Christmas: The Coming of Christ in Isaiah

Sermon Title: The “UNs” of Christmas

Intro

This morning, we begin our Christmas series, titled:

The Root, The Shoot, and the Stone.

Between today and the next two Sundays, we are going to be unpacking Isaiah 53, Isaiah 11, and Isaiah 28 looking at the coming of Christ in Isaiah.

If you want to open up to Isaiah 53, if you open your Bible almost in the middle, you will likely be in Psalms.

Turn right, and you should pass Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and then Isaiah.

For those of you that may be new to church, or unfamiliar with the Bible, I want to tell you why it is remarkable that Isaiah talks about the coming of Christ.

Isaiah was a prophet who lived and prophesied around 700 years before Christ was born.

His prophecies contained startling detail of Jesus’s birth, life, and death - which is probably why he is the most quoted prophet in the New Testament.

One of the other things that makes Isaiah remarkable, was his radical obedience to the Lord

This brother walked around naked for three years as a sign of coming judgement for Egypt and Cush - Isaiah 20.

So, he probably wasn’t the dude you want serving in the children’s ministry, but he was a rockstar prophet who is going to help us prepare for Christmas this year!

Prayer

Pray for yourselves

Ask the Lord to open your eyes to behold the wondrous things in His word. (Psalm 119:18)

Ask Him to change your heart and cause you to walk out of here looking more like Jesus than when you came in.

Pray for me

Ask the Lord to speak through me and that I would be faithful to His Word.

Ask the Lord to move me out of the way so that we can encounter Jesus this morning - and not just Matt Prine.

Opening Illustration

I found out this week that it is estimated that Americans will spend somewhere around $950 Billion dollars this Christmas season.

It has become commercialized…

Ironically, In making Christmas a $950 billion dollar business, we have stripped it of it’s real and true value.

I fear that much of our joyous Christmas celebrations may be more rooted in worldly traditions rather than the divine incarnation.

I am not suggesting that we not celebrate joyfully… and I am not suggesting that Presents and Christmas lights and all the things are bad… necessarily

What I am suggesting is that our celebration is likely incomplete lacking the depth demanded by the incarnation.

it is the incarnation that should inform and drive our celebration of Christmas, not corporate ad campaigns.

Today, we will look at Isaiah 53 and discovering some of the “UNs” of Christmas.

Isaiah 53:1–2a (ESV)

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2a For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground...

Point 1: Christmas Had Unbelievable Beginnings (vv. 1-2a)

Unbelievable

It feels a bit to me like Isaiah begins this chapter with a tone of disbelief.

It is almost like he is still trying to wrap his own heart and mind around this huge truth.

And what is that truth?

It’s the truth that God’s servant isn’t a hired hand…

It’s not an ambassador

It’s not a representative

It’s not a proxy…

It’s God Himself!

Alec Mo-tier said that the first two verses of Isaiah 53 could be summed up “‘Who could have believed that this was the Arm of the Lord?”

Eugene Peterson said it like this in the Message: “Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?”

Think back about God’s interaction with mankind throughout history…

God walked with Adam in the garden

God spoke to Noah

God appeared to Moses in a burning bush

He led Israel in the form of a pillar of smoke and pillar of fire.

He sent angels to speak on His behalf.

He sent prophets that shared His heart and words with the people.

But He had NEVER stepped into His creation like this - flesh and blood.

Isaiah says that he grew up like a young plant - like a root out of dry ground.

The God of all creation, vulnerable, fragile, and completely dependent on a human mother.

What Isaiah tells us is that there will STILL be people who will not believe - and it happened in the life of Jesus!

John 12:37-38 it says: 37 Though [Jesus] had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Some people’s hearts are so hardened towards the Lord that even if Jesus were to show up in the flesh, right now, they wouldn’t believe.

WHY?

Because the sad reality is that Belief does not always follow revelation

Isaiah 53:1 (ESV)

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

Isaiah is asking a question that he already answered:

Isaiah 52:10 (ESV) 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

The “arm of the Lord” (another way of talking about God’s saving power) has already been revealed before the eyes of all the nations to the ends of the earth.

Isaiah’s question is a rhetorical one.

God HAS revealed Himself - to the entire world, yet many will never be moved to belief.

So, Belief does not always follow revelation, but, but revelation must always precede belief.

The progression goes a bit like this:

Romans 10:14–17 (ESV) 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, {HERE’S OUR VERSE} “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Faith comes from hearing

And faith (belief) is a gift from the Lord. Ephesians 2:8 - 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

So, very simply, to answer Isaiah’s question - Who has believed what he has heard from us?

It’s the one who has heard the word, submitted him/herself to the Lord and believed.

Now, to be clear, I am not saying that if you believe, you will never have a moment of doubt - you absolutely will!

But in those doubts, be like the father in Mark 9, begging Jesus to heal his child and says: “I believe, but help my unbelief!”?

Apart from the Lord revealing Himself to us and then giving us faith, Christmas, the incarnation is unbelievable.

There are some people in the room right now who will hear the truth of Jesus’ incarnation and will still not believe it.

But for others of you - I hope most of you - your response to the unbelievable beginnings of Christmas is Holy Spirit empowered belief.

Isaiah 53:2b–3 (ESV)

2b 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.

Point 2: Christmas Is about an Undesirable Hero (vv. 2b-3)

This suffering servant was undesirable

K&D’s commentary on the OT suggests that the second half of verse two read something like: “We saw Him, and there was nothing in His appearance (form) to make us desire Him, or feel attracted by Him.”

This word “form” is the same word that is used to describe Rachel in Genesis who was beautiful while Leah was not.

It’s the same word used to describe Joseph when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him.

It’s the same word that described Esther and it was why she caught the eye of King Xerxes.

The word majesty is the same word used throughout the Psalms to describe the Lord’s glory

The man described here in Isaiah - had no form and no majesty.

He was not a good looking man.

He had nothing glorious about himself.

He was not going to turn heads

He wasn’t just unremarkable… He was despised

Verse 3 goes further.

Despised and Rejected (deliberately refused)

Man of Sorrows (suffering)

Acquainted with grief (sickness)

Men hide their faces from him - “a thing before which a man covers his face in disgust” - E.W. Hengstenberg

Isaiah seems to indicates a somewhat visceral and immediate dismissal of this Servant.

This makes me think about how a lot of people respond to seeing a homeless person begging for money.

We glance at him quickly, and we quickly look away to avoid eye contact - because if he catches our eyes, then we feel like we have to acknowledge his existence and we don’t want to do that, because it might require action on our part.

So we avert our eyes to completely avoid any sort of association or interaction with him.

Isaiah uses the phrase - We esteemed him not.

It means to think him worthless!

Alec Mo-Tier said: “Esteemed is an ‘accounting’ word, a reckoning up of value.... They appraised what they saw and it added up to nothing”

And whether we want to admit it or not, this is how most of us (maybe all of us) would see Jesus if He appeared in front of us in the flesh because He wouldn’t be what we expected Him to be.

He wouldn’t be what we wanted Him to be…

Christmas is about an undesirable hero.

Illustration: Snape, from Harry Potter

About a month or so ago, I finished reading the Harry Potter series.

My kids were wanting to read them, and so before they did it, I wanted to read it to preview what they would be reading.

There was this sub story line that carries through the entire series and then at the end, it twists HARD.

(and this is the earmuffs portion of the sermon for those that want to avoid the spoilers)

There is a professor that is portrayed as one of the main antagonists - Professor Severus Snape.

Snape is this super shifty guy, dark and mysterious.

He is a death eater and essentially right hand man to Voldemort, who is the main bad guy.

He is awful to Harry throughout the series - and you just love to hate this guy.

In fact, throughout the series, I found myself hoping he would get taken out somehow.

But then a moment happens in the last book that changes EVERYTHING about how you see Snape.

What we discover is that Snape wasn’t a bad guy at all…

In fact, everything that he was doing was done in order to protect Harry from Voldemort and he even died to do so.

So, this guy who you built up all this animosity for, who you assumed all of these things about him, and were ready to be the judge, jury, and executioner for - was actually one of the heroes of the story.

Ok, you can take your earmuffs off…

Why do I tell you this story…

Because verse 4 is where the plot twist happens in Isaiah…

Isaiah 53:4–5 (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.

Did you catch it?

Did you see the emphasis on the words “our” and “he”???

He was acquainted with grief (v. 3) - He has borne our grief (v. 4)

He was a man of sorrows (v. 3) - he carried our sorrows (v. 4).

One commentator, Charles Gore, said that “The Servant was bearing their sins while they thought God was smiting him for his own wickedness.”

The animosity towards the Suffering Servant, Jesus, was not because of his sin, but because of the sin of those who despised him.

Point 3: Christmas Is for an Undeserving People (vv. 4-5)

Christian, I need you to hear me on this.

This Christmas, your celebration needs to be soaked in humility and gratitude because you were not deserving of Him - none of us are.

Augustine said: “Christ’s deformity is what gives form to you. If he had been unwilling to be deformed, you would never have got back the form you lost. So he hung on the cross, deformed; but his deformity was our beauty”

vv. 4-5 tell us exactly how that happens

Surely he has Borne our Griefs (v 4)

The Hebrew means that He Lifted up our sickness

Literally the terminal illness that all of us have, sin, that kills 100% of the time, He takes it from us - so we will not die, but will have life eternal.

He has Carried our Sorrows (v. 4)

That word for sorrow also means pain

He carried our pain

Lexham’s Hebrew Lexicon says that to carry was to to endure something unpleasant or difficult on behalf of someone else.

So not only does He lift off the sin that will kill us, He carries the pain that has come as a result of the sin.

He was pierced for our Transgressions (v.5)

That word pierced means to cut or to make a way thru something.

Sound familiar? John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This piercing was because of our willful crimes

He was crushed for our iniquities (v. 5)

This word “crushed” was used of horrific agonies that would end in death.

It was to be compressed with violence - out of the natural shape or condition.

This is why Isaiah said in 52:14- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind...

He was beaten beyond recognition as a man because of our misdeeds

Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace (v. 5)

Again, from Lexham’s Lexicon: Chastisement was the imposition of painful consequences or other disadvantages upon someone for their disobedience as part of a process of improving someone’s character or actions.

But the only problem was that it wasn’t HIS disobedience, it was ours!

His punishment was our peace!

With His wounds we are healed (v. 5)

He was slashed, bruised, gravely wounded.

SO THAT - we might be healed - repaired, rebuilt.

He provided a cure that made us healthy and whole before God.

YET, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, afflicted (v. 4)

Meaning - we judged that HE was the one deserving to be struck, afflicted and humiliated, when it should be US!

Do you see how twisted the human heart is?

Christmas is for an undeserving people!

That is you and that is me…

Application: What should our response be?

I think that for some, this can feel like a bit of a downer.

Why all this talk about crushing and breaking and punishment?

Shouldn’t our celebration at Christmas be about Jesus’ birth and we can save all the suffering stuff for Good Friday and Easter?

We just want to be happy this time of year and think about a cuddly baby Jesus.

We cannot do this, because it isn’t a true reflection of what Christmas is truly about!

Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus’ suffering began when he entered this world, not just when he was snuffed out of it?

He left the perfection of heaven to be born into the dirt, to live in poverty, to experience hunger, and thirst, and loss, pain, and everything else in between, before he was brutally murdered!

As we celebrate Christmas, we should do so with great joy, but do not forget that the manger rested in the shadow of the cross.

I love what Paul David Tripp Said - “Let your joy at what your Savior has gifted you with be mixed with grief at what it cost him.”

Closing

Luke 2:10-14 (ESV) 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The “UNs” of Christmas remind us that:

Christmas Had UNbelievable beginnings, but empowered by the Spirit, we can believe

Christmas has An UNdesirable hero, but it’s really our own undesirable brokenness that is revealed by Him.

and Christmas was for UNdeserving people, rescued by an gracious God!

this Christmas, let us celebrate the UNimagineable truth that God sent His only Son, to be born, live a perfect life, suffer a sinners death, and rise from the dead conquering Satan, Sin, and Death, ransoming captive people from death!

this is the Unspeakable joy of Christmas!

Prayer

Ask for the Lord to show us where we have bought into the commercial Christmas story more than the Biblical story of Jesus.

Ask the Lord to see the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf - that every nanosecond of his life on this earth was torturous in comparison with his eternal dwelling in Heaven.

Ask the Lord to lead us out of entitlement and into humble gratitude for His priceless gift!

Ask the Lord to help us to share this incredible truth with others - and that God would grant them to believe this Christmas as well.

Ask the Lord to save anyone in this room right now who knows they are not surrendered to Christ.

perhaps it has been an academic exercise for them, but they’ve never truly surrendered their heart to the Lord.

Ask the Lord to make today, the day that they would find the true meaning of Christmas and that they would be saved.