Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

For the sake of time, there was one teaching point that I had to leave out of our Christmas Eve service the other night.

Turn forward in your Bible’s really quick to Luke 2. In Luke’s account of the birth of Christ, Jesus is referred to as the baby lying in a manger.

We see this refrain in the message of the angel in verse 12 - it was the sign for the Shepherds.

Then we see this refrain again in vs 16 when the Shepherds find their Savior.

But then in verse 17 we see a word change.

In the shepherds report we see that they revealed what the angels told them about this Child.

And the reason this word change is significant is this, the word for child is the same greek word used for Servant in the greek translation of Isaiah.

This baby born in a manger who is Christ our Lord is non other than the Servant of the Lord whom we have been studying for the past 3 weeks.

This was the reason for our detour in the Book of Isaiah for these past 3 weeks leading up to the celebration of the first advent of our Lord.

The reason for the advent, the reason for the season, the reason why we celebrated Christmas is this, Phil 2:7-9 Christ, “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

As I said, Friday night, Christ did not come just to suffer with us, He came as the Servant to suffer for us.

And this is what is most vividly prophesied of in the final servant song of Isaiah.

It is here that we see how the Servant will faithfully bring forth the justice of the first Servant Song.

It is here that we see how the Servant will bring the restoration of His people and become the light to the gentiles of the second Servant Song.

It is here that we in greater detail the Servant’s faithfulness and obedience from the third Servant Song.

Not only is this text the ultimate conclusion of the Servant Songs.

This text is the pinnacle of the book of Isaiah and one of the mountain peaks of the entire Old Testament.

And it is for this reason, here we see the ultimate purpose and work of the Servant who was born to us in that Bethlehem manger - here we see the Servant suffering for our sins.

Spurgeon described this fourth and final song as the “Bible in miniature, and the gospel in its essence,” German commentator Frank Delitzsch, said that this song , “looks as if it had been written beneath the cross upon Golgotha.”

And this is a wonderful description for it is here that we will see how The Holy God came as a Servant and suffered as our substituted so that we might saved.

This is the main idea of my sermon - The Holy God came as a Servant and suffered as our substituted so that we might saved.

And this main point will be seen as we look at our text which is divided into 5 stanzas with 3 verses each.

In chapter 52:13-15 we will see The Servant’s Exaltation.

In chapter 53:1-3 we will hear of the Servant’s Rejection.

At the center of this song, in verses 53:4-6 we will witness The Servant’s Sacrifice.

In 53:7-9 we will study The Servant's Submission and in 53:10-12 we will look at The Servant’s Victory.

The Servant’s Exaltation - 52:13-15

The Servant’s Rejection - 53:1-3

The Servant’s Sacrifice - 53:4-6

The Servant's Submission- 53:7-9

The Servant’s Victory - 53:10-12

As you can see from the slide there, these sections are in the form of a chiasm which is a literary device that Isaiah uses to focus our attention on the very center of his song -verses 4-6.

And this is where we will see most explicitly how the Holy God came as a Servant and suffered as our substituted so that we might saved.

Now let’s turn back in our Bibles to Isaiah 52 as we begin by studying The Servant’s Astonishing Exaltation.

1.

The Servant’s Exaltation

Our text today begins at the end of chapter 52 of Isaiah.

And in this chapter what we see is God’s people in exile and in need of a new Exodus.

In verses 1 and 2 YHWH calls out to captive Israel to rise up out of their captivity.

And in verse 12 we see that as in the first exodus, God promises to go before them and behind them as He leads them from Exile to the promised land.

So we have a people in captivity, estranged from God because of their sin.

And we have a promised deliverance performed by the mighty hand of God to vindicate His name and restore His people to Himself.

But what follows this prophecy of deliverence in the first part of Isaiah 52 is is the shocking revelation of how this deliverence will be accomplished starting in Isaiah 52:13.

Isaiah 52:13 “13 Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.”

Isaiah the begins his song by saying that the Servant of the Lord will prosper.

And yet, in the ESV it reads that, “My servant will act wisely.”

The reason for this difference in English translations is that Old Testament concept of wisdom and prosperity are linked.

If you know your book of Proverbs you will recognize this truth.

The Servant then will not merely be a wise man and he will not merely be a prosperous man.

Instead the Servant will both know and do the things that God’s law requires so as to accomplish His purpose.

It is for this reason that He will receive a threefold elevation.

He will be high and He will be lifted up and He will be greatly exalted.

Immediately our minds should think back to that famous passage in the beginning of Isaiah that Pastor Greg preached on a few weeks ago.

Remember that Isaiah receives a vision of the throne room of Heaven where He hears the angelic hosts exalting YHWH singing Holy, Holy, Holy.

It’s in that first verse of Isaiah 6 that the prophet writes, “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up”.

Here we see the first clue of who this Servant in our passage is.

No mere man is ever described as high and lifted up.

In His book, Isaiah has only used that phrase High and Lifted up to describe God.

This is our first clue that the Servant is Divine.

Now, Verses 14 and 15 act as a summary or thesis statement for the rest of the song.

They give a brief outline or picture for the reason for the Servant’s Exaltation.

In verse 14 we see that the Servant will be the recipient of astonishment and shame.

Isaiah 52:14 “14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.”

See how Isaiah writes that this will mirror the shaming and shock that Israel recieved on behalf of the many as they were conquered and made into captives by Assyria and Babylon.

“The many” in this verse and in this song is a reference to the many nations.

Israel was shamed by the nations for their destruction and defeat and so to will the Servant be shamed because of His marred, almost inhuman appearance.

But then in verse 15 we see something interesting, Isaiah 52:15 “15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.”

The Servant will perform a work so mighty, so glorious, so astonishing that even the mighty kings of the many nations will stand in awe.

And what will this work of the Servant be?

He will sprinkle the many nations.

In the Old Testament the act of sprinkling was the action of a priest where he would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat of the Temple to cleanse the sinner of their sin.

In verse 15 we see that the many have ceased from mocking the Servant and instead stand in awe of His work of atonement.

Thus Isaiah leaves us leaning forward on our seats wondering what exactly is this work?

Now before we move on and find out it’s important to notice the different tenses of time in this song.

In this past stanza, almost all of the verbs have been forward looking, in the future tense.

And that’s what we would expect from a prophecy.

But that will not always be the case throughout this prophecy.

So listen carefully because that is significant.

With that let’s move on to our next section The Servant’s Rejection Look with me at chapter 53:1

2. The Servant’s Rejection

“1 Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

As we just saw, at some future point there will be a people who will be atoned for, who will believe.

But that has not occured yet in this Song.

So the true reply to this question, “who has believed” is no one.

This passage is quoted in the NT by John and by Paul to describe the people’s refusal to believe in Christ and follow after Him though He had performed many signs and wonders.

And in verses 2 and 3 we see the reason for His rejection.

Isaiah 53:2-3 “2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” See how Isaiah uses the metaphor of a tree.

The Servant did not grow up as a mighty oak planted by a river stream.

He was not a choice cedar used by the famous builders of the Temple.

No he grew up like a little shoot, an unwanted sprout that grew out of an exposed root from a withering desert tree.

He was not majestic, he was not good-looking, he was not eye catching.

He was not extraordinary.

He was in fact incredibly ordinary.

And the people of Israel have always had a bias toward picking leaders that were attractive and convincing.

The people expected a warrior king coming in great splendor, standing over 6 feet tall with a chiseled jaw line.

But this Servant, says, Isaiah will come with none of that.

He would not be attractive or beautiful or majestic

And as a result the eyes of the people can not see.