The Gift of Suffering.

Isaiah 52:13–53:12 NIV

See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness— so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Introduction: What is your story? Is there any suffering in your story?

22-We may suffer.

The Story of Isaiah so far.

Ahaz - was trusting in Assyria

God gave him a sign - the virgin will give birth

This child would grow up as confirmation that Israel and Aram would do Ahaz no harm,

But we also learn that this child points to another child who will be born - The Messiah, and this Messiah will be a sign not just to Ahaz, but all people that God is With us.

Israel turns to Israel and tells their story in advance - The rebelled against God, So God will let Assyria, take them over, Assyria was cruel, so God is letting Babylon take them over and Judah over.

God’s people are called then to suffer - They suffer as the prophets say because they have sinned.

Israel as the Suffering Servant - So Israel has also suffered not just because they have sinned, but because they are called to be a light in a dark world.

What is your story? Do you suffer? is our nation suffering? Is our world suffering?

We suffer because of the consequences of our sin.

We suffer because other people sin and hurt us.

We suffer of no one’s direct sin, but because we live in a broken world. That suffering comes in these forms....

Transgress & Iniquity

Transgression – an act of rebellion or hurt towards someone else

Iniquity – The liability or guilt for wrong incurred – Debt

Infirmities and Diseases

Infirmities and Diseases

Infirmities – Pains, Anguish

Sicknesses – means bodily sickness, or inner weakness like faint-heartedness, despondency, lack of energy.

But Jesus gives us a gift as we wait for his coming (Advent) - Message of Comfort...

Israel as the Suffering Servant

23-Love is Jesus Coming to...

It is strange to talk about this passage for Advent (usually about Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross)

But his coming, his life, his death, his resurrection, his sending the spirit, his coming again, though has a sequence to it, is the story of one person, and is interconnected. He could not have died unless he came first, and he came so that might live, die, resurrect, etc.....

And this passage is about the Servant who came to suffer for the sake of sacrificial love.

24-Suffer With Us. - Gift for us

The Jewish faith believes that this figure is not an individual, but the whole nation of Israel. (And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” - This is Israel who is suffering for the nations, bearing the sin for the nations in order to be a light to the nations. - For sure Isreal did suffer.

The problem is that even in Isaiah, Israel is seen not a sinless entity, Israel does not fulfille vs. 11 - the righteous one, my servant, shall declare many righteous”. Also, in that passage - This servant, Israel is also the one who will bring back Israel, and gather Jacob. how is the nation of Israel, saving the nation of Israel, This is an individual who both represents Israel is said to be Israel, and is the Messiah who gathers and saves Israel.

What this means is that this Suffering Servant Came to experience Israel’s suffering, and ultimately that means our suffering as well.

Rene’ Browne video on Empathy

This is what Jesus did - His life especially in Matthew mirrors Israel’s story

His suffering even unto death mirrors Israel’s exile and suffering, and his resurrection mirrors Israel’s restoration.

Jesus suffers not just for Israel, but for all humanity he is the righteous Israel that brings the light of God to all people, to you and me.

God loves his physical creation so much that he would come to earth as a baby. He would live with and die for his creation. says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses.” The story of the nativity reveals the story of incarnation and redemption. We see Jesus taking on humanity. Jesus was physically born, he physically cried as a baby, fell down as a child to have Mary pick him up and kiss him, he was physically hurt and emotionally felt betrayal. We can give Jesus our hurts and pain. He understands.

25-Suffer For Us. - Gift for us

The sin problem that plagued God’s people in wasn’t just an ancient issue. Everyone has sinned and falls short of God’s standard for righteousness (). God was going to take care of sin once and for all through the Suffering Servant. “Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (). This figure of hope and power that Isaiah has described throughout his book, becomes the atoning sacrifice for all.

Suffer for Us.

Suffer for Us.

1. The sin problem that plagued God’s people in wasn’t just an ancient issue. Everyone has sinned and falls short of God’s standard for righteousness (). God was going to take care of sin once and for all through the Suffering Servant. “Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (). This figure of hope and power that Isaiah has described throughout his book, becomes the atoning sacrifice for all.

God’s care for our bodies is important considering that people can either believe that there is no soul and just the physical body (naturalistic atheism) or that the body is just a shell and we are only spirit (gnostic or New Age thought). Gnosticism is a belief that physical matter is evil, and humans are only spirit beings stuck in the body (Millard J. Erickson, The Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001], 77). Although we may love master Yoda, when he told the young Luke Skywalker, “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter,” he was emphasizing a philosophy that degraded the good creation of the physical world (The Empire Strikes Back, directed by Irvin Kershner [San Francisco, CA: Lucasfilm, 1980], DVD). We see in Jesus the incarnation of a God who takes on a physical, human body. Immanuel, God with us.

God’s love of his physical world continues even after the return of Christ, when those who are in Christ will have resurrected bodies (). The Savior who was born of a virgin, everlasting, peaceful, mighty, the rightful ruler of all, and the atoning sacrifice for us is shown in the book of Isaiah. From the manger to the cross to the kingdom come, God is with us.

So Jesus came to save us from sin, he came to heal our bodies. So as we think of Jesus’ coming, we are reminded of his sacrificial love that heals now, but in fullness when he comes again.

26-We are Loved. - The Gift to others

We live than as a people who are beloved by God who came to suffer with us, and suffer for us.

We pass that love on. - We then empathize with people -Incarnation

We than point the only one who can save us. - Jesus’ death and resurrection

Dr. Elizabeth Targ, a psychiatrist at the Pacific College of Medicine in San Francisco, has also tested out prayer on critically ill AIDS patients. All 20 patients in the study got pretty much the same medical treatment, but only half of them were prayed for by spiritual healers. Ultimately, 10 of the prayed-for patients lived, while four who had not been prayed for died. In a larger follow-up study, Targ found that the people who received prayer and remote healing had six times fewer hospitalizations and those hospitalizations were significantly shorter than the people who received no prayer and distant healing. "I was sort of shocked," says Targ. "In a way it’s like witnessing a miracle. There was no way to understand this from my experience and from my basic understanding of science." Abcnews.com; “Can Prayer Heal”

We liv

We live with the Manger and the Cross pointing to each other.

Conclusion: Reading by the Kadzban’s

Reference the Reformed Confessions: The Reformed Confessions are statements of faith written to clarify the Gospel at times when the Church was in crisis. Heidelberg Catechism: Q&A 1, 31, 37-52, 56 Belgic Confession: Article 17, 20-23, 26 Canons of Dort: Head II, Articles 2-5