transcends all other queries and all other questions and all other moral dilemmas and this question which Isaiah 53 answers has nothing to do with health it has nothing to do with wealth it has nothing to do with success it has nothing to do with education it has nothing to do with morality it has nothing to do with philosophy nothing to do with sociology nothing to do with politics it has nothing to do with all the issues that people have on their list of issues fact if you were to google what is the most important question in the world what is the question most asked by people in the world you would go way down whatever that list looks like and you would never find this question there never it is the most avoided question while it's the most transcendent question what is the question here it is how can a sinner be right with God so as to escape eternal hell and enter eternal heaven that's the most important question how can a sinner be right with holy God so as to escape eternal hell and enter eternal heaven borrowing the language of Romans how can a how can God be just and the justifier of sinners how can a holy just God declare sinners righteous and acceptable to him and his heaven how can a man be right with God that's the great moral dilemma of human existence because it determines your eternity how can an infinitely holy God accept sinners how can they be right with him so as to escape eternal hell and enter eternal heaven that's the question answered in Isaiah 53 in the New Testament era the world was full of slaves tens of millions of slaves existed in the world of the New Testament in the Mediterranean world the Apostle Paul wrote 13 of the 27 New Testament book so he a he wrote a lot of it have the Gospel writers who who wrote the Gospels in the book of Acts in the case of Luke and then the other writers all the New Testament writers you could pile them all together not one of them wrote a treatise on the abuses of slavery none of them wrote a Epistle on human trafficking or on sex trade or on the social disasters of of drugs and drunkenness they referred to sins the sins of the culture but when Paul sat down to write his opus Magnus he wrote a massive treatise that sits in the middle of the New Testament that answers this question how can a sinner be right with holy God so as to escape eternal hell and enter eternal heaven and that treatise is called the book of Romans all the rest of the New Testament points to that same question because listen to me the Bible was written to answer that question the whole Bible was written to answer that question the the answer just comes into clear summation form in the New Testament in Romans and in the Old Testament in Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 is the condensed version of Romans Paul could have answered a lot of other questions questions that people were asking there were abuses in the ancient world there were all kinds of in Justices they didn't have justice the way we have justice today was a cruel difficult world parents could kill their female children with impunity I mean it was a world full of things that could have been addressed on a social level but the whole of the Bible is focused on one question how can a sinner be right with God so as to escape eternal hell and enter eternal heaven by the way Isaiah and Paul gave the same answer the same answer Old Testament New Testament same answer here's the answer the sinner can be right with God because the servant the slave of Jehovah became a substitute and suffered the judgment of God in the sinner's place he died in our place to borrow the words of Isaiah 53 he was wounded for our transgressions God placed his judgment wrath toward sinners on his servant the substitute who died a vicarious death now that's the heart of the message of the Bible that's the heart of the message of the New Testament the Old Testament that's the heart of this section in Isaiah let me show you something very interesting in the back half of Isaiah 42 66 there are 27 chapters okay from 40 to 66 makes 27 chapters they're split into three sections of nine three sections of nine chapters okay nine nine and nine section one is about salvation from the Babylonian captivity it ends in chapter 48 from from 40 to 48 that's 9 if you include 40 so it ends so it's all about salvation from the Babylonian captivity the theme of these 27 chapters salvation right salvation the first section salvation from the Babylonian captivity and the first section ends with these words there's no peace to the wicked yes God will deliver you from the Babylonian captivity if you trust in him if you love him if you turn to him for salvation but if you don't there will be no peace for the wicked so section 1 is a section of salvation and deliverance from Babylon promised to the people with a warning to the wicked a section to the next nine chapters the next nine that ends at fifty seven is about salvation from sin okay it's about forty nine to fifty seven is about salvation from sin and this is how it is there is no peace to the wicked it is exactly the same way it promises salvation God will save he's promised to save not only bring the people back from Babylon that's temporal salvation but spiritual salvation he promises to save his people be warned however if you do not turn to him alone for salvation there will be no peace for you as a wicked sinner section three is about the final salvation from the cursed earth that will be fulfilled in the millennial reign of Christ on the earth that's chapter 58 to 66 the final section looks at the future eschatological salvation so this is about salvation temporal salvation from Babylon spiritual salvation from sin and final eschatological salvation from a cursed earth and the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and by the way that ends the same way chapter 66 the very ending verses 23 and 24 is a warning to the wicked different words but a warning to the wicked so there's a this is the typical gospel approach salvation is available salvation is offered if you reject it be warned be warned alright that's the three sections we're in the middle one we're in the one from 49 to 57 were in that middle section salvation from sin for his people which asks this question why do we need that hey they would buy into the salvation from Babel in part we're glad to know we're going to get delivered out of our Babylonian captivity we're glad to know that God's going to bring us back to our land that's the promise of that opening section and we're also thrilled to hear about the glory of the kingdom to come chapter the last chapters we're thrilled to hear about that but what's this stuff about saved from sin in the middle here that's the heart of it and it asks the question then why do the Jews need to be saved from sin they're the children of Abraham don't they have covenant rights Covenant promises just genealogical privileges aren't they the Covenant people aren't the covenants of God a revocable aren't they okay aren't they the sons of Abraham as they used to want to say oh but they they are but they're also wretched sinners go back to chapter 1 and see how Isaiah begins his whole prophecy verse 2 here's the prophecy of of Isaiah under Isaiah Jotham and a hasn't Hezekiah listen o heavens and hear o earth for the Lord speaks here's his first message sons I have reared and brought up they have revolted against me an ox knows its owner a donkey its master's manger but Israel does not know my people do not understand alas sinful nation people weighed down with iniquity offspring of evildoers sons who act corruptly they've abandoned the Lord despised the Holy One of Israel turned away from him verse 5 says the whole head is sick the whole heart is faint in the words of Jeremiah desperately wicked from the soul the foot to the head there is nothing sound in it bruises welts raw wounds not pressed out or Bandys not softened with oil unmitigated untreated sin your land is desolate your cities are burned with fire and he goes on to talk about the desolation and then in verse 11 he even attacks their religion what are your multiplied sacrifices to me I've had enough of burnt offerings of rams in the fat of fed cattle I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls lambs and goats and when you come to appear before me who requires of you this trampling of my courts bring your worthless offerings no longer incense is an abomination to me new moon and Sabbath the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly I hate your new moon festivals your appointed feasts they become a burden to me I'm weary of bearing them and when you spread out your hands in prayer I'll hide my eyes from you because your hands are covered with blood and verse 16 he says wash yourselves make yourselves clean remove the evil of your deeds from my sight cease to do evil learn to do good seek justice reprove the ruthless defend the orphan plead for the widow and then in a plea familiar to us come now let us reason together says the Lord though your sins are as scarlet they will be as white as snow though they are red like crimson they will be as wool offer you salvation out of your horrible sinful condition this is huge folks this is huge this indictment its massive because the one thing the Jews thought they didn't need was a savior from their sin they needed a savior from their circumstances and they needed a savior from their enemies and they needed a savior from their sufferings but a savior from their sins that was an offense to them they were the people of God and yet in this middle section Savior has promised my servant chapter 42 I'll put my spirit on him he'll bring forth justice he's going to come and what's he going to do verse 6 he's going to be a light to the nation's it's going to open blind eyes bring out prisoners from the dungeon those who dwell in darkness from the prison he's going to he's going to be a savior he's going to be a rescuer from sin it's going to save his people from their sins that's his promise that's the role that's the work of the Messiah himself chapter 43 the Lord says in verse 1 don't fear I've redeemed you I've called you by my name you're mine when you pass through the waters I'll be with you through the rivers they won't overflow you when you walk through the fire you'll not be scorched nor will the flame burn you I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your savior your savior and that's what I'm going to do verse 10 you're my witnesses declares the Lord my servant the Messiah whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he be before me there was no God formed and there will be none after me even I the Lord and there is no Savior besides me it is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed God is say I'm going to save you I'm going to save you from your sins that's my promise to you I'm going to save you salvation from sin then becomes the theme of this middle section mill section listen to this 49 to 57 middle chapters 52 to 54 middle chapter 53 middle verse 5 he was pierced through for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities chastening for our well-being fell on him and by his scourging we are healed everything funnels down to that central verse if you start at 5 at 52 13 and go to 53 12 right there in the middle is the promise that the servant of Jehovah would be pierced through for our transgressions crushed for our iniquities chastened for our well-being Scourge for our spiritual healing by what means will God save his people by what means will he forgive their sin by the substitutionary vicarious death of his servant the Messiah they didn't know who it was he was talking about but all the ancient rabbis interpreted this as messianic the modern ones don't and they didn't after Christ because it was so clearly fulfilled in Christ they couldn't cope with it that this text points to the Lord Jesus Christ is so clear as to be unmistakable and as I said the ancient rabbis interpreted this prophecy as messianic originally but they interpreted it without the vicarious aspect and I've done a lot of reading in this area just to make sure that I had their perspective accurately what they said was he will he will feel our pain they had no theology that allowed the Messiah to die himself that they they don't see the the Messiah suffering here in any other way then sympathetically he feels our pain they know he'll be compassionate see they actually believe that the combination of their religious deeds their goodness listen and their suffering would gain them glory in other words there was merit in their racial privileges there was merit in their human goodness there was merit in their religious ceremonies and there was more merit in their suffering and so the promise of their future glory would be the reward that the Messiah would bring to them for all of those things including their suffering so the Messiah will come compassionately sympathetically feel the pain of the nation and that's now he will bear their iniquities that's how he will bear their griefs and carry their sorrows simply in a sympathetic fashion they didn't see in this passage the Messiah being humiliated being killed pierced as a substitute dying under the wrath of God in their place to pay a price for their sins that no human could ever pay listen to put it simply the Jews then in the time of Christ and now and in-between have never felt they needed a personal sacrifice for sin they don't need a Savior they just need a sympathizer they need a king to deliver them from their enemies and their circumstances and their suffering Judaism even at the time of Isaiah and at the time of Jesus and now has long lost the sense of their sinful condition as defined in Isaiah 1 and because they don't know the wretched condition they're in in terms of sin they don't understand that they're under judgment and that they could never bear that judgment on their own they can't offset it by they're supposed righteousness so they need someone to die in their place even though that was repeatedly demonstrated to them in the animal sacrificial system they believe they have the ability to achieve salvation and as long as you believe that the whole concept of a vicarious substitutionary death is pointless because you don't need somebody to die for your sin because you're not going to be punished for it you must have a doctrine of depravity a doctrine of inability and judgment in order to even conceive of a concept of substitutionary vicarious atoning sacrifice so they had this messianic lis interpreted house could they interpret it it's in the middle of the Messianic Section chapters 40 to 66 it's in the middle of the servant songs 42 49 50 and 53 and they know those refer to the Messiah but after the church is born they couldn't run fast enough from those interpretations because this was so clearly fulfilled in Jesus and the record was written down not once not twice not three times before times and then preached by every Christian in the world every Christian reader and you felt it when I read it earlier didn't you use you see Christ in this chapter in just the reading of it don't you it's powerful it's overwhelming it's a description of Jesus Christ that it's crystal clear to you well what are the Jews going to do if it isn't if it's not Christ who is it oh they said its Israel its Israel that's the common interpretation Israel is the servant of Jehovah granted earlier in Isaiah Israel is referred to as the servant of Jehovah that's right chapter 41 verse 8 after 43 verse 10 Israel is called the servant of Jehovah and there was a time when God looked to Israel to be his servant to serve him but they had forfeited that and that's part of the mazing transition here Israel an unfaithful servant of Jehovah is replaced by one who will be a faithful servant of Jehovah Israel a disobedient servant a rebellious servant will be replaced by one who will be obedient and god-honoring servant of Jehovah and that is the Messiah the righteous King the true sir not a nation but a person this can't be Israel why because this suffering servant is innocent and sinless that's not true of Israel humble that's not true of Israel voluntarily submits not true of Israel never did they voluntarily submit to suffering and vicarious since when did Israel suffer for some other people's sins now I understand the dilemma they have every Jew who reads Isaiah 53 is tortured with the reality of Jesus in this chapter that's why in many synagogues they omit reading it in fact you might be interested to know that Isaiah 53 has historically been called the torture chamber of rabbis it has also been called a guilty conscience of Judaism you can't escape from the fact that this is Christ can't escape it Israel yes call to be a servant of Jehovah unfaithful to that calling you can see that in chapter 42 verses 8 to 10 totally unfaithful but there will come a faithful servant but Israel they just think they need a king a reigning king and a sympathizer to deliver them from their circumstances their suffering their enemies but not their sin Isaiah doesn't want them to be able to get away with that so even in chapter 59 when he moves into the last section isaiah 59:2 just give me another few minutes your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God your sins have hidden his face from you so that he doesn't hear your hands are defiled with blood your fingers with iniquity your lips have spoken falsehood your tongue mutters wickedness you see until someone understands that they are in a wretch condition under the judgment of God and have no ability to pay the penalty for their sin they're not looking for a vicarious substitute so the Prophet goes after this again and again and again verse 12 our transgressions are multiplied before you our sins testify against us our transgressions are with us we know our iniquities transgressing and denying the Lord turning away from our God speaking oppression and revolt and so forth it just keeps going on and going on and then in verse 16 and there was no man there's no where's the righteous King there's no man where's the righteous king from verse 16 on it's one of the most magnificent portions of Isaiah God steps up there's no righteous man God says I'll do it myself and he puts on righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head and he wraps himself in a mantle and off he goes into judgment to judge the ungodly but for those who fear the name of the Lord verse 19 his glory from the rising of the Sun he will come like a rushing stream which the wind of the Lord drives a redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob that's what verse 1 said the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save and verse 21 says he'll do it to keep his covenant the problem lays out the most powerful issue of all how a sinner can be reconciled to God there has to be a substitute salvation has to come through vicarious death of one acceptable to God as a substitute for sinners and that one is described here and there's only one possibility as to who it is and that it is the Lord Jesus Christ now listen very carefully to what I say and I had to be a little long to get all this introduction in but let's to this very carefully in this struggle of the Jews to find an acceptable interpretation of Isaiah 53 there is revealed the fundamental difference between Judaism and Christianity here is the fundamental difference between Judaism and Christianity here it is Judaism doesn't need a savior from sin Christianity exalts the Savior from sin Judaism is a religion that magnifies human effort human religion human achievement as the means to it glory as the means to acceptance with God Christianity is the religion that depreciates all human effort all religious achievement as useless in gaining acceptance to God Jews do not need a vicarious atoning substitutionary Redeemer to take the wrath of God for them because they're not under the wrath of God by virtue of the Abrahamic identification by virtue of their religion their human goodness and because of their suffering they have merited glory that's the difference Jews don't need a Savior to save them from their sins personally only to save them from their enemies their difficulties and their suffering so here's the question you ask any Jewish person do you personally need a Savior to take your place and die under the judgment of God for your sins do you if they say no end of discussion because until they say yes it's pointless to offer them Christ where would you take a Jewish person under those conditions take them to Isaiah it is by His atonement verse 11 that he justifies many it is by his atonement that the servant will justify many by burying their iniquities who is this can you imagine being a Jew and looking at this and say who is this well chapter 42 gives us a hint chapter 42 says listen to this this is powerful behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen one in whom my soul delights I have put my spirit upon him that's God speaking behold my servant my chosen one and whom my soul delights I put my spirit upon him does that sound familiar to you flash-forward baptism of Jesus out of heaven comes the voice of God this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and the spirit descending on him as a dove heaven signifies the fulfillment of Isaiah 42 that Jesus is the servant of Jehovah look I'll close with this one day Philip is going down to Gaza he jumps into a chariot with an official from the court the guy has just been to Jerusalem he's converted to Judaism he's reading Old Testament scripture what's he reading Isaiah 53 that's what he's reading and as he reads it he comes to the wonderfully familiar words that we all know and love that are recorded for us by Luke he was led as a sheep to slaughter as a lamb before it shares a silent doesn't open his mouth in humiliation his judgment was taken away who will relate his generation his life is removed from the earth he's reading the heart of Isaiah 53 and the eunuch eunuch may have physical indications but it also became a word for court officials just a general word so it may not have anything to do with anything physical but anyway whoever is he's some kind of a financial guy he says to Philip this is the question of whom does the prophets say this who's he talking about which is what all the Jews said and which is what they're still still saying who is he talking about I love this Philip opened his mouth beginning from this scripture he preached Jesus to him could I suggest to you that when you're dealing with a Jew do the same beginning in this scripture Isaiah 53 preach Jesus well I had so much more to say you will never know what it was about and aren't you glad sorry to keep you so long but we had to get off to a good start next week we'll jump right into verses 13 14 and 15 that will be our Easter message father thank you for our time this morning for these dear patient people thank you for the glory of your word and the glory of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ we honor him we praise Him we ask all things that would be done in our lives would be to his praise and glory amen you

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 381,769

Rating: 4.7603993 out of 5

Keywords: Sin, Christ, Lord, Jesus, Bible, God, Truth, Grace to You, John MacArthur, Gospel, Salvation, Word, Study, Preaching, Pastor, Believe, Prophecy, Ministry, Ministries, Revival, Holy Spirit, Father, Cross, Prophet, Messiah, Christian, Church, Scripture, Faith, Obedience, Astonish, Sprinkle, Startle, Servant, Jehovah, Isaiah, Death, Resurrection, Sinner, Jews, Old Testament, Prosper, Exalted, Appearance, Marred, Kings, Nations, See, Understand

Id: 8pjH6jbAlNo

Length: 67min 52sec (4072 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 16 2012