The Hope of Israel (Good Friday)

 

The Bible is about Jesus. Moses and the Prophets point to Jesus. This morning we are going to look at one of the most famous prophecies about Jesus in the whole Bible. You do not need the New Testament to preach Jesus. It makes it a lot easier, of course. But the Old Testament was the Bible of the early church. Often when they use the word scriptures they are talking about the Old Testament.

You should know this prophecy from Isaiah was written over 700 years before Jesus lived and died. 700 hundred years. Some scholars argue that some of Isaiah was written well after Isaiah lived, in the time of the return of the exiles from Babylon. This would still make this prophecy 400-500 years old. So, this passage was written hundreds of years before Jesus sat foot on the earth as the God man, and yet it saw his ministry with piercing clarity.

I cannot tell you what is going to happen today for certain, let alone in 700 years. None of us have this kind of foresight, because none of us are God. But his prophets have this kind of foresight, because they were given this message by God. Outside the gospels this is the best exploration of Good Friday you will find. Let’s see what Isaiah has to say to us today,

How Beautiful (vv.7-12) – Let’s begin at verse 7,

“7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. 9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11 Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

Have you ever been in battle? I have not. I was trained in the army reserves, but I never served overseas or in battle. But those who have served in the army or know someone who has gone to war will know the tension of battle, and for those left behind, the tension of waiting. Waiting for news, waiting to hear what happened, waiting to know if your loved ones lived, waiting to know if your side won is a palpable tension. I bring this up because Judah was in a bad situation in Isaiah’s day, it had been ravaged by war.

Isaiah began his ministry at the peak of Israel’s glory. Under Jeroboam the second and Uzziah, Israel and Judah had again reached great heights. But Isaiah saw this all fade away. In fact. he saw it ripped away.  

Think of the prosperity of Australia in the 90’s. Anyone who worked hard, no matter their full-time job, could save enough to buy a home in their early twenties, and pay it off by their forties. They could have their wife stay at home, and the culture was simpler, more prosperous in many ways. Many of you remember that. Think now about how all this has been stripped away.

Isaiah saw that happen in his time, but in a far more dramatic way, Israel and Judah had been ravaged by the armies of Assyria. He even refers to it here, “9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem” (Isa. 52:9). Jerusalem had been wasted by corruption and attacks from Syria and Assyria.

Judah and Israel had sent their men off to war, and they had waited in anticipation. But instead of returning, their soldiers were defeated and their armies destroyed in the field. Instead of seeing their own people return in victory, they saw the armies of Syria come in and destroy everything. Everything. All of northern Israel was carried off into exile and scattered among the nations. Most of Judah was ravaged and destroyed, and a tiny kingdom was left in Judah, and what wasn’t destroyed was pillaged. This is in the time of Hezekiah.

Israel had been almost totally destroyed, because God has judged them for their sins.  But God does not leave them without hope. God speaks hope to the forlorn inhabitants of Jerusalem. He sends a gospel runner, Isaiah,

“7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.”

The gospel runner, or the good news runner in the ancient world was the first person that the people waiting for news of how the war went, would see. The gospel runner would run down the road towards the city and people would watch in anticipation to hear his news.  

Judah had only gotten bad news. Zion had been defeated by the Assyrians. But God sends them a good news runner to point them forward to a time when they would have victory, a time when they would be saved. God is going before them to secure them a victory, “12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” So, what will this victory look like?

A Servant is Coming (52:13-15, 53:1)

God begins here by telling them that a servant is coming to save them, but he is not just a servant for Judah, but for the whole world,

“13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. 53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?”

There is a saviour coming for Judah who will act wisely. Many heroes set themselves up over mankind. Many men seek to be great. Many people seek to achieve wonderful things for their nations, even having good intentions. But in some way they all fail, because of their own fallen nature. Even David, who was a wonderful warrior, leader of men, and a man after God’s own heart failed spectacularly. God’s servant will be different though, “Behold, my servant will act wisely…” And because of this he will be exalted. However, it is not going to be a straight road to victory. His appearance is going to twisted and broken, but in allowing this to happen to him he will “sprinkle many nations.”

This is vital to understand. Israel and Judah had just been ravaged by the Assyrians, who would have brought with them a host of auxiliaries from all nations. And in this context God is telling them that their saviour is coming, but he will also save the nations too. This will not be a popular message among the people of Judah, as he says, “Who has believed what he has heard from us?”

Many Jews will not believe this message, because it is not the gospel that they want to hear. They want to hear about how they are the chosen people, but God plans to expand his vision of God’s people across the world. King though will hear and will understand they will bow before this servant of God.

So, what will this servant be like?

A Man of Sorrows (53:1-3)

He will be a man of sorrows,

“1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

Notice what Isaiah says in verse 2, he grew up “…like a root out of dry ground.” Have you even seen one little sapling growing out of a bit of barren ground? What Isaiah is saying is that Jesus is going to be like a bit of life in a spiritual wasteland. No wonder he was a man of sorrows. He grew up amongst the people of Israel, but they were so lost, there was barely any spiritual life left in them.

Isaiah also says, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” There are many people that think this means Jesus was ugly. But we have ancient descriptions of him which say otherwise. What this is referring to is that he will come with veiled glory. Paul explains it this way, “6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7). This does not mean that he gave up his divine nature, he was always fully God and fully man. The point is that he looked like an ordinary man, of no note. He did not wear fine robes, he did not come with an entourage of rulers and warriors in fine regalia. Anyone who saw him would have seen a man that could have been any man. There was nothing in his appearance to make him stand out.

In fact, “He was despised and rejected by men.” Rather than accept his message and accept him as their king, Jesus would be opposed everywhere he went. The Jewish leaders would hate him, the Jewish crowd would call for his death. Even Herod when he saw him was not impressed. Jesus took on the place of the lowest of his society. Because his aim was to serve all. How did he serve us?

He Bore Our Griefs (vv.4-6)

He took our place and bore our griefs,

“4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

What did the Jews want more than anything in Isaiah’s day? To be rescued from the Syrians and Assyrians, two large armies that would harass them. What did they need more than anything else? To be rescued from their own sins, as did the Syrians and Assyrians. What did the Jews want in Jesus’ day? To be rescued from the Romans. What did they need? To be rescued from their sins, as did the Romans.

When Jesus was killed, he was viewed by many as a common criminal deserving of death. To this day this is what Judaism teaches, that Jesus died as a rebel. But he was on that cross for their sins, for our sins, and for the sins of all who would believe in him, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

This is so important to never forget. The people who cheered on his death, were the ones who deserved to be punished for their sins. All of us deserve the penalty of sin, that is death, we are the guilty ones. But Jesus faced God’s wrath for us, “and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And he did this even though he was innocent.

He Was Innocent (vv.7-9)

Don’t ever forget this, Jesus was murdered by corrupt men, and Isaiah saw this coming,

“7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 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, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”

This can never be emphasized enough. Jesus was not just free of sin, though he was, he was innocent. This is a corrupt world. A very, deeply corrupt world.

Corruption in our world is seen politics. It is seen in the media. It is seen in the schools. It is seen in the Church. Because of corruption the Church’s reputation is in the dirt here in Australia, though that is partly because the media directs attention away from its own corruption, as do the politicians.

Jesus was killed by corrupt religious teachers and corrupt politicians, “7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted…8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away…” He was murdered. He was unjustly, wickedly and corruptly murdered by those who should have been protecting and promoting him. And in this way he identifies with every innocent victim of corrupt government and corrupt religion that has ever lived, and believe me, that is a lot of people.

He was so innocent what did the corrupt politician who sealed his fate say? Luke 23:4, “Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” No one can detect lack of corruption like a corrupt politician. These guys have been sniffing out honesty and seeking to crush it since the first village council met in the days of Adam. There is only one way that a truly innocent man encountering corruption would go. They could not buy him off, their threats would not work, so they were going to kill him.

But this was all in God’s plan.

This Was God’s Will (vv.10-12)

It is important to understand, God knew better than anyone how the corrupt leaders of his people would respond to the innocent perfection of Jesus, evil hates righteousness, it hates it, but this was all part of God’s plan,

“10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

Some people have this warped view of the wrath of God, that God the father just took his son and put him in the place of humanity, and then the Father turned against the Son and destroyed him on our behalf. People look at that and get horrified, and ask how could Christians rejoice at this? But that is not what happened, this is a caricature of what happened.

Isaiah says, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him….” Those of you who know your Bible well, know that when we see “The LORD” in all capitals, this is referring to the name of God. Yahweh or Jehovah. In other words, this was the plan of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit together. As Jesus told us he laid down his life of his own accord. This was the plan of God before time, to save humanity. So that we could be “accounted righteous”.

In other words, God poured his wrath out on himself, for our behalf. This is not divine child abuse as Richard Dawkins once blasphemed. This is divine justice, making a way for the unjust, us, to be made just in his sight. God’s wrath could not just be turned away, there had to be a just punishment. There was, on the cross.

Because of his righteous sacrifice he could save all who trust in him, “because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” But his death is not the end of the story, “he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” We’ll come back to that on Resurrection Sunday.

For today, remember that Jesus was murdered by corrupt men so that you and I could be saved, so that the hope of Israel could be fulfilled. Have you trusted in him? He took the punishment for your sins and only in him can you be redeemed from judgement.