Isaiah 53.Compassion of the Cross
THE COMPASSION OF THE CROSS
Introduction
Some years ago, I was having a conversation with a pastor in Arkansas. He mentioned to me that people in the Bible belt especially are "gospel hardened."
What he meant by that is that so many have heard the gospel for much of their lives until it has lost its meaning for many.
To them the Gospel of Jesus Christ is "old hat."
Their attitude is,
"I've heard that all my life."
And they don't care to hear it any more.
But dear friends, I would like to share with you that the old, old story is an old, glory story.
And though old it is certainly not out of date.
Because it addresses the same problem that mankind has had since the Adam and Eve first fell in the Garden of Eden.
It is a love story;
It is a story of compassion;
It is the drama of the ages.
And has all the characteristics of a best-seller.
It has drama,
violence,
betrayal,
death,
It even has a hero.
And bless God, it has a happy ending.
READ Isaiah 53:1-12
First, I want us to think about
I. The Cause for the Cross. 53:5-6.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Notice that the Bible says that Jesus was wounded for OUR transgressions.
Friend, listen, this is personal, and Jesus is speaking to you personally today.
God is not talking about some general sin of mankind somewhere; He's talking about your sins and my sins.
Why does the Bible say that it was OUR transgressions that sent Jesus to the cross?
Because it was OUR sins that sent Jesus to the cross.
Here's the dilemma:
We think we're good, but the Bible says we're not.
Isaiah 64:6 says,
"But we all are as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
How filthy are we? – according to the Bible, very.
Genesis 6:5 says,
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
Ecclesiastes 7:20 says,
"For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."
Jeremiah 17:9 says,
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
So, the Bible is pretty clear, but man's heart has deceived us into thinking that we are good.
Romans 3:23 says,
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
Psalm 14:1 says,
"The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good."
Now if you want to hear what the NT says about it, the NT gets even more graphic:
Listen to Romans 3:10-18:
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
My point, ladies and gentlemen, is that regardless of how we think of ourselves, we are guilty before God.
But why the need for Jesus to die? Why the cross?
Hebrews 9:22, 27-28 provide the answer:
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
The Bible is clear that a sacrifice is required.
Romans 6:23 says,
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Normally the one who is guilty is the one who must pay the penalty, but not this time.
And it is at this point that we come to
II. THE COMPASSION OF THE CROSS. 53:10
My friends, we have no way of fully understanding how much God truly loves us.
2 Cor. 5:21 says,
"For he hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
Jesus loves us so!
Jesus, who has never committed any personal sin, became guilty of every sin man had ever committed or ever would commit.
God had to judge you or judge His Son, so Jesus voluntarily allowed His Father to judge Him.
That's how much He loves you; that's how much He loves us.
All Jesus had known was sweet fellowship with God, but for the first time He experienced separation.
Listen carefully to Luke 12:4-5:
"And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of they that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: fear him which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell."
Listen carefully to Hebrews 10:31,
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
But that is exactly what happened to Jesus.
Jesus fell into the hands of the living God – His own Father.
Men did not kill Jesus – God did.
Listen to Isaiah 53:
" 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:"
But let's look now at
III. THE CONSUMMATION AND CONSOLATION OF THE CROSS. Isa. 53:11.
In dying for our sins, Jesus satisfied everything that God would have required of you if you had to die for your sins.
Isaiah 53:11 says that God saw "the travail of Jesus' soul and was satisfied."
This is why I said earlier that this great story has a happy ending.
What did all this do for us?
We notice what the Bible says about a person when he gets saved:
Romans 6:4 says,
"Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of God the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Jesus said in John 10:10,
"The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, but I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly."
Gal. 2:20 says,
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
This is what Jesus has done;
This is what the choir sang about;
This is the old, old story.
And it's an old love story;
And it is a great story.