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Pastor
Mike Mounts |
SCENES OF THE SUFFERING SERVANT (Online Sermon Video) Isaiah 53 Introduction The Bible truly is an amazing book. Although written by 40 plus
writers, over a 1600 year period, on three continents, in three different
languages--the Bible is a book of continuity. Although 66 books, it is actually one story. From Genesis to
Revelation, it is the story of God's glory. I've always been fascinated with the fact that the Old Testament
contains more than 300 prophecies of the Messiah that Jesus has fulfilled in
minute detail. Such detail, that no human could have ever predicted them , and not imposter could have ever fulfilled them.
Such fulfillment gives unmistakable and unarguable proof that God Himself is
the Author of the Scriptures. It is not only the Good Book; it is God's Book! We find such Messianic
prophecies throughout the Book of Isaiah. The approximate date of Isaiah's
writing is 700-650 B.C.; approximately 700 years before Jesus came to earth!
Simply by understanding the meaning of the writers name (which is also the
title of the book), we can come to understand the theme of the book. Isaiah means "The
LORD is salvation." In our message this morning, we will focus on Isaiah 53. This is
the last of four Servant Songs found in the Book of Isaiah. The first three
are found in Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-13; and 50:4-11. In these songs we see the
Servant's (Christ's) humiliation, as well as His exaltation and glorification
to follow. We see His submissive obedience to the Father. As a light to the
Gentiles, we see Him fulfilling God's heart for the nations. We see the Lion
of the tribe of Although the Old
Testament prophets had difficulty reconciling the sufferings and the glory of
the Messiah (in regard to His first and second coming to earth), as well as
the spiritual and physical realms of His kingdom. But we have the privilege
of looking back and looking ahead with 20/20 vision. Listen to what the
apostle Peter wrote: Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched
carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what
or what matter of time [who would it be and when would he come], the Spirit
of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. (*1 Peter 1:10-11) __________________________________ Let's take a look at
the most well-known of Isaiah's Servant Songs, which actually begins in
Isaiah 52:13. ISAIAH 52:13-15 These verses are a
preview or introduction to Isaiah 53. In three short verses Isaiah describes
the depth of Christ's humiliation as well as the height of His exaltation
possible! But let's remember that the Servant of the Lodmust
bear the cross before He can wear the crown. He must go through shame before
He enters into glory. He must go through death to life. He must become a
servant in order to rule. He appears to be conquered in order to conquer. And
as a seed must first die before it can bring forth a rich harvest, so Jesus
must die to produce a harvest of eternal souls (John 12:24). ISAIAH 52:14 After beating His face
with their fists, as well as the merciless scourging, Jesus was so disfigured
and His body so distorted that His appearance was not even human. All human
likeness was destroyed. Today we would say, He was "beaten to a
pulp." ISAIAH 52:13, 15 In His suffering He
would provide and offer salvation to the nations. He would be exalted and
lifted up. As a reminder, one day the kingdoms of this world will
"become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign
forever and ever!" (Rev. 11:15b). Let's now consider: THE SERVANT'S REJECTION (53:1-3) Jesus came to earth in
the form of a lowly baby, and of all places, placed in a manger. That is
certainly now where you would expect a king to be born. Instead of the
capital city, He was born outside He came to His own and
His own would not receive Him or even associate with Him. The majority of the
religious leaders considered all the claims and all the works of Jesus, and
concluded that He did not meet their standard of what Messiah ought to be,
and rejected Him. He was despised and
rejected. Jesus didn't have a
particular aura about Him. He wasn't born with a halo around His head. He
looked as human and as Jewish as all the others around Him, because He was
(apart from sin). His true identity was visible only through the eye of
faith; just as Peter answered Jesus' question, "But who do you say that
I am?" "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him,
"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:15-17) Just as Jesus wept over
But although He was despised and rejected by men, every aspect
of His life was carefully observed and ordered by His Father. THE SERVANT'S PURPOSE (53:4-6) Lest we forget, Christ on the cross shows us what man thinks of
God. The value placed on Jesus was that He should be stricken, smitten of God
and afflicted (v. 4). They looked upon the excruciating suffering of Christ
as punishment for His own sins (although He was sinless). Just as Job's
friends, they measured the sin of the Sufferer by the extent of His
suffering. But Christ on the cross
also shows us what God thinks of men. Notice, if you would, the five
possessive pronouns found in verses 4-5: Our griefs Our sorrows Our transgressions Our iniquities Our peace But also notice the
substitution ( v. 5): His wounds for our
transgressions His bruising, for our
iniquities His chastisement, for
our peace His stripes, for the
healing of our sin-sick souls The word for "stripes" in the Hebrew, as well as the
Greek word Peter used in 1 Peter All of humanity has gone
astray from God. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. Jesus bore all the sins
of all humanity---past, present, and future. God, therefore, treated Him as
if He had committed all the sins of all humanity---past, present, and future;
though He was sinless. All this great multitude of sins and its divine
punishment fell upon the Son of god that day. The Holy One died for
the unholy. The sinless One died
for the sinner. The innocent One died
for the guilty The apostle Paul
described the substitutionary work of Christ like
this: For He made Him who knew
no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God unto
Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Just as our sins were
placed on Christ's account, His righteousness is placed on the account of
those who have faith in Jesus Christ. God, therefore, treats the believing
sinner as if he had done only the righteous acts of Christ. He treats us
"just as if we had never sinned." THE SERVANT'S HUMILITY (53:7-9) Although He was hard-pressed
and tormented, "He opened not His mouth." The apostle Peter wrote: When they hurled their insults at Him, He did
not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted
himself to Him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:23; NIV 1984) Jesus
voluntarily laid down His life as the Lamb of God. He is our Passover Lamb
Who was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). He is the pure and perfect
Lamb of God "Who takes away the sin of the world" (John
1:29b). He laid down His life in the prime
of His life. And just as there were no bones to be broken in the body of the
Passover lamb, not a bone was broken in His body; which is also a fulfillment
of Psalm 34:20. Pastor Mike Mounts preached this sermon on |
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