Today I got to give another one of our talks in our series of Meet Jesus in Isaiah. When prepping this whole series I figured that evey Christian church is contuatually obliged to preach on this passage if you are going to do anything on Isaiah. This passage simply says what the Gospel - the Good News is.
I read a few things on this topic and it also rubbed up agaist something I had been reading in another book on the atonement (book review will come soon-ish). However it was intersting to see on final read I did riff on lots of what Ray Ortland said in his commentary (Preaching the Word series). While I did read some technical things, Ortland was aimed at a very practical level with some useful images and stories that I lifted to help explain the text, as you can see below.
Our problem of guilt
Do you ever feel guilty? Now sometimes it is right to feel guilty when you know you have wronged someone or something, it still can be crushing. How do you get rid of feeling guilty for things that have happened in the past?
Accept you did something wrong, but move on. We know that it's impossible to change the past. So, after spending time learning from your actions and making amends and repairs wherever possible, it is important not to dwell for too long.I like the mix of hard reality and then a pivot to fantasy. You can’t change the past, bad things happen its true. Maybe learn form the experience, but then forget about it. Since you can’t go back in time and change history don’t think about it too much. That was very helpful.
One time I broke my toe when I was chainsawing a branch and it landed in the wrong spot. For a few weeks afterwards, occasionally the moment of impact would re-live in my mind and it would cause me to physically flinch. At that same time I was reading about emotions, as at Youth we were doing a series on emotions in Psalms. And it turns out that this type of trauma is normal as it is your body still trying to process what happened.
Now, sometimes, my mind will relive an embarrassing moment out of nowhere, or worse, I am reminded of some bad mistakes I have made, or how I have hurt someone in the past. These things pop into my head and I am sure with very little prompting you can think of moments that come back to you that are not pleasant. Like my toe thing, these memories are, almost as if I still need to process these things, as I carry around some pain, regret, embarrassment or guilt about things that have happened. How do we deal with our wrongs if we can’t change the past, and how can we just move on and forget about them if our mind keeps reminding us of the pain?
We’re all trapped in consequences we didn’t intend but we did set in motion. Every one of us looks at something in the past and agonizes, “If only I could relive that moment! If only I could trade in my record for a better one!” But how can we? It’s too late. We’re all like Lady Macbeth, washing her hands of her part in murder and moaning, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! Here’s the smell of blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” (Isaiah—God Saves Sinners Chapter 39: Guilt, Substitution, Grace)And then if we add God into the equation, how might we feel in front of him? If we all are guilty by our own conscience, what does He think of us? Everybody knows God punishes bad people and rewards the good, that is his job. If we have to answer to God for all that we have done, we will be crushed.
Some people think if you do acts of penance, either prayer, fasting, giving to charity or confession that this might free you from your guilt. Again, this doesn’t change the past, but somehow helps you think you have tipped the scales in your favour by your new better actions.
Ancient Jews had sin offerings and guilt offerings. Animals would be killed in place of the sinner. Once a year the high priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Ark of the Covenant and then they would put their hand on another goat, confess the sins of the nation over this animal and then they would send that goat out into the wilderness, symbolically showing the sins leaving their camp. This was their literal scapegoat.
And it was symbolic, it has to be, for can animals really take on guilt and sin? They might be a little smart, but I don’t think they willingly or knowingly take on sins for other people. Hebrews event tells us:
It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4 NIV)So what are we to do? Well, the next verse in Hebrews tells us,
Therefore, when Christ came into the world... (Hebrews 10:5 NIV)Because animal sacrifices can’t take away our sins before God, Jesus came into this world to deal with all our guilt and sin. This Isaiah passage is all about Jesus. It is pretty obvious that it is about Jesus, which is a little amazing because this was written 700 years before Jesus.
Jesus is the Suffering Servant
A story goes that Edith Shaffer, wife of Francis, started a Bible reading group with some Jewish women. She opened our passage and simply read it out to them and then asked the women who they thought the passage was about. They all said it sounded like Jesus and they wondered why no one had told them about this before. It turns out that modern Jewish lectionary readings for their synagogues stop at Isaiah 52:12 and then pick up from Isaiah 54:1 skipping over this exact section (see here and here).
On a human level Jesus didn’t look like a great king, he had nothing attractive about him and He was rejected by his own people. His death seems like a defeat, He is not who the Jews were expecting. Nothing like King Saul who was a head taller than everyone else (1 Sam 10:23) and David we are told “had a fine appearance and handsome features” (1 Sam 16:12), but not Jesus. He had no majesty about him that was appealing.
However, despite his appearance very early on, the first believers saw that Isaiah 52-53 was talking about Jesus. This servant poem or servant song in Isaiah is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Philip and Peter, who were all Jewish couldn’t help but see Jesus in this passage.
In our New Testament reading, Philip was called to go along a road and while he was there he overheard an official from Ethiopia reading.
This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”Now we don’t have the exact words of Philip when he explained the good news about Jesus from this passage. It would be cool if we did, but since we don’t, we are going to guess. Someone suggested it was the eunuch’s connection with the Servant’s lack of offspring that spoke to him in verse 8, but I think it was more than that. (Hays, C. B. (2009). Theological Perspective on Isaiah 52:13–53:12. In D. L. Bartlett & B. B. Taylor (Eds.), Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C (Vol. 2, p. 284). Westminster John Knox Press.) I think it had to do more with our guilt being forgiven.
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. (Acts 8:32–35 NIV)
There is lots in this passage, and we may skip over some of the details to try and see the main point, the main one that Philip talked about, the Good News about Jesus; and using the Nicene Creed that we just said as a bit of a framework. We will look at how for our sake Jesus was crucified, he suffered death and was buried, and then he rose again.
For our sake He was crucified
Jesus died for us. You can see that “we” enter this passage in verse 4 where it saysSurely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. The “us” in this passage isn’t just the Jews, it is the nations. Paul in Romans when talking about how he wants to go to the unreached people who haven’t heard about Jesus says:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4–6 NIV)
It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written:Paul quotes Isaiah 52:15, saying that even those who haven’t been told about God, will see and understand what this servant had done. And when it is all said and done, it is Jesus actions that will lead people to see and understand all that the Lord has done for them.
“Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” Romans 15:20–21 (NIV)
We were all lost and wandering on our own, but in our waywardness, in our lostness, God still acted and put our sin on Jesus on the cross.
Crucifixion was not a pretty thing. In 52:14 it talks about how the servant will be marred and disfigured, and in 53:4 how he will take on our pain and our suffering. Jesus on the cross, took a severe punishment, but he was innocent.
Jesus’s death would be misunderstood by onlookers, who would assume that he was dying for his blasphemy. (Exalting Jesus in Isaiah Christ Rejected but Our Atoning Substitute (Isaiah 53:4–6))Instead, the punishment Jesus took was for us. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed and wounded for our iniquities.
Mel Gibson also did the same thing in his movie The Passion of the Christ. In the movie, it was his hands that put the nails in Jesus’s hand. As a movie site said, this is “symbolic of the fact that [Gibson] holds himself accountable first and foremost for Christ’s death”
[As we sang in the 10 service: It was my sin that held Him there / Until it was accomplished / His dying breath has brought me life / I know that it is finished]
It was for our sake Jesus was crucified.
He suffered death and was buried
Not only are we told that this servant will be marred and suffer in our place, they will also die and be buried.He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. This servant would be like a lamb to the slaughter, they will be cut off from the land of the living and they would be given a grave with the rich, even though they were innocent.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7–9 NIV)
We see in the Gospel accounts how Jesus was silent before Pilate, he didn’t answer him. This was because Jesus was willing to go to the cross for us. “Its not that He was overpowered. He chose not to fight back” (Ortlund, R. C., Jr., & Hughes, R. K. (2005). Isaiah: God saves sinners (p. 358). Crossway Books.)
The penalty for sin is death, and that is exactly where Jesus went, to death, to deal with our sins. Jesus walked the path all the way that sinners would walk. Jesus does that, so we don’t have to. He takes the full force of punishment, hell and death for us.
And then when it was time for Jesus to be buried we read in Matthew’s gospel:
As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. (Matthew 27:57–60 NIV)After Jesus had completed our redemption on the cross, there was no need for any more humiliation like being burried as criminal in an unmarked grave. Instead, he received an honorable burial in a rich man’s tomb. (Piper, J. (2007). Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999). Desiring God.)
He rose again
But that was not the end of the story and this Servant Song doesn’t end there.Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.It was God’s will to crush this servant, and yet they will have prolonged days, and after suffering they will see the light of life and be satisfied.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:10–12 NIV)
While the word “resurrection” isn’t mentioned in this passage, it seems to me, that if this person is cut off from the land of the living, that they are assigned a grave and are a sin offering, that they really did die. And yet after all of that, we are told that they are still going to triumph. I don’t think the writer has in mind some sort of spiritual sentiment or some noble idea that the servant will live on in people’s memories. It seems that they will see life again, they will be able to divide their winnings with others and they will have prolong days. The first verse of our passage was like a spoiler for the whole thing for it says
See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. (Isaiah 52:13 NIV)After their actions of talking on the sins of many, they are going to be raised and exalted. And that is Jesus now. Jesus is the resurrected messiah, who conquered sin and death for his people. He is now risen, and since He has already won against death, He will never died again. His victory is now shared with others. This whole song is about how we get His victory through his suffering.
And we also see that “the death of Jesus Christ was more than a human plot; it was a divine strategy” (Ortlund, R. C., Jr., & Hughes, R. K. (2005). Isaiah: God saves sinners (p. 359). Crossway Books.)
God’s plan was to exalt and prosper his righteous Servant because he was willing to bear the sins of many. These verses demonstrate that the death of the Servant was not a tragic mistake; his death will justify many and will bring the Servant honour. (Isaiah 40–66 Final Exaltation of the Servant (53:10–12))
God was pleased that the Servant’s death would pay the price required for reparation so that guilt could be removed and a new relationship restored with sinners. (Isaiah 40–66 Final Exaltation of the Servant (53:10–12))
The suffering of Jesus was not the pleasing thing about all this, but the glory, the achievement of what was accomplished is what was pleasing to the Father and the Son. We read about Jesus’ own attitude toward the cross in Hebrews
For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)The joy that would come from redeeming people was on Jesus’ mind. “He considers all that it cost him to redeem us as not too much” Oswalt, J. N. (2003). Isaiah (p. 590). Zondervan Publishing House.
As one commentator says:
God would rather slaughter his own beloved Son than allow guilty sinners like us into heaven unatoned for! There has never been a greater display of God’s justice in all history, nor of humanity’s injustice. (Exalting Jesus in Isaiah Christ Innocent but Willing to Be Slaughtered (Isaiah 53:7–9))We sometimes think that salvation was easy for Jesus to take our sins away. Salvation seems like it costs us nothing, but it certainly was not easy.
It is on the cross we see the wisdom of God, how God can both be just and the one who justifies sinners. God’s justice demands that sin be addressed, but in his mercy, God provides a way in Jesus so that sinners will not be destroyed. It was not easy, but it pleased God to save sinners, like you and me.
What does this mean for us?
So what does this mean for us? We are the “us” and “the many” in the passage. For our sake, Jesus was crucified, died and was buried and then rose again. Jesus took our punishment for us. This is the good news about Jesus.
God doesn’t punish bad people and rewards the good. God punished the good servant for the sake of the many bad - us! The servant takes on the sins of the many, even though they were innocent.
But our passage tells us, and the Good News is, that Jesus was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. Kant wanted to stress the autonomy of individuals, but this passage stresses the autonomy of God. Jesus, in His divine freedom, was willing to pour out His life for others. He took the initiative towards us, while we were lost. He willingly and knowingly bore our guilt to bring us redemption. Humans may not be able to transfer guilt to others, but God is God, we can’t limit Him and His own freedom, we don’t have that power.
The Good News is that our penalty has been laid on Jesus. We are free.
Jesus put on all our sins and guilt and took them to the grave. He suffered the punishment already for our sins, which means, if we go to Him, we won't be punished again for them. You can’t be punished twice for the same sins.
Already in our service after our confession,n it has been said “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ pardons and absolves all who truly repent and believe his holy gospel” This is not because God sweeps our sins under the rug, and simply forgives. It is because Jesus has taken on our sins for us.
If you are not in Christ, turn to Him, for He is willing to take away all your guilt before God. You can’t carry them on your own, you will be punished for them.
You can’t change the past. You and I have done wrong. It is an objective truth, even if you journal, even if you change your ways and try and do better, even if you ignore the past and move on with your life - our wrongs have happened.
But the good news is, you can’t change the past. 2,000 years ago Jesus has died for our sins. Our guilt and sin has been dealt with on the cross. It has all been laid on Jesus. It has pleased God to save sinners, does it please you? Go to him, for He is the only way for salvation. He is how we can have peace. He is the only way for us to be healed.
The good news is that:
he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5 NIV)
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