Suffering to Death, Raised to Glory

Transcript

GRM 980
4/8/2007
Suffering to Death, Raised to Glory
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Gil Rugh


We'll be in the book of Isaiah, so you can turn there in your Bibles, Isaiah 53. There are many things we could talk about on the morning where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. But we're going to go back to an Old Testament passage, Isaiah 53. If we were going to select one portion of scripture in all the Old Testament that stands out probably above all else, I would have to say it would be Isaiah 53. It has to be at the very pinnacle of Old Testament prophecy. There is no clear unfolding of the purpose of the death and resurrection of Christ anywhere in the Bible, Old or New Testament, than there is in Isaiah 53. If you have any doubts or questions about Jesus Christ, about the purpose of His death through the reality of His resurrection, I would encourage you just to sit down and read Isaiah 53 and consider carefully what is said here.

Now what is outstanding about Isaiah 53 is it was written about 700 years before Jesus Christ. That's when Isaiah the prophet lived. So here we have 700 years before Jesus Christ will walk the earth and suffer and die on the cross and be raised from the dead, and Isaiah the prophet is going to unfold in detail what will transpire in connection with the death of Christ and His resurrection.

Now as we go through this passage, and we're just going to highlight it because I want to overview the entire chapter with you, you might wonder, what do the Jews say when they read Isaiah 53? It is part of their Old Testament. It continues to be part of their Old Testament down to today. Isaiah 53 will be about the servant of the Lord, referring to the Messiah. But in the 12th century after Christ, about 1150 years after Christ, the Jews came up with an idea that the servant in Isaiah 53 is not Jesus Christ, but it's Israel. So if you take a Jewish person who believes the Old Testament to Isaiah 53, he'll say, that's talking about Israel the nation. But as we go through it, you'll see that doesn't make a lot of sense. And if you read the first thousand years after Christ and read Jewish writers during that period of time, you'll find in agreement that Isaiah 53 is about the Messiah of Israel. But in an attempt to refute Christianity in the 12th century, they came up with the idea that the servant is Israel, here. The only way to make sense of this is to recognize that Isaiah is writing about Jesus Christ.

Now it used to be popular many years ago to say this had been changed and later writers after Christ made adjustments into the text of Isaiah. And then we found the Dead Sea scrolls and that carried us back 200 years or so before Christ, and they found a complete scroll of Isaiah and they found there were no differences, no significant differences. Minor differences that had to do mostly with the development of the language. As you would expect, there would be changes in that line, but basically Isaiah was as Isaiah had written it. And now we have something from 200 years before Christ was born and it's exactly as we have it.

So I just want to highlight what is said about Jesus Christ here, and you keep reminding yourself, this is 700 years before the events took place. God is speaking through Isaiah the prophet to prepare the nation Israel for what is going to take place with their Messiah. The entire section is about the hope of salvation and that this salvation centers in the servant of God who would bear our sins in His body, and suffer and die as an offering for our sin so that we might have life.

Now this section begins with the last three verses of chapter 52. So we have a chapter break, but if you're going to get the connection, it really connects to chapter 52 verse 13. And you'll note, and the way your Bibles have it laid out, there are five stanzas here, each comprised of three verses, as we have it in our present Bible. Verses 13-15 of chapter 52 prepare us for what is to come and show us something of the mystery of this servant of the Lord. And the contrast that is there that was so difficult for prophets like Isaiah to understand.

Look how verse 13 puts it, behold my servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. The servant here refers to the Messiah of Israel, and as I mentioned, even the early Jewish commentators acknowledged that and evaluated this portion of Isaiah in light of the fact he's talking about the Messiah. He is the servant of the Lord who comes to do the will of His Father. He will prosper, He will be successful, He will accomplish the work that His Father has given Him to do. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. And some of these parallel passages I will just have to refer you to, we won't have time to turn to many of them. You can write down Philippians 2:9-11. In that section we are told that Jesus Christ humbled Himself, left the realm of glory and humbled Himself to become a man, born in a stable. And He humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So when Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 52:13, he will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted, he's talking about as the result of successfully accomplishing the work of redemption as God's servant, God would highly exalt Him. And indeed, that's what took place.

But verse 14 draws a contrast that seems to contradict what we just read. Just as many as were astonished at you, my people, so His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. This servant of the Lord will undergo great and awful suffering, a suffering so deep and so great that it will mar and distort His physical appearance. He almost doesn't appear human, the sufferings have been so great and had such an impact upon Him. His appearance was marred more than any man, His form more than the sons of men. We talk about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and we see people wear a cross as a piece of jewelry. It was a horrible, horrible means of execution. If you were a Roman citizen in New Testament times, you were not allowed to be crucified, except for certain specific exceptionally serious crimes. It was too degrading a death for a Roman citizen. Now you add to that Jesus Christ is not just a man being crucified, He is the Son of God. He will cry out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, as He bears our sins in His body on the cross. And His suffering as a man dying on the cross is greater and has a depth to it and a horror to it greater than anyone else who even died by crucifixion.

We have to take a moment and go back to Psalm 22. It's interesting, if you want to find a description of the physical impact of crucifixion in the Bible, you don't go to the New Testament during the time He was crucified, or even to the letters in the New Testament that write about the death of Christ after His crucifixion. You go to the writings of David in Psalm 22. David wrote this 1000 years before Jesus Christ was crucified. You'll note how the Psalm opens up, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Remember when Jesus Christ cried that out on the cross as He bore our sins in His body. God made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, II Corinthians 5:21 says.

Come down to verse 6 as Christ speaks again, but I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me, they separate with the lip, they wag the head saying, commit yourself to the Lord, let Him deliver him, let Him rescue him, because He delights in him. Remember when Jesus Christ hung on the cross, and that's what the people gathered there said. He said He trusted the Lord, let's see if the Lord comes down and delivers Him, let's see if God will send Elijah to rescue Him. Not realizing that they were voicing the words of the psalmist from 1000 years earlier in the rejecting of their Messiah.

Come down to verse 14, I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. You know what happened in the crucifixion as they are hanging on the cross, the weight of the body pulls the joints out of socket and they are dislocated. Tremendous agony and pain in this death. My heart is like wax, it is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth. Remember He thirsts. And you lay me in the dust of death, for dogs have surrounded me, a band of evildoers have encompassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones, they look, they stare at me. As He hands His bones protruding from the skin. They divide my garments among them, for my clothing they cast lots. Isn't it amazing, the detail that God has unfolded hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus Christ would die the death that is described here by the psalmist.

Come back to Isaiah 52:14, His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. Because here is the man who is the Son of God suffering for the sins of mankind. Verse 15, thus He will sprinkle many nations and kings will shut their mouths on account of Him. For what had not been told them they will see what they had not heard, they will understand. This connects to verse 13, my servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up, greatly exalted. And now you see His victory again. He sprinkles many nations, kings will shut their mouths on account of Him. But what about verse 14, His appearance is marred more than any man, His form more than the sons of men. He has great victory, God will highly exalt Him. Kings and nations will stand in silence before Him. But I thought He was marred, so abused that His appearance is altered and now you say the kings stand in silence in His place. Remember when Peter wrote his first letter in the first chapter he said, the Old Testament prophets struggled to understand how the Messiah of Israel could rule and reign in glory and suffer and die in agony. Now we read Isaiah 52:13-15 and we say we understand. He suffered and died in awful agony so that He could pay the penalty for sin, so that God's work of salvation could be accomplished for sinful people. And the Messiah would be exalted to rule and reign over redeemed creation. And you'll note something here, it's not just for Israel when he says, thus He will sprinkle many nations. To sprinkle in the Old Testament system mean you applied the blood of the sacrifice to the person, indicating that sacrifice provided cleansing for them.

In I Peter 1:2 Peter says, we have been sprinkled with the blood of Christ. In other words, the blood of Christ has been applied to us. The effects of His death have been applied to us so that God can declare us forgiven. So when it says He will sprinkle many nations, it indicates that the work of salvation He accomplished by His suffering and death will impact not only Jews, but other people. And we are here as a testimony of that today, most of us being non-Jews.

But then we're carried to the time when Jesus Christ will come to rule and reign. Remember when Jesus told the account of the wedding feast, picturing the time when He will come to set up His kingdom, and there was found someone there without a wedding garment. And the Lord of the feast, the Messiah, Christ, said, where is your wedding garment? And he was speechless, silent, found guilty. So here kings will shut their mouths on account of Him. There is going to be an awesomeness when Christ comes to set up His throne to rule and reign. All will know then who He is.

That prepares the way, you have His success in accomplishing the work of God and being exalted by God, you have His horrible suffering, and then you have Him ruling sovereign over all, that the nations have experienced cleansing. The kings of the earth are silent before Him.

Then the next stanza, who has believed our message, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Who has believed our message. Who believed the message of the prophets? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? The arm of the Lord refers to His power. To whom did He demonstrate His power? Now you'll note here, Isaiah writes this in the past tense. Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot. But these are events that are yet 700 years in the future. That's why we call this the prophetic past. When you and I talk about an event that occurred yesterday, we use the past tense, and we refer to it, that's something settled and done.

Some of you are watching the Masters Golf Tournament. Well, we can say who had what score yesterday, what order they finished in. That's yesterday, that's done, that's settled. Now what's going to happen later today remains to be seen. But when God talks about the future, He often talks in the past tense, because from God's perspective, when He says it, it is done. Doesn't matter whether 1000 years, 2000 years, 10,000 years. Doesn't matter. When God says it, it's as good as yesterday done. So Isaiah writes here in the past tense because God is speaking through him, and this is settled truth. It won't take place for 700 years, but it is just as sure as if it had happened yesterday.

Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We do have to take a moment, turn over to John 12. This would be fulfilled when Jesus Christ was walking the earth. When you come to John 12 we are at the conclusion of Jesus' earthly ministry. John 13 will be His last supper with His disciples. The public ministry concludes with chapter 12. Look down to verse 37, but though He had performed so many signs before them, so many miracles, yet they were not believing in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke, Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. Isn't it amazing? Seven hundred years earlier Isaiah had written about this very event, these very happenings. Nobody believed what the prophets had written, nobody believed what the Messiah had said. God had revealed His power through His servant, the Messiah. Yet they would not believe.

Come back to Isaiah 53. The problem is, He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground. Very humble beginnings. We won't go back to the New Testament, but in Matthew 13:54-55 we are told that the people who knew Jesus and His family were very offended by Him because they said, we know He is from the carpenter's family, we know His brothers and sisters. He's just an average person like we are, and it says they were greatly offended because of Him.

He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground. Nothing special. I mean, here's a man who was born in a stable, here's a man who never commanded an army, who didn't march around with an entourage of bodyguards, didn't have special soldiers. I mean, He's just one of us. He grew up like a tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground. No special beginning, no special life. He has not stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. The book of Samuel, when Israel wanted a king, they got a king like they wanted. We want a king like the nations. You know what they said about Saul? He stood head and shoulders above everybody else in Israel. And he was more handsome than anyone else, he was kingly. I mean, when he walked in you had to observe and take notice, he's taller, more handsome. He was an effective soldier. And yet Jesus Christ has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him. Nothing in His appearance attracted people to Him.

The result, He was despised, forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, we did not esteem Him. You know, people have a hard time with an unattractive Savior, with an unappealing Messiah. Not so different today. They don't like to emphasize the whole matter of sin, which is what Jesus Christ is all about, His lowliness. The only thing that makes Jesus Christ important is who He is and what He has done. We want to make Him out as someone who is attractive. He is beautiful to us, we can sing about His attractiveness, His beauty. But that's because we have come to know Him. If we had walked the earth when Jesus walked the earth, we wouldn't have found Him that magnetic person that drew everyone to Himself. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, like one from whom men hide their face. They want to turn away, they don't want anything to do with Him. He was despised. That's a strong word. It mean utter contempt, complete disdain. That's how people saw Jesus Christ. Oh how different it would be if He would walk the earth today. It would be no different. Jesus warned His disciples in John 15, during the events after that last meal He had with them, if they hated Me, they'll hate you; if they reject My word, they'll reject yours. Nothing has changed. How people respond to the truth concerning Christ is how they respond to Christ. He continues to be despised and rejected of men. We did not esteem Him.

But what did He do? Look at verse 4, surely our griefs He Himself bore, our sorrows He carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Now note this. He is bearing our griefs, our sorrow, yet we viewed Him as stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. The view of the people was, He's dying because He deserves to die. What did the Jews tell Pilate? He made Himself out to be the Son of God, making Himself equal with God, He deserves to die. Crucify Him. He deserves to die. When Pilate tried to defend Christ and said, but He's your king, they said, we have no king but Caesar. He deserves to die. We esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was bearing our griefs, our sicknesses, our sorrows, our pain. Some have taken this, and the question comes, when Jesus Christ died was He dying for my sickness, my illness so that I should not expect to be sick today? That's a failure to understand what the root issue is with Jesus Christ. Sin, sickness and death is a result of what? Sin. By one man sin entered the world, and death by sin.

Go back to the New Testament, Matthew 8. This is a context, beginning in verse 14, where Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law. Surprising to some people to find out that the first pope had a wife. But his mother-in-law was ill and Christ healed her in verses 14-15. In verse 16, when evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon possessed, He cast out the spirits with a word and He healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases, referring to Isaiah 53:4. Does that mean, then, that everyone who turns to Christ should expect perfect health? Understand what He is doing here, He is demonstrating He is the Messiah, He's demonstrating He's the One who fulfilled Isaiah 53. And in healing their sicknesses, He was drawing their attention to the fact He's the One who can cleanse them from their sin.

Come over to Matthew 9. Jesus got into a boat, crossed over the Sea of Galilee, came to His own city. They brought to Him a paralytic, a man paralyzed, lying on a bed. The end of verse 2, Jesus said to him, take courage, son, your sins are forgiven. What a statement. Some of the scribes said to themselves, this man blasphemes. Jesus, knowing their thoughts said, why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or get up and walk. But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, who but God can forgive sins. I mean, their first thought is right, it would be blasphemy if Jesus is not who He claims to be, to declare He has forgiven sins. But you note the connection. I healed the man so that you may know I can forgive his sins, cure him of the cause of sickness and death. Ultimately sickness and death will be removed. Jesus Christ will reign on the earth and there will be no suffering and sickness and sorrow and dying. So the issue is forgiving sins. People should see the One who can heal the sick is the One who forgives sins and cleanses us from all sin.

So come back to Isaiah 53. People thought He was being stricken by God and punished for His own sin, His blasphemy, His false claims. But verse 5, He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well being fell upon Him. By His scourging we are healed. You see that relentless emphasis, He was acting on our behalf, He was suffering, He was dying for us, pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well being fell on Him. 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. He wasn't suffering for His own sin, He was without sin. The Lord made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf. He was sinless, He was spotless, but He was bearing our sin in His body on the tree, as II Peter 2 tells us.

Verse 6 is sometimes called the John 3:16 of the Old Testament. 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. And you'll note, all of us, everyone ______________, each one individually, all of us have turned to his own way, each of us has turned to his own way, we've all gone astray. Repeats what the Old Testament says in other places, what is repeated in the New Testament—there is none righteous, no not one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All have turned aside, all have gone astray. How sad, there are people today who think by being religious they will be acceptable to God. Isaiah 53 is driving home the point very clearly, we have all gone astray, we are all under condemnation. There is only one Savior, you can't get there by your good works, you can't get there by your best efforts, you can't get there by church membership, can't get there by baptism, can't get there by partaking of what are called sacraments, can't get there by men's devices. He was pierced through for our transgressions, that's why He was nailed to the cross, why He was crushed for our iniquities. We are like sheep who have wandered away, and the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

Look at verse 7, describing what happened during these events. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, like a sheep that is silent before his shearers, so He did not open His mouth. Remember Pilate was amazed and he asked Him, after He questioned Him and Jesus said nothing, he said, don't you know I have power to set you free or power to execute you? And you don't answer Me? I mean, Jesus did not attempt to defend Himself. Only twice during His trial does He respond, and that's when His failure to respond might be interpreted as a denial of who He is. The Jewish leaders asked, tell us, are you the Son of God? To remain silent might be taken to say He's not making that claim. When He is challenged, then, He does say yes, I am the Son of God. And then when Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews? To remain silent might have let Pilate go out and tell the Jews, no He doesn't make that claim. I asked Him and He doesn't claim to the be king of the Jews. Then Jesus does respond to Pilate and say, yes I am the king, I was born to be king. But you don't find Jesus defending Himself to His accusers. Peter wrote about this in II Peter 2. He didn't lash out, He willingly suffered in silence.

Isaiah said that's the way it would be, 700 years before it happened Isaiah said that's how it would be. He'd be like a lamb led to slaughter, like a sheep is silent before its shearers. He did not open 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 for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. Who among the Jews, they are crying out for His crucifixion, considered that He was dying for their sin. He was suffering and dying because the penalty for the sin of the nation was death.

You know interesting section here, again we won't take the time to go to the New Testament. But some of you are familiar with Acts 8. And in Acts 8 we have a man introduced called the Ethiopian eunuch. And he's traveling in a chariot from Jerusalem back to Ethiopia. And evidently was a convert to Judaism and had been to Jerusalem and observing Jewish feasts. And Philip comes up and walks alongside his chariot and he hears him reading out loud from the book of Isaiah. You know what he's reading? Isaiah 53:7-9. And Philip says, do you understand what you are reading? And the Ethiopian says, how can I understand this unless somebody explains it to me. So Philip climbs up in the chariot and explains to him about Jesus Christ from Isaiah 53:7-9.

He was cut out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due. You know Jesus Christ, God's Messiah, suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty. Israel should have had to die, but Christ died for them. His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with the rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. I have to say, every time I read Isaiah 53 I am so dumbfounded at how precise God is. I mean here, His grave was assigned with wicked men. How did He die? By crucifixion, the worst death. We mentioned Roman citizens, even when they committed a crime and had to be executed, weren't crucified. Jesus is crucified between two criminals, yet He is buried with the rich man. Joseph of Arimathea comes in John 19 and asks for the body of Christ and is laid in the tomb of a rich man. Seven hundred years before these two things that don't go together, His grave was assigned with wicked men and yet He is with the rich man in His death. How precise God is. How ____________________ He is crucified as a common criminal, between two criminals, one of them acknowledging, we deserve to die like this. But He's not buried with them, He is buried with the rich man, in a rich man's tomb. Because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. You understand when Christ died His suffering is over. So God now honors Him with a burial fitting Him. He was buried in a rich man's tomb.

Come to John 11 before we leave this passage. It is such a rich passage. We read in Isaiah 53, He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. Look at John 11. Here we are as the Jews prepare finally and solidify their plan to have Jesus Christ executed. And Caiphas in verse 49, one of the Jews who was a high priest, _______ of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the council, said to them, in their confusion what do we do. You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people and that the whole nation not perish. Remember Isaiah 53, He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. You don't know anything, John 11:50, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people and that the whole nation not perish. Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation. Caiphas didn't know what he was saying, he didn't mean it the way God meant it. And Christ was not only going to die for the nation, but in order that He might gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

So you come back to Isaiah 53:8, He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, the nation Israel. But remember it wasn't just for Israel, back in chapter 52 verse 15, He will sprinkle many nations. So His death would provide redemption for mankind, not just the Jewish nation. It would be on their behalf.

Come back and let's just look at the last three verses, Isaiah 53. But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. Peter put it clearly in Acts 2 in the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the establishing of the church, that by the hands of wicked men you crucified Him. But it was according to the predetermined plan of God. The Lord was pleased to crush Him, put Him to grief, if He would render Himself as a guilt offering. He will see His offspring prolong His days and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. Here is God's pleasure to crush His servant, put Him to grief, have Him be a guilt offering. That sacrifice has to die, and yet He'll see His offspring and prolong His days. Any wonder the prophets wonder how can this all work out. God is going to crush this servant, put Him to grief, make Him a sacrifice. Because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. And yet He is going to see His offspring prolong His days. And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. Chapter 52 verse 13 God said, My servant will prosper, He will be a success, He will be victorious. And now we know He had to suffer and die, because without His death there would be no forgiveness or redemption for us fallen human beings. There would be no redemption of fallen creation, He could not rule and reign as the sovereign Savior.

He sees His offspring. In Hebrews 2:13 the words from Isaiah 8 are put in Christ's mouth, and Christ said, behold I and the children whom you have given Me. We are His children, are we not? Now we are all sons of God through faith in Christ. He will see His offspring. His offspring are those who believe in Him. We are born again by faith in the living and abiding Word of God, we become the children of God. He will prolong His days. Jesus says in Revelation, I am He who was dead and behold I am alive forevermore. His resurrection from the dead, victory over death, sin and satan.

All laid out for us. The Lord was pleased to crush Him, put Him to grief, make Him a guilt offering. Yet He'll see His offspring. He'll prolong His days, He'll prosper _______ good pleasure of the Lord, because He will be raised from the dead. He is alive today and He's coming again. As a result of the anguish of His soul He will see it and be satisfied. By His knowledge the righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many as He will bear their iniquities. It's by the knowledge of Him that we enter into the righteousness that He has provided for us. The righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, He will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, He will divide the booty with the strong because He poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors. You see the way the prophets had to sort this out and God had to tell them, this isn't for you to understand, this is for a future time. He is going to have a portion with the great, He's going to divide the booty with the strong. We will rule and reign with Him in His kingdom. Because He poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He Himself bore the sin of many and He interceded for the transgressors. Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. Hebrews 7 tells us, He ever lives to make intercession for us.

What a beautiful story, what a beautiful prophecy, what a beautiful picture. How awesome for us to stand, now that these events are history, and look back and look back beyond the resurrection, back beyond the cross, go back 700 years before Christ and see God laid it out in specific detail, that my Servant will come and suffer and die. And in His death He will pay the penalty for sin. In His body on the cross He will bear our sin. I will have Him take the place of sinners, I will make Him to be sin who knew no sin. He will be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, so that God in mercy and grace can give to those who believe in Jesus Christ the free gift of eternal life.

Could it be any clearer? There is no hope for salvation in any other place, in any other person, but in Jesus Christ. He is the only Savior. Seven hundred years before He came to earth God laid out in detail what would have to take place for me to be forgiven, for you to be forgiven. You would have to have someone be your sacrifice, pay the penalty for your sin, your transgressions, your iniquities. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. Don't think you're an exception. God makes no mistakes, it is exactly as He says. All of us 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. So now we are told, He that has the Son has life; he that has not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Only two options. Either in faith you bow before Jesus Christ and God looks at Christ as having paid your penalty, or you stand before a holy God accountable for your sin, bearing the brunt of His wrath. The wrath of God abides on the one who does not ___________.

The message of Easter is thrilling and exciting. It was told 700 years before Christ came to earth; 2700 years after Isaiah wrote that you're sitting here, hearing it. Have you believed in Jesus Christ? Have you turned from your sin and cast yourself on Him, believing that He is your only hope, He is the only Savior. Not your church, not your works, only Christ and in Him you have life.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Thank you for your salvation. Thank you for all you have done for us in Christ. We marvel that we are a forgiven people. Father, we stand in your presence, you see us as we are. Lord, you know us in our self-righteousness, our self-confidence. The sin that plagued Israel can easily plague us. Lord, nothing is hidden from your sight, all things are open and naked before the eyes of the One with whom we have to do. Lord, I pray your Spirit will search our hearts, examine us as we are. Lord, any who are here who do not know you, may your Spirit convict them of their sin and draw them by your love to the Savior who loved them and died for them, that we might join together as a people who believe in Him, who celebrate and rejoice that the one who died on the cross paid the penalty for our sin. And He was raised in victory, He is alive, He is coming again. Thank you, Lord, for His love for us. We pray in His name, amen.