Crucified

Good morning, welcome to New Horizon Christian Church. Please open your Bible to Isaiah 53.

Covered the three persons of the godhead. One God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit.

All three persons united in character and purpose.

John 3 reminds us that the Father’s sending of the Son, and the Father and Son’s sending of the Spirit, is meant for a primary purpose: the salvation of mankind.

Now we must ask the questions- What is broken in mankind, what needs to be fixed or restored, and how will such salvation be accomplished?

In order to find the answers, we turn our attention to the crucifixion and death of God the Son, Jesus Christ.

To get a fuller picture of some of what was accomplished in Jesus’ death, we turn to a prophetic word from Isaiah concerning Jesus’ suffering and death.

Read Isaiah 53:4–6- “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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. 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.”

Pray.

Describing the text.

A prophetic word concerning a servant who suffers on behalf of others according to the plan of God.

Unified plan- Father, Son and Spirit.

This role of suffering servant later applied to Jesus in the NT.

In the gospels, writings of Paul and Peter.

Acts 8:34–35- “And the eunuch said to Philip, ‘About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”

Assumption that is being made.

This suffering servant is harmed.

We recognize this as the entire humiliation (opposite of exaltation) of Jesus.

We see the humiliation of Jesus most clearly in the cross, the crucifixion of Jesus.

This is the point of Paul in Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:5–8- “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Isaiah 53 then covers this ultimate expression of Jesus’ humiliation and condescension.

Let’s begin looking to our text in order to find out what it says about the condition of man that makes the humiliation of Jesus necessary.

1. The condition of man.

What do these prophetic words speak of the problem facing all of mankind?

Important to note, the “we” and “us” in our text likely refers to an Israelite audience. These are the people of God being described.

By including Israel in these statements that define the condition of man, we are to realize that all people share in the same condition.

We all stand before the cross on equal footing.

Let’s look at a couple of verses here that describe the nature of mankind, and specifically those who belong to the people of God.

What exactly do we bring to the cross?

Isaiah 53:6- “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.”

Our first problem is that we have gone astray; We have gone off in the wrong direction.

A key definition of sin- missing the mark- aimed incorrectly.

This is the nature of all of mankind.

Luke 15- Lost sheep, lost coin, lost son.

Who do we envision when we hear these parables?

How does our going astray look according to Isaiah’s prophecy?

Notice how it is defined: We have gone astray by going our own way.

We feel we are going the right way by trusting what is true to ourselves.

All kinds of warnings in Scripture about trusting what seems right to us.

Like raising children- Did you really think this was a good idea?

So…Isaiah makes a counterclaim- When we most feel we are going the way that seems best to us, it is actually going astray.

How do we, in our wandering state, regard what has happened to Jesus?

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

Regardless of what Jesus is accomplishing at the cross, there is a sense in which those who wander in their sins look at Jesus and are baffled by what has happened to Him.

Many explanations, but they all boil down to this: What Jesus did has very little to do with me.

If we needed further proof to see our condition approaching the cross of Jesus, look at specific words of our text.

Notice the words that are affiliated with us.

Our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions, our iniquities, we like sheep have gone astray, the iniquity of us all.

Here is our problem, our condition.

We wander. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.

We shrug off the help necessary.

The prophecy of Isaiah desires that we would see what has truly happened in Jesus’ death.

2. Jesus offers relief.

Contrast is offered.

Though it is our guilt, our sin, our shame, our transgressions, those who belong to the family of God do not carry the cost of such burdens.

Jesus, He who is without sin, without guilt, without transgression, carries our burdens for us.

What has Jesus done? What all has Jesus taken upon Himself in His suffering and death?

In the same way that the author uses a wide range of words to describe the condition of man, the author also uses extensive language to describe the work of Jesus in the crucifixion.

Layers of words building upon one another.

Borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Griefs- sicknesses, lack of health. Sorrows- pains.

What are our griefs and sorrows? We have many, but perhaps the greatest of our griefs and sorrows is that we aren’t who we should be.

We cannot do all that we want to do, we cannot be all that we want to be.

Jesus has borne, or lifted and taken, our griefs and sorrows.

The text doesn’t stop there, not only has he borne our griefs, but he has carried our sorrows.

Difference between the two words. Carrying implies going somewhere with them.

Literally, to drag oneself under the weight of something.

The imagery given here is that Jesus takes our sorrows and griefs upon Himself, and carries them away from us for us.

Our deepest and greatest shortcomings, Jesus takes them from us.

Pierced for our transgressions.

Wounded or profaned for our rebellion against God.

Find in Jesus that both were true.

It was not merely physical torment that Jesus endured for our sin, it was all of the anguish that came from what was being said about Him.

Mockery and falsehood. Purple robe, crown of thorns, sign on the cross. Truths expressed as falsehoods and mocked.

Crushed for our iniquities.

Broken for our depravity and guilt.

Highlights the stain of our sin, not just a few bad decisions made here and there, but instead a sin nature.

Upon him was our chastisement.

Jesus received the correction and discipline that we ought to have received.

The one who did no wrong, and was in no way deserving of any punishment, received the discipline that we, the guilty, should have received.

Val spitting toothpaste in the sink and leaving it.

All of this, Christ has done for us. So what is the result?

The chastisement that Christ received brought us peace.

An exchange has taken place, Jesus takes from us our sufferings, He gives to us His life.

This is the salvation that was planned and accomplished by the triune God and carried out by the purposes of the Father in the crucifixion of Jesus.

3. The direction of our lives has been changed.

How do we respond to all that Jesus has done for us?

A life of gratefulness.

Paul Gerhardt in ‘O Sacred Head, Now Wounded’ from 1656- “What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend, For this, Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end? O make me Thine forever, And should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.”

We don’t have the language necessary to thank God enough for what has been accomplished for us.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small.

Live with thankfulness, not constantly obsessing over all we lack.

A life of adoration.

Elizabeth Clephane in ‘Beneath the Cross of Jesus’ from 1868- “Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see, The very dying form of One Who suffered there for me; And from my smitten heart, with tears, two wonders I confess; The wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.”

Love some of the language- smitten heart, wonders I confess.

We are called to live smitten lives.

Called to live with wonder.

Farm house on vacation.

Seeing what looks ordinary to some, yet stricken with a sense of wonder and awe.

A life of service.

Remember Philippians 2- Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…

The life and death of Jesus, His downward descent, not only gives life but gives example.

The shape of the followers of Jesus is to be the same.

A Wrinkle in Time- Meg, Calvin, Charles Wallace.

What stands out in a world of darkness and dreariness is the love that Meg has for her little brother.

A life of humility.

Paver patio. Walking all the materials from the front of the house to the back.

Perhaps this is our mentality in living life. My burdens are mine, I can and will carry them.

Perhaps you are weighed down this morning.