Suffering Servant Devotional Thought

Introduction

During the Christmas season we reflect upon Jesus Christ and His birth and life. Tonight, during this strange time of life, I want us to reflect on what Jesus has done for us. We talked about this this morning regarding Jesus’ purpose in Matthew 1 as He saves His people from their sins. This is good news and we see so many prophecies about His coming in the Old Testament.

Last year we studied several of these passages specifically. Passages like Isaiah 7 as we looked at this morning as Matthew references. Passages like Isaiah 9 which we are familiar with as the Savior will be called things like

Isaiah 9:6 CSB

6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

These are passages that we flock to during the Christmas season and understandably so. Tonight, I want to spend a few minutes looking at the other end of Old Testament prophecies that focus on His death rather than His birth. Why is this the case? Because by better understanding His sacrifice, we better understand His birth and life.

Isaiah 52:13–Isaiah 53 CSB

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. 1 Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 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. 3 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. 4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 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.

Jesus’ Rejection (1-3)

This passage of Scripture is loaded with theological truth and I’ve heard some pastors do entire sermon series’ on these verses and they camp out here for 6+ weeks. This passage is incredible and we can’t help but hear the references to Jesus Christ with each and every verse.

In our opening section we see that Jesus Christ would be rejected. We’ve talked about how the Jews were so wrapped up with the law and they thought that they were correct in what they were doing. They thought that they knew what to expect with a Savior. They thought that they would have a military leader who would overthrow Rome. They thought that they knew the law and the Messiah would do things their way as well. What did they see with Jesus Christ? They saw something they weren’t expecting. Therefore, they despised and rejected the Messiah and this is what Isaiah prophesied about hundreds of years before!

We know people who do this in our world and this is what the Jews did in Jesus’ day. They saw the shadow (the law) and they thought that it was the substance whenever the substance (Jesus) was staring them right in the face. Can you relate with that? Have you had a situation where you thought you had something figured out when in actuality, you weren’t focused on the right thing?

Our Reconciliation (4-6)

What does the Suffering Servant do? We see in verses 4-6 that He bore our sickness and was struck down as a result. He was pierced ultimately for us. There are some people who take verse 5 to mean that they will never get sick or experience hardships as a result of being a follower of Jesus Christ because it states that we are healed by His wounds. The logic makes us feel good, but it’s faulty logic. We value things like health, relationships, and feeling good. With that in mind, though, what matters more? Our health or our standing before God? I think every Christian would say that they would take being saved over being healthy and happy? See our redemption through Jesus Christ doesn’t guarantee our happiness or health, but it does guarantee our redemption!

What are we healed from through Jesus’ death? Not our temporary sicknesses but instead our sinfulness. How does this happen? Because Christ bore our sin on the cross! We have all gone astray - as Paul notes, we are all sinners, yet we see Christ bear that sin on Calvary and God punishes Him not for anything He did but because of what we have done.

Whenever we consider Christmas and the birth of Christ, we keep in mind that this child, this king, would ultimately save people not from Rome but from something even worse, their sin. In the song Mary Did You Know, there is a reminder of this fact as the lyrics go, “Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters?”

How would Jesus Christ save His brothers and sisters? By dying for their sin as the perfect guilt offering for sin! Jesus redeems us to God by living a perfect life and dying in our place.

As we celebrate this Christmas season, we must thank Him for this fact.

Our Rebellion (7-9)

The question always arises: Why did Jesus have to die? Verses 7-9 share with us that He had to die because of the rebellion of His people. Even though He had done no violence or spoken deceitfully, He was like a lamb led to the slaughter. This is what was prophesied about Jesus and John the Baptist said as much

John 1:29 CSB

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Even though He had done no wrong, He was taken away and didn’t argue the sentence and coming decision. Why? Because of God’s plan before the foundation of the earth as Acts 2 shares.

Acts 2:22–24 CSB

22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. 23 Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. 24 God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.

So Jesus died because of us and our rebellion. Whenever we think of this, it can be easy to think of the sin of the world at that time, but we know according to Scripture that we are sinners and you can honestly say that Jesus died on the cross for your sin. As the song states, “It was my sin that held Him there.” That’s why He came and that’s why He died. Because of our rebellion.

Our Reward (10-12)

Christ died and He was made as a guilt offering for sin. The interesting thing about a guilt offering for sin in the Old Testament is that the animal, often a bull, would die in this sacrifice. Likewise, Jesus, as a guilt offering, had to die in order to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin. The incredible part of Christ’s death on the cross is that He didn’t stay dead. We see in verses 11 and 12 that God will prolong His days and that He will intercede for others. One can only do these things if they are alive. Even back hundreds of years before His birth, Isaiah was prophesying that the Messiah would not only come but that He would defeat death and come back to life.

As Isaiah 52:13 states, His sacrifice and God’s plan were a success. Through what Jesus Christ does, there is hope for us even thousands of years later because He did what no one else could do.

Conclusion

The Suffering Servant passage is a great text and reminder for us - even in the Christmas season. We see why Jesus Christ came and what His sacrifice does for us thousands of years later. Consider, what will you do during this Christmas season. Will you give thanks and share the hope of Christmas with others or will you hunker down and be a hermit? Don’t do this, friends. Give thanks because of the manger and because of what the Suffering Servant did for you on that old rugged cross.