DONE 240331 Communion: Isaiah 53 See the Suffering Servant

I. The Astonishing Inquiry (v1-3)

Isaiah 53 | 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should desire Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Restate: An inquirer asks a question… ‘who has believed our report,’ Furthermore, the inquirer asks, ‘how has God’s strength been revealed?’ Yahweh’s strength is revealed through an improbable Savior. God’s Anointed has no stately form, no majesty, no beautiful appearance - He is undesirable? The strength of Yahweh is a Man, a Man despised, a Man forsaken, a Man who sorrows and is acquainted with grief. The strength of Yahweh is a Man, thought to be without value and considered to be repulsive

Thought: Who is the inquirer? Israel itself is the inquirer - utterly ironic, in that they did not believe their own reports about the Suffering Servant. Israel, who knew that the Christ was to come from Bethlehem, did not believe in the humble birth of the Christ - but the Gentiles did, what a tragedy for Israel to miss the Suffering Servant for Millennia!

Direct Quote: v1 John 12:38, Romans 10:16

II. The Suffering Servant (v4-6)

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace fell upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

Restate: Let’s look closely at the Suffering Servant, indeed He is deeply concerned about our sins.

How much does He care? This is how much He cares… MARVEL He willingly bears both sin debts and griefs as if they were His own. What does that mean? He will substitute Himself in the sinner’s place (expiation), accepting upon Himself the full weight of God’s holy wrath against sinners upon Himself.

Within verses 4-5 there are no greater expressions in the Old Testament of a violent and painful death - how much does the Suffering Servant care? He goes to face this violent death to heal sinners, He goes to die for our sins and to remove guilt. Israel declares, “although we have abandoned God, God has caused the iniquity, that we committed, to fall upon His Suffering Servant.”

Thought: We’ve looked at the Suffering Servant but what about Israel? The ones who are reflecting on this Suffering Servant, look at them! Look at their distress - The grief of Israel in this prophecy is staggering, they did not know their Messiah - how did they ever miss a love like this? How could they misplace their Messiah who freed them from the penalty due their sin? How have they missed relationship with a love as great as this - It is unfathomable that they could have missed their Messiah - but that is what has happened.

Direct Quote: v4 Matthew 8:17, v5 1 Peter 2:24, v6 1 Peter 2:25

III. Have Any Understood? (v7-9)

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open 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, That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him? 9 So His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Restate: v7 The Suffering Servant is described as hard pressed, hunted. The Suffering Servant is the Lamb of God that was led to slaughter without protest. v8 In the midst of an oppressive judicial proceeding, the Lamb of God suffered under unjust affliction until He was snatched from the land of the living. And oh the grief of this, only a very few discerned what had happened to Him because of their sin. These things happened because the punishment for wickedness fell upon Him. Whose wickedness(?), the people of Israel - their wickedness, and mine, and yours, all of ours… He cares....

We would expect that the Suffering Servant, treated so unjustly, would have been committed to a shallow unmarked grave, the kind typically reserved for the unwanted and criminals. But that is not what would happen - something paradoxical is described - He would be honored by burial in a rich man’s tomb.

Thought: Only a very few discerned what was to happen… only a very few saw the prophetic fulfillment and realized that their sins were paid by for the Suffering Servant! Israel asks, how can this be that we missed a love as great as this?!?

Direct Quote: v7-8 Acts 8:32–33, v9 1 Peter 2:22

IV. The Reward Due (v10-12)

10 But Yahweh was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If You would place His soul as a guilt offering, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will divide for Him a portion with the many, And He will divide the spoil with the strong; Because He poured out His soul to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.

Restate: v10 But Yahweh was pleased to crush the Suffering Servant, if His soul would pay the required offering. His offering would result in a large family of descendants whom He would see. Indeed, He will live forevermore because He fulfilled Yahweh’s purpose. v11 The Suffering Servant will experientially understand that His sacrificial offering both justifies the many and satisfies Yahweh’s requirements: this is pleasing to Him. Ever after the Righteous One will continue to mediate, to intercede, to represent sinners.

v12 Because of His sacrifice Yahweh will richly reward the Righteous One with victorious all encompassing dominion and even the mighty ones will be summoned to do homage to Him.

Thought: Because the Suffering Servant went willingly to the cross, because the Father willingly poured out His wrath upon His Righteous One, because the ransomed sinner willingly comes to believe in the forgiveness offered, because of these things great glory is due to God and He will have it throughout all eternity. Have we believed the report? Have we seen the revelation of Yahweh’s strength - then we must recognize that this was completely fulfilled in Christ.

Communion

How terrible a debt did we owe, a debt that our best Friend paid. Our best Friend Jesus said that we should regularly focus on remembering His death through the means of Communion. We break the bread that Jesus used to illustrate His body. We drink the cup that Jesus used to illustrate His shed blood. We recognize that these elements incorporated into our bodies give us nourishment, they give us life. These physical symbols communicate tangibly the invisible reality of life from Christ. Because the Life Giver took our death upon Himself and gave us His righteousness we can celebrate.

Now we don’t do this haphazardly - far from it. We come carefully to the table, we must inspect ourselves to be sure that there is no unconfronted sin. If there is unconfessed sin, please address it before you come to the table. If there is sin between you and another that is unconfronted - please do not take part. Be reconciled with the body of Christ and the Head before partaking of the elements.

But having done so - rejoice! Sin has abandoned, relationship restored, forgiveness found - rejoice. Enjoy Communion with the Suffering Servant who loves us even to death and beyond.

Direct Quote: v12 Mark 15:28, Luke 22:37 .