The King We Killed To Own Us

Open your Bibles with me, if you will, to Isaiah chapter 53

What makes a great leader? How do we choose someone to follow?

This is a topic, as Americans, that we simply can’t get enough of.

Thousands of books on the subject are already in print

Companies and organizations spend about 166 BILLION dollars on leadership development each year

When we think about our national leader, we want someone that is

Strong, charismatic, and articulate

We want a strong visionary with wide appeal that unites people with different ideals

We want noble character and integrity

We want them to be strong and decisive

They need to make our nation

richer, stronger, healthier, happier, safer

Americans want a president they think is going to make them win at life

Now, they might not agree on what winning looks like, but that is what they want. IN SHORT…

We want a president that passes the eye test, that looks and acts like a president

And, this is nothing new.

You saw it on the playground in elementary school where teams, groups, and friendships were formed based on who could help you win.

The kids with the lowest chance of fitting that bill were the last ones chosen.

Should it surprise us that it was true in Ancient Israel as well?

King Saul was loved because He was handsome, tall, and strong

When Samuel went to anoint the next king from the sons of Jesse, David wasn’t even invited to the party because he didn’t fit the bill of what a king would look like

By the time that Isaiah is writing, Israel had gone through many kings and every single one of them fell short

They looked back on Solomon’s reign as “the good old days” because

Back then, Israel was rich and powerful

Back then, the nations around them feared Israel

Back then, everyone else wanted to be the

Over and over again, the people hoped that the next king would bring things back to the way that things were when Solomon was king.

But the real problem was that they were looking to the wrong place for leadership.

In Deuteronomy, God told the people this was going to happen. He tells them they are going to ask Him for a king.

Deuteronomy 17:14–15 NASB95

“When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.

So, what is the problem with this? After all, doesn’t God choose who their king will be?

The problem is that in Genesis 17:7, God had promised Abraham that He had chosen Israel as His people and He would be their God.

He would be their king.

So, when we get to Deuteronomy 17, what God is saying is, when you get into the land that I, your King, am going to give you, you are going to reject me as your king

you are going to want a king like the other nations around you

A king that will give you what you want, instead of what you need

A king that will serve your desires, not mine

This is why, when they ask for a king in 1 Samuel 8 that God says this:

1 Samuel 8:7–8 NASB95

The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. “Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.

The King that they needed wasn’t the King that they wanted!

So God gave them what they wanted,

But God had a plan to fix the problem. God would give them the King they needed through the lineage of the King they wanted…but they needed to open their eyes.

With this in mind, let’s read together from Isaiah 53, starting in verse 1. And as we do, I invite you to stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word:

Isaiah 53:1–12 CSB

Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully. Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.

Would you pray with me? (Pray, invite them to be seated)

Isaiah wrote during a time of crisis and desperation in Israel.

The nations around them were swallowing them up

A long line of failed kings had them wishing for something better

Throughout His writing, Isaiah points Israel to a future King that was coming of the house of David, but this King would be different than any king before Him. God’s qualifications for the perfect leader were different than anything they would seek for themselves. As we’ve talked about in the last few weeks, this King would

Be born of a virgin, and would lead them down the path of Righteousness

He would be born in Bethlehem, of the house of David

As a shoot growing out of a stump, He would bring new life to what was dead

He would be Immanuel, God with us

He would be the Eternal King for a people that are mortal

In Isaiah 53, God tells Israel the King they rejected would save them through suffering.

And

Today, you can find The King you need through the door of His suffering.

Our passage gives us four clear steps in finding that door, and the first is this:

Recognize the Suffering Servant

Isaiah 53:1–3 CSB

Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.

Israel expected that the king they needed was just like every other king around them

They were looking for power and prestige, but the Savior would come in humility.

They were looking for the smooth and the majestic, but the Savior would be despised and rejected.

They wanted a solution to their earthly problems, but He came to free them from the bondage of sin.

The image we’re given here is of someone you hide from because you would rather avoid their notice and any association with them.

Have you ever hidden from someone?

I had a friend in High School named Steve

no one else in my friend group wanted him around

Steve was awkward and uncool. He was a mooch, and it was irritating.

I wouldn’t let anyone give him grief most of the time, but there were sometimes when I was out with my other friends and we saw Steve, but we didn’t want to be associated with him in the moment.

And I’m ashamed to say that I hid from Steve because I was more worried about how others saw me than I was about his need for friends.

If Jesus is going to be your King, you first have to stop serving the kings of this world. We must recognize who Jesus for who He is and why He came

Jesus didn’t come for recognition or admiration-He was already King of the Universe.

Jesus came and lived in utter humility. He came to suffer and to give His life for our salvation at our hands because we had no other cure for our sins

To put it plainly, Christ’s suffering was for us- we both caused his suffering and were the reason behind it.

I invite you this morning to dive deeply into this thought, that without the suffering of Jesus you can have no salvation from your sins.

*Have you recognized the suffering Savior as the King that you need, or are you still looking for a Savior who meets some other expectation?

The first step in finding the King you need is to recognize the suffering servant. The second is this,

Own the weight of your sin

Isaiah 53:4–6 CSB

Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

Israel thought they needed the salvation of a military champion and an economic powerhouse, while they failed to see the desperate, broken state of their hearts.

You cannot fully appreciate Christ’s sacrifice until we realize the depth of your own sins and realize you were the one who deserved the punishment He took

Imagine yourself in a court room

In a courtroom, a judge isn’t there to talk about the things you did right. A judge judges the crimes you have committed

In God’s courtroom, each and everyone of us stands guilty

And the punishment for our crimes is the death penalty

But just before the judge’s gavel came down with your sentence, Jesus stepped in front of you and volunteered to take your punishment

Our sins-yours and mine- are the cause for His suffering

But His love and grace offer us a way out. Because of His suffering, you and I have a way to be healed and reconciled to God. Even as it is written,

Romans 5:1 CSB

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you generalized and minimized your sins that cost Jesus everything? Remember that the grace of God is free, but it wasn’t cheap!

I invite you this morning to own the weight of your sin and its consequence of death. Won’t you confess your sins and receive the forgiveness that Jesus bought for you!

To find the King that you need, you must recognize the suffering servant, you must own the weight of your sin, and third, You must

Trust in His Silent Submission

Isaiah 53:7–9 CSB

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.

As a people, we struggle with justice

We want what is fair when we feel we are being slighted or that someone else is getting away with something

We want the creep who blew by us doing 90 on the connector to get busted

But we are happy to escape punishment for getting distracted and running a red light or driving 6 over the limit everywhere we go

But the suffering of Jesus was completely unjust. Jesus was innocent of wrongdoing.

The Jewish religious leaders all knew it

Herod knew it

Pontius Pilate knew it

The crowd knew it

and they crucified Him anyway

AND Jesus never said a word

He silently submitted to the unjust judgment

He trusted in the perfect will of the Father

And through His silent submission, we were given salvation

You and I need to trust in His silent submission

We must recognize His acceptance of unjust suffering reveals His perfect submission to God’s perfect will

And as we follow Jesus, we need to expect the same type of suffering

1 Peter 4:12–13 CSB

Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.

I invite you this morning to consider how God is calling you to trust Him by submitting to His perfect plan

In a broken world, His plan will always mean unfair and difficult circumstances are in front of His people because the world around us is still seeking the kings of this world.

How might you seek His peace in those moments when you are called to suffer unjustly?

To find the King you need through the door of His suffering, you must recognized the suffering servant, own the weight of your sin and trust in His silent submission. And, finally, our fourth step is to

Rely on His Victorious Sacrifice

Isaiah 53:10–12 CSB

Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.

The suffering of Jesus was cruel, unjust, and absolutely necessary for you and I.

But His suffering was not the end! Rather, it was the means…

The means by which He glorified God the Father in His obedience

The means by which God glorified Him in power through His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father

the means by which you and I gain victory over sin and death

The means by which we can stand justified before God and be granted eternal life

Jesus’ death was not the end and it was not in vain! And you and I can rely on it

Where I’m from, when you can rely on something they say “you can take it to the bank”

What they mean is that if you go to the bank that a check is written on, there is money to cover the check in the account.

Jesus didn’t write us a bad check! We can rely on His power to save us from our sins.

I wonder this morning if you are choosing to live like that is true?

Let’s choose this morning to move past just saying we believe

Let’s put our sin habits behind us because we have been freed from them

Let’s focus our lives on building God’s eternal Kingdom instead of the one that won’t be here forever

Let’s start spending our lives like we believe that this one is just the journey to the rest of eternity

Friends, let’s make this the day that we find Jesus is the King that we need. It is time for us to embrace the road through His suffering.

Recognize the suffering servant as Savior and King

Own the weight of your sin

trust in His silent suffering, and

rely on His victorious sacrifice.

For it is only through His suffering that we can truly be set free.

Then, our hearts will finally be ready for Him this Christmas and throughout the journey ahead.

I don’t know where you are on this journey, in these steps, but I’d love to help you as you seek Jesus.

Please come see me at the welcome table

OR

let’s schedule a time to have coffee so we can talk and pray together

Pray