Crucifixion: The Great Propitiation

Introduction

Continuing in our mini series entitled God’s Covenant of Redemption, you will remember that in last Sunday’s message we saw Jesus ride into Jerusalem and declare himself to be the messiah, the prince of peace, using Zechariah’s prophecy, in preparation for his final steps to the cross. But why was this necessary? Was there no other way in which God’s wrath against our sin could be appeased?

Isaiah, who called the prince of prophets, prophesied some 700 years before the coming of Christ and the events we looked at on Sunday. His prophesies were during the time when the ten northern tribes would be taken into captivity by the Assyrians and also prophesied that the two southern tribes would be captured and then taken into exile by the Babylonians some 150 years later. So that by the end of the 6th century BC, all of Israel, all 12 tribes, would experience God’s judgment because of their relentless sin against him.

So how does this all fit into God’s Covenant of Redemption? In the midst of the doom and gloom, God’s covenant decree would be realized through a payment for sin. God has not nor will he ever wink at, or, overlook sin, in fact, sin is such an abomination to him that he must judge it with an outpouring of his great wrath. The answer is of course a payment, a sacrifice, one who would take on himself all the sins of God’s people and thus satisfy, once and for all, the wrath of God. Isaiah describes this sacrifice in chapter 53, where we see the prophecy concerning his servant, the messiah, yielding himself to this sacrifice by crucifixion and thus implementing what we shall call this evening, the Great Propitiation!

Text: Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53 ESV

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. 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. 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.

Main Idea: Without the Crucifixion of God’s Servant, the Messiah, the Wrath of God Would Never Have Been Propitiated.

The word propitiation is a very important word. In the OT, the tabernacle, and later on in the temple, there was an off limits room called the Holy of Holies where the glory of God resided. This room was so off limits that if anyone but the High Priest enter that room, they would be killed immediately. Even the High Priest could only enter this room but once a year in order to pour blood on the lid of a large chest called the Ark of The Covenant. This lid was called the Mercy Seat, or the seat of propitiation, since God’s anger would be appeased or propitiated by that blood.

It is used 4x in the NT, as we see that Jesus himself became that propitiation…1 John 4:10 “10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” As we come to Isaiah, we see the work and purpose of Jesus the Messiah prophesied as the work of The Lord’s Servant.

Note: In Isaiah, there are four Servant Songs each describing the work of the Messiah. In tonights passage, we see the fourth and final Servant Song, which begins in 52:13–53:12 where we see described, The Lord’s Servant: The Exalted Sin-bearer. This passage is frequently quoted in the NT (e.g., Acts 8:30–35; 1 Pet. 2:22–25), describes the Messiah (see note on Isa. 42:1–9).

Isaiah finally explains, with all his prophecies on judgment, how the Holy One can bless sinful people: all the promises of God will come true for them because the suffering and triumphant servant removes their guilt before God by his sacrifice.

To be clear on which parties are described, it helps to observe the pronouns: “I” in this passage is typically the Lord, “he” the servant, and “we” the servant’s disciples, who themselves need the servant to bear their guilt (53:4–6).

I. The Rejection of God’s Servant (1-3)

(1) Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? -

Us refers to the believing remnant of Israel (quoted in John 12:37–38; Rom. 10:16). The arm of the Lord is the power of God in action (cf. Isa. 40:10; 51:9; 62:8).

been revealed - The revelation of God according to his Covenant of Redemption is about to be revealed in the prophesy concerning his Suffering Servant

(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.

like a root out of dry ground - his origins were not promising

no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him - nothing out of the ordinary; no exceptional qualities.

(3) He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with (knowing) grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

He would be one that would be an outcast that would be fully acquainted with life in a cursed evil world.

Psalm 22:6 ESV

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

John 1:11 ESV

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

He was one who, though he was God in the flesh, sought to experience life as we experience life even to the point of rejection and pain.

Galatians 4:4 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

II. The Work of God’s Servant (4-6)

It should be noted that God’s Suffering Servant, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, didn’t just set an example of self sacrifice for us to follow, what he did, only he could do, and if he didn’t do it, we would have NO hope!

Note the use of the pronouns our, us, we, he, and him in verses 4-6, as I read them again for you slowly...

(4) Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

borne our griefs and carried our sorrows - every grief and sorrow has one source, our sin, so it’s like saying he bore the burden of our sins.

esteemed (reckon or regard) him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted - note that this work that he is doing is one that is authorized and implemented by God himself as a part of the Covenant of Redemption from eternity past.

(5) But he was pierced for our transgressions (venturing into forbidden territory); he was crushed for our iniquities (ignoring God’s commands); upon him was the chastisement (discipline, chastening) 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.

If you get nothing else from tonight’s sermon, get this…at the core of God’s Covenant of Redemption is the substitutionary atonement. This has always been God’s plan. In the OT, a spotless lamb, goat, or bull was sacrificed as a substitute to atone for the sins of the giver. No one is capable or able in any way to merit peace with God, so Jesus, the suffering servant bore the sins of his people once for all and brought them peace with God!

He, his, him, was sinless, took we, us, our sin

As a result, us, our, we, the people of God, are now free from our sin and are at peace with God

Romans 5:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

So how did the suffering servant, the messiah react to all this, we see next:

III. The Willingness of God’s Servant (7-9)

(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.

We see that there was a focused submission by God’s suffering servant, as if he knew (which he did), that this was necessary.

1 Peter 2:23 ESV

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

(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?

Note also here that there is a particular group of people for which he (God’s suffering servant) would be taken away, cut off, and stricken, it is his generation, or my people.

John 10:27–28 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

(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.

Again, reiterating the sinlessness of God’s suffering servant, the messiah. Yet we see that he completely identified with humanity. He died and was buried the same way the two other men who were thieves died, and prophetically, Isaiah tells us, he was put into a borrowed tomb owned by a rich man.

Matthew 27:57–60 ESV

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.

But once again, God’s Covenant of Redemption through the substitutionary atonement of the suffering servant was something positive and glorious as we now look at:

IV. The Victory of God’s Servant (10-12)

(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.

Note that it is the will of the Lord. A divine purpose underlay the human oppression of the servant (cf. Luke 24:26; Acts 2:23; 4:27–28). his soul. He suffered not just in his body but in his deepest inner self.

an offering for guilt. The servant’s sacrificial death compensated for human sin by setting sinners free from their guilt before God (cf. Lev. 5:15–16). The Septuagint translates “offering for guilt” as “offering for sin,” which explains why Paul could say that Christ’s death “for our sins” was “in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3).

1 Corinthians 15:3 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

he shall see his offspring. Those who strayed like sheep (Isa. 53:6) return as children.

he shall prolong his days. Death is not the servant’s end; he will receive everlasting life. Although resurrection is not explicit here, it is the natural inference (hence 1 Cor. 15:4 can speak of the resurrection as being “in accordance with the Scriptures”).

1 Corinthians 15:4 ESV

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. The servant becomes the executor of God’s will and plan.

(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 shall see and be satisfied. The outcome of the servant’s sufferings is not regret but the satisfaction of obvious accomplishment.

by his knowledge. His experiential knowledge of grief (v. 3, see ESV footnote).

many. His triumph, which does not secure the salvation of every individual without exception (universalism), spreads out beyond the remnant of Israel to “a great multitude that no one could number” (Rev. 7:9; cf. Rom. 5:15).

Revelation 7:9 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

to be accounted righteous - Christ’s death and resurrection results in our justification, placing his (the messiah’s) righteousness into our account (Rom. 3:23–26; 4:25; 5:19).

Romans 3:23–26 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

(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.

Therefore. The sacrificial death of the servant explains his subsequent glory and the eternal blessings of those who believe in him.

a portion … the spoil. The imagery is that of a conqueror sharing his victory with his allies.

numbered with the transgressors. The servant is identified with rebels (cf. Luke 22:37).

makes intercession. This is the servant’s priestly work on behalf of those he represents, securing their acceptance before God.

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

So What?

Do you understand that without Jesus, God’s suffering servant, we would be hopelessly lost forever under judgment of God that we deserve?

Are you part of the many for whom God’s suffering servant died?

Have you repented of your sins and placed your faith in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ for your sins?

The bible says it like this:

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Romans 10:13 ESV

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”