The Suffering Servant

 

Image: Unsplash

You can watch the video of this sermon here.

Introduction

Today is Good Friday. I read a cartoon once about Good Friday that had two men standing next to each other and one said to the other, “I don’t know why we call it Good Friday, because it is the day that my Lord was crucified and died.” His other friend said, “If you were guilty and someone else volunteered to take your punishment, what would you call that?” “Good” replied the first man. “Have a nice day.” Responded the other.

The reason why we call this Good Friday is because the Lord died for us. This is something we all know, something we all know very well. Something we know so well that we can easily place it in the, “I already know this” box and think that we should move to other things. But there is nothing more important than this truth. Nothing more significant.

We should also not forget that the cross is not just an entry point to the Christian life, it is the centre of the Christian life, it is the sun around which all of the planets align. It is the basis of the gravity of our being. Remember that Paul wrote this, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Salvation is not just an event, it is also a process. It is something that has happened, when we believe we are “saved from our sins”. It is something that will one day happen, when Jesus returns he will bring our salvation with him. But it is also a process that we partake of in this life. We are justified, that is declared righteous, sanctified, that is progressively made righteous, and then glorified, that is perfected from all our sins and made whole again.

Is this process based on our works? No. Not at all.  

This whole process is not based on our works, it based on the cross, as Paul tells us, Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The cross is the power of God to us who believe, because those of us who have believed have been crucified with him. We therefore have to keep looking at the cross.

So, let’s examine again just what our Lord did for us on the cross, and see how this applies to us today.

The Servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:3) – We start reading in Isaiah 52:13 and we see that

“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? 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.”

We see here in this wonderful passage the mighty servant who will shut the mouths of kings. But we also see that there are two sides of this servant, he is a servant in two very important ways.

He is the servant of God, “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.” This man that the Lord is going to send out to achieve his task is a servant of the Most High King. He is the Servant of the Lord of All. But what is incredible is that he is not just the human servant of the King, he is divine himself, for we know that this servant is the “arm of the Lord.” You might think this is a lot to draw just from this reference, however, I am not just drawing it from this here, but how Isaiah consistently refers to the “arm of the Lord.”

We read consistently, again and again, in Isaiah that God is going to rescue his people with his arm, it is the arm of the Lord is what will bring salvation. This theme is all throughout Isaiah, I won’t show you every reference, but just a few:

-        Isaiah 40:10 – “Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

-        Isaiah 59:16 – “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.”

-        Isaiah 63:5 – “I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.”

What we see here is that the Lord himself will save. The Lord himself will rescue his people. The Lord himself will stretch out his arm. We also see that no ordinary man can achieve this salvation. The whole point of this “arm of the Lord” is that God himself will do this. Yet the Lord speaks of this servant here, this man, as his arm, this hints at something important:

This man is no ordinary man, he is divine in some way. He is the God-man. We know from other passages that God’s servant is his very own Son. The Son of Man. His nature is so controversial, that many will not be able to believe it, “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Isa. 53:1).

Who will believe that this man, this man whose appearance is marred, whose majesty is veiled, who is despised and rejected, a man who people hide their faces from, a man of sorrows, who will believe that he is the divine arm of the Lord?

Many will struggle to believe this, and we now know after the fact that many did. Many still do. Yet, this man who is the divine arm of the Lord will be the Lord’s servant.

Our Servant - But he is not just the Lord’s servant he is the servant of many, “so shall he shall sprinkle many nations.” Verse 14-15 make clear here that it is in the midst of his tortured state that he will sprinkle, that is wash or make clean, many nations,

“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.”

To be sprinkled means to be washed, to be made clean, to be ritually acceptable in Israelite culture. The nations were unclean, because of their unclean ways, their idols, wicked rituals, unclean food and more. The servant is going to change this, for good, he will make people of many nations clean.  

This is how he is our servant. The one who rescues the person in distress is not just their saviour, he is also their servant. The dashing knight who rescues the princess from the clutches of the dragon or the wicked Lord, is not just her saviour, he is working for her freedom, he is serving her most important need.

The Lord’s servant, is therefore our servant, in the precise same way that the hero knight is the servant of the damsel in distress. And we, humanity, are in distress, we are unclean because of our sins and our rebellions, and this is a world crying out for a saviour.

All through fiction, non-fiction, politics and all over the place saviours are sought for and saviours are being promised. Our world is filled with people who know they are unclean, who know they are unworthy, who know they are rebellious, who know they are seeking for fulfillment and joy and satisfaction, and at some level know that they are finding it in all the wrong places and therefore not really finding it. And, therefore, that they need a saviour.

God is promising here, through his very own arm, he will make us clean again. Through his servant that is the divine arm of the Lord, he will achieve a victory that will shut the mouths of kings. That will astonish even the greatest of people.

So how does he promise to do this?

He Will Bear Our Sins (vv.4-6) –

“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.”

He will be stricken, he will smitten by God, and he will be afflicted. But it is all for us. He is smitten, pieced, and crushed for 

-        Our transgressions.

-        Our iniquities.

-        Through this he achieved peace for us.

-        It is because of his wounds that we are healed. That is made whole.

-        It was for us and on account of us. It was our sins that held him to that cross.  

He acted with wisdom, he never did anything wrong. He never spoke out of turn, or hurt his sisters or brothers, he never dishonoured his parents by disobeying them. He never sinned, never desired a woman in the wrong way. He never cussed at someone with lack of control. He never had lack of control.

He knew no sin, and yet as Paul tells us he was made sin on our behalf. He bore our sins on that cross. He took our place. He encountered the wrath of God for sin on our behalf.

He Bore Them To Death (vv.7-9) - He bore these sins to his death.

“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.”

He was oppressed – Think about what this means for a moment, it means to be powerless. The arm of the Lord. The mighty arm that defeated Rahab was oppressed. Isaiah 51:9, “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?” Rahab was an ancient sea-serpent. But in this context Rahab is representative of Egypt. That mighty arm that crushed Pharaoh and defeated all Egypt’s false gods was himself oppressed.

We know the Lord Jesus did this. Indeed, Jude tells us, 1:5 “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.”

The servant, the arm of the Lord, was unrighteously betrayed, condemned and murdered. The innocent man who had done no violence and who had not lied, was condemned like a common criminal or thief.

He was taken against his will. He was bound against his will. He was violently assaulted against his will. His beard was torn, his skin was pierced, his blood was shed, he was spat on, mocked, robbed and degraded like the worst of men.

Did not defend himself - And he did not even defend himself, “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.”

We all know to some degree what it is like to be treated unjustly. We all know what it is like to be oppressed through no fault of your own, especially in recent times. We all know what it is like to be falsely slandered, or accused, but not at the same level as our Lord.

He died – He was cut off from the land of the living, the one man who never deserved it. Death is the just result of God’s wrath against sin. Of all the men who did not deserve to die, Jesus did not deserve to die the most, “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,”

Hands that flung stars into to space, to cruel nails surrendered. At the hands of the most cruel act of oppression, the innocent man, who was also the arm of God died.

The Son of God experienced death. He experienced his soul being ripped form his body by the cruelties of painful death.

Ours sins – “stricken for the transgressions of my people”, it was our sins that did this. The servant gave his life willingly, Jesus tells us that he laid down his life of his own accord, but it was our sins that nailed him to that cross, because he was there to bear our iniquities.

He bore those sins to death for us to be saved.

The Lord’s Will (vv.10-12) – Yes Jesus went to the cross of his own accord, and yes our sins put him there, but it was the Lord’s will, so that he could make a way for many to be accounted righteous.

“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.”

Does your sin weigh you down? Does your sin dog you and follow you and keep you awake at night. Maybe you handle it well most of the time, but find there are days where you cannot, because it is too much. Or moments where your mind reminds you that you said this, or you did that? Or guilt effects you in some other way?

Maybe you are not yet a believer and you are watching this, and you feel like your sin is getting on top of you in a way you cannot handle. Maybe you feel like you need to find a way to check out, to get away from this world of pain?

Maybe you think your life is good, and you are good and you have everything you need without Jesus. You live the comfortable middle-class lifestyle, that is the envy of most of the world. And think you are completely fine in your own merits.

Whether you are the Christian who is reminded of their sin, or the depressed sinner just holding on to life, or the self-righteous upstanding citizen, Jesus died for you.

He bore your iniquities, so that you could be accounted righteous. “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.” He offers us all a transfer: our guilt, for his righteousness. His innocence for our iniquities. His perfection, for our dirty robes.

Have you accepted this free gift? Have you repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus? Have you given over your burdens to him? Have you accepted that he will wash you clean from your sins, sprinkle you, based on what he has done on your behalf?

We know that he achieved all of this and more, and that his promises are sure, because his days did not end with his death, though he was buried in the grave, the Lord prolonged his days. Though he died, the Lord raised him again so that he could divide the spoils with his people. Though his soul was poured out to death, and he was numbered with the sinners, he achieved a victory of profound effect for all of us who believe in him.

Conclusion – So this only leaves on thing we all must do: repent and trust in him. Turn from our sins and lordship of our own lives, and trust in him as our Lord and Saviour. For those of us who have already done this, we must do it again and again and again. Continually coming back to him. The cross of Jesus is at the centre of this message, at the centre of this Christian life. For us who believe we then need to keep coming back to the cross. And for those who have not yet believed, if you do not trust in him there is no other way to be accounted amongst the righteous, no other way to have your guilt dealt with. So, my message to us all today is very simple, repent and turn to the Lord, and trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins. For all who do this, today is Good Friday, and we know why. Let’s pray.