The Son Must Be Lifted Up

Introduction

Exactly one year ago today, I watched my little boy wheeled down a hospital corridor in a basinet for a neurosurgical procedure that would save his life. When I think back on that day, I think about something that his courageous and faithful mother said over and over again. “One day, this will all just be scars and stories.”

It brings me great joy to know that my son won’t remember firsthand anything that happened during that time.

But there will come a day, when he is old enough and mature enough, that we will tell him the story of the events that saved his life.

“Why?” You might ask… Shouldn’t we just leave well enough alone. No. We tell the story, and we are truthful about the weight of the story, because we want Henry to know how precious his life is AND how loved he is.

That he does not have to endure the physical, mental, emotional, or financial difficulty of the moment is a beautiful reality.

That he knows what was done for him is important as well.

In the same way, Good Friday, for us is scars and a story. Christ came, took sin upon Himself, and was crushed by the Father.

Good Friday is about understanding how GOOD Friday is for us because of how BAD Friday was for Jesus.

And some of you might say, “Connor, it’s the weekend. Yes, during Holy Week. And we dare not skip to Easter Bunnies, Easter Eggs, and festivities and ignore the weight and the cost and the burden and toil that our sin inflicted upon the Son of God.

We sang a song a few moments ago that was entitled, “Man of Sorrows.” What does that phrase mean?

The phrase originates in Scripture, Isaiah 53:3.

The prophet is sharing of the Messiah, and we would think that his words would be triumphant and victorious. That words of a great king would be flattering and lofty.

Isaiah is a prophet, not a public relations specialist.

Isaiah 53:3 ESV

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.

I want to answer two questions tonight:

Why was Jesus a Man of Sorrows?

How do we live in light of His sorrow?

Explanation

Jesus was a Man of Sorrows, because He truly felt the full weight of the brokenness of the world.

He experienced many of the worst of human experiences.

Jesus was poor (v2).

Jesus was not good-looking or grand in stature. You might not have noticed Him if He walked into the room.

Jesus was rejected by men. More than that, He was despised by men.

He was acquainted with grief.

He was scorned, despised, and rejected by men.

More than all of these experience, Jesus had been sent into the world to fix them.

Isaiah 53:4-6 tells Jesus did not simply experience these hardships, but He would be the solve for all sin and the consequences of sin.

Our griefs He bore. (4)

Our sorrows He carried. (4)

Ourselves esteemed, Him stricken. (4)

Pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. (5)

The chastisement for our peace fell upon Him. (5)

By His woulds we are healed. (5)

Jesus came that the punishment that WE deserved for our sins would be placed upon Him.

People have died a worse death than a cross. Believers throughout human history of marched singing into unimaginable horrific death. So was Jesus overly dramatic in his reaction to the cross?

Jesus was not simply coming to earth for a physical suffering and death.

He came that He might absorb the sin of man and that the wrath of God would be poured out upon Him.

This brings us to the greatest sorrow that Jesus ever experienced.

Luke 22:39–46 ESV

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Mark 14:34 ESV

And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

The Passion event of Christ is the greatest moment of sorrow that has ever existed in all of human history.

Christ is punished physically on the cross, but the literal weight of sin is placed upon Jesus. (Isaiah 52:6)

With the weight of sin comes the consequence of sin - separation from God and death. The most intense sorrow/pain/agony that could ever be known was laid upon Jesus.

All sin of all man for all time was placed upon one man in one moment.

Let me give a concrete example: The pressure of an elephant on a surface is less than the pressure a woman wearing high heels. It has nothing to do with the weight of either,

Application

A. Sometimes, we just sit mental and emotionally in the sufferings of our Lord. We should understand the weight of what Christ has done.

I remember going to the mountains as a kid. There would be a point in time where my parents would force me to put up my video games, books, etc. They did that because I wasn’t taking the opportunity to grasp the beauty and glory of my surroundings.

In the same way, we think flippantly about the things of our Lord, and we forget that Christ went through real, incomprehensible agony for us.

B. The worse comfort in the world ALWAYS comes from someone who has not been through that situation yet still believes that they know all of the answers.

I had well meaning people who told me when my mother died that God allowed her to die so that I could know how to relate to church members who were suffering in the hospital.

Jesus is the opposite. He has suffered through the worst that the world has to offer, and He is the answer. He comes to us not arrogantly but knowingly. He has faced death and the grave and comes to you not as one who

C. D. A. Carson // You are not suffering from anything that a good resurrection can’t fix.

D. Tonight, we gather as those bought by Jesus and redeemed by His blood. We take of the Lord’s Supper. As we take of the Lord’s Supper, I want you to remember. You are loved more than you can fathom.

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Scripture - Lord’s Supper