The Crucifixion
Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 46:15
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Introduction
Introduction
31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”
Why did Jesus have to die, and where in the prophets is it written he would die?
The Suffering Servant
The Suffering Servant
Many minds go immediately to Isaiah 53 and the suffering servant.
We looked last week at how Jesus was the Servant of God to restore Israel and gather in the nations
We briefly looked at how he accomplished that - through his suffering
Now we’re going to dig into that and see what his suffering actually does and why it’s necessary for us
As always, the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 needs to be explained by ISaiah 52:
Context:
God is coming to get his people and bring them out of captivity
This is a show of his strength over the nations - they can’t keep his people from him
Isaiah 52:8 we stand in the place of some city watchmen that see God coming down the road to do this
As we read, think of how an Israelite might imagine God saving them from their captivity
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. 9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 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. 11 Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
The appearance of God is obvious
The people are rejoicing
He is showing off his strength - baring his holy arm
They can take their time leaving - God is in front and in the rear guard
What do you think Israel is expecting to see when God actually comes to save his people?
Something like the Exodus - signs and wonders
Something big and obvious
Something decisive
But God doesn’t save his people in a big show of signs and wonder like the Exodus
13 See, my servant will be successful; he will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14 Just as many were appalled at you— his appearance was so disfigured that he did not look like a man, and his form did not resemble a human being— 15 so he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of him, for they will see what had not been told them, and they will understand what they had not heard.
We’re told to see, behold, this servant
This is the one who will restore the covenant and accomplish it
So keep your eyes peeled for him
Especially with how unremarkable he is
How the servant is described:
Wise - he has the practical skills to accomplish his goal
High and exalted - word combination only four times in Isaiah.
Who do they refer to in these other passages?
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord, “now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted.
15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
What will the nations see when they look on the servant, and how will they react?
Shocked because of how disfigured he is
Shocked into silence at what he is and what he does - sprinkle the nations
Sprinkling the nations
Remember what the servant does in other passages
This is another way of saying he is given as a covenant
6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,
8 Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages,
He is given as the blood of the covenant
4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
This is already hinting at how the covenant is restored - a sacrifice where blood is spilt
This servant - so disfigured and unassuming - is going to be the solution to the problem of sin
It’s a tall order for someone who looks so completely cursed by God
The Unbelievable Servant
The Unbelievable Servant
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 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. 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.
We’re not drawn to him - we’re repulsed
He’s not like a mighty oak or fruit tree in full bloom
He’s the little offshoot from the trunk that gets snipped off
He’s the plant that’s growing but nobody expects to survive
He’s despised
Not hated - but dismissed
He’s so unassuming we don’t even register him as we look around for him
When he does come forward we immediately shut it down - that’s not what God’s strong arm looks like!
We start thinking of Jesus
A baby born in a stable is going to shake the world?
Someone from Galilee - the uneducated and unspiritual of Israel - is going to challenge the religious authorities and bring people into God’s presence?
He doesn’t look anything like we would expect a servant of God to
We want someone like Saul! Tall, rich, and handsome
So why does the servant look so horribly disfigured and unassuming?
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. 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.
He’s like a mirror held up to us
Remember Isaiah 52:14 - He’s disfigured like us
He was rejected because he was acquainted with grief and sorrow - now we find out who’s grief and sorrow he’s bearing
Grief and sorrow sounds purely emotional - consider the NRSV
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Why is he disfigured?
He’s carrying our wounds and diseases
He’s showing us the penalty that we deserve
By bearing our sin he’s taking away our guilt
We’re made whole
We’re healed
Our iniquity is put on his back
He’s working as a sacrifice
Sacrificial system was put in place to bring us into fellowship with God
There is no forgiveness without blood - just as we saw Moses sprinkling blood on Israel and now the Servant is sprinkled on the nations
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
His life, his blood, is given in place of ours. A sacrifice dies in place of the one offering it
4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16:22
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
The servant is despised because we think he’s hated by God. Instead, he’s holding up a mirror to our own sins. What we find so horrifying in him is what we ought to be seeing in ourselves.
He’s showing us a picture of what our sin actually is
We make light of our sins
What if every time we did a new leprous sore broke out?
This is how strong the arm of the Lord is
He’ll see all of our sins and rebellion and his love is stronger
He’ll take all of our sin on bear it all himself
He’ll let that sin crush and pierce him to the point of death - and then he’ll get back up
Responding to His Sacrifice
Responding to His Sacrifice
17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
His love was shown through Sacrifice - Our love will be as well.
The Passover Lamb
The Passover Lamb
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Jesus is leading a new exodus, and so he becomes a new Passover lamb. We’re not being called out of Egypt, but called out of the world.
What did the blood of the Passover lamb do?
Spared the house from judgment
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
And how were they supposed to eat it?
11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
Why eat it so fast?
29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
So where does Paul get this idea of leaven from?
33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.
How should we view our time on earth in light of the Passover lamb being slaughtered?
