"Suffering and Glory" - Isaiah 52:13-53:12
This morning, we continue our series AS IT IS WRITTEN - Jesus has fulfilled everything written about Him in the Old Testament. The prophecies recorded about Him establish His credentials as the Messiah. By studying them we can see that Jesus was exactly who He said He was.
ISAIAH 52:13-15 (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.
- The Lord's Servant is the Suffering Servant.
- The Messiah's destiny would not be without scandal.
ISAIAH 53:1-3 (NIV)
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.
- The Messiah's life would not be viewed attractively.
ISAIAH 53:4-6 (NIV)
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.
- The Messiah's suffering would be undeserved.
ISAIAH 53:7-9 (NIV)
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.
- The Messiah's submission would be extraordinary.
ISAIAH 53:10-12 (NIV)
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.
- The Messiah's exultation would follow His submission.
TAKEAWAYS FROM ISAIAH 52:13-53:12
- The cross is offensive and so too is our sin.
- Jesus truly gets us, but do we truly get Jesus?
