Let's take our Bibles and open up to Isaiah 52.
Towards the end of the chapter in verse 13, we'll
pick up there and we're going to go through verse
12 tonight. I know that we're kind of parachuting
in to this location and it may have been a while
since we were in Isaiah, so just a little bit
of where we are within this text before I read
and pray. Within this portion of Isaiah, there
are several different songs that are composed,
if you will, by the prophet Isaiah. And they're
all very good, they're very special, but the
one that we look at tonight, I might say is the
kind of climactic song within Isaiah. This text
here has everything to do with what we are doing
here tonight. This is all about the suffering
servant. And so let's pay attention to the reading
of God's holy inspired word from Isaiah 52 beginning
in verse 13. Behold, my servant shall act wisely.
He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you, his appearance
was so marred beyond human semblance and his
form beyond that of the children of mankind.
So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall
shut their mouths because of him. For that which
has not been told them they see and that which
they have not believed they understand. Who has
believed what he has heard from us and to whom
has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he
grew up before him like a young plant and like
a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty
that we should look at him and no beauty that
we should desire him. He was despised and rejected
by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces.
He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely
he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God
and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was
the chastisement that brought us peace, and with
his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have
gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own
way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity
of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that
is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that
before its shearers is silent, so he opened not
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,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked, and
with a rich man in his death, although he had
done no violence, and there was no deceit in
his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to
crush him. He has put him to grief. When his
soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see
his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The
will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out
of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and
be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous
one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous.
and he shall bear their iniquities therefore
I will divide him a portion with the many and
he shall divide the spoil with the strong because
he has poured out his soul to death and was numbered
with the transgressors yet he bore the sin of
many and makes intercession for the transgressors
this is God's word let us pray Almighty God,
we read this text and there is no doubt in our
minds that this is about our Savior Jesus Christ.
Father, would you move within us to have a greater
appreciation for what Jesus did, that he offered
up himself on the cross in order to make atonement
and to save us from what we deserve. Would you
grant us understanding? Now we pray for Christ's
sake. Amen. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said of this
text that it is the holy of holies of divine
writ. He said when you read this text you are
treading on holy ground. You've heard this text,
but still you might be asking how so? How is
this such an important text? What was Spurgeon
getting at when he said that? If you really pay
attention to this text what you realize is that
Isaiah has this to say, as if he is at Golgotha.
It is as if Jesus is there in front of Isaiah
being crucified. And yet, if you look at the
nature of the text, the way that this is written,
it's all very interesting. Because you probably
noticed that the tense of the verbs, it's in
the past tense, isn't it? And yet the prophet,
is writing with the crucifixion of Jesus still
hundreds of years in the future. He's writing
in the past tense about something that has not
yet happened. And so the way that this reads
is almost as if Isaiah is at the very end of
time reflecting on what might be just the most
pivotal moment in all of human history. And it's
so accurate, isn't it? It's so precise if you
are a Christian tonight There's no way that you
can walk away from this text and not know this
is about your Savior And yet people do deny this
text. It's as Paul says in Romans chapter 1 people
really do suppress the truth But there's no suppressing
this because Isaiah writes this he portrays this
just as clearly as Matthew and Mark and Luke
and John by this chapter this passage has been
called the fifth gospel because it's about Christ
alone. Tonight I want you to get just one main
point that Jesus is the suffering servant for
you. He's the suffering servant for you. But
two ways in which we see this, Jesus was wounded
for us and Jesus is declared guilty for us. Look
at 52 14. It says his appearance was so marred
beyond human semblance. What this means is that
Jesus was quite literally beaten beyond recognition.
You've perhaps heard of the instrument that was
used upon Jesus. some sort of a whip with a sharp
bone and metal in it, that when it was hit upon
his flesh, it would tear away flesh and it would
expose organs. In addition to that, when that
instrument was used, oftentimes the person was
tied with their hands above their head. Sometimes
those strikes could be fatal. know your Bible
well, you might have read that a person could
only be hit 39 times according to Jewish law.
That's in Deuteronomy, but Paul also speaks of
it in 2 Corinthians. Only 39 times, but here's
the thing about that. Who is the one who is actually
beating Jesus? It's not the Jews. It's the Roman
soldiers. And I hardly, hardly believe they cared
very much about what Jewish law had to say. You
see in verse five, his wounds, his stripes. This
in some ways is more graphic than even the gospels.
And yet it's not the only place where we see
this sort of thing. You don't have to turn there,
but listen to these words from Psalm 22, 16 through
18. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can
count all my bones. They stare and gloat over
me. They divide my garments among them, and for
my clothing they cast lots. Doesn't this sound
like Jesus to you? Of course it does, because
that same Psalm is the one that Jesus utters
on the cross. For you know these words on the
cross. Jesus said, my God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? These prophecies, they're so accurate,
for we know. that Jesus was fastened to the cross
by nails in his hands and his feet. We know that
a spear was thrust through his side after he
gave up his spirit. Look in verse five. He was
pierced for our transgressions. Friends, when
the text uses this word, your word here in English,
pierce, this is actually using one of the most
violent terms. the Old Testament. This is what
was done to our Lord Jesus Christ. This is, as
some have said, the death blow when He was pierced
for our transgressions and He was crushed, destroyed
for us. And we know that crucifixion is perhaps,
no it is, the most torturous way to die. I'm
not medical, but I do know that Jesus experienced
there on the cross unexplainable pain, dizziness,
fever, cramping, tendons throbbing, exposed organs
bleeding, shock, asphyxia, thirst and dehydration.
Anybody else on that cross would have surely
sought the sweet relief of death, but it was
not finished until Jesus said, it is finished.
Jesus underwent that for you. That's what you
need to know tonight. Jesus went through that
for you. And it seems so clear to us, doesn't
it? And yet, look at verse three. It says that
we esteemed him not. What this is getting at,
what Isaiah is getting at, is that people didn't
believe. This prophecy in Isaiah's day, people
didn't believe it in Jesus's day, and people
don't believe that now. This is about unbelief.
And you would think in Jesus's time, Messianic
expectation would have been very high, and yet
people reject Jesus. They did, and they still
do. People today say things like, well, I do
believe that Jesus was a good man. And I do believe
that Jesus was a good teacher. And I even believe
that Jesus was a good prophet. Friends, he is
certainly those things, but he is so much more.
He's the only Messiah, the only one who could
truly say, no greater love has this than someone
lay down his life for his friends. And yet the
laying down of his life is really only the beginning.
Because not only was he wounded for you, not
only was he killed for you, He was declared guilty
for you. Nothing gets people more riled up it
seems these days than innocent punishment and
yet this is what Jesus submitted himself to.
He who committed no sin became sin for us. His
suffering then is vicarious. Because people sin,
Christ as mediator was punished. And because
Christ as mediator was punished, we get his righteousness.
Perhaps you've wondered, how does Jesus' dying
have anything to do with the removal of my sin?
How does this work? Well, look in verses 10 and
11. Verse 10, his righteousness is ours because
his soul makes offering for guilt. Verse 11,
many to be accounted righteous as he bears their
iniquities. This is how atonement works. You
remember the Old Testament sacrifices that had
to be offered again and again and again to make
atonement. But with Jesus it doesn't have to
happen again and again and again because he is
the perfect sacrifice He takes our sins upon
himself and a transaction takes place where we
who believe in him are credited with his righteousness
We get peace with God we get new hearts that
are not stained by sin But understand even as
Jesus did this for us He did it for us, meaning
that they did not take his life because he laid
it down. Jesus laid his life down. Look in verses
four, six, and 10. You see the phrase, smitten
by whom? By God. Verse six, the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all. Verse 10. It was
the will of the Lord to crush him. And so he
was wounded, and he was rendered guilty for you,
and it was the only way. Jesus said it best.
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father but through me. Christ is
the only one who could make atonement as a perfect
sacrifice. And so the Father offered up the Son
to save his people. But you don't have to take
my word for it. Because Peter in his sermon in
Acts 2 speaks of this perfect plan to save sinners.
Acts 2 23, this Jesus delivered up according
to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,
you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless
men. Why would the Father offer up the Son in
this way? Why? Friends, it's for his glory. It
is for his glory. Do you remember the high priestly
prayer of Jesus in John 17? He begins his prayer
like this, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
your Son that the Son may glorify you. The purpose
for the Son is to give glory to the Father. this
is also communicated within our text tonight
because how does verse 13 go in chapter 52 behold
my servant shall act wisely he shall be high
and lifted up and shall be exalted but also look
at the end of the pericope because there towards
the end we also see this in verse 12 of 53 therefore
I will divide him a portion with the many and
he shall divide the spoil with the strong the
picture here is that as Jesus is crucified on
the cross, we who are in Christ are victorious
with Christ. You have victory with Jesus. He
did this for us such that as Jesus is raised,
one day we too shall be raised to be with God.
And that's about glorification. That's really
what we're doing here tonight. We are here to
give glory to Father Son and Holy Spirit and
To be encouraged and to have hope because there
are many miseries in this life aren't there?
You're all going through something. You've been
through something or you will go through something
Might be cancer Might be slander Might be job
loss Might be persecution Might be the loss of
a loved one if you are tired of that Today is
the day of salvation to give yourself to the
Lord Jesus Christ who one day will save us from
all of this. He will lift us up to be with God.
But in the here and now, what is the point? What's
the point of what we are doing here? If you know
you're short of catechism, it's to glorify God
and to enjoy Him forever. And yet people who
deny who Jesus is, they don't live for God because
they don't see a need for God. And they don't
see a need for the righteousness of Christ because
they think they are righteous in their own eyes.
They don't need to glorify God because they're
glorifying themselves. Friends, Jesus died so
that we could glorify God. Tonight I pray that
you would be strengthened in your faith in the
suffering servant, that his death and his resurrection
would bring you hope, but I'm also aware there
could be those here who were hearing this for
the first time who've never thought about Isaiah
52 and 50. But think about it, who else could
Isaiah possibly be talking about? Who else in
all of history could be afflicted with wounds
and we get healing from it? Who else in all of
history could be numbered with the transgressors
and yet bear the sins of many to make intercession?
Who else, I ask? Well, just in case you're still
unsure. I'll land the plane with Acts chapter
8. You might remember this episode, the Ethiopian
eunuch and Philip. And the eunuch is traveling
and he's reading something. And no, it's not
the newspaper. He's reading Isaiah 53. And the
eunuch, 834, the eunuch said to Philip, about
whom I ask you does the prophet say this about
himself or about someone else then Philip opened
his mouth and beginning with this scripture he
told him the good news about Jesus and so friends
it's not just that this is about Jesus it's that
it must be about Jesus because he's the only
one who stripes could bring healing. To put it
in another way, in a way that I think will stick
with you for the rest of the night, what can
wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.