How to Read the Bible Part 5

The Story of the Bible is the Story of Jesus

I want to invite you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 53.

We’ll be in several places but we’ll eventually land there.

Children, your three words for your worship sheet today are Jesus, know, and scripture or Bible -either one.

And kids, remember those words and talk to your folks about them on the way home.

I want us to start today by thinking about taking a trip to a hardware store.

Men, I think we all can relate to this.

You’ve got some project that you are working on and you’ve run into a little snag.

You know what you want to build

You just don’t know how to build it yet.

So you go to the hardware store with an picture in your head of how you want it to end up.

Have you ever done this?

Sales people will come up and ask, “Can I help you?”

I made the mistake once of saying yes and explaining what I was trying to do

And we went all over the place with his ideas that I knew would never work.

So now I answer, “I’ll know it when I see it.”

Because that’s the real answer, I know I need something, I just don’t know what it is.

“I’ll know it when I see it.”

“I’ll know it when I see it.”

This is the last message of the Bible Revolution series.

Our goal in preaching these messages is to help us all hear the voice of God personally as we read our Bibles.

But if you’ve taken my counsel to read at least one verse of the Bible a day - what we’ve been talking about for the last five weeks will make a difference to you.

We’ve been using Matt Smethurst’s book, “Before You Open Your Bible” as our inspiration.

We talked about approaching our Bibles prayerfully and humbly.

Desperately and Studiously.

Obediently and Joyfully

Expectantly and Communally.

And that leaves just one more way Smethurst recommends we approach our Bible reading: Christocentrically.

That’s a big fifty cent theological term that simply means, when you read the Bible

When you read any part of the Bible - look for Jesus.

The story of the Bible is the story of Jesus.

From beginning to end - Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.

We know that intellectually - but see, intellectually is like going to the hardware store for the project.

You know where you want to end up - you just don’t know exactly what you are looking for to get you there.

But when you approach the Bible looking for Jesus, well, you’ll find what you are looking for.

Ever since God promised Abraham that through his offspring, “all of the nations of the world will be blessed”

People knew the Lord was going to send someone to give his people what they needed.

Problem was, it was like going to the hardware store - sometimes you don’t know what you need until you see it.

A perfect example happened in Luke 24.

Two men are leaving Jerusalem after the Passover celebration - which just happened to be the same weekend that Jesus had been crucified and resurrected.

They came to Jerusalem looking for something - they knew they were supposed to come because that’s what a good Jew did

And there would be something there to make life work for them.

And they thought they had found it - until they were walking home.

On the trip back to Emmaus, a stranger joined them.

They chit-chatted and they ended up telling the stranger everything that had never happened at a passover celebration before.

And after they finished the story, the stranger said this:

Luke 24:25–27 ESV

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Jesus started with Genesis 1:1 and he showed these two guys where what they were looking for was located.

The more He showed them, the more they understood.

Until finally they realized they were talking with Jesus Himself.

And when Jesus vanished, “they said to each other”, Luke 24:32 “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?””

Once they knew what they were looking for - Eureka! - their hearts burned.

I don’t know that I’ve ever truly quoted one of the early church fathers, but I ran across this quote from Irenaeus.

He lived about 130 ad in Turkey and he said this:

Ante-Nicene Fathers 1: The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus Chapter XXVI

If any one, therefore, reads the Scriptures with attention, he will find in them an account of Christ, and a foreshadowing of the new calling (vocationis). For Christ is the treasure which was hid in the field, that is, in this world (for “the field is the world”9); but the treasure hid in the Scriptures is Christ, since He was pointed out by means of types and parables. Hence His human nature could not be understood, prior to the consummation of those things which had been predicted, that is, the advent of Christ. And therefore it was said to Daniel the prophet: “Shut up the words, and seal the book even to the time of consummation, until many learn, and knowledge be completed. For at that time, when the dispersion shall be accomplished, they shall know all these things.”11 But Jeremiah also says, “In the last days they shall understand these things.”

Brothers and sisters, we live in the last days.

Every day we wake up with breath in our bodies is one day closer to us seeing Jesus face to face.

I had a friend at Bellsouth that had a neat system to keep her sane.

If you are a salesperson you know - you hear lots of nos before you ever hear a yes.

And the research of the day said for every 20 no’s, you’d get one yes.

So every day, she wrote the numbers 1 through 20 on a pad and every time she got a no, she’d scratch one off.

Because she was one no closer to getting her yes.

Every day when you go to sleep, that one more number scratched off.

If the Lord gives you another morning, that is one more morning closer to seeing Jesus face to face.

These are the last days - Jesus is coming soon.

So we can read the bible, the entire Bible - Old and New Testaments - and we can see Jesus every where because we know what we are looking for..

Sitting in my study, I wrote down 12 Old Testament passages where we can easily see Jesus.

One of them though, made my heart burn - so I settled there.

It seems to me by what Jesus said in verse 27, the people of that day were reading Isaiah 53 and not seeing Jesus in it.

So let’s read it prayerfully and humbly - we WANT to hear what Jesus is saying to us - not what we want Him to say - but what He wants us to hear.

Let’s read it desperately and studiously - hear Jesus or die is how we feel - and we savor the words we hear.

What we hear we hear obediently and joyfully - because we know if we follow Jesus closely, our life will overflow with joy

We’ll read it expectantly and communally - us, all together, reading this passage expecting to hear Jesus.

Because we are looking for Jesus - every time from this day forward, when we read the Bible, we are reading it to hear something more about Jesus.

Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

We can answer that question plainly now - it is the last days.

Jesus has come.

To “whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Us - the Church - the Body of Christ - the people of the First Baptist Church of Gray.

WE have seen the arm of the Lord.

Isaiah 53:2 “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.”

There is no description of Jesus anywhere in the Bible that even gives us a clue about what He looked like other than here.

I can give you a good theological explanation based on the second commandment -

But the best practical answer is this - Jesus wasn’t much to look at.

If He had of been movie star quality - someone would have made much over that.

But Jesus was non-descript - nothing special to look at.

Some of you have done this - I certainly have.

For whatever reason, whatever happened, whatever somebody said - you stared into the mirror and thought - ordinary.

Plain - maybe even noticed every imperfection.

Big, misplaced ears - thin lips - funky eyebrows - eyelashes that won’t curl.

Does knowing Jesus looked just like you make a difference to you

That maybe it says to you something like, maybe there is something more, more defining to be concerned about besides what we think we see in the mirror.

That maybe an ordinary looking person can make an extraordinary contribution to people’s lives.

Isaiah 53:3–4 “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. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”

I didn’t dig into the languages here nor did I read any commentary on this passage.

I wanted to share how I see Jesus in this passage just like I would do my daily Bible reading.

Here’s what I hear.

When you think about Jesus’ ministry - stop what you are doing right now - and think

Who did He deal with?

Every where He went - folks who didn’t understand anything, sick, hurting, possessed, lives turned upside down sometimes because of life

Sometimes because they just made ridiculous life choices.

The woman in John 8 caught in adultery - living in the world she lived in - why in the world did she think things would turn out good for her when she knew how it turned out for other women.

That didn’t make any kind of logical sense - but she wasn’t working out of logic - just like we don’t many times.

She did what she did because down deep, real deep, she felt lonely and rejected.

Do you know what that does to your heart when you see that pain in somebody’s eyes?

When you see them tremble because their heart is breaking?

When you hear them wail because someone precious has been snatched from their arms?

I know what it’s like to see that for a few people - so do you.

But Jesus knew it for everyone he came close to.

When He fed 15,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, He could feel the soul crushing pain of 15,000 people all at one time.

“He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows...”

Some of you have lost children - some of you made it through because Jesus knew your grief and carried you through.

A few people - maybe you are watching by live stream, I hope so - you carry your grief so close it’s become a barrier

No one is allowed in.

Not even Jesus.

But He stands at the door and knocks -

He knows your pain - He can make it bearable.

He can give you rest if you will let him.

You hear yourself here right - and you try to hide from it

Don’t hide - listen for Jesus.

Isaiah 53:5 “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.”

The crushing you feel, He takes.

He was crushed for our sins - we don’t have to be crushed anymore.

I don’t know if you are like me - I hope you are and I’m not just suffering from some perverse form of mental illness.

But if you are like me - you can remember quite vividly some really heinous sins

Your heinous sins - heinous to you - soul crushing sins.

Right here Jesus is telling us that He is will take that crushing weight off of you - He made a way.

He received the “chastisement” - we don’t need to go into detail - you know it - we live in the last times - we know what happened to Jesus.

The “chastisement” he received - allows Him to carry our crushing weight of sin

And in return, give us peace - what we’ve scoured the place looking for.

With his wounds we are healed.

Forget the drivel you’ve heard from TV preachers.

Physical wounds mean nothing next to spiritual wounds.

Our Christian bodies can die and we simply move on to the greatest adventure we will ever have.

But only if our spiritual bodies have been healed.

Only if our sins are washed away so they don’t crush us anymore.

So we really can have peace like a river in our souls.

You see Jesus here, don’t you?

Isaiah 53:6–7 “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 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.”

Have you ever gotten in trouble for someone else?

There was a time when that was my way of life - I didn’t say a word to complain or confess my innocence.

I didn’t realize I was trying to do Jesus’ job.

Jesus took on the troubles of every person who would ever be saved.

You know how bad you feel when your conscience is eating you alive.

Psychology has spent the better part of my life trying to eradicate guilt - you shouldn’t feel guilty for anything.

But you do - because the Lord’s morality is etched into our DNA, you are guilty.

Sin against God produces guilt, we are guilty.

Can you imagine, carrying the load of guilt for every person ever to be saved - how oppressive would that be?

You can remember the kind of guilt you carried, right?

Multiply that times billions.

Yet, Jesus never complained one single time.

Standing before His tormentors, his adversaries - He said very few words.

And nary a one of them was a complaint, a protest of innocence or a threat.

He was like a lamb being led to the slaughter.

The “Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world,”

We see Jesus when we read Isaiah.

And you know, over 600 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah was talking about what Jesus would do for you.

We’re running out of time - you’ll need to fill in the blanks for the next five verses on your own.

But you can if you belong to Jesus - because you live in the last days - and you know what you are looking for.

So listen, as I read slowly, and listen for Jesus

Isaiah 53:8–12 “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? 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. 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. 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. 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.”

Right this moment, in heaven in the throne room of God

This Jesus - my hero - is making intercession for the transgressors like me and you.

Right this minute in heaven, Jesus is leaning over to His Father and saying - “That Randy is an OK guy. He’s one of the one’s you have given me.

“A lot has pulled on him, but I’ve not lost him.

“I’m building him a room, right here, and I can’t wait to show him around.”

To which the Father tells Jesus, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Let us pray: