The Rejected Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:3–6)
Notes
Transcript
CPT: The rejected servant will suffer for the sins of others so they can be healed.
Purpose: To recall the necessity of the cross and the grace of his salvation.
CPS: Jesus suffered and took on our punishment for our healing.
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to take on our sin.
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to bring us healing.
Introduction
Attention
As we gather together to remember Good Friday, the day our Lord gave his life on the cross for our sins and the sins of the world, we remember his words from the cross:
It is finished! Todo ha terminado.
I want to welcome everyone, including our brothers and sisters from Príncipe de Paz. Bienvenidos hermanos y hermanas en Cristo. Although we all gather on Sundays at two different times and in two different languages, we are one family brought together by our Lord Jesus Christ and saved by him. Somos una familia unida por nuestro Señor Jesucristo y salvados en él.
Growing up, I love my parents, they were awesome. But they had a secret language. Whenever they wanted to talk about something that they didn’t want the kids to understand, they would switch over into Spanish. My grandparents would get frustrated with me because they would try to speak to me in Spanish, but I could never understand. I remember as a child going up to grandfather and saying, “Grandpa, I can speak Spanish. Look - Coca Cola.”
It’s amazing how quickly you can learn when it comes to food. When we moved out here to San Diego, I learned quickly what a Carne Asada burrito is.
But what is also amazing is that, no matter who you are, no matter the culture that you grew up in, there are certain things that are true about everyone. No matter the language that you say it in, people understand that there is something wrong in the world and there is something wrong inside of them.
And no matter where you are in the world, there are people everywhere who need salvation from God that only comes through Jesus Christ. In case you didn’t know, Jesus didn’t speak English or Spanish. Jesus was a Jewish man living in a Jewish culture speaking to Jewish people. Yet his message goes beyond culture and speaks to the hearts of people everywhere.
People everywhere need a message from God. There is no greater message from God than the one that came in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. About 700 years before Jesus, the prophet Isaiah received a message from God about a rejected suffering servant. This is what he said about this coming suffering servant in Isaiah 53:3-5. I will read this both in English and Spanish.
Scripture Reading
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.
In Spanish / en Espanol
3 Fue despreciado y rechazado: hombre de dolores, conocedor del dolor más profundo. Nosotros le dimos la espalda y desviamos la mirada; fue despreciado, y no nos importó.
4 Sin embargo, fueron nuestras debilidades las que él cargó; fueron nuestros dolores los que lo agobiaron. Y pensamos que sus dificultades eran un castigo de Dios; ¡un castigo por sus propios pecados!
5 Pero él fue traspasado por nuestras rebeliones y aplastado por nuestros pecados. Fue golpeado para que nosotros estuvieramos en paz, fue azotado para que pudiéramos ser sanados.
May God bless the reading of his Word. Dios bendiga la lectura de su palabra.
Pray
There are a couple things I want to bring out from this text about Jesus as the rejected suffering servant.
First,
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to take on our sins.
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to take on our sins.
The prophet Isaiah says this about the coming Messiah in verses 3 and 4.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
DESPISED AND REJECTED, SOMEONE PEOPLE TURNED AWAY FROM, DIDN’T VALUE HIM
The Bible predicted that the Messiah would be someone who was rejected by his own people. Isaiah said that this coming suffering servant would be “DESPISED AND REJECTED.” He would be “LIKE SOMEONE PEOPLE TURNED AWAY FROM.” He would be someone we did not VALUE.
It’s interesting to think of who the WE is, when it says “WE DIDN’T VALUE HIM.” Who is the prophet talking to, who is he addressing? We, the people of Israel. In order for Jesus to fulfill the prophecy of the Messiah, the Messiah would be someone the nation of Israel would reject. We do believe that one day the nation of Israel will come to their Messiah.
You can hear John dealing with this same question in John 1:10-11.
10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him.
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
10 Vino al mismo mundo que él había creado, pero el mundo no lo reconoció.
11 Vino a los de su propio pueblo, y hasta ellos lo rechazaron;
Jesus came to his own people and his people rejected him. But even bigger than this, the world that he created rejects him! Truly his own people and the whole world still fails to value the one who created them.
REGARDED HIM STRICKEN, STRUCK DOWN BY GOD
Not only did his own people reject him, they also mocked him. The prophet says, “WE REGARDED HIM STRICKEN, STRUCK DOWN BY GOD.” As he hung on the cross, it says in Matt. 27:39 that people who were passing by “were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads.” They told him, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” “Si eres el Hijo de Dios, sálvate a ti mismo y bájate de la cruz». They were wondering why, this man who could save others, why wasn’t he saving himself?
HE BORE OUR SICKNESSES, AND CARRIED OUR PAINS
Yet we know why he wasn’t saving himself. He didn’t save himself so that he could save you, me, and everyone else on the cross. The prophet says, HE BORE OUR SICKNESSES, AND CARRIED OUR PAINS. Jesus bore our sicknesses, and carried our pains.
It’s interesting to learn what sickness is. We’ve just gone through a few years of battling a worldwide pandemic of sickness. A person can get sick when their body becomes infected with a disease-causing pathogen such as a virus, bacteria, fungus, or parasite. Once a pathogen enters the body, it can begin to multiply and cause damage to the tissues and organs. This can lead to a range of symptoms, such as fever, coughing, etc.
In the same way, there is a sickness within humanity, and that sickness is sin. When you fall into sin, it enters into your heart and begins to multiply, causing a spiritual death in your soul. Sin is man’s greatest problem, and Christ is God’s greatest cure. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is powerful enough to cure everyone who comes to him. It says in 1 John 2:2:
2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
2 Él mismo es el sacrificio que pagó por nuestros pecados, y no sólo los nuestros sino también los de todo el mundo.
Jesus lived a perfect and was without sin. He is the only one who was able to bear our sickness and carry our pain.
ILLUSTRATE CARRYING THE PUNISHMENT OF OTHERS: Imagine a parent who loves their child deeply. One day, the child makes a mistake and breaks something valuable. The parent could punish the child, but instead, they choose to take on the punishment themselves. They pay the price for the broken item, even though they didn't break it themselves. This is a small example of the substitutionary sacrifice that the Servant of the Lord made for us. He took the punishment that we deserved, so that we could be made right with God and receive the gift of salvation.
The Lord did this. Even though he was rejected, even though he was mocked, even though a world of people continue to reject him, he did this. He stepped into our place and took on our punishment, to pay a price that we couldn’t pay.
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to take on our sins.
Also,
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to bring us peace and healing.
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to bring us peace and healing.
Take a look at verse 5 of Isaiah 53. The prophet says,
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.
PIERCED BECAUSE OF OUR REBELLION, PUNISHMENT FOR OUR PEACE
He was pierced because of our rebellion. Pero él fue traspasado por nuestras rebeliones. The prophet predicts the cross before the cross was ever a punishment. The Messiah took on our punishment on the cross by piercing his hands and his feet, by piercing his side. And every pound of the nail into his flesh was was a testimony of the love of God for you and for me. It says in 2 Cor. 5:21:
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
21 Pues Dios hizo que Cristo, quien nunca pecó, fuera la ofrenda por nuestro pecado, para que nosotros pudiéramos estar en una relación correcta con Dios por medio de Cristo.
It is because of the cross that you and I can have the righteousness of God.
HEALED BY HIS WOUNDS
It is because of the cross that you and I can find healing. When you read through the Gospels, you see how often he healed people. You see how there was power in him, that even if you touched his garment by faith, you would be healed. This healing was not just to show us his physical power. He healed to show us that is able to restore a sick heart to new life. Peter quotes Isaiah in 1 Peter 2:24 when he says:
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
24 Él mismo cargó nuestros pecados sobre su cuerpo en la cruz, para que nosotros podamos estar muertos al pecado y vivir para lo que es recto. Por sus heridas, son sanados.
They say that when a person is healed from a disease, their body is restored to a healthy state. When the body is infected with a disease-causing pathogen, such as a virus or bacteria, the immune system is activated to fight off the invader. Sometimes, the natural mechanisms to fight off a disease are too weak. They aren’t enough. You need outside treatments, like medicine, rest, hydration, and good nutrition to fight off disease. When you are healed, you can improved energy levels, decreased pain or discomfort, and a greater sense of well-being.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean you will never feel pain. But what it does mean is that inside, you are healed. Inside, you are a new person. Not because there was anything you did, but because of what the Lord did on the cross. By his wounds you are healed. Por sus heridas, son sanados.
Conclusion
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to take on our sins.
Jesus was the rejected suffering servant to bring us healing.
Conclude
Prayer
Communion - Pastor Raul
Last Song
Doxology
24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!
