"The King is Coming" Pt 1: The Prophecy : Pastor Ryan : Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM
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Organized into readable paragraphs from the preserved Whisper transcript. Non-speech markers are removed.
Hello everyone. Good morning. All right, let's start with a word of prayer. Dear God, thank you so much for this group of people that we have together this morning. Thank you that we have this opportunity to refresh our minds and our hearts and our spirits with you and to turn our attention back to you after a long week and to prepare for the next week coming. I pray that you
will be with us this morning and throughout the rest of the week and help us to just keep our focus where it should be, which is on you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. If you guys will stand for the first song, thank you so much for your faithfulness. Thank you that we have a God that we can trust and we can depend on and that we can put all of our faith in you because you take care
of us and that wherever you send us, we can go. Whatever you tell us to do, we can do because we know that you love us and that you take care of us and that the whole world is in your hands. Stand with me for the last song. What a blessing it is that we do get to rest in the goodness of you and just we have a peace that if you don't know you, that you just could never experience without you. We are so thankful for everything that you do for us every day and the way that
you care for us and the way that you love us. Please be with us and be with Pastor Ryan for his message today and give him the words. You want him to say and give us all the ears to hear and to learn and to really absorb what you're trying to teach us this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. You guys can turn and greet one another.
Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seats. Grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. Just first service is always more raucous than second service. That's just all I can say. Like getting you all to sit down. Second service, I'm like, good morning, and they're all in their seats. You guys, I'm like,
good morning, and you're like, we don't care. I'm going to talk to this guy. It's just always funny to me. All right. That's neither here nor there. All right. A handful of things to take note of in your bulletin. As always, on the left-hand side, the things that are going on. The only change for the left-hand side of the bulletin this week is that Wednesday night,
we will not have service here as usual. Everyone is invited over to the event. The event that FCA is putting on over at the college called Courts of Praise. It starts at 630. You're welcome. It's in the W.S. Scott Auditorium, the auditorium gym there. Come join us. Here's some kids. Give some testimonies and have some great worship. That's going on Wednesday night. I'm over in the middle section of your bulletin. First of all, thank you to all
those who participated in the fundraiser for the Guatemala missions trip. Did we have any questions? Did we have pictures for that? Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, there it is. There we go. Our hearts are grateful. Every role mattered. So, here we are. Yeah, that was fun. That dinosaur, that one got me. That was, yeah, those boys. God love them. There's the dinosaur again. Who knew? Who knew?
That's, yeah. I mean, he was everywhere. And, yeah. So, I think we raised, I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet. I'm just looking at Janet.
Did I remember that number correctly in the ballpark there? So, that's huge. So, yes. Praise God. Also, there are still two spots available? More than that. There are spots available to go to Guatemala. If you are interested, you can see that lady right there. They always do some great work down there with God Said Go missions. And then the other thing is that the mowing ministry, again, we're getting some volunteers for that. The sign-up sheet is out there.
there in the lobby, along with a little information sheet. If you have any questions, you can talk to Kurt Solomon or Michael Aerosmith about that. So make sure that we get signed up for that. The mowing will begin April the 11th. And since it's already summertime, it's going to really need it a lot. So make sure you sign up for that. Those are the things that are going on. If you would
make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for one last week, we will have a unison reading out of Psalm 142. Psalm 142. Look at the New American Standard for this part. If you need a copy, it should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 142, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. Again, we will read through this together.
My buddy will be back next week. My buddies, everybody's gone. So everybody will be back next week. Psalm 142, a mascal of David when he was in the cave. Prayer. I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord. I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare my trouble before him. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my path. In the way where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see, for there is no one who regards me. There is no escape from me. There is no escape from me. There is no escape from me. for me. No one cares for my soul. I cried out to you, O Lord. I said, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring my soul out of prison,
so that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me. And Father, I thank you that we can know that in the hardest of times, Lord, you are still there. You see and you hear and you know and you act, Lord. And so, Father, we ask that you would move on our behalf today as we spend time in your word. I pray that you
would draw us near to you, that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to take in exactly what it is that your spirit wants to minister. To us this morning, and we just pray for a fresh moving of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah, chapter 52. Isaiah, chapter 52. Well, we're drawing really close to Resurrection Sunday. And so,
it's always hard to know when you do expositional preaching, where do you begin a series? And it felt like a really good time to begin this series. It's actually going to be a four-part series. And the title of it is, The King is Coming. The King is Coming. And so, today what we want to do is we want to look at the prophecy of the coming of the King, the prophecy of the coming of Jesus.
And so, in so doing, I would like for us to look at this chapter, the end of Isaiah 52, all the way through Isaiah 53, which is oftentimes referred to as the suffering servant. But let me give us just a little bit of background on Isaiah. The prophet, as well as, the book. So, of course, Isaiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom. And he began prophesying
in a time when the southern kingdom was really in a time of apostasy. The northern kingdom was just about to go into captivity to the Assyrians. But there was enough good still in the southern kingdom that they held out. But he prophesied of the coming judgment of God. He prophesied of the fact that God would show up and bring judgment through the people of the Babylonians.
And so, the first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah all pronounce judgment against the nation of Israel, all pronounce judgment against the nation of Judah. And when you feel like you just can't take any more of the proclamations of judgment that Isaiah brings down against the nation of Judah, along comes chapter 40. Because the last 27 chapters of the book of Isaiah are chapters of hope. As a matter of fact, they are so distinctly different. The first 39 and the last
27 chapters of the book of Isaiah are chapters of hope. And so, the first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah are so distinctly different that liberal scholars had at one point in time what they called the two Isaiah theory, that they could not have been written by the same guy. But what they never understood is that the same God that pronounces judgment upon sin is the same God that brings hope for sinners. And so, the last 27 chapters of the book of Isaiah are a proclamation of hope. First
of all, a proclamation of hope of the ultimate deliverance of the nation of Judah from Babylon but ultimately a proclamation of hope because of the coming Messiah, the ultimate coming Messiah who would be the one who would set them free. Only Isaiah presents the Messiah in a very interesting way. Most viewed the Messiah as a conquering king, but Isaiah presented the Messiah as a suffering servant. And so, as we look at this prophecy of the coming of the king, we realize that the first coming of Jesus was not as a con- king, but as a suffering servant. And so as we look at the end of Isaiah 52, because verse 13
on through 53 really could comprise one chapter, we are going to look at the suffering servant. And so I want to read through all of it and then give you my four main points. Starting in verse 13 of Isaiah 52, it says this, behold, my servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted, 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. Thus he will sprinkle many nations. 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. Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a child, and he grew up before
him like a child, and he grew up before him like a child, and he grew up before him like a child, 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 hid their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself has borne,
and our sorrows he has carried. Yet we, 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 for 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 mouth, and he did not open his mouth like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearer, so 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. His grave was assigned with the wicked, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit. He was a man of God, and he was a man of God, and he was a man of God, and he was a man of
God. 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. And by his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify many, and 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 was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. The prophecy of the coming king. Four things I want us to take note of out of this. The first
thing is the surprising servant. The second thing is the suffering servant. The third is the silent servant. And the fourth is the successful servant. If you didn't get all those, don't worry, we'll go through them all. The first thing that I would like for us to look at is the surprising servant. Remember, as they were thinking of a Messiah, particularly the people that Jesus arrived to, they were not looking for
a suffering servant. They were looking for a conquering king, because that's what the people of Israel always knew of as the Messiah. As a matter of fact, what's going to be presented is the end of Isaiah 52 on through chapter 53 is so shocking to the Jewish minds that it never gets read in the synagogue. As a matter of fact, one of the things that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first
thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing
that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing that I want us to look at is the surprising servant. The first thing
to us here is the most surprising thing possible and so what he says first of all he says behold verse 13 of chapter 52 behold my servant he will be uh he will prosper he will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted in other words he's going to be a wise servant he's going to be a prosperous servant he's going to be an exalted servant but it's not going to be in the way that most people think it's interesting because the verbiage that's used there for high and exalted reminds us of john chapter 12 when jesus said if the son of man be lifted up he will draw all men unto himself and then john gives us a commentary on that within the text that says and he said this speaking of
the death that he would die because the idea of being lifted up and exalted has to do more with the cross than it does with our praise and so when he presents this prosperous wise servant he presents him as high and lifted up not only because he is god which i believe fits the context as well but because he will die a death that will ultimately lift him up to be seen by all men if you will it tracks all the way back to the book of exodus pardon me the book of numbers when moses is in the wilderness with the children of israel and and when moses is in the wilderness with them they begin to complain again and so god sends serpents among them and they begin to bite the people the people begin
to die from the judgment of god and moses cries out to the lord lord what do i do and he says moses build a bronze serpent and put it on a pole and anyone who will look upon the bronze serpent that has been lifted up on the pole will be saved interestingly enough the judgment of god was placed upon a pole and anyone who looked upon god's judgment being placed upon the serpent on the pole would be saved from god's judgment which is why carrying all the way to john chapter 3 jesus said if the son of man be lifted up even as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even once the son of man be lifted up that anyone who believes in him would be saved behold my servant
will prosper and he will be highly exalted and lifted up but notice what he says in verse 14 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 lest we think again that this high and exalted had to do with his position we realize that it had more to do with his position than it had to do with his with his suffering because he says even though he's going to prosper that prosperity will come at a great price that high exaltation will come at a great price because it will come at the price of him being marred more than any man it will it will come at the at the cost of his form being
more scarred than any of the sons of men i'm reminded not to get ahead of myself because this will be in a couple of wednesdays but i'm reminded of when pilot brought jesus before the people he had been scourged and after he had been beaten and after he had the crown of thorns placed upon his head and the blood was running down his face from the bleeding from the crown of thorns that pilot simply declared behold the man and everyone was shocked because his his appearance was marred more than anyone not what they expected from the messiah that would deliver them it says thus he will verse 15 sprinkle many nations this is another surprising thing that word sprinkle is very interesting
because it's the same verbiage that is used of the priest sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice on the altar it's the same verbiage that's used that used there so the idea is when he says he will sprinkle many nations it speaks of purification so this this coming messiah would also perform a high priestly sort of a role which no one had ever heard of up to that point in time because the deliverer was not also the high priest it fits very well and it fits very well into what we talked about last week in the book of hebrews with jesus as the high priest because he was not a high priest of the ironic priesthood he was a high priest of the priesthood of melchizedek
and so he could be that high priest and that's who he is as the messiah he said kings will shut their mouths on account of him because everyone will be shocked for what had not been told them they will see and what they had not heard they will understand and then as he continues with this idea of the surprising uh the surprising servant he will be the high priest of the priesthood of he goes into chapter 53 pretend there's no division there take that 53 out of your mind because this is one flowing thought he says who has believed our message to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed we're reminded that this surprising servant is so surprising that people
will struggle to believe the message people will struggle to believe that this could be the messiah the jews clearly struggled to believe that jesus was the messiah but quite frankly for many people to believe the gospel is almost a stumbling point to them because they don't believe the gospel because they have a hard time believing that that is the way to salvation that jesus could be the only way to salvation and many struggle to believe the message it's interesting because in the time of the writing of the new testament we're told that the message of the cross was was foolishness to the greeks because the only people that were crucified were slaves and criminals and it was a
stumbling block to the jews because their messiah was supposed to be a victor not a victim and so so they said who has believed our message he's such a surprising servant that people will struggle to believe the message and then he goes on to start to talk about the humanity of this suffering servant 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 nor appearance that we should be attracted to him he says he grew up before him like a tender shoot that speaks of the the weakness that he grew up and as a human being being born as a baby and growing up as a man wearing the frail skin of humanity that you and i wear this
suffering servant will know the weakness that we deal with but in an even greater degree it says that he was like a root out of parched ground or a root out of dry ground you see not only was he born in a desert area not only was he born in a spiritually dry climate but he was born in a politically dry place too they were under the rule of rome and so he's he's growing up in this very uh in this very weak humanity that you and i can understand and appreciate but then he goes on to explain one more thing about this this suffering servant he says he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him and no appearance that we should be attracted to him you know this is the only description we have of the physical
appearance of jesus other than the fact that we're told that hair was ripped out of his beard it's the only description we have the physical appearance of jesus great description can we all be honest about that like it tells us that there was really nothing about jesus that made you look at him and go now that's the guy he's the man let's follow that guy he's the best looking guy in the room he's the tallest guy in the room he's the fittest guy in the room i think that sometimes we have to remember that that jesus was not so good looking that he caught people's eyes but i also don't think he was so ugly that he caught people's eyes i think he was the kind of guy that just blended into a crowd like i think he's the kind of guy that that you
ask to never pay attention to as far as his physical countenance is concerned he was just an average guy in his humanity why is that important because the only thing that drew people to jesus was the spirit that was in him the only people the only thing that drew people to jesus was the love of god that flowed through him and we are reminded that that's what the message of the gospel is supposed to be we try so hard to dress it up we try so hard to dress it up we try so hard to make jesus beautiful we try so hard to make jesus fit the culture we try so hard to make jesus acceptable to people and jesus was like but i didn't try all that hard to do that when i was on earth like like when i showed up as a man i wasn't somebody that everybody was just
drawn to i was just an average guy and we can present just an average guy as jesus and trust the holy spirit to do the work of drawing people to him and i just kind of wonder if in the church in the western culture if we stop trying to dress up jesus and just started presenting him as jesus if we would get real disciples and not false converts because this is kind of the situation that we struggle with right now and so there's really nothing about him that would draw people to him he was just your average guy you know who i can relate to just an average guy that's a savior that i can follow but it made him very surprising to the people remember when saul was chosen as
king everybody looked and went now that's a king right why because he was the most beautiful the best looking man in the land and he was head and shoulders taller than anyone else listen tall guys i'm not saying you can't be filled with the spirit i'm just saying saul wasn't okay that's just all i'm saying the tall guy was rejected the average guy was accepted that's not in the bible all right so verse three and he was despised and forsaken of men what what is shot men just he was despised by men he was despised by people the the idea of despised is not esteemed in other words they didn't give him any respect and then it says one more thing about it it says and he was 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 i always appreciate this about jesus that he was a man of sorrows and he was acquainted with grief now i don't want us to misunderstand i think jesus was one of the most joyful men that ever lived because we're told in the joy of the lord is our strength i think jesus laughed a lot i think jesus liked joking with his disciples but at the end of the day jesus bore a heavy burden jesus bore the burden of the world and i think that when when jesus looked at the world he looked he looked past the outside that everybody puts on the right face and the the the right look and and the right words that everybody
puts on and and jesus saw past that and he saw right down to the heart of people and he could see the burden that people were carrying and he carried that burden himself because it says he was a man of sorrows and i think i think the sorrow of all of the sin in the world was a heavy weight that he carried all the time i think that's part of why he had to have the prayer life that he had is because he bore a burden that was so heavy in his humanity that he had to continue to give that to the father because it was too much for him to carry but not only that it says he was acquainted with grief in other words jesus knew what it was like to love and to lose jesus knew what it was like to lose people that
he loved more than anything and he bore that feeling in him i'm reminded of when when uh when lazarus died lazarus has really good friend that if jesus would have just shown up in time he would not have died and jesus arrives at the tomb where he knows he's about to raise lazarus from the dead but we we read the shortest verse in the bible right there as he's gathered with the people and as as everyone around him is just weeping we we read this short little verse and it says jesus wept and i think that's probably a really good commentary on his life is that is that as he saw the burden that keep people carried of grief as he saw the burdens that people carried on them he he felt that grief
deep in his soul can you imagine the empathy that jesus went through as a perfect man and and as he endured that grief he felt that grief deep in his soul and he felt that grief deep in his soul and he felt that grief deep in his soul and he endured those things and so it's so surprising because even though he was a man of great joy he was also a man of great grief i would venture to say that that if you looked at jesus he probably looked a little older than he should have because the weight that he carried in him and it says he was despised and he was rejected and we did not esteem him he was the surprising servant but the second thing it tells us is that he was the suffering servant the suffering servant i broke this down into three
sections the first one was surely he has surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken smitten of god and afflicted i think it's interesting for us to pay attention to not only was he a man of sorrow and grief but he bore and he bore and he bore and he bore and he bore and he bore and he bore and he bore our sorrows and our griefs those two words are very interesting the word grief uh actually means sickness and it finds its root in the book of deuteronomy when god tells them if you will keep my law then none of the sicknesses that i put upon the nation of egypt will come upon you the idea is the plagues that came upon the land of egypt will not come upon you and so what it
says here is he he bore our sicknesses he bore our grief in other words he bore our penalty and he bore our grief and he bore our grief and he bore our grief and he bore our penalty for sin that rightly belonged to us because we did not keep the law but the second thing it says that he bore is he bore our sorrow that word sorrow also very interesting word it means to be in pain both physically and mentally and so not only does he deal with our judgment from sin but he also bears our sorrows our physical pain and our mental pain and in the world that we live in today where physical pain is very much understood mental pain is not and people want to put labels on it and people want to put labels on it and people want to put labels on it and people
want to put labels on it and people want to put labels on it and people want to put labels on it we have to realize that god understands the mental issues that we go through and he's willing to bear that for us as well that word bear again a fascinating word in the hebrew it means to pick up and carry like a bag in other words when you carry that burden on yourself the best thing that you can do is you can hand it off to the suffering servant because he's ready to pick it up and carry it for you right any of you ever traveled with small children same thing right they hold the bag for about oh twenty nine and a half seconds and they're like oh my god i'm so sorry i'm so
sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry right then they're like can you carry this that's too heavy for me right and you're like fine again i've got that bag too right now by the way that hasn't changed with teenage daughters either i'm just gonna throw that out there right now that still happens with teenage daughters i don't know how many times a bible gets handed to me while i'm standing out there greeting people pretty soon i'm like how do i have three bibles in my hand right now i only have two daughters they brought me other people's bibles to hold but that's the idea is he bears our grief but not only does he bear our grief but he bears our grief he bears our grief but not only does he Bear our grief and our pain.
I want you to notice what it says. He has surely been smitten by God and afflicted. He was smitten by God and afflicted. We need to understand, while my sin put Jesus on the cross, God is who laid the sin on Jesus on the cross. And this won't be the last time this is mentioned in this chapter, that this crucifixion, this suffering that he would go through vicariously for our sins
was God's idea. It was God's plan always to lay all of our sin upon him. And we have to understand that the Father is the one who smote the Son because of our sin. The second thing it says is he was. So he has surely, surely he has. And he was, notice what it says in verse 5. He was pierced through for our transgressions. And he was crushed for our sins. For our iniquities, the chastening for our well-being fell upon him.
And by his scourging, we are healed. There's fascinating things to pay attention to there. First of all, he was pierced through for our transgressions. Of course, transgressions are the sins we know about, right? It's not just I accidentally did it. It's a sin with knowledge. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. Now, the fascinating thing about the fact that the word pierced through is used here is really twofold.
Number one. When the Jewish people put someone to death, if there was to be a death on behalf of sin, it always involves stoning. They would pick up stones and stone them. That was the Jewish method of capital punishment. So that's, first of all, why it's kind of interesting that the term pierced through for our transgressions is used here. But the second reason why it's interesting is that crucifixion hadn't been invented yet.
As a matter of fact, the first people to pierce anyone in the form of capital punishment was actually the Persians, who would come after the Babylonians, who would come after the Assyrians, who were the threatening force at the time that Isaiah was writing this book. And so Isaiah writes of a form of capital punishment that is generations away from even being invented. You see, the Persians kind of came up with the idea of piercing someone through. It was impaling, actually.
The Romans perfected it through crucifixion. And none of that was invented yet. And so when Isaiah writes, pierced through for our transgressions, he would have gone, I don't even know what that means. Why is he going to be pierced through for transgressions? This hasn't even come up with. No one's even come up with this yet. And so he writes this out. But that's what he'll do.
He will be pierced through for our transgressions. The second thing it says is he will be crushed for our iniquities. Some of your translations may say, oh, what was the word? Chastised? It's a different word, but crushed is the absolute best word to be used there because that's what it specifically means. The crushing weight. The crushing weight of our sin was laid upon him, crushed for our iniquities.
The chastening for our well-being fell upon him. In other words, the disciplining for our well-being, it all fell upon him. And now comes this fascinating next line. And by his scourging, we are healed. While that may be probably the most accurate translation, it's not my favorite terming of that. I think it's because I memorized it in the old King James. It was a long time ago.
And so it's really hard for me to read this in the NAS because in the old King James it says, and by his stripes, we are healed. Now, this is one of the more debated about pieces of scripture because some people say, well, what kind of healing is this for our stripes? There are some who say, well, you know, this speaks of physical healing. Therefore, you can claim physical healing because by his stripes, we are healed.
And while I do believe that that's one context that can be used, as a matter of fact, it's used in that context. In the New Testament, there's also those who say, no, it only speaks of spiritual healing. By his stripes, we are healed from sin. Also used in the same context in the New Testament. So how do we approach this? What kind of healing does it give us?
And the answer is yes. I believe it speaks to both physical and spiritual healing. Obviously, we are healed spiritually through his stripes because he bore in his own body, on the tree, all of the sins of humanity, and we are healed spiritually. We are healed spiritually through the stripes that he endured for us. But there is an aspect of physical healing that we can have through the stripes of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes on this side of eternity. Because sometimes God chooses to heal on this side of eternity. But always on the other side of eternity. Because I'm here to tell you right now, everybody that's a believer in Jesus Christ will ultimately be healed physically on the other side of eternity. I've known a great number of very godly people. Who died of diseases on this side of eternity.
But when they stepped into the other side of eternity, they were made completely whole. By his stripes, they were healed. Have you ever thought about that that's what Jesus endured in order for the healing of us? This surprising servant went through such great suffering for us? Well, he says one more thing about this suffering servant. He said, As borne our griefs, he was pierced and crushed and chastened and scourged for our healing.
But the last thing he says about this suffering servant is that all of us. Verse 6. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each one has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. The beautiful thing about sheep is that they're the dumbest creatures known to man. I've read quite a few books on this.
I've read quite a few articles on this. And everyone who has ever worked with sheep. And then some of you that raise sheep have come up to me afterwards and been like 100% dumbest animals. They will walk off of cliffs. They will eat themselves to death. Okay, that's not fair. They will eat themselves to death with chili. I'm just kidding. Ken Close. Ken real close.
They're the dumbest creature in the world. And if they're scared, they scatter. They always want their own way. This is exactly who we are. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. We ran off. We ran as far as we could from God. And we turned everyone else to his own way. But the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. There's a beautiful picture. There's a beautiful picture that's given to us in all of the sacrifices of the Old Testament.
And the beautiful picture in all of the sacrifices of the Old Testament is that the high priest always did the same thing. He always laid his hands on the head of the sacrifice. Because it was the laying of the sins upon the animal that would ultimately vicariously die for the people. And what Isaiah points out here is that Jesus would be the ultimate vicarious sacrifice.
Because God. Would lay on him the iniquity of us all. It's kind of fascinating because when we talked about the surprising servant, we said that this surprising servant would also play the role of the high priest. But the fascinating thing is the high priest would also play the role of the sacrifice. It's kind of amazing to think about. I've shared this with you before, but a few years ago,
there was all the talk of canceling student debt. Canceling all the student debt. Canceling all the student loans. And everybody was like, yay! And if any conservative said anything, oh no, you can't do that. They would say, isn't that the gospel? Isn't that what Jesus did? He just forgave all of our debts. Well, not like that. Now, if some rich person stepped forward and said, I will pay for everyone's debt.
So that they don't have to pay it off any longer. It'll come out of my bank account. I will be the one who funds this thing. That's the gospel. That's the gospel message. Because that's what it means when he says, the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. Because the high priest said, the only sacrifice that is acceptable to deal with the sin of all of humanity is me.
So I will lay aside my robes, and I will become the sacrifice for all of humanity. Remember the story of Abraham and Isaac? Now, Abraham had waited his whole life for this son. This son that had been promised to him. Finally, he has this son. And Isaac was 35, 40 years old-ish, somewhere in that general range. God tells Abraham to do something interesting. He says, I want you to take your son, your only son, Isaac.
And I want you to take him up on the top of the place where I'm going to show you, the top of the mountain that I'm going to show you. And there I want you to sacrifice him to me. So Abraham gathers all of the things that he would need, gets the fire, gets the knife, grabs his son. They go on a journey. He tells all of his servants, we will come back. So he gets to the edge of the mountain, foot of the mountain.
And as they get ready to go up there, Isaac's kind of going, we're missing something here. You've got the fire and you've got the knife, but I don't see the sacrifice. Do you remember how Abraham responded to Isaac in that moment? He said, God will provide for himself a sacrifice. And so they go up on the mountain and right as Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac,
God says, no, I know now that you withhold no good thing from me. And over in the thicket was a ram that was caught. And they named that place and the place, where the Lord has provided. You see, that was a picture of the coming Savior, who would be the vicarious sacrifice for us. The suffering servant. So we've seen him, first of all, as the surprising servant.
Second of all, as the suffering servant. Third, we're going to see him as the silent servant. Notice what it says in verse 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
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. His grave was assigned with the wicked, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. The first thing it says is that he did not open his mouth. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he didn't open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he was silent before his shearers. Why? Why did Jesus not open his mouth? Is it because he was scared to open his mouth? No. You find that when he was questioned, he answered the question. Are you the king of the Jews? This is what they say. It's as you say. Don't you know that I have the power over you of life and death? You would have no power if it wasn't given to you from above.
Are you Jesus of Nazareth? I am. Those are the only times he opened his mouth. Other than that, he stood there and took the beatings like a man. Why? Because he was not the victim. He was the one in control. And he was the silent sacrifice, because he had no sins to confess. He had no defense to give. He knew he was there for one reason, and that was to endure the suffering.
He was the silent. He was the servant. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered it? He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, whom the stroke was due. Again, we see the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus. It says his death was substitutionary. He was cut off out of the land of the living.
That speaks of death. But he was cut off out of the land of the living for my people, to whom the stroke was due. Again. Who put Jesus on the cross? We did. Who laid our sin upon him? God did. But who did the death belong to? Belong to us. I was posed a very interesting question this week. Somebody messaged me and said, Is there a difference between loving Jesus and being in love with Jesus?
I think that there is. And I never really thought about that question before. I thought it was a very fascinating question. And so I sat and kind of pondered it and thought through it. And my initial gut reaction, this is what I sent back. I said, my initial gut reaction is to say, yes, there is a difference. But I think it has to do with maturity. I think it has to do with the distinct understanding of what God has done for you.
You see, early on, you love Jesus because you realize God saved you. But you didn't even fully realize what he saved you from. Because you didn't really realize the depth of your sin. Oh, you knew it on a surface level. But the longer you know Jesus, the more you see him as he clearly is, as the righteous and holy God. The holy one who endured all of who you are,
even as a born-again believer, what you still struggle with, the more you fall in love with Jesus. Because the more you're like, I cannot believe he would have done that for me. And it's amazing how that maturity begins to build that deeper love for Jesus. It's kind of like being married, right? Like when you first get married, you would say you're in love.
But you didn't even realize what love was at that point in time. Aaron and I celebrate 22 years here real soon. And I think I'm starting to figure out what love is. I'm starting to figure out what that looks like. What it looks like to really be in love with someone. And it's because of the maturity of our relationship with each other. And I believe that as believers in Jesus Christ, the more you grow,
the more you realize what you actually deserved, the more you realize the transgression that you lived in and that you still struggle with living in, and that God still loves you anyway. And it makes your love for him go that much deeper. And you go from, I love you because of what you did, and more with, I'm in love with you because of who you are. As the God who was willing to be the vicarious sacrifice for me.
And then he says one more thing. He says, Of course, we know that's the two thieves that were next to him on the cross. Yet he was with a rich man at his death because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. Isn't it fascinating that Jesus had no plan for a grave? Like he didn't have some plot picked out somewhere that he'd already paid for.
He didn't pre-plan the funeral or anything like that. He just needed to borrow a place to stay for a few days. And there was a rich man that was willing to do that, Joseph of Arimathea. Why? Because there was no violence in him. He was the silent servant. So Joseph of Arimathea stepped up and said, Please give me the body of Jesus so that I can bury it. And Jesus had his own Airbnb with Joseph.
And three days later, gone, right? Even cleaned up after himself, folded all the towels, did the laundry. It was amazing. Because he was the silent servant. But not only was he the surprising servant, the suffering servant, and the silent servant. Number four, he was a successful servant. I want you to notice what it says in verse 10. But the Lord was pleased.
He 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. The good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. Doesn't start off sounding very successful, does it? But the Lord was pleased to crush him. Have you ever thought about that? That it pleased the heart of the Father to crush the Son?
You're like, who thinks that way? Like, what is that about? Well, I think we have to remember two things. Number one, God knew the end game. The Father knew the end game. That resurrection was the end game. But he also knew the end game. That the only way that we could be saved was through the sacrifice of the Son. Was through the sacrifice of the suffering servant.
Therefore, it pleased God to bruise him. It pleased God to crush him. If there is nothing else that makes you love the one who created you, may you love the one who created you, and also saved you through the most horrific sacrifice anyone could have ever imagined. It pleased the Lord to crush him. But then he goes on to say, if he would render himself as a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring, and he will prolong his days. He will see his offspring. Who is the offspring of Jesus? Well, we are. As believers in Jesus, we are the offspring of Jesus. Because we are the ones who have new birth because of what he did for us. But did you notice the other thing it says? He will prolong his days. What does that mean? How can someone who has been crushed,
who has left the land of the living, have his days prolonged? Well, this is a prophecy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Most people only point to Psalm 16 about the prophecy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But this is one of those places where he says, he will prolong, he will prolong his days. In other words, death will not be the end for him. Therefore, death will not be the end for us.
You see, that's the success of the servant is that he will see victory over death. He says he will prolong his days and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. Notice verse 11. It says, and 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 many and will bear their iniquities.
As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. Do you remember the last thing that Jesus said from the cross? Very last thing. He said, it is finished. Paid in full. It's satisfied. He was satisfied because he knew the sacrifice was complete. The father was satisfied because he knew that the sacrifice was complete. And so he says, as a result of the anguish of his soul,
he will see it and be satisfied. And by his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many. This is one of the first times in scripture the word justify is used. A legal term indicating that you are no longer covered in your sin, that you are declared innocent. He will justify the many, something that will be gone into greater detail in the New Testament.
And he will bear their iniquities. One more statement about the vicarious suffering of Jesus. And then comes verse 12. 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 with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors.
Therefore, I will allot with him a portion with the great. What? What does that mean? Well, where is Jesus seated right now? Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. He has been appointed or allotted a portion with the great. Not only that, but did you notice the next thing? And he will divide the spoil with the strong because he poured himself out to death.
Who are the spoil that Jesus gained through his death? That's us. We're the treasure that he gained, right? He went in and robbed hell, right? That's us. That's exactly what Jesus did. He went into the land of the dead and he claimed those that belonged to him. He cleared it out of all those who would believe. I love that song that says, hell lost another one, right?
Hell lost another one, I am free. I love that song because that's exactly what happened. Is that Jesus is dividing the spoil with the strong because that's us. We're the spoil that he brought. It says that he was numbered with the transgressors because he died with the strong. He died with the transgressors, but he bore the sin of many and he interceded for the transgressors.
In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is presented as the one who intercedes for the saints. But in Isaiah, we're reminded that Jesus is the one who intercedes for the transgressors. He intercedes for those who were lost in their sin. I think that's a beautiful place to picture Jesus as, as the one who interceded for you. One of the great things, about coming to know Jesus as your savior is you,
you can look back on your life and you can see the places where he was interceding for you. Because you see, you see the places where God stepped in and preserved you from things. You see the places where God stepped in with and was at work in your heart and in your life. And you're like, man, I didn't see it in the moment, but that was God. I didn't see it at the time,
but that was the Lord and he was at work and he was doing his thing to bring about salvation into my soul because he is the one who, who intercedes for the transgressors. And so I spoke, I suppose that causes us to end with a very interesting question. At least it's interesting in my mind. Is he your servant? I know it's weird to view Jesus like that, but that's how he's presented to us here
as the suffering servant. I got to thinking this week, what's the main goal, the main point I want to get across over the next few weeks of this series that I do? Because I feel like everything should have an end game, right? It should have a goal that you're trying to achieve. Teachers are supposed to have objectives that they're supposed to reach. And I suppose my objective looks exactly
like it does in the book of Hebrews is I want us to end in a few weeks with you understanding the great love that Jesus has for you and understanding the great victory that you have in him. Is he your servant today? Because I would venture to say that there's always the potential that someone sitting in here that's never come to know the Lord. You've never really put your faith in Jesus.
You've maybe played the game or you've done the thing or you've shown up to church but you've never really said that's who I want my suffering servant to be. I want to put my faith in that guy. The one who looks just like me, who died a death that I deserved and I just want to get to know him better. I want to know his love for me and I want to know the victory that I can have in him.
And if you're here this morning and you know that suffering servant, how well do you know him? How well do you know him? Are you in the early stage? Where you love him because you know you're supposed to and you know that he saved you? Or are you beginning to grow into that mature stage where you're falling in love with him because you have realized the depth of everything that he is for you?
See, the beautiful thing about God and his word is you will never plumb the depths of the goodness of God. Amen? Let's all stand.
And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come before you and Lord, I just thank you for the time that we've had in your word this morning. And I pray that as we go out from this place that these would not just be words on a page that we heard or another sermon that we sat through, but God, that you would take your word and sink it deeply into our hearts. Father, that the truth of who you are as the suffering servant and as the coming king would change the fabric of who we are.
Father, draw us deeper in our knowledge of you. Draw us deeper in our understanding of what you've done for us. And Lord, give us a greater vision, Father, of the victory that we have had and continue to have in you. And so, Father, give us eyes to see and give us ears to hear. In Jesus' name. Amen. I love you all. Be blessed. Eyes towards you every day. And to remember the reason that we're put here
on this earth is to worship you and to turn others towards you. Amen. I pray that as we go out this week that we keep our eyes focused on you and we let the rest of all of our stresses go and to remember that you have everything under control and as long as we keep our eyes on you, we're good. In Jesus' name I pray.