The Astonishing Servant of Jehovah (Isaiah 53)

as Christians we understand that the most important event in the history of the world is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ followed by his resurrection because in his death and resurrection he provided the only way of salvation the only way that a sinner can escape hell and enter eternal heaven you need to understand that in all its fullness and all its truth you might think that to get an understanding of the death and resurrection of Christ you would first of all go to the Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John because they record it or maybe you would think you would go to the epistles written by the Apostles which explained the theological meaning of the cross but there is a place you should go even before that because the most powerful clear and comprehensive explanation of the death and resurrection of Christ is found in the Old Testament Isaiah 53 we can't really fully understand his death and resurrection and final glory unless you understand this amazing prophecy that Isaiah gave what in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified [Music] you [Music] 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 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 it contains the route of gospel theology it contains the route 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 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 that it will really shine in your minds but 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 it is divided into two sections one to 39 and 40 to 66 it is penned around 680 some years before Christ that 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 39 chapters 1 to 39 majors on coming judgement 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 and captivity I mean that for thirty nine chapters God has given revelation to Isaiah 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 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 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 if 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 the 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 endure 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 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 startling ly 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 of the Messiah exists 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 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's 700 years before he showed up who is this righteous king who will reign after he suffers who is this they wouldn't know 1st Peter 1:10 says they looked into the prophecies 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 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 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 books so he he wrote a lot of it there katha 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 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 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 - borrowed 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 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 forty to forty eight that's nine if you include 40 so it ends 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 section to the next nine chapters the next nine that ends at 57 is about salvation from sin okay it's about 49 to 57 is about salvation from sin and this is how it ends 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 Babel and 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 3 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 50 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 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 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 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 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 and listen and their suffering would gain them glory in other words there was merit in their racial privileges there it 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 how 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 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 if I carry asset owning 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 him 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 saying 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 in 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 next time on grace to you all people are sinners all who have ever lived are sinners all are unable to save themselves for us as Christians we go back to the Old Testament and we see Christ though the resurrection is here it's the most obvious missing part of the text because you can't have death and exaltation unless you have resurrection and the begs the question what about you and that's the question that has to be asked an answer today what about you [Music]

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 19,586

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: xPGWLj8XVfQ

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 02 2018