Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 - The Suffering Servant sermon

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (New International Version)

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

¹³ See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him —
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and his form marred beyond human likeness—

¹⁵ so will he sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Isaiah 53

¹ Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

³ He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

¹¹ After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Growing up, did your parents ever have any expectations of what they wanted you to be? I know that mum and dad had some interesting ideas for me … (explain) … why don’t you share some examples with the person next to you for 60 seconds. GO! Would people like to share?
We’re at Day 20 on your advent calendar, which means that there are only 4 pieces of chocolate remaining until Christmas. In following on with what we just discussed, I reckon that Jesus’ parents had expectations for Him as well. Joseph, I would think, would have been hoping that Jesus would follow in his footsteps, and join the family business; carpentry. Jesus did, but His Heavenly Father also had plans for Him, which were written 700 years before He was born …
This morning I’m going to take you all for a walk through my favourite passage in the Bible; Isaiah 53 in which we will see God’s plans revealed. A plan that will leave you thinking “what the heck was God smoking?”
The book of Isaiah was written during a time of great turmoil for God’s people. In this book, God speaks of his peoples’ departure from truth, their need for repentance, and the redemption provided in the form of a coming Saviour.
Isaiah, along with many other Old Testament prophets, gave a message of impending judgement, followed by the promise of hope and Salvation; more, salvation coming out of God’s judgement.
In reading this passage, you can see that this is God’s plan for a new covenant with His people; through the sacrificial death of His chosen Servant.
Here is where the message for this morning begins, and where I explain the point of studying the text of Isaiah 53 this morning. This chapter was not written by Christians after Christ’s coming, trying to distort or failing to understand what really happened on that Easter weekend a little more than two thousand years ago. This passage was written by a Jewish prophet 700 years before Christ came. Listen carefully to this last bit, as it’s the central element of this passage. What this prophet saw, was not a Messiah who escapes death and resurrection, but a Messiah who dies – and dies explicitly in the place of sinners – and then rises again to make intercession for His redeemed, forgiven, and justified people forever. Friends, this isn’t something that will be upgraded when the warranty wears off, not something can be replaced if broken; this is something permanent, that has no warranty, and that is guaranteed to last forever.
You may be asking however, why is there need of a new covenant, and why does this ‘Servant’ have to die? It’s amazing how many time the passage hits on why Jesus died, and with such striking language/imagery. I will let the words of Scripture, the ten references, have their own multiplying effect by just saying them to you. Before I mention them, I want you to notice verse 10, “it was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him, and cause Him grief.” This death is not an historical accident. Friends, it is the purpose, and the plan of God. It is the expectation of a Father to His Son. So as we hear these ten statements of why he died, keep in mind: these are God’s purposes NOT human accidents. And if you will receive it, these statements are God’s love to you. Yes, it is God’s love; it was his loving mercy that caused him to send his Son to die. Here they are. Ten statements why God planned for his holy servant to die:
1. Verse 4: “it was our weaknesses He carried;”
2. Verse 4: “it was our sorrows that weighed Him down.”
3. Verse 5: “He was pierced for our rebellion,”
4. Verse 5: “crushed for our sins.”
5. Verse 5: “He was beaten so we could be whole.”
6. Verse 5: “He was whipped so we could be healed.”
7. Verse 6: “the Lord has laid on Him, the sins of us all.”
8. Verse 8: “He was struck down for the rebellion of my people.”
9. Verse 11: “He will bear all their sins.”
10. Verse 12: “He bore the sins of many, and interceded for rebels.”
Did you notice anything similar about each of the statements? I did. I notice that all of them talk of OUR need for a Saviour. The NIV says “He was pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities.” And that’s exactly what happened. This holy and perfect servant died in OUR place. “By His wounds we are healed.” Says it all, doesn’t it? This is God’s expectations of His Son … to die in our place!
The idea of the need for a Saviour could be seen back at the time that this passage was written. The nation of Israel, at this time, was a city of affluence and prosperity, yet it had become a hotbed for depravity. God’s appointed leaders (Hezekiah for one), had failed to lead righteously, and consequently God’s people were consumed by religious idolatry, and social injustice. Friends, like the people of Israel, we live in a fallen World; a World full of depravity, conflict, hatred, and worldly passions. Our World has become spiritually helpless, with people believing the teachings of false prophets (these ideas are evident throughout the books of Isaiah, and Micah; another prophet who wrote at the same time as Isaiah). This is the impending judgement that has been awaiting us for thousands of years!
However, God still loves us! (REPEAT)
That’s huge! Even though we have constantly ignored God, and rejected him (just as is prophecised in this passage that we will continue doing to his servant), God still loves us! And this is evident in his sending his FAITHFUL, HOLY, OBEDIENT, RIGHTEOUS SERVANT!
If you are here this morning and you have ever asked, “what is the essence of Christianity? What’s at the heart and centre of it all?” Let’s find out. Let’s use the words of verse 6: ALL humans (not just the murderers, the adulterers, and the stealers) ALL humans have gone astray. ALL of us have turned to our own way. This is called sin. And sin is: turning from God and making ourselves our own master, and our own treasure. It’s doing what WE want, when WE want.
But God, being the loving, merciful Creator that he is, was not willing to leave us in this guilty and condemned condition. He planned from ages past to send a Suffering Servant, not mainly to model love for us, but to bear our sins as a substitute for us. “The Lord has laid on Him, the iniquity of us all.” This, my friends, is the heartbeat of Christianity. Without this, there is nothing.
So who is this servant?
Throughout the course of the book of Isaiah, the servant of the Lord has been the people of Israel, and also the prophet himself. However, in Isaiah 53, the servant who is mentioned cannot possibly be the people, or the prophet. Why? Because the servant is pictured as substituting Himself for both the prophet AND the people. Verse 4: “surely He (the servant) took up our infirmities.” Verse 5: “He was pierced for our transgressions …” “Our” means “Me, Isaiah!” It means, “me, Jimmy!” It means everyone in this room, and all of the people of Israel. So, the servant is not the people and not Isaiah, because He is the substitute FOR Isaiah, and FOR the people. He is God’s ambassador, and THEIR suffering servant.
So who was He? Let’s look at the text.
Verse 2: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.”
Verse 3: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering … we esteemed Him not.”
Within today’s society, appearances are everything. We flock to those that look rich, important, powerful, etc. I mean, who are you more likely to trust:
- someone in a designer suit with a leather briefcase, and a better than neat appearance, or
- someone in trakkies, ugg boots, a torn t-shirt, and dodgy personal hygiene?
Pretty straightforward, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not rocket science. The more ‘impressive’ person is always going to get more attention, more trust, and better service, even if they are a total jerk. I guess I can understand why the people rejected the servant then, are rejecting Him today, and will continue to reject Him in the future. Again, we see the shocking nature of God’s ‘expectations’ of His Son; to be unpopular, unimpressive, and “marred beyond human likeness.”
Verses 2 and 3 emphasise the insignificant appearance of the servant, and the unglamourous environment from which He will come. In this description, it is almost as if Isaiah is saying “we look at Him, but there is nothing to see.” He is a sufferer in the fullest sense of the word. Just the other day; Wednesday to be precise, I thought I was being made to be a suffering servant, when mum asked me to take out the rubbish, in the insane heat, before I went back to the beach. This definitely puts me in my place. We find God using the weak to lead the strong; the humble to lead the boastful.
Jesus is humble. In 5 days time, on December 25th, we celebrate something important. What is it? (Jesus’ birthday). The date is irrelevant, but it is the context that is significant. What was Jesus born in? A manger; or, a pig trough. When you think about it, that’s not the place that you’d expect a King to be born, nor would you consider Carpentry to be the profession of a King either. You’d expect Him to live inside a lavish Castle with all the trappings of a spoilt life. You’d expect a King to never have to work, but still be rich. This further emphasizes Christ’s humility; and highlights God’s expectations of His Son.
What springs to mind, when you consider the term ‘superhero?’ Shout some out quickly. I’ll agree. Some that came up when we discussed this passage in our Junior High group a few weeks back, were that they wear their jocks on the outside of their pants, they wear fancy dress-up suits, and you never know who they are; ie, they hide their faces/identity from the public.
Think about our passage today, and the language used in it, and what we just talked about. Does this sound like a superhero to you? Quite the opposite isn’t it. However, I want to contend that the servant we read about in this passage, is the GREATEST superhero that has ever walked the Earth, and the GREATEST that will ever walk the Earth.
Yes, I know that this is a very outlandish statement, something which I am quite well known for, but I think in studying the text, like we will shortly, that you will all reach the same conclusion as I have.
Nowhere in all of the Old Testament does the gospel of Jesus Christ shine more clearly, than in Isaiah 53. As was mentioned earlier, 700 years before He, Jesus, came into the world, God opened the eyes of his prophet to see into the very heart of Christ’s saving work; which is substitutionary atonement. The servant is pierced and crushed in OUR place (there’s that idea again!) The righteous in the place of the unrighteous. The loving shepherd in the place of His lost sheep; where we were going astray in verse 6, we are reacquainted with God through the servant’s atoning sacrifice. And finally, the exalted King in the place of the rebel subjects.
And so I invite you this morning friends, to not only revel in the great substitutionary work of Christ that takes away your condemnation, but to also be strengthened in your confidence that this is no myth, no accident, no mere coincidence, but rather the historical and deliberate expectation of God on His Son, who told this story long before it happened.
Look again at verses 4 & 5 with me.
“Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
Let that sink in! How AWESOME is that! This same despised man of sorrows is the one who carries OUR sorrows. Was pierced for OUR transgressions. Was crushed for OUR iniquities. We despised and rejected Him, by doing all the wrong we possibly could do to Him. And what did He do? He died. He bore a punishment.
The punishment that we so rightly deserve He took upon Himself. HIMSELF. “By His wounds we are healed.” HIS WOUNDS. Not yours, not mine, HIS!! Think about it. Now put yourselves in His shoes.
Look at 1 Peter 2:21 – “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.”
Would you be willing to give your body over to torture, to see it broken, to shed your blood, to die for one person, let alone the entire population of the Earth, when they continually reject you? For people who constantly and openly despise you? We couldn’t do it.
So how does this servant do it? Through obedience. The Son dies for us, even when we reject Him, for He is obedient to His Father, and fulfills His Father’s expectations. Also, through LOVE. By the Father’s love for us, the Son comes to save us. We are dead to sin, and alive in righteousness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, if we believe!
Jesus Christ came into this World, to fulfill the prophecy bestowed upon Isaiah in this passage – yes, many others to be sure, but this one is central and basic. He came to die. He came to die in our place. He came to die for our sins. Friends, this is our only hope. The New Testament is all about how this happened, how it affects our lives now, and how it will affect us in the ages to come.
Let’s go back to 1 Peter and read verses 21 – 25.
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
This is the shortened version of Isaiah 53. And herein lie some challenges for us all. Jesus Christ came into this World to suffer and die for everyone, especially His enemies. Could you do that?
Jesus Christ remained silent when He suffered, and when He was insulted. He never retaliated. Could you do that?
Jesus Christ broke His body on the Cross, so that we might be dead to sins, and alive in righteousness. What is your response?
Friends, I urge, and encourage all of you to pursue the knowledge of these things with all your heart, and with all your mind.
He is satisfied. He delights to save. We are justified (justification = just as if I’d never sinned). And all our sins are carried by another; Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant, forever. AMEN. We will never bear them again. I say again. We will NEVER bear them, OUR SINS, again! How amazing is God’s love for us. We are stripped of any wrongdoing. We, who deserve death, are given life to the fullest. Through Faith in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, we are given peace with God … FOREVER!
Here are 12 reasons Jesus Christ came into the World:
• HE CAME AS A LIGHT (John 12:46). No one anymore has to be left fumbling around in the darkness of disillusionment, despair or doubt.
• HE CAME AS LIVING BREAD (John 6:35). Bread sustains our natural bodies, but the bread that Jesus offers sustains our spirits forever.
• HE CAME AS A SERVANT. Not to do his will, but to do the will of his Father in heaven (John 6:38). What an example! Even in his power and might, he modeled servanthood and obedience to us, living a life perfectly in time with the heartbeat of his Father.
• HE CAME TO DIVIDE (John 10:34). There are no grey areas with Jesus. You're either on his side or on the other side.
• HE CAME TO FULFIL (matt 5:17)! There was much debate about the religious laws laid down by Moses. Jesus was not moving the Old Testament goalposts, he merely came to score a New Testament goal.
• HE CAME TO SAVE SINNERS (1 Tim 1:15). That means me, you and everybody else who has ever lived or who is living today. His name actually means 'He Saves'. He may have been a carpenter by trade, but he operated in the business of saving lives from the penalty and wages of sin – death.
• HE CAME WITH AN INVITATION for us to turn our lives inside out (Mark 2:17). He didn't address those who thought they were spiritually-fit, but went out inviting ones who knew they were sick; stuck in sin.
• HE CAME AS A RANSOM (Matt 20:28). He gave away his life in exchange for the many who are held captive to sin. He paid the ultimate price to see multitudes set free without having to pay a penny themselves.
• HE CAME TO DIE (John 12:27). Every single moment of Jesus' 33 years on this earth was pointing to the hour of his death. If he hadn't have died, then we wouldn't be able to live out the life we were originally created to live before sin ruined it all. This life can be found in Genesis 1 and 2.
• HE CAME AS KING to rule and reign forevermore (John 18:37). No political spin or dictatorship was involved. He just came to proclaim the truth and said it as it is.
• HE CAME TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL (1 John 3:8). Sin and sickness, poverty and strife, death, destruction and everything else that stands against the people of God have all been dealt with at the Cross where Jesus died. The devil has been disarmed.
• HE CAME SO THAT WE COULD LIVE LIFE TO THE MAX (John 10:10). None of this ‘half empty - half full’ stuff. Believers of Christ can experience not only a full quota of life, but a life that overflows into others'.
It is through these that we see God’s expectations, his hopes and his dreams for his Son revealed. For Christ came to this World to teach, to share, and to do His Father’s will. But primarily He came to make us right with God, by healing our relationship with Him, so that we can have peace.
He has given us everything we need in life, for free. Everything, that is essential for continued life; except perhaps, for a complimentary set of steak knives. Everything that we need to gain eternal life, and a relationship with God, Jesus Christ has given us FOR FREE. And unlike our mobile phone contracts that have all these terms and conditions in fine print, and only last a max of 24 months, this gift, this gift of amazing grace has been given to us for free. And unlike a mobile phone contract, it endures forever. Nothing can break the contract. It does not need to be resigned every 24 months, like the sacrifices in the old covenant needed to be.
In verse 12 of Isaiah 53, we see that this servant, this humble, loving King takes tremendous joy in walking amongst His people now, and for the ages to come – a people who are “great” and “strong.” And He divides the spoils of His triumphs with them all. This is what He loves to do. This is His satisfaction. The satisfaction of Jesus Christ comes in fulfilling the expectations of His Father; the amazing expectations that only He could fathom (as we see them as shocking) that make Him the greatest superhero that will ever live. He delights to save. He loves to bring people from death to life so that they can enjoy His majesty forever.
Before we sing our final two songs (How Great Thou Art, and Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)) I have a question to ask.
Are you His? Do you want to be His? You can be. You can belong to that great and strong people, even though you feel utterly unworthy (don’t worry, I know that feeling all too well!). That is the whole point of the death of Christ. He died in our place. And all who trust Him as the Saviour, and the Lord, and the Treasure of your life, will be forgiven, justified, and will live forever with Him. If you don’t know Him, I urge you to say “no” to all that pulls you away. I urge you to repent of your sins. Apologise for rejecting and spiting God. I encourage you to seek God, have Faith in the saving Grace that is the shed blood of Jesus Christ. I urge you, everyone here today, as we approach His birthday, to say “yes” to Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray, then bring praise to God!