Our Stand In

The Stand In Isaiah 53:1-12 Introduction We have been looking at the Book of Isaiah and finding many references which we believe point to the life, work and ministry of Jesus. In fact, Jesus declared his mission statement by reading from the scroll of the prophet (Isaiah 61, mirrored in Isaiah 42:6-7). He was coming to release the captives and to bring the year of the Lord's favor. But how does he intend to do this? In order to find the answer, we must backtrack in the book, and move forward in time, to Isaiah 53, and to Passover 3 years later. Isaiah 53:3-6 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 50:8-9 By oppression (arrest) and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 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. Isaiah 53:10-12 Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After seeing the suffering of his soul, 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. Substitution: The Stand In There is a great example that is given throughout the law, the scriptures: that of substitution. Given in the Law of Moses is the sacrificial system by which God accepts the sacrifices of the people as a token of their repentance, but this system also places the sin of the people on the head of that which was sacrificed. The offering (lamb, goat, bull, dove) was said to have taken the sin upon itself. In fact, at the annual event of Passover, the blood of the lamb on the doorposts removes the need for the Angel of Death to spill the blood of the first born. Similarly, in the celebration of Feast of Atonement the guilt of the nation was placed on the head of the scapegoat, a substitutionary figure. And God has always used a single person as a representative of the entire nation. In some cases, it was the prophets whose lives mirrored the people (Ezekiel, Hosea). In other cases, it was the High Priest who stood in the place of the nation before God. In still other cases, it was the King whose life, whose obedience or disobedience represented the people before God. Thankfully, Jesus is Prophet, Priest and King. Jesus is our substitutionary stand in. God gave each of these figures, not because they had any power of their own, but to demonstrate how he would come to redeem the world from the horrific effects of our sin. God would provide a substitute to take the sin of the world, to be tortured for our iniquities, to be pierced for our transgressions, to be cut off from the living in order that life might be given to many. Jesus, the only begotten son of God, is our substitute. The punishment that humanity deserved was given to him, so that the life that was rightly his could be shared by all who would believe. God told Adam, "In the day that you eat of (the tree) you will surely die." Death was the punishment for disobedience. Death was the natural consequence of rebellion. And since death was the outcome, someone had to die. We see it clearly in verse 10, "the Lord makes his life a guilt offering." Jesus died a physical death, so that you and I might avoid a spiritual death. Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is our stand in. More than that, he died in our place. Offspring? How About a Resurrection It is further interesting that in these few verses, the prophet speaks of this substitutionary figure as asking "who can speak of his descendants?" (vs. 8) and then, "he will see his offspring, and prolong his days," (vs. 10) How can one who does not have any descendants have offspring? It is impossible in this world. But it is possible spiritually, for Jesus died, but then was raised to life again. "After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied," (vs. 11). The offspring of the suffering servant were not conceived in the same was as natural conception. They are spiritual descendants. Jesus told Nicodemus, "You must be born again: born of the Spirit, not of water," (John 3, paraphrased). Jesus, who had no natural offspring, was permitted to rise from the dead, to escape from the tomb on the third day, so that he could make spiritual offspring, sons and daughters made in his image and likeness, that he could present to his father. By his death and subsequent resurrection, by our belief in him as the Messiah, we die to ourselves and he lives in us. We have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us. Conclusion Jesus is the best explanation and interpretation of the 53 chapter of the book of Isaiah. For many Jews, today, they have not heard the words and the descriptions of Isaiah 53. Since the resurrection, since the establishment of the church, this has been called by the Rabbis as the forbidden chapter, precisely because it so accurately depicts (700 years before it happened, by the way) the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. And in the same way that a stand in comes to take the place of the movie star, in a film or a role, Jesus has come and "the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed," (vs. 5b). 3