Isaiah 52:13-53:12 | Hope for those who need rescue | Shaun McGregor

Is there anything more appalling than an innocent person suffering? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Starting at verse 13 and goes through to the end of Isaiah chapter 53. And as Sean has said, this is a fantastic passage. The heading in the Bible, which is not part of the Bible, says suffering and glory of the servant. Page 741. 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 have 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.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

This morning I believe that God wants us to see something very simple. Something very simple that I think most of us here this morning have heard before. It is simply this. Jesus suffered for our sins. But my prayer is that this morning we will not just be able to remember that simple sentence, but that we might see this and feel this, and that we would walk out of here very changed people. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this simple truth that Jesus suffered for our sins. Father, we pray now that by your word and spirit you might help us so to see this and to feel this, that our hearts might be truly changed, that we might indeed be changed people. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. See, God's servant Jesus suffered and is exalted. Today we have a poem. I don't know how you feel about poems. I'm not particularly into poetry, actually. I'd much rather read a novel or watch a movie. But this poem really gets to me. In the first part of the poem, in the first stanza, the servant is exalted, but is appalling. We're on page 741. Please look at it with me. Verse 13 See, says God, my servant will act wisely. He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. We've been seeing a vision of hope for God's people that God gave through Isaiah. And in the first part of that vision, it was mainly judgment, but there was a ray of hope again and again, which came through a king. A king in the line of David would come and bring justice and rescue God's people. But as you come to the second half of Isaiah, the king is missing in action. MIA. This king that was so important, that was crucial, that would bring a hope to a fallen world is gone. And it seems in his place is someone at the very other end of society. Verse 13. A servant. The lowliest of the low, the one who has to be told to do and do whatever they're told. A number of times there are poems about this servant. He is chosen, he'll bring justice, he is a light to the Jews and to the nations. But he is just a servant, do you see? And more than that, he is appalling. Verse 14. Just as there were many who were appalled at him. Why? His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being, and his form marred beyond human likeness. When I was in Vietnam a couple of years ago, I was very keen to go to the War Museum. And at the War Museum there, they have an exhibition, a room, all about the effects of Agent Orange, the defoliant that the Americans and Australians used on the jungles to expose the enemy, and that continues to impact generation after generation. As I walked around the room and read the stories and saw the pictures of mutilated, disfigured human beings, babies. There were tears rolling down my face. To be honest, I chose a less moving picture. How do you react when you see someone disfigured by a burn, perhaps, when their body is not quite right? You gasp or turn away. Such is this servant. He is appalling. And yet somehow, verse 15, kings will shut their mouths because of him. Yes, because he's appalling, but also because he will act wisely, verse 13. Kings like to hear wisdom, and they are stunned by this one. They will see and understand, and their mouths will be shut. What is it that they see? Who is this servant of which Isaiah speaks? The mystery only deepens. Verse 1. Powerful but despised, verse 1. Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? The arm of the Lord is his strength by which he saves people. But no one has seen it, says verse 1. Certainly he doesn't look powerful, verse 2. He grew up before him like a tender shoot, like a root out of dry ground. No beauty or majesty to attract us, nothing in his appearance that we should desire. Not only is he disfigured, verse 3, he is a man of suffering, familiar with pain, powerful, but despised. And how does he respond to being despised? Turn over to verse 7. Extraordinary. He was oppressed and afflicted. Led like a lamb to the slaughter. By oppression and judgment he was taken away, cut off from the land of the living. And how did he respond? As a sheep before its shearers is silent, he did not open his mouth. Taken away, but did not retaliate. I was learning recently, I'd heard of this, but it struck home to me in India in the 1930s, Gandhi led the Indian people to rebel against the British Empire, the great might of the British Empire. How? With arms and retaliation? No. He led them to walk up to the soldiers who would just beat them over the head, kick them to the ground, and they did not retaliate. So it was was this servant disfigured, appalling, afflicted, oppressed, but he did not retaliate. Exalted but appalling. Powerful but despised, afflicted but innocent. Do you see the mystery? Do you begin to enter into the tragedy of what is going on here? Where is God in this? How could this possibly be his plan? Will he really exalt this servant? In the final part, he is defeated but victorious, this servant. Verse 10. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer. He will see his offspring and prolong his days. He will see the light of life and be satisfied. Despised, afflicted, defeated, but it's the Lord's will, the arm of the Lord will act, and he will be victorious even over death. It's an extraordinary poem, do you see? Even if you don't like poetry, the story, the arc, the narrative is extraordinary. From affliction and despised, responding without retaliating, and then he is exalted. Isaiah is an extraordinary writer, isn't he? And this must be his greatest work, his masterpiece. When he had finished writing this poem, he must have sat back, smile on his face, delighted. And I think that's the most ridiculous thing I've said for quite a while. Do you think a man, a woman, even a godly man like Isaiah, would have made this up? A suffering servant who is appalling and afflicted, being exalted. We who are so impressed by power and people retaining their power, will we make up a powerful servant? We who are impressed by beautiful people, will we make up a person who is disfigured, from whom people hide their faces, who is despised? Now a human being would not make this up. Only God would make up such a story. Isaiah here, this is not his greatest work. He was not delighted by what he had written. He's like being blown by a wind, blowing a ship off course where it intended to go. And I think Isaiah was not smiling, delighted at what he had written. He is staggering, falling off his chair, perhaps. How could this be? How could God do such a thing? It's no wonder, I think, that though the king is missing from the second half of the book of Isaiah, they didn't go looking for that king and find this servant. He couldn't be the same person, they thought. And the Jews never focused on this suffering servant as they waited for their king, the Messiah. You can tell because when Peter recognizes Jesus with all his miraculous signs and says, You are the Christ, the Messiah, and Jesus then explains that the Messiah must suffer, Peter rebukes the man he's just called the Messiah. It does not make sense to them. And even today, the Jews do not read this passage and see their Messiah. They think it is a metaphor for their own suffering in the world. But when you have seen Jesus, it is so obvious, isn't it? That's what happened to an Ethiopian man who had been brought to Jerusalem, just as Isaiah had promised, to learn about the true God. And as he returned home, he happened to be reading this very passage, this very poem. But he could not understand it. Who was the prophet talking about himself or someone else? He is reading it out loud, and Philip, the follower of Jesus, overhears him. Do you understand what you read? He asks. How can I? Unless someone explains it to him. And then Philip explained it to him. Jesus was indeed powerful. The signs from God showed that. But when he was welcomed into Jerusalem, Philip said, I imagine. The crowds despised him. They said, Crucify him. He was afflicted and disfigured on the cross, numbered with the transgressors, and the crowds mocked him. It was obvious to everyone, said Philip, that he was abandoned by God. Yet we knew he was innocent. Even Pilate knew that. And he did not retaliate, he made no threats, and he was defeated by death, but victorious. Buried, but God raised him and gave him authority. When you see Jesus, you cannot help but see Jesus here. A few weeks ago I mentioned that I'd taken a few days off and helped my son, who was renovating a renovator's delight, painting the walls and ceiling. I enjoyed the painting. But as I was painting, I listened to a book. A novel. You may have heard of it. It's called Hamnet. It's a movie. I'd watched the movie, but the novel was still extraordinary. It's very clearly about a family and a famous family. Shakespeare's family. Have you heard of him? He's the English language's greatest playwright. It's about the tragedy that happens because he had a son called Hamnet and wrote a play called Hamlet, and the author has made up this story that the son who died at the age of 11 was really the cause for the play. It's very moving. Again, I was filled with tears as I'm painting the wall. And after twelve hours of listening, it dawned on me that not once had the name Shakespeare been mentioned. Because it wasn't really about Shakespeare, it was about the human condition. And the author wanted us to focus on the grief of the human condition. But was there any need to mention Shakespeare? Was there any doubt about who we were talking about since the book was called Hamnet? And set in the right place for Shakespeare? No, let's not mention the name. And it occurred to me. That's just like Isaiah 53. You cannot for a moment think that this is not Jesus. God is saying here today, Behold, see my plan, my servant will suffer and be exalted. See my fulfillment. My servant Jesus suffered and is now exalted. Is it any wonder that the Ethiopian immediately believed? The first time he'd heard of Jesus. How could you not believe that this is God's plan and God's fulfillment? I was talking to a member of my family recently who doesn't believe in Jesus. They said, I think, they said to me, I think the disciples just made up the whole thing. Maybe they knew this man called Jesus, but they just made up the whole story and who he was. Could that really be true? Could any human being make this up? Could any human being make it up and make sure that Jesus fulfilled it? Sometimes I think to myself, perhaps Jesus really was just an impressive man and people layered myth upon myth upon him. Do you ever think that? But do you see no one would make up such a plan? And no one could possibly bring the plan about themselves or with a little help from their friends. Now there is great confidence here, isn't it? That this is God's plan and God's fulfillment. Do you know this confidence? That Jesus really is God's servant, his king. And you must be amazed and praise him. But that is only half the story that I want you to see this morning. God's extraordinary plan and his extraordinary fulfillment. I want that to give you confidence and to fill you with praise. But there's another question, isn't there? There's the why question. Why would this happen to God's servant? Why would God's plan be for him to suffer like this? What has that got to do with me? And you. Secondly, see, God's servant Jesus suffered for our sins. There is so much more here to this poem than the images it uses and the paradoxes that it keeps drawing. No, there is a point of view here that I've only really appreciated this week. Do you know what I mean by point of view? When you read a book sometimes, this has become fashionable lately, it can be told in the third person or the first person. But sometimes you can tell a story, you can read a novel, and it'll tell you at the beginning of each chapter whose perspective it is from. The main character, the minor character, their spouse, their children. Each chapter moves the story along, but it's told from a different person's point of view. P O V. Or in a movie, perhaps, they see you see things from the person's point of view. The camera is like their eyes. Or particularly in some detective uh shows that I've been watching recently. Finally, the person confesses and they tell the story of what happens from their point of view, and the show shows you. If you're not into books, if you're not into movies or TV shows, maybe you're into Instagram and there's something called POV point of view. Why do you need a point of view? To see what the characters are feeling and thinking, and I think so that you will see your own thinking and feeling. God wants us to see ourselves in the story. Whose point of view is the story told from? Quickly review verse 13 to 15. It's clearly by God. Verse 13, see, my servant will act wisely. At the end of the story, verse 11 to 13, whose point of view is it told from? After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous servant will justify many. Whose point of view? God's. Not surprising, it's God's book of the Bible. But it's not God's point of view in the middle of the story. Let me show you back in verse 2. Powerful but despised. Verse 2, he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a dry root out of dry ground. He had no majesty, beauty, or majesty to attract us to him. Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Do you notice the pronouns? Us and we. This is not the abstract storyteller, not the all-seeing narrator, this is people in the story. These are the witnesses, the bystanders who are watching this servant and what happens to him. And we now get to see and feel their point of view. They are telling the story. They indeed see that other people despise him, are appalled by him, and they are as well, verse 3. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised. And we held him in low esteem. We're appalled by him so bad, verse 4, we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. Do you see their point of view? These people, it's pictured by Isaiah, these people are looking on, seeing the servant, and they see that his suffering, his defigurement, his affliction, the way he is despised by other people, they despise him as well. And I want you to see that this morning. I said that the sermon was a simple statement. Jesus suffered for our sins. But I want you to see that as they saw it. They are familiar words, it's a familiar story. The cross is a familiar symbol. We glibly sing about it regularly, and we quickly explain what it means and how it helps us. But these people, whose point of view we are seeing, they were appalled by Jesus. And so I ask you this morning, have you ever been appalled by Jesus? And what happened to him? If we are never appalled by Jesus, if we never see and feel what happened to Jesus when he died on the cross, how else will we be amazed by God's plan? It will always remain a theological formulation, a set of propositions, and we will never see and feel what he did for us. And to pin down a little, how else will we face our suffering? On Thursday evening I was pushing through a migraine. I get migraines from time to time. On Thursday evening I was pushing through a migraine because I needed to write a sermon. And this is exactly where I was up to. And I needed to see not the end of my migraine, but I needed to see the appalling Jesus and the suffering that he went through. When we experience pain, when we grieve, when we see the pain of those we love, when our prayers for them go unanswered, when you suffer and you will, what will you do if you do not see what happened to Jesus? You will end up saying, My way is hidden from the Lord. If you do not see this point of view, if you do not see the suffering of servant Jesus, you must linger there regularly. But as their eyes lingered there, as they saw his suffering, so they began to see themselves. We considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted, verse 4. But as they are looking back on that point of view, that he was punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted, they are not saying how wrong we were, now that we understand what was really happening. No. We were exactly right, they realize. But as they looked at the servant, innocent yet afflicted, they could of course see that he was not to blame, that he was not being punished for his own sins. It was like an artwork that simply didn't make sense, no matter how long you stared at it, until somehow you saw that the answer was not in the artwork, but in yourself. These bystanders, as they look at the servant, begin to see themselves. Condemned by God and afflicted, they were in exile for their own sins. Why should God's servant be suffering if not for them? It dawned on them that this was indeed God's plan. He was indeed being punished by God, but that it should not be him, it should be them. Not for his sins, but for theirs. Verse 4, surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering. 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. You see what happens when you see things through their eyes, and then see things through your eyes? Appalled by Jesus, for he's condemned by God, and it must be for my sin and for your sin. Do you see why you need to be appalled by Jesus? You need to see things through their eyes, that he was appalling and it was for them. Without this, you will not be appalled by your own sin. You'll simply think that sin, your sin, is simply the mistakes you make, the bad stuff in your life. But you see what they say? We have gone astray from the holy God, verse 6. We have turned to our own way, which is the worst possible thing you can do from God's way. That we have all done it, we all, like sheep, have gone astray, but it is not some generalized guilt like you might feel about climate change. No, it's each of us have turned to our own way. We must see this point of view so that we will be appalled by our sin and that we will see God's judgment. Does sin really matter? The things that I do, that you do? They were defeated, they were in exile from the land. They've been shown that sin really mattered, but ultimately, what shows you that sin really matters? Not your own guilt, you might not feel guilt. Not the impact on others, though it may be great, not even your own death which is coming, many of us can ignore that, can't we? What shows the seriousness of sin? It's God's judgment that has been placed onto Jesus, and you will only see that if you are appalled by him. If you can see that, then you will need to see God's comfort, won't you? That God has punished him for my sin and for your sin. What is your deepest shame? What are your repeated failures? They have all been placed onto Jesus. See them there. And if you can see all of this through their point of view, appalled by your own sin, seeing God's judgment, and comforted that your punishment has been placed onto Jesus, then you must be left with a longing. A longing for others to be saved from punishment. Some people do think, don't they, that they'll just be good. God will welcome them in to his heaven. We would love to think that was true. But there is a simple answer to that. If that was true, why did Jesus need to die? And that statement, that question, why does Jesus need to die, comes home, doesn't it, when you see this point of view? When you see that Jesus was appalling, that he was condemned and disfigured and mocked. When you can see that clearly, then you cannot possibly think for a moment, it will all be well for those who are simply trying to live well. Now there is a judgment coming. Death, judgment, and hell are real. See that in Jesus. And as more and more people move into Linfield, they face an appalling future. No matter how nice Linfield is. Without the hope that is in Jesus. That Jesus suffered for our sins. Many of us already knew that. But have you seen it? Can you feel it? By seeing it through their eyes. Thankfully, the final word is not from the bystanders, the onlookers, the looking at Jesus people, but from God himself. Verse 11. After Jesus has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong. Defeated, but now victorious. I've tried to help us to see the appalling Jesus on the cross. But I don't want to leave you there. Can you see the victorious Jesus now already exalted? And before him every knee will bow. There really is hope for us and for our fallen world. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do pray that you would help us to see, to see what these people were pictured as seeing. A man afflicted, disfigured, condemned by you. And Father, help us to see what they saw. That this condemnation was for our sins. Father, we thank you for the insight, the reassurance in our suffering, and the comfort and longing that this gives us. Father, please help us to see and be moved this morning. Now we prayed in Jesus' name.