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Introduction
I want to begin with just a little bit of background to the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah ministered in Judah after the division of Israel into two nations.
He ministered for roughly 60 years from around 740-680 BC.
Chs.
1-35 deal with God’s rejection of Israel and their condemnation because of sin.
Chs.
36-39 are a kind of interlude dealing with Hezekiah.
Chs.
40-66 deal with how Israel will be restored by God and comforted as His promises are fulfilled.
are the climax of God’s restoration of Israel.
It was Israel’s sin that caused them to be condemned and chastened by God.
This sin is dealt with by the one described in our passage.
Once that sin is dealt with, reconciliation is possible.
It is the method of securing that reconciliation that we will consider on our communion Sunday’s in the coming months.
PRAY
In preparing for today I read a commentary by Ray Ortlund.
He began this section with some marvelous thoughts.
Let me share some of them with you.
In 1804 Thomas Jefferson took a razor to his New Testament and cut out everything he found incompatible with his rationalism.
Only about 10 percent of the text survived the operation.
The Christian faith is thoroughly miraculous, and some people choke on that.
But they often miss the most outrageous miracle right at the center of the gospel.
In Romans 4:5 Paul says that God “justifies the ungodly.”
That’s a real problem.
Jesus walked on the water—so what?
No one is harmed.
But when God justifies the ungodly, he upsets the whole moral order of the universe, doesn’t he?
Everybody knows that God punishes bad people and rewards good people.
It’s his job.
But the gospel disagrees.
The gospel says that God justifies the ungodly.
What does that mean?
It means that God declares guilty people innocent.
It means that God treats bad people as if they were good people.
That goes beyond the power of miracle.
It’s a scandal.
There’s a reason why we shift the blame.
There’s a reason why our problems are always someone else’s fault.
There’s a reason why parents blame their children and husbands blame wives and so forth.
The reason we continually pass the buck is that we know we can’t bear our own guilt.
We want so desperately for others to bear it for us.
So we dump it on them, without even noticing what’s happening in our thoughts.
This is a major source of tension in our homes and workplaces and churches.
Every one of us needs a scapegoat.
In the gospel Jesus says to us, “I am the willing scapegoat of the world.
At my cross, it’s my professional business to be crushed under the unbearable guilt of others.
It’s my role to bear away other people’s guilt.
That’s what I do, because I love guilty people.
If you’ll trust me, here’s the deal.
My only guilt will be yours, and your only righteousness will be mine.
Is that arrangement acceptable to you?
Or will you continue to cope with your guilt by your own devices?”
God wants to glorify himself by flooding our lives with sin-bearing mercy in Christ.
The only barrier to being awash in freshness and joy and release is when we cling to our guilt by clinging to our own righteousness.
All our guilt must go to Christ, and all our righteousness must come from Christ.
This is God’s way of release for guilty people, and there is no other.
All of us here today are guilty.
We are sinners who have no hope and no ability to save ourselves.
Yet we read in God’s Word that the penalty for sin has been paid be Jesus Christ!
Salvation is freely offered to all who believe.
Today we will remember and celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Through this celebration our hearts will be knit to Christ and our lives will be conformed to His.
In this passage Isaiah presents the suffering servant.
He introduces us to Him by presenting three realities.
The first is that…
1.
The Servant Shall Be Glorified v. 13
In the midst of dealing with how Israel will be reconciled to God, a key player in this drama is introduced.
Referred to here as God’s Servant, the passage is clearly Messianic with its references to ruling and exaltation.
The servant is said here to deal prudently.
“Prudently” is the Hebrew word שׂכל (śakal) meaning to have success; to understand, comprehend.
To prosper (thrive) to make steady favorable progress or succeed.
Prudently – שׂכל (śakal)
The idea here is that The Servant, who we believe to be Jesus, will accomplish what He sets out to do.
What is that?
The reconciliation of Israel to God.
However, the nation of Israel didn’t anticipate what is revealed as we continue into ch.
53.
The Servant will be an offering for all sin, not just the sin of Israel!
He will justify many, will bear their iniquities, and intercede for transgressors!
Reconciliation will be accomplished!
Not just of Israel, but of all who believe.
He truly will deal prudently.
He will succeed where the efforts of men have failed.
As a result of the reconciliation He will accomplish, the Servant will be exalted, extolled, and lifted high.
This is a very Hebrew expression.
Where Greek is a technical language perfectly suited to convey the subtle distinctions in theology, Hebrew is a poetic language perfectly suited to convey narratives.
One of the devices used in Hebrew is repetition.
We see a little bit of that here.
“Exalted” is the Hebrew word רום (ruwm) meaning to bring aloft, raise up, lift up, lift high, erect.
To be high.
Exalted – רום (ruwm)
“Extolled” is the Hebrew word נשׂא (naśaʾ) meaning to carry; to lift, lift up; to raise; to raise high; to exalt.
To be lifted up v. — to be taken and lifted upward.
Extolled – נשׂא (naśaʾ)
While it is a different Greek word, “very high” is essentially the same idea as “exalted”.
The difference is that exalted is the place that one is lifted to while “high” is the position.
The Servant will not be exalted for a mere moment.
His exaltation will be permanent!
The NT reveals that Jesus is exalted, He will be extolled, and He is very high!
Peter speaks of this in the very first church age message.
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