Transcription
This is written hundreds of years before Jesus was born on Earth, and yet it's the detailed Theology and even the historical events that we see happening on the cross. These prophetic songs about Jesus peppering the book of Isaiah and climaxing in this Isaiah 53 song, which we're going to read now. These are the servant songs because Jesus is the ultimate servant who comes to save the Jews and the non-Jews, to bring the world to God. And here's how he does it. Let me read this now, and I'm going to give you the short version of this. I have a longer explanation of Isaiah 53 which I've already linked in the description below. You guys can check that out, but this is a short version. I just want to read through it and let you soak in what Christ crucified means.
Behold, my servant will prosper; he will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. And this makes it a servant song; it's the way he used to determine "my servant" in Isaiah. We call it one of the servant songs; they're all about the same person. Oh, he's going to be high and lifted and exalted up, right? But the irony of this is that his exaltation and His glory is in being lifted up on the cross and dying for us. And we'll see this throughout this, uh, chapter as well.
Just as many were astonished at you, my people, so his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So he tells the people of Israel, when people saw your destruction and they looked at you, when you're like, "Oh, what terrible things happened to Israel," look at how they were destroyed, look at how their temples ruined. Just as people were astonished at you, so my servant will be astonishing to them too because he's going to be so devastated and destroyed—that's Jesus on the cross.
Thus he will sprinkle many nations. Wait, he's going to—okay, you got to know the Old Testament to get this. The idea of sprinkling people is to cover them, to cover their sins. It's a ceremonially sprinkling of water or blood to cover sins, as Moses sprinkled the people and brought them—not only to cover sin but to initiate them, being brought into a new covenant, a New Covenant like Jesus brings. So Isaiah 53 is telling us he will be beaten and marred and disfigured, and he will suffer; and by doing this, he will sprinkle not just the Jews but the Gentiles too. He will become the sin covering for all people.
Kings will shut their mouths on account of him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand. Isaiah 53:1, "Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" This is—this is the question that hangs after Isaiah, where he's like, "But who will believe? Who will believe this message?" This is a hard message to swallow, man. Jesus at the Cross—just swallowing the whole idea of the Cross and him dying for you and you having to trust in him to be saved. But the whole point is, will you believe it? And to whom is 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, no appearance that we should be attracted to him. I think every actor they've ever hired to play the part of Jesus has been too attractive. Jesus didn't look like they look. Okay, there was no appearance, and he was lowly. He's like a root out of dry ground; it was like—it's just like there's nothing to look at in him in his appearance or in his manner that makes you go, "Wow, he's glorious." It's his character that made him glorious; it wasn't anything else.
Verse three: He was despised and forsaken of men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. So he's glorious, he's my servant, he'll be lifted up, but he's going to be beaten; his blood will cover nations, um, he'll sprinkle many nations, and he's despised. This is Jesus on the cross; he's hated, he's rejected. Now this passage that many Jews thought was Messianic, but they were confused by it. They were like, "Maybe there's two Messiahs, cuz one of them apparently is going to die in shame, but there's also Messiah is going to rule." So they tried to figure out how this worked. Jesus is how it works.
Verse four: Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Right, that's what they saw on the cross. Here's that Jesus is cursed; he's—he's a curse, and they thought it was his fault. Even his own disciples at this point were giving up. When they hear of the Resurrection later, they're very hesitant to believe because they think that Jesus—not only has he died, but he died in such a manner that means he must have been smitten by God. Well, yeah, God smote him in a sense, but why? Because he was pierced for our transgressions. And Jesus was pierced literally by nails and a spear; he was literally pierced by thorns going into his head; he was pierced—these were all pierced by the—by the—by the scourging as well. And these are for our transgressions. Yeah, he was crushed, but it was for our iniquities. Yeah, he was chastened, right? But it was for our well-being; the chastening of 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. Oh, man, look at my longer video for more details, but—but this is it, man. Look, you're a sinner; you need a savior. Jesus died; when he died, he dies like taking the punishment you deserve for your sins and I deserve, so that we could come back to God, so the door can be open for us to enter in and know him. This is the Gospel; this is the forgiveness of Christ; this is his incredible suffering out of his incredible love to give you incredible salvation.
He was oppressed; he was afflicted; and he did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, like a sheep that is silent before its shearers. So he did not open his mouth; he doesn't try to stop it; he allows himself to be killed by oppression and judgment. He was taken away—this implies oppression and judgment, those words; it implies governmental powers abusing their power to kill this person, this Messiah, this servant of God. So a government will kill him while the people around him think God is cursing him. His death will be because of our sins and not his own; he's actually holy and righteous. His death will cover and pay for the sins of the people to bring us to God that we might know God and be healed and forgiven. This is written hundreds of years before Jesus was born on Earth, and yet it's the detailed Theology and even the historical events that we see happening on the cross.
And as for his generation, who considered it that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due. This is a heavy sentence. Let me break it down quickly. This phrase, "cut off out of the land of the living," it literally means he dies; he doesn't just suffer, he actually dies because he's not just cut off from Israel, which is like, "You have to leave the land," he's cut off from the land of the living because he dies. So he dies, and it's why? Because of the transgression of my people. He's saying Israel's transgressions. Now some would say the Messiah's—"Oh, this isn't about Messiah, it's about Israel." No, no, he's dying for the people of Israel; that's clear in the text. To whom the stroke was due. This is what we in modern terminology call the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement, and those three words mean that Jesus took the penalty that we deserved; he was our substitute on the cross, getting the penalty—the stroke was due us; he takes the penalty that we might be atoned for and we might be brought back to God, given—given, um—forgiveness of sin and a new relationship with God. Right there in the Old Testament. Yeah, Old Testament.
Verse 9: His grave was assigned with wicked men. That's Jesus on the cross between two wicked men. They assigned him a grave; you're going to die, and you're going to go with these guys. Yet he was with a rich man at his death because Joseph of Arimathea shows up and he buries him in his—in his nice tomb. So he's honored in his death. This is to imply the—the irony of how Jesus is suffering as if he were a sinner, but he's not truly wicked, which is why he's at the rich—with the rich at his death, because he done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush him. This doesn't mean, um, the Father enjoyed the sufferings of Christ on the cross, rather that the sufferings of Jesus—the crushing of Christ—appeased the judgment that is required for our sins. God's just, and being just, he will punish sins. He chooses—I'm going to punish what's wrong, and Jesus—his punishment he received was our punishment he received. Rather, um, he pleased the Lord putting him—putting him to grief if he would—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. This is so heavy. Okay, guilt offering is a technical term in the Levitical law. The phrase "guilt offering"—there's different kinds of offerings, okay? They could do offerings like—you could bring like a basket of—of fruit and you could just give it to the Lord like as a thank—what's called a thank offering; no one's requiring of it; you just want, "Hey, thanks, Lord, you're awesome." That's just an offering like that you could do that back in the Old Testament. But a guilt offering is a very specific kind of offering. This is an offering that's meant to pay for sin that has been committed. So he's going to render himself—a human, a righteous, perfect human will stand as a guilt offering to pay for sin. Now human sacrifice is forbidden in the Old Testament. God did not allow them to do it, but he pictured it with Abraham and Isaac—the father offering his son, but he stopped Abraham because again, God does not want us offering humans, but it was all meant to draw the picture of how one human would finally stand in the place of all humans. And he doesn't get offered; he renders himself a guilt offering. The Father's—it's not like the Father's slaying the Son; it's more like the Son is voluntarily taking up the cross and going to it. He says, "No man takes my life; I lay it down." So there's a voluntariness here; it's—it's intentional; it's deliberate. He goes to stand before all—stand in the place of all humans on the cross as a guilt offering. Deep theology there, but then look at this—this is the resurrection part. He's going to—he's going to be killed; he's going to be cut off from the land of living; he's going to offer himself as a guilt offering to pay for our sins; and then what? He will see his offspring; he'll prolong his days. This means he's going to live; he will be killed, but then he'll live. That's called a resurrection, folks, here in Isaiah 53. And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. As a result of the anguish of his soul, which I cannot imagine what it was like to feel the shame of every sin I've ever committed, let alone all of us have ever committed, he will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous one, my servant will justify many.
Now this is what Jesus alludes to when he says he's going to be a ransom for the many. He's alluding to the many in Isaiah 53, as he will bear their iniquities. He's our sin bearer. This again—this is where, uh—uh, Progressive Christians want to move away from the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement, or basically that Jesus pays the price for my sin, suffering the penalty I deserve, to take care of the judgment issue between me and God that I might be restored. They want to avoid that, but it's right here in the scripture. He bears our iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great; he will divide the booty with the strong. An unfortunate older school word for a term that just means he will experience—like he's going to inherit all things; he's going to be the one ruling, uh, over all things, um, 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. Can I tell you the bottom line is this: Jesus died on the cross so you could be forgiven. His shame, his suffering—they're yours and mine, but it means something. It means I no longer have shame. There's something glorious you experience as a new believer when you first put your trust in Christ, and that is the sense of a completely clean slate between you and God. Can I tell you something that wasn't just true when you got saved? It's true now. You have the clean slate because Jesus still lives, always to intercede for you, and he continues to make that intercession forever. He's our great high priest, and now I am holy and without blame before God in love. It doesn't mean I never sin; doesn't mean I don't deal with issues or have issues in my own walk with the Lord, but—but the relationship is secured by the grace of Christ and nothing else. Enjoy the peace that you have.