The Savior Who Suffered for You

The Fathers Love

How far would you go to show your love and desire for others?

Would you sacrifice some things like time, money, space, and food?

Or would you do more, like send your son to die for them?

Many have sent themselves to die for others, but would you send your own son to go into something you knew they would die and you actually know they will die but it is necessary for others to live.

This is what we are setting up to see today and next week on Easter. We are looking at the Son of God who came into the world to die for all of us so all of us can live when we believe in Him alone for our eternal salvation.

Many do not like this thought or belief. They find it abusive of God and wrong, but we needed a substitute that can completely fulfill all things needed so we can live.

Many are like Katie Luther, wife of reformer Martin Luther.

For family devotions, Martin Luther once read the account of Abraham offering Isaac on the altar in Genesis 22. His wife, Katie, said, "I do not believe it. God would not have treated his son like that!" "But, Katie," Luther replied, "He did."

W. Wiersbe, The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers,  p. 191.

Yes, God did do this. He sent His Son to be the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

He is our amazing Savior who suffered for you and me. He came because He so loved us that He is the substitutionary sacrifice so we can have salvation with the Lord. So we can be redeemed and justified and be able to be with the Lord.

Think if you will, Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen. He knew He was going to suffer and be rejected by all.

He knew this on this day nearly 2,000 years ago.

Yet, he rode into Jerusalem to the cries of Matt 21:9

Matthew 21:9 (ESV)

9 “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Just to have the same people within that week shout, “crucify Him, Crucify Him!”

He knew this but He went anyway. He knew this and He did it for you and me.

He knew He was going to be...

Rejected, Despised For the People Who Hide (52:13-53:3)

Isaiah 52:13–53:3 ESV

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. 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.

Part of this rejection comes by his appearance. In this text we see that...

He was Nothing Special in Appearance (53:2)

He was not admired or desired.

He was not like king Saul who was tall and strong and handsome.

He was not like king David and easy on the eyes and bold to attack the enemy.

He came for them all and was for all. He was normal looking and was normal because this is Him showing that He came for everyone and not just a special group.

This is what our normal regular looking savior did and is for still.

Because...

He was Destined for this (52:13-15)

This first verse tells us that He will act wisely, also can be shall prosper, will have success.

He is the one who is sent to fulfill the law and the prophets and to make salvation available to all who will believe. This is success and this success came through him being marred beyond recognition.

He was beaten and cursed and spit on for you and me.

He knew this was coming.

He knew He would receive terrible abuse.

He was set for this so all those who have never heard will see.

So all people who have no understanding can have understanding.

He is the one who knew all that was before Him but came on anyway. Jesus knew this all and He came.

How many of us here will willingly sacrifice just a little of our comfort for others?

How many of us will give up something we cling to to help another?

How often do you submit yourself to suffering so another does not have to face that?

Our savior did this for our salvation, but also to show us how we are supposed to live. We follow Him and those who followed Him. They all suffered to make Him known so others could have life, are you that willing yourself?

He was a Man of Sorrows for Us (53:3)

He was acquainted with grief and sorrow, for you and me.

Look at this last part of verse 3. He suffered grief and sorrow for those who hide their eyes, who hide from Him.

He was rejected and esteemed not. He was despised for all, everyone. We all hide our eyes from Him.

We all want to live how we want to live.

We all want our way and sometimes, Jesus is right in the way of our way.

He tells us to give up so others can have, He tells us to love our enemies, He tells us to stop thinking about self and think about others.

He knew how we all are and how we all hide from Him, even after salvation.

Too often we try and hide like Adam and Eve did. He knows where we are and what we have done, and He still died for us because we are not able to save ourselves and live a life that is good and holy without Him.

We reject, despise, and hide all the time. And He still came knowing that we would be like this. What a great and glorious savior we have.

These words suffering and sorrows link to pains and sickness. He is the great physician that willingly gave Himself to taking these away from others and experiencing them Himself. Let the savior give you healing. Know that...

Through His Suffering Comes Healing (53:4-9)

Isaiah 53:4–9 ESV

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. 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 Bore our Griefs and Carried our Sorrows

He was pierced for Our Transgressions

All Sin was Laid on Him and By this We are Healed

We are Astray and He came For You and Me

He was Judged for Our Guilt

By bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows and being pierced for our transgressions, crushed, and chastised (disciplined), we have healing.

This healing is not medical or physical, although He certainly can give healing there, this healing is deeper and more critical.

Why? Because of what verse 6 says, “the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Paul says it this way, 2 Cor. 5:21

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Our iniquity is so much deeper and more prevailing than any physical ailment.

Our sin was so deep and is still so deep that the Son of God had to come and die for us so there could be a fulfillment of all that was and is necessary for us to be healed.

We are so depraved and far away that we can’t save ourselves.

Let me illustrate it this way.

In 1982, "ABC Evening News" reported on an unusual work of modern art--a chair affixed to a shotgun. It was to be viewed by sitting in the chair and looking directly into the gun barrel. The gun was loaded and set on a timer to fire at an undetermined moment within the next hundred years. The amazing thing was that people waited in lines to sit and stare into the shell's path! They all knew the gun could go off at point-blank range at any moment, but they were gambling that the fatal blast wouldn't happen during their minute in the chair. Yes, it was foolhardy, yet many people who wouldn't dream of sitting in that chair live a lifetime gambling that they can get away with sin. Foolishly they ignore the risk until the inevitable self-destruction.

Wake Up Calls, Ron Hutchcraft, Moody, 1990, p.60.

This is how we are and what we do all the time. Yet, He came and took it all on Himself so we can live with Him and live now without the wonder and fear of death.

This is our depravity. We live in a world that celebrates, again those who hide, and love sin so much that they cram it down our throats.

Like a post on Facebook I have seen that says, “Drag is art, Drag is culture, drag is dancing, drag is creative, drag is comedy, drag is not a crime.”

There are two phrases in there that are somewhat correct.

It is comedy in that it is ridiculous and plumb goofy. But this comedy is a sad comedy because too many find this as how they are to live.

Also, it is not against the law for a man to wear women's clothing, but it is against God, so it is against the ultimate law.

But this is the depravity that we are all in and follow and this is the same as us sitting in that chair in front of that shotgun.

We are and were astray. We were wandering around thinking we were living when we were dying and heading toward death.

He took all the judgment for us and that offer is yours today.

He offers freedom from sin today to all here. This is even if you are saved but have strayed.

We all need to hear of the great things Jesus did for us.

If you are lost and wandering, He was judged for you there is no reason for you to receive judgment for something that has been paid.

The same is to you who have strayed or are stuck. He made a way for you to be free completely if you will only accept this and cherish it as yours.

Don’t let satan win and keep you in sin or drag you back into the stuff that has been paid for.

It is absolutely yours and something you can have because...

His Suffering Brings Glory and Blessings (53:10-12)

Isaiah 53:10–12 ESV

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.

His Suffering Satisfies the Wrath Meant for Us

His Suffering Brings Many to Glory

It was the will of the Lord to crush Him. Not crush you, but Him who came for you and me.

God the Father put Him to grief for us. He is our substitute who took all the legal ramifications on Himself for you and me.

He made the full and final offering for guilt. He made it all for us so we can have freedom.

Christ said in me you are free. Paul said Gal. 5:1

Galatians 5:1 ESV

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

We have that freedom through our substitutionary sacrifice Jesus Christ, do you want to be free or stay in slavery?

Back during the Civil War and after many slaves were free to go but because they only knew their life with their master, they stayed with them rather than living in freedom.

We are like this all to often ourselves.

We only know the life we have been living and when Christ is presented to us, we stay where we are because we do not know how to live in freedom.

Well know today that Christ paid it all for you and this freedom is a life of peace and joy even if it is difficult because the world keeps trying to place you under a yoke of slavery.

We have true freedom in Christ and in that freedom we have life, this life is our life to live in Christ we do not have to submit to another but only God and what His word says.

We are made righteous in Him as verse 11 tells us.

To be righteous is to be vindicated, be in the right, made just. Simply, we are vindicated before the Lord and all our sins are not seen because we are in Christ and free from the grip of sin and death.

That is glorious life and a joy even if you do not know how to live in that type of life.

Just take that step of freedom and know that the burdens and weight of trying to live in this sinfilled lifestyle we all have lived in is gone.

The temptations are there, the struggle to continue to walk away from that comfort is still there, but in Christ and looking to Him is what will make it all worth it because in Him is freedom from all that the world says you are to be and do.

Not to mention the world offers you nothing but grief and heartache. Look at Jesus they killed Him.

That is what the world is doing to you now, you just do not see it.

But the world deceives you into thinking there is life and joy in all the sin and depravity but there is only death.

It is like the bait in the bear trap. It looks so good and tastes good and is so inviting. That is until that steel toothed devil clamps tight on your leg and takes you to the pits of hell.

Jesus offers better food, that is inviting, nourishing, tasty, and there is no trap only freedom.

How do I know this?

In verse 12 we see that He always intercedes for us.

This means we are never left alone and that He is always there making a case for us before the Father.

We are free because Jesus paid it all and He continues to do the work of keeping us as His.

What joy and peace that is.

Nothing else is like that in the world.

We have to work hard to keep our jobs. We have to work hard to make marriage to work.

We have to work hard to raise good children.

We have to work hard to keep all the stuff we have.

But not in salvation. Not in our forever life with Christ.

Jesus did all the work and continues to do the work for us and in us to keep us. We just stay open to Him to continue to grow but He did it all to make us His. He bore the sin for us so we do not have to continue to bear that weight.

Will you give up and let Him take it all away or will you continue to hide from Him and stay a slave?

Freed for Freedom

Today many years ago Christ went into Jerusalem knowing that He was going to face extreme suffering for you and me.

He did this.

He did not stop but He went in and died in an extremely painful manner for us.

He gave it all so all can live.

He is truly our Great God and Savior.

He is the one who suffered for You and me.

He gave it all for all.

Will you step away from slavery today and take that chance with the unknown of freedom in Christ?

Like the Pharisees asked Christ in John 8:33

John 8:33 ESV

33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

And Christ told them John 8:34-36

John 8:34–36 ESV

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Do you want to be free or stay a slave?

Christ has offered it and it is open and free for all today if you will just believe in the Savior who suffered for You.