The Cross of Christ Pt 1

So help us to set everything else aside, lift praise to you this morning, God. Help us to glorify you in all that we do. We love you, Father. We praise you and we thank you.

Yeah, we just invite your Holy Spirit in this place this morning.

Lord, just come and do your mighty work in our lives.

If you're a mighty God and you do mighty, invite your Holy Spirit to come and do its mighty work in our hearts. And in mine as well, Lord. Do something awesome in this place this morning. Help us to become to a place of surrender, Lord. Whatever we're holding back this morning, God, let us surrender it to you this morning.

This morning, I just pray that you would overflow Pastor Ryan with your Holy Spirit. Give him the words to speak. And give us hearts to receive that which you've prepared for us, Lord God. Father, we love you and we praise you in your precious and holy name. All God's people said, let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. Right? Good morning. If you could begin the prayer. If you're in the process of locating your seat, grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A handful of things to take note of in your bulletin. First of all are the things on the left-hand side of the different studies that we have going on. So take note of those. Over in the middle section of your bulletin, just a reminder that our Grief Share group is going right now. And so it's not too late to join in if you are in need of something like that.

Also, a reminder that we have a night of worship coming up on March the 27th. That's Holy Week. So we're going to be taking a time to worship the Lord together and really reflect on the work of Jesus Christ for us. So come join us for that. Be at our usual Sunday evening meeting time. And then also, Holy Week, which is not this week but the week after. Ministerial Alliance always puts on Holy Week services at noon.

And so that's what this little handout is. Or it tells you where all of those services are. I would encourage you to join in on some of those. You get to know more of the believers in Jesus Christ throughout the community. So a couple of things that I'm going to have people come up and announce. First of all, I'm going to have – is Jana in here? Oh, yeah, there you are.

I'm going to have Jana come up and share about the fundraiser event that we have coming up. For a long time here at Calvary, we've been wanting to take some people on some shortfalls. We've been wanting to take some people on some short-term missions trips. And so this is our first opportunity. How many of you guys had the opportunity to hear Jeff and Esther from God Said Go here a couple months back?

Good, good. So most of you. So you probably have heard that we're taking – right now 11 people planning to go down and serve with them in Guatemala. And we're excited about the opportunity. When he came, we had a minute to talk to him. We had initially talked about pouring a concrete floor for that. It's a small village that he talked about where the kids were literally so hungry they were eating paper.

Their ministry is now feeding that group of kids once – a meal once a day. And so we talked about – he talked about our job being pouring a concrete floor for that kitchen where two ladies get up every day and cook breakfast for those kids. I'm not 100% sure we're still doing that, but that's on the list of possibilities. So – Okay. Our part of the trip also – the $2,000 for everybody that's going on the trip also included – includes a portion of that is to pay for the cost of doing that.

Many of you guys have asked me how you can help, and we thought, well, we'll just have a fun fundraiser. So in your bulletin, there is a little March Madness bulletin in there for a donation just at the door. We're going to – this Saturday at the rec center. Not the – don't try to – I'm sorry. Come in the front doors. Come in the back – or the east side door at the newer part of the rec center.

We'll be having a taco salad supper and having a lot of fun with what we're calling Calvary's version of March Madness. I love basketball. I've coached basketball for a lot of years, and so basketball is the only way I know how to fundraise. So we're – we should have a lot of fun. We're going to have – the Calvary men's team will be playing basketball, and during their quarter breaks, we'll be –

we'll be having some fun games for the kids. I shared with them a little bit this morning. Just for you guys that have littles, they're the little – the littlest, make sure they wear shoes that are easy to get on and off. That'll give you a clue as to their game. So we'll have some fun with that. At halftime, we're going to have a fun version of musical chairs, which, to make it part of the fundraiser,

say somebody wants Ryan to participate in the musical chairs, and they want to pay $20 to put Ryan's name on the list. He could pay $21 and get himself off of the list. So we can have some fun with that. Now, this is musical chairs with a basketball twist, so there may be a layup involved in that musical stoppage there. So we'll have a lot of fun with that.

But there will be games for all ages. We don't plan on it being too serious. So – oh, the baking contest. There's a – for desserts. We have asked the – We have asked the ladies to bake some goods, and then we will crown a baking champion based on donations made for their – whoever gets the most donations will be our Calvary Chapel baking champion. And I'm also told that we may have –

And the men can bake something. Oh, men can bake, too. That's right. But I've also just recently learned that we may have egg rolls and fried rice over there in that baking champion. And that's what we're going to be baking inside as well. So just throwing that out there. There you go. I think that's everything. Okay. And then – yes. Looking forward to that.

Okay. And then also it's springtime, which means that the grass is going to be growing. So I'm going to have Michael Aerosmith and Kurt Solomon come up and make a little announcement about our mowing crew here.

Well, hello, everybody. If you don't know me, I'm Michael. This is Kurt. We're – Kurt's been doing the mowing. We've been doing the mowing ministry for a while. And I kind of tagged in last year and said I'd help out and help organize things.

So last year we started about April. Everybody drove in and saw the yard, right? We're probably going to have to start a little earlier. The church has provided a mower and a weed eater for us to use. Feel free to use your own if you so choose. However, we do ask that the lowest setting you set your mower to is about 30. So that's about 3 to 3 1⁄2 inches. We also are asking, along with mowing and weed eating, is edging, if it's possible, or if you have an edger.

We got enough yesterday that just about everybody only had to do it three or two times throughout the whole course of the summer last year, which is really awesome. We have sign-up sheets out in the lobby for anybody that signs up. Husbands and wives, grandparents, grandchildren, sons. Daughters, dads, parents. Just if you feel so led, sign up and please join us.

We just know that this is a ministry for the church, that it will save the church money, that we don't have to pay somebody to come do it. It's like we are donating our time by doing this, everybody that signs up. The reason why I will say this, Pastor Ryan reached out to me a couple years ago and asked me to do this. It's because he is so busy with his work.

His schedule has so many things to do, and it was kind of taking a bearing on me a lot of time. I realize how much time it took on him, and I'm so thankful that Michael reached out to me and said that he would help organize getting the key to people if they want to use the mower that we have. That took a lot of stress off of me. Again, don't hesitate signing up.

If you say, oh, I'm busy during the summer a lot of times, and we put you on the schedule, do not hesitate. Don't hesitate signing up, because if you cannot mow that weekend that we have you signed up for, everybody is really good about switching places. We can rotate people after you're on the schedule. Just understand that, that we will rotate you around if you can't mow the weekend that we have you on the schedule.

We ask that you would not mow before, like Friday or Saturday would be the preferable time so the yard looks nice and fresh. When service is here on Sunday, we understand sometimes you can't do it on Friday or Saturday. Thursday would be fine if you have to do it on a Thursday. That's basically all I have. Reach out to Michael or myself if you have any questions.

Don't hesitate if you've never did it before. We will reach out to you. If you're the first time signing up, we'll reach out to you, talk to you. We'll meet up with you out here at the church and kind of go over what we're doing. What we're looking for and how you're preparing and doing the mowing. Again, we'll thank you ahead of time for signing up. That's it.

Thank you, guys. All right, so those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we're going to be at Psalm 47. Looking at the New American Standard for this. If you need a copy, there should be one in the row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 47, if you are...

Abel, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 47 for the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah. Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples. Shout to God with the voice of joy. The Lord most high is to be feared. A great king over all the earth. He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet. He chooses our inheritance for us.

The glory of Jacob, whom he loves. Selah. God has ascended with a shout. The Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises to our king. Sing praises. For God is the king of all the earth. Sing praises with a skillful psalm. God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. And read verse 9 with me. Verses of the people have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is highly exalted. And Father, we do praise you for who you are. Lord, high and lifted up and yet always seeing fit, Lord, to stoop down to us. To bring us to who you are. And so, Father, I pray that you would speak to us through your word. Minister to us as your Holy Spirit sees fit. And Lord, we just ask. We ask that your Holy Spirit would fall afresh on this place today.

Lord, as we sang in that song, Lord, we welcome you here. To do the work that only you can do in our hearts. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 53.

Isaiah chapter 53.

There are two major times of year that we celebrate as believers in Jesus Christ. And that's Christmas. And Easter. Of course, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. Easter is the celebration of the death and the resurrection of Christ. So when it was Christmas time, I decided I would take us on a little bit of a journey to remind us exactly why Jesus came.

And so we looked at the promise. We looked at the preparation. And then we looked at the nativity. Well, I want to do something really similar with the death and resurrection of Jesus. As we come to this time in Easter. So for the next three weeks, we're going to be looking at a series called The Cross of Christ. The Cross of Christ. So part one is going to be the promise.

We're going to be looking again at the promise of the work that Jesus would do for us on the cross. And in particular, as we start off today, there's two things we're going to look at. We're going to look at the fact that the cross has always been the plan. And then we're going to look at Isaiah chapter 53 with the suffering servant. One of the things that I love about studying the Old Testament is to see how God weaves his plan all throughout the Old Testament.

That there was an actual plan at work throughout all of it. That nothing was haphazard. Nothing was accidental. As a matter of fact, one of the greatest things that you'll see from the beginning of the book of Genesis is that the cross was always the plan. And so what I want to do is I want to do a brief survey of the Old Testament. And it will be incredibly brief.

Of a handful of scriptures that point out that the cross was always God's plan. And then we'll get really specific in looking at Isaiah chapter 53. So. I'm going to list off several scriptures and talk about them. I don't necessarily want you to turn to them. I'm not going to turn to them. But I do want you to reference them. Perhaps write them in your notes or in the margin of your Bible.

Because I think that they're really important for us to pay attention to. So the first place that we read of the cross. And I've gone over this lots of times. So I won't spend much time on it. Is Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. That is the first time that the cross is mentioned for us. Of course, Genesis chapter 3 tells us of the temptation and the fall of man.

And as God is handing out the punishment. Both to Adam. And Eve. And then also to the serpent. He reminds the serpent that there will always be enmity. Or other words, strife. Between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Obviously going far beyond an animal. And going to the actual spiritual aspect of Satan himself. That there would always be enmity.

But there was a promise that was made. Though the seed of the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. Ultimately the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. And so we saw there the very first promise. That. God would deliver humanity from sin. That was ushered in through Satan. By the seed of the woman. And it would be ultimately through a sacrifice.

Now the next place that we read about this promise. Is in Genesis chapter 12. In Genesis chapter 12. Of course we read the story of Abraham. After Adam and Eve had sinned. And they left the garden. They were fruitful and multiplied. And ultimately the earth grew in number. As far as population was concerned. Until it came to a man named Noah. And the state of the world was so bad at the time of Noah.

That God said I have to destroy the earth. And I will start it over with a family. We're told that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And so he started over with Noah and his family. After he destroyed the earth with a flood. And of course Noah had three sons. Him, Shem and Japheth. And Shem ultimately had descendants. And one of those descendants was a man by the name of Abraham.

And so God called Abraham and said. I will bless all. Of the nations of the earth through you. And so we see that now God will have a family. That he will bless the nations of the earth through. Well the next time that we pick up the story of the cross. Actually comes in Exodus chapter 12. Because in Exodus chapter 12. God lays out the very last plague. You see after Abraham.

He had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. And Jacob had 12 sons. In order to flee from. The difficulty that. That Jacob and his 12 sons were facing. With the family. They went down to Egypt. And in Egypt they found a place. Where they could grow from a group of 70 people. Into a nation of well over a million. If not closer to 2 to 3 million people.

But while they were there. They began to be oppressed by the Egyptians. And so they cried out to the Lord. And God sent them a deliverer. Whose name was Moses. And through the hand of Moses. God brought a series of plagues. To bring judgment upon the nation of Egypt. Nine plagues that had begun to harden the heart of Pharaoh. To the point where they were able to.

To the point where they were able to. To the point where they were able to. To the point where he refused to let the people go. And so God finally told Moses. There's one last plague. One last thing that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Is going to force Pharaoh to let you go. It's going to be a plague that will affect the firstborn. As a matter of fact. The angel of death.

Will pass throughout the land of Egypt. And will kill all of the firstborn in the land. And you need to know something Moses. This is not just for the people of Egypt. This is something that you need to pay attention to as well. But I want to tell you. How you can be delivered. From the judgment that is to come. You're to find a lamb. And each family will have a lamb that is perfect.

The lamb has to be completely spotless. As a matter of fact. Bring the lamb into your home. So that you can monitor it for a series of days. So that you can know that this lamb is spotless. And then when the time is right. I want you to kill the lamb. And after you've killed the lamb. I want you to take some of the blood. And I want you to paint it on the door post of the home.

So that when the angel that brought the lamb. Brings judgment comes through. Your household will be delivered. Because it is covered in the blood of the lamb. And so we see here a promise. Of the ultimate Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That would come some 2,000 years later. That would deliver the nation. As well as the world from sin. To all who would believe.

Well as you continue on into the book of Leviticus. Just right. The sacrifices in Leviticus. You see Jesus at work in all of those too. You see that promise. Of redemption in all of those as well. Because as much as we don't love to read about. All of those sacrifices. All of those sacrifices point to Jesus. The sacrifices that dealt with sin. The sacrifices that dealt with transgressions.

The sacrifices that dealt with atonement. The sacrifices that brought fellowship. The sacrifices that brought peace. And the sacrifices even of joy and celebration. All pointed back to none other than Jesus Christ himself. Because the cross was always the plan. It's fascinating because. Even when you move into Psalm 22. Which is the next thing I want you to write down.

God gives very specific direction. Through David. To write out some of the things. That will happen with the cross. I want to read some of these passages to you. Because Psalm 22 so vividly presents. The cross of Christ. And so in Psalm 22 verse 1. It says this. My God. Why have you forsaken me? Which is fascinating. Because that's the very thing that Jesus cries from the cross.

When the father turns his back on him. Because he's wearing the sin of the world. When you jump down to verse 6. It says this. 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.

Which is fascinating. Because that's the exact thing that the religious leaders say about Jesus. When he's hanging from the cross. They say. Let God deliver him. If he is so pleased with him. But it gets really vivid in verse 12. It says. Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They open their mouth at me as a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It's melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd. And my tongue cleaves to my jaw. And lay me in the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers has encompassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look. They stare at me.

And they divide my garments among them. And for my clothing. They cast lots. You see. God wanted his people to know. Exactly what was coming. That there was redemption that was coming. But that redemption would come through a sacrifice. That that redemption would come through. The cross. But there's no more vivid picture of this. In my opinion. Than what we're given in Isaiah chapter 53.

So look over at Isaiah 53. Because in Isaiah 53. We are given what's called. The picture of the suffering servant. I would like to read all of Isaiah 53. And then we'll go back and comment on it. So starting in chapter 53 verse 1. It says this. Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before us. And 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. 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 hid their face. He was despised. And we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs. He himself bore.

And our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken. Smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. 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.

He was oppressed. And he was afflicted. Yet he did not open his eyes. Yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter. And like a sheep before its shearers. So he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for this 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. His grave was assigned with the wicked men. Yet he was with a rich man. In his death. Because he had done no violence. Nor was there any deceit in his mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush him. Putting him to grief. 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.

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. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great. And he will divide the spoil with the strong. Because he poured out himself to death. And he was numbered among the transgressors.

Yet he himself bore the sin of many. And interceded for the transgressors. It's a powerful chapter. And ultimately a part of a greater section within the book of Isaiah. That's known as the section on the suffering servant. But it sort of hinges. It sort of centers upon Isaiah chapter 53. And so in Isaiah 53. There's three things that we learn about the suffering servant.

We learn about his life. We learn about his sacrifice. And we learn about his victory. So let's take these three things. So the first thing that we learn about the suffering servant. is that. We learn as we see the life of the suffering servant. Notice what it says. Who's believed our message. And to whom has 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. That statement speaks a great deal about the humble nature. By which Jesus came into this earth. And the humble nature by which he grew up. Because he grew up in about the most humble way that you possibly could. Jesus was born to the wrong parents. As far as the world was concerned. Mary became pregnant before her and Joseph ever got married.

And Joseph was simply the stepfather of Jesus. And so the reputation that Jesus gained. Was one of a child who came about through ill means. Even though we know the truth. But he still gained that reputation when he was growing up. Jesus was born in about the most humble means possible. Because he literally was born in a barn. He was not born in a palace like you would expect a king to be born in.

He was born in the most humble place possible. He was born in a palace. He was born in an incredibly small village called Bethlehem. So small that it was referred to as you who are little amongst the nation. And he grew up in a town that had an even worse reputation. He grew up in a town where everybody said. Does anything good come out of Nazareth? Everything about Jesus was the most humble thing possible.

And so when the world looks at Jesus. They don't see a great king. They simply see a peasant from Israel. Because he grew up before him. Like a tender shoot. And like a root out of parched ground. The second thing it tells us is that he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him. Nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. Now let me first of all tell you what that doesn't mean.

It doesn't mean that Jesus was just like ugliest sin. Right? I think we need to understand that. I've heard some people be like. Jesus was the ugliest guy. Look it says he was ugly right there. No. It just says he wasn't all that great looking. Right? I think the thing that we need to understand. And by the way Isaiah 53 gives us more about the. Physical appearance of Jesus.

Than any of the gospel accounts do. One of the things that we need to understand about the appearance of Jesus is. He wasn't so ugly that you would notice him. And he wasn't so good looking that you would notice him. As a matter of fact Jesus was a guy that. You might just never notice. That's why Jesus could roam around. And people would go. This is the son of David.

He was just a guy. Right? You wouldn't swerve to hit him. But you might not swerve to miss him. He's just an average guy. The only thing that made him special. When he lived on this earth. Was the. The calling that he had on his life. To be the savior. Of the world. It goes on from there. To talk about how he lived his life. He was despised. And forsaken of men.

I prefer the new King James on this. It says he was despised and rejected. Of men. As a matter of fact Jesus was one of the most rejected leaders. To ever come upon Israel. They didn't like him. The religious people didn't like him. Because he rocked their boat. The wealthy people didn't like him. Because he didn't support them in their wealth. The poor people didn't always like him.

Because. Because he didn't try to tell them how to gain more money. The people that wanted to overthrow Rome didn't like him. Because he wasn't there as some sort of a political savior. He was despised and rejected by all of them. Because he didn't come to set them free in a physical sense. He came to set them free in the true spiritual sense. He was despised and rejected of men.

But notice the next thing it says about him. He was a man of sorrows. And acquainted with grief. Now again I would like to tell you what this does not mean. This does not mean that Jesus walked around with a long face all the time. I remember when I was a kid. Different paintings and every movie that was about Jesus. Always portrayed Jesus the same way. He was like.

He just looked sad all the time. You're like dude. Jesus I think smiled more than anybody in the world. Smiling was his favorite. Him and Elf were right there together. I think he was an incredibly joyful man. Do you know why I think he was an incredibly joyful man? Because you know what one of the fruits of the spirit is? Joy. So I think Jesus was filled with the joy of the Lord.

And that joy flowed from him. It exuded from him. And he totally experienced. All of the joy of the Lord. And yet in the midst of all of the joy that he experienced. I want us also to take note of the fact. That he knew what it was like to sorrow. And he knew what it was like to grieve. I think he knew what it was like to sorrow. Because he knew the sorrow that sin brought into people's lives.

He knew that ultimately sin led people to the greatest place of sorrow. That they could possibly be. And I don't know who needs to hear this today. I don't know who this is a word for. But sin leads to sorrow. And the sin that you're living in. Is going to lead you to sorrow. But Jesus knew what it was like to see that sin in people. And to sorrow over it. You know how I know that?

Because we're told that before he went to his cross. In that week after the triumphal entry. And before his death. He looked out over the city of Jerusalem. And he wept. And he said. Jerusalem, Jerusalem. The one who kills the prophets. How I have longed to gather you in my arms. Like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you would not. You would not.

See Jesus was sorrowing over Jerusalem. Because he knew what sin was doing to them. And he knew what their rejection of him would do to them as a nation. He was a man of sorrow. But not only that. He was a man who was acquainted with grief. He knew what it was like to grieve loss. He knew what it was like to grieve for those he loved. I've often pointed this out.

But you know who we don't see throughout the entire gospel accounts? Once we get past Jesus as a young boy. We don't see his father. We don't see Joseph. Most commentators believe that it's because Joseph died. Probably when he was a young guy. And so Jesus knew what it was like to grow up without a father. Because perhaps Joseph had died at a young age. Not only that.

John the Baptist was one of his best friends. And John the Baptist was put to death in the middle of Jesus' ministry. But I think the clearest picture we have of Jesus being acquainted with grief. Is that Jesus' good friend Lazarus was sick. And they called for Jesus. Hey man you got to come. Lazarus the one you love. Man he's sick. And you need to come see him.

And so Jesus hung out a little bit. Longer. And on his way to see Lazarus. Lazarus died. He said guys we got to go see Lazarus. He's asleep. And they're like if he's sleeping. Doesn't that mean he's going to get better? And Jesus is like listen dense heads. He died. Okay. He didn't say that part. The dense heads that came from me. Okay that's what I would say if I was Jesus.

He said he died. And we need to go deal with it. So they show up. And he says take me to the tomb. They take him to the tomb. And he sees everybody grieving and weeping. And even though he knows he's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Because he was a man. He was acquainted with grief. He saw all of the people weeping. And we're given the shortest verse in all the Bible.

Jesus wept. Why? Because he was acquainted with grief. He lived a life that he knew what it was like to hurt. And so Jesus in his life lived this way. Goes on to say. And like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised. And we did not esteem him. That was the life of the suffering servant. But the second thing that we see. Is we see the sacrifice of the suffering servant.

Notice what it says in verse 4. Surely our griefs he himself bore. And our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken. Smitten of God. And afflicted. It says that he bore our sorrows. And he carried our grief. What does that mean? It means Jesus didn't just look at people. And see what they had going on. He took it on himself. As a matter of fact.

David Guzik in his commentary says. The imagery that's given to us. In the picture of carried and bore. Is the idea of someone picking it up. Putting it on their back. And carrying it in place of someone else. He did that not only with the things. That we deal with on this side of eternity. But he dealt with the sorrow and the grief of sin. That we would carry into the other side of eternity.

He bore that for us. It goes on to say in verse 5. In very vivid language. He was pierced through. For our sin. For our transgressions. He was pierced through. For our transgressions. There's actually three different ways that Jesus was pierced. He was first of all pierced in his hands. When they nailed his hands to the cross. He was pierced in his feet. When they nailed his feet to the cross.

But at the end of his life. After he had given up the ghost. They needed to ensure that he was dead. In order to take him down from the cross. And so they took that spear. And right in the gap. Between the hip bone. And the bottom. And the bottom of the ribs. The Roman soldier shoved the spear through there. And it pierced his heart. The pericardial sac around the heart.

That protects the heart and the heart itself. And so blood and water flowed. He was pierced. But why was he pierced? He uses a specific word. And he uses a powerful word. Why was he pierced? He was pierced not for our mistakes. Although he does bear our mistakes. Not for our shortcomings. Although he does bear our shortcomings. No, what was he pierced through for?

For our transgressions. That's a specific word that's used there. Because it's a deep and powerful word. Because the word transgression is literally rebellion against God. That's what he was pierced through for. He wasn't just pierced because sometimes you're not good enough. He was pierced because you actually were in rebellion against God. And in order to deal with that.

He took the punishment that rightly belonged to you. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He goes on from there to say. And he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. That word crushed is an excellent translation. Although it's translated two other ways. It can also be translated bruised. Or my favorite. Beaten to pieces.

Because when you really think about everything that Jesus went through. We think often about the cross. But I want you to think about how Jesus was beaten from the very beginning. First of all, he was taken there in the Garden of Eden. Or in the Garden of Gethsemane. And we're told that he was beaten. They punched him while he was there. We're told that he stood trial before the Sanhedrin.

And at the end of the trial, what did they do? They blindfolded him. And when they blindfolded him, what did they begin to do? They began to strike him in the face and say, Prophesy, Lord, who was it that hit you? And then he was taken to the Roman soldiers after they had scourged him. Which we'll get to in just a moment. They took a crown of thorns and they placed it upon his head.

And they took a rod and it says they beat the crown of thorns. So that it stood. Stuck into his head. Now, he was certainly beaten to pieces. Why? Because of our iniquity. The thing that always sticks out to me the most about the story of the crucifixion is that it was all my fault. And it was all your fault. Because it was all because of the sins that we had committed.

And he goes on to say, The chastening or the disciplining for our well-being fell upon him. And by his scourging, we are healed. One of the things that it says that he went through in the beating, or that we talked about that he went through with the beating was the scourging. Now, the fascinating thing about this, about both the piercing and the scourging, is that Isaiah had no idea what he was writing when he wrote this.

Because at the time of the writing of Isaiah, the Babylonian Empire hadn't even come about yet. Which meant that the Persian Empire hadn't come about yet. Which meant that crucifixion hadn't come about yet. Because the Persian Empire was the first ones to use crucifixion as any form of capital punishment. But they didn't even do it like the Romans. They didn't pierce through the hands and the feet like the Romans did.

And they certainly didn't scourge one like the Romans did. As a matter of fact, do you know what happened during the scourging? During the scourging, a criminal was stripped down to his waist and laid over a post. And they would begin to whip him. And as they would whip him, if they began to confess their crimes, the beatings would get less and less. Softer and softer until they had confessed everything.

And then the beating would be done. But remember, Jesus had nothing to confess. Because they weren't his transgressions he was bearing. They were ours. He didn't have anything to confess. And so the beatings just kept getting harder and harder and harder. And kept getting worse and worse and worse. And it's fascinating because it says, by his scourgings we are healed.

What does that mean? I mean, every time that that whip went across, Jesus' back indicates a time that my heart is healed from the sins that I'm guilty of. Isn't that a fascinating thought? That by his scourging, we are healed. It goes on from there to describe the suffering. And Isaiah says this, All of us like sheep have gone astray. And each of us have turned to his own way.

But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. This is a beautiful picture. That's given to us because it's the picture of substitutionary death. Because the iniquity of us all or the sin or the transgression of us all fell upon him. Now, to understand this substitutionary death, I think the best thing to do is to look back at a sacrifice in the book of Leviticus.

And I've shared this before. But this verse and that story are the things that have brought the greatest hope into my life. They're the only things that have brought peace into my life. Because I lived a great deal of my life living under the influence of God. And I've lived a great deal of my life living under the influence of God. And I've lived a great deal of my life living under the guilt of the things that I had done wrong.

You see, when I wasn't walking with the Lord, I, like a sheep, had gone astray. And I'd absolutely gone my own way. And I'd lived in a place of iniquity and sin and transgression and direct rebellion against God. And I lived with the guilt of that early on when I started walking with the Lord. As a matter of fact, shortly after Bible college. And that guilt was wearing me down and it was wearing me out.

It was constantly pushing me down. Until one event, two events that took place in my life. The first event that took place in my life was we were going through the one-year Bible with Calvary Chapel of Johnson County. And we came to the place in the book of Leviticus where it talked about the substitutionary death of the death of atonement. See, on the day of atonement, there were two goats that were chosen.

And they basically flipped a coin as to which one would be the sacrifice and which one would be the scapegoat. And so they would sacrifice the sacrificial goat and sprinkle that blood on the altar of atonement. But then they would sacrifice the sacrificial goat. But then they would take the scapegoat and do something really fascinating. The high priest would lay his hands on the head of the scapegoat.

And he would confess all of the sins of the nation from that year. And they would all be put in a spiritual sort of way upon the head of the scapegoat. And then after they had confessed all of the sins of the nation for the year, they would take that scapegoat outside of the city. And they would set it free until it ran into the wilderness. Carrying the sins of the people away for a night.

For another year. Well, within about a week of me reading that, The Passion of the Christ had come out into the theaters. That was when it first came out. And I don't know what your thoughts are on Mel Gibson. That's a great film. There's some things I don't agree with in it. But man, the heart of the film is really, really good. And I remember watching that and seeing in that vivid portrayal of Jesus carrying that cross,

which is a picture of the sin that we had because the cross was there because of sin. That curse that he bore for us. And where did he? He carried it outside of the city. And I felt distinctly the Lord saying, That's what I did with your sin. Stop carrying it. Because I had watched him carry it out of the city to where it wasn't mine to deal with anymore. He said,

That's what I did with your sin. It's gone. It's not yours. The guilt is not yours to hold on to anymore. Why? Because even though I was like a sheep that had gone astray and led everyone to his own way, the Lord had laid on him, the suffering servant, the iniquity of us all. And so if you're here, if you're here this morning and you're carrying the guilt of things that you've done wrong,

if you're still holding on to the guilt of transgression or iniquity or rebellion or whatever it is that you've done, you need to understand that God already carried it away for you. Now all you have to do is believe it. And you can live in that same peace. Because I think a lot of people, especially in the church, still live in guilt. You live in the guilt of the things that you've done wrong.

And God doesn't want you to live in that any longer. He wants you to live in freedom. And I've got to be honest with you. Ever since I truly understood that, I can hold my head high again. Because I have been set free by the redemption of Jesus Christ. Because the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Because listen, the cross was always the plan. It goes on from there to say this.

It says, He was, verse 7, oppressed and afflicted, yet he didn't open his mouth. Like a lamb that's led to the slaughter. And like a sheep that is silent before his... So he didn't open his mouth. If you have a red letter Bible, it's always fascinating to read the trials of Jesus. Because in the trials of Jesus, there's like three or four words in red. I think the one thing that's in red is where it says,

It is as you say. That's it. They said, Are you the king of the Jews? And he says, It's as you say. Very few words in red. Why? Because Jesus never opened his mouth. And I want you to know, that would not have been an easy thing to do. Because remember, they're telling lies about him. They've made up false things that he had done. They have twisted his words.

They've twisted what he did. They've twisted what he said. And all he could do was sit there and take it. Because if anybody was innocent, it was Jesus. And Jesus could have been his own defense attorney. At any point in time that he wanted to. But he chose not to. He just sat there silent. Why did he sit there silent? Because if he defended himself, he could have been set free.

But he couldn't be set free. Because then, then he couldn't be the sacrificial servant. So he endured it all. He endured the lies and the criticism and the false accusations. He took all of that while being beaten at the same time. And he didn't open his mouth once. He just took it. And he didn't take it because he was a martyr. He took it because he was a sinner.

He took it because he was a sacrifice. He didn't open his mouth. He goes on from there to say, By oppression, verse 8, 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? There's two words I'd like to point out to you in verse 8 to start with.

And those words are oppression and judgment. The oppression speaks of the human action and the crucifixion. But the judgment speaks of the divine action. And I think we need to understand that. Because what? What Jesus was actually taking was not that of the death of a martyr. It was that of the judgment of God. Because what was poured out upon Jesus was God's judgment against sin.

But it wasn't just judgment in the physical sense. And I think that's important for us to pay attention to. Because judgment in the physical sense was a lot like what other people had gone through. Jesus was not the only human being to ever be crucified on a cross. Now the judgment that he went through was even deeper than that. Because the judgment that he went through was having God.

Turn his back on him as he was bearing the sin of humanity. Which is why the beginning of Psalm 22 says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He endured separation from God so that we wouldn't have to. Now, the human part is that God used the hands of man to put him to death. But it was all the judgment of God. It says, By oppression and judgment. He was taken away.

And for this generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living? It's such a definitive statement. Cut off out of the land of the living. Let me put it to you really simply. He was put to death. Why is that important? Because without death, there can be no sacrifice for sin. We're told in the book of Hebrews that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.

Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? What was he put to death? But what was he put to death for? I love this line at the end of verse 8. For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. What was he put to death for? He was put to death for us.

Who actually deserved it. Who actually deserved it. You may not realize this. You may think you're a pretty good person, but you're not. And you're deserving of death. But Jesus took that for you. So that when you put your faith in him, you now don't have to experience that. That's the sacrifice of the suffering. servant one last thing about the sacrifice it says his grave was assigned with wicked men yet he was

with a rich man in his death because he had done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth it says he was assigned with his grave was assigned with the wicked men what that mean mean he died with thieves well who was on each side of jesus on the right hand and on the left hand there was a thief someone who truly deserved to die and there jesus was dying amongst common criminals and yet his grave was with the rich he was with the rich in his death what did that mean well if you remember the story of jesus you know that after he was crucified or after after he had died on the cross evening was coming and they needed to do something with the bodies and so

there was a man named joseph of arimathea one who was known as a disciple in secret he was a man of great wealth he went to pilot and he said hey can i have the body of jesus i would like to bury it properly he said i already have a tomb that i've already purchased for myself that's exactly what he did he took the body of jesus down and laid it in a tomb a rich man's tomb with the rich in his death and so we have seen this sacrifice of the suffering servant we've seen his life we've seen his sacrifice but the third thing is that we see his victory now this is pretty fascinating to me because i have never seen this in isaiah 53 before until i studied it this time but before we get to that one one thing verse 10

it says uh along the victory of the suffering servant it says but the lord was pleased to crush him putting him to grief if he would render himself as a guilt offering the lord was pleased to crush him now we need to understand something about that verse that doesn't mean that god took pleasure in his death god doesn't even take pleasure in the death of the wicked so if god was pleased to crush him what does it mean well he was pleased to crush him and he was pleased to with the result of what it would mean to crush him because the result of the death of jesus would ultimately be the salvation for all who would put their faith in him so he was pleased in his death

because he had made himself a guilt offering for sin he was pleased with that but this isn't what i want you to pay attention to in the middle of verse 10 it says this he will see his offspring he will prolong his days and the good pleasure of the lord will prosper in his hand now i want you to think about something can dead people see their offspring can dead people prolong their days can dead people prosper so what does that mean brothers and sisters that's the resurrection i've never seen this in isaiah 53 before i am telling you for the very first time i have noticed this other people have seen it a long time ago i'm noticing it now and it is amazing i love this because victory was always the plan not only was the cross always the

plan but the resurrection was always the plan and the resurrection was always the plan and the resurrection was always the plan as a matter of fact the jewish people when they read this they don't understand what isaiah chapter 53 is about i used to uh when i worked at lakeview village i've shared this with you before there was a guy that lived there his name was truman page knew more about the bible than anybody had ever been around before and really instilled a love for the old testament in me and he would read through a different translation every year in this particular year when i was going to visit with him he was reading through the old testament in the jewish

bible in the jewish bible as he was reading through the old testament he was reading through the old testament he said ryan you're never going to believe this there is a commentary on every chapter of the old testament of the jewish bible except one isaiah 53 because they can't figure it out it doesn't make sense there's either got to be two servants or something is wrong with isaiah chapter 53 because how can the suffering servant be the one who is alive how can the servant who is suffering also be the servant who has prolonged his days how can the servant who is suffering be the one who is alive how can the servant who is suffering also be the servant who is suffering and clearly die also be the servant who will see his offspring and there's

no answer to it in the jewish world because there's only one answer to it it's jesus because he died and he rose again isn't this great it was always the plan sin did not take god by surprise he wasn't like oh golly what am i going to do now he was like i already have a plan and it's going to involve a servant and that servant's going to come through a family and that family's going to have a son named david and david's going to have a descendant named jesus and jesus will be god and man he will die for the sins of the world and to prove that i accepted the sacrifice i will raise him from the dead and because of that brothers and sisters we have a great deal of hope because of that we know that there is life to be lived he says as a result verse 11

of his anguish of soul he will see it and be satisfied god was satisfied with the death of jesus he was satisfied because it met all of the requirements of the law he was satisfied because it met all the requirements of the prophecies he was satisfied because it dealt with sin he was satisfied it says and by his knowledge the righteous one my servant will justify the many and he will bear their iniquities therefore i will allot with allot him a portion with the great he will divide the spoil with the strong because he poured himself out to death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors brothers and

sisters the cross was always the plan there was always a promise that god would deal with the sin of humanity so that we could go home and live with him for all of eternity i want to close with this the love of jesus christ it's a lot to take in isn't it and i'm reminded i was reminded throughout this entire section of studying this a wonderful verse in romans chapter 5 and it says this but god demonstrated his own love for us and that while we were yet sinners christ died for us friends we're undeserving of god's love we're undeserving of his grace we're undeserving of his goodness and yet he lavishes it on us anyway because while we were in our sin christ died for us and if there's anything that you take away from this morning i want it to be this

jesus loves you more than you can ever imagine and he told you just how much he loves you not with the words that came out of his mouth but with the actions that he showed because he spelled out love with three nails and a spear and you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that god loves you more than you can ever imagine and god wants to begin now and go through all of eternity showing you how much he loves you you know i know because paul in the book of ephesians said lord help them to understand lord let them know the height and the depth and the width and the length of your love so that they can know the love of christ that surpasses all knowledge the love of christ that surpasses all knowledge amen

let's all stand my friends we're coming into the time of the year again where everyone's going to be thinking about jesus and bunnies right so just remind them it's not about the bunny it's about the lamb the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world and everybody's going to be talking about it whether they want to or not because it's a holiday that everybody celebrates in the united states of america it's a federal holiday and so people will talk about it some people will be opposed to it some people will be excited about it some people will be different to it. They need you to let them know that it expresses the love of Jesus more than anything else ever can. Would you bow with me? Father, we come to you. And Lord, I thank you.

I thank you that you love us with such great love. And so, Lord, I just ask right now that you would overflow everybody in this place with the power of your Holy Spirit right now. Father, I pray that there's anybody here that doesn't know you that today would be that day. And Lord, if there's anyone here who is living in sin, thinking it's no big deal, may they understand that sin brings sorrow and Jesus brings life. Lord, may they walk away from their sin and may they walk to Jesus.

And so, Father, do the work that only your Holy Spirit can do. And may you change us by the love of Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Because you are alive today, that we have a hope. For life. We have a hope for a new life. And God, we thank you. We praise you for that new life that you give. Lord, we lift praise to you this morning, God. We give you honor and glory because of what you've done and because you're alive today. And Lord, we have a hope because we know that you are coming back for your children.

We thank you. Lord, we praise you. We pray these things in your precious and holy name. Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.