Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday February 17, 2010

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Isaiah 52-53

Heart of Christian faith/two-chambered heart: substitutionary atonement/resurrection

Someone has said that every religion has its savior.  Not so – only Christianity.  Confucius/ Buddha/Muhammad/Lao Tse/Hindu philosophers/witch doctors have all pointed to what they considered was a way to salvation, but they are not Saviors.  Only Jesus presents Himself as a Savior.  Others pointed to the way. Jesus said, “I am the way.”  Jesus is unique among all religious teachers in human history.  Someone has said that all religions teach the same thing.  Well, except for the nature of God/man/salvation/heaven/hell – yes, all religions teach the same thing.  One thing they don’t have – a Savior.

From deliverance from Babylonian captivity to deliverance from sin.  From Cyrus the messiah (45:1) to Jesus the Messiah.  Bible inspired – not chapter/verse divisions.   

52:13-15  the successful servant  

13  My servant will prosper - Our passage describes in great detail the suffering that Jesus experienced before/during the cross.  But the suffering of the servant is preceded by the supremacy of the servant.  It adds superlative to superlative – high/lifted up/greatly exalted.  It says, “Know this: that whatever you see of the humiliation of the servant, His exaltation/supremacy is guaranteed.”  What you see isn’t what you get.  Don’t believe the testimony of your eyes.  This is what confused the Jews – a suffering Messiah.

And this is what still confuses so many.  With all the power in the universe why does God subject Himself to all the pain in the universe.  We are always seeking to improve our lifestyles – better homes/neighborhoods/cars/health care/insurance/gadgets – we are constantly attempting to eliminate pain/inconvenience from our lives.  And then God comes in the form of a servant and goes looking for all the trouble He can find and comes to an exquisitely painful end on the cross.  But the depth of His humiliation will be more than matched by the height of His exaltation.  Apply 2u

14  The Chosen One (Messiah) will appear to the chosen people (Israel) as the chosen people appeared to the nations – common/ normal/nothing special – in fact, somewhat dishonorable/ignoble.  ‘These are the chosen people?  No way.”  “This is the Chosen One?  No way.”   

13 is God’s estimation and 14 is man’s estimation.   

15  Thus = ‘in this appearance/form.’  God’s work done in God’s way by God’s man is counter intuitive to the way we think God’s man should go about God’s work.  This is why so many will be taken in by the antichrist – he will move in power and he will be the consummate politician and fit right in w/ man’s view of how power should be wielded and used.   

What kings have not been told they will see – revelation.  Stage is set for 53:1.   

53:1-3  the sorrowful /son successful servant

1-2a  Cf. Is. 11:1  In Jesus, God was fulfilling His promises to David and the Jewish nation.

The nation/Davidic dynasty turned from God.  Israel was humbled/never fully recovered from the Babylonian captivity, always being a vassal state of larger empires (except for a brief time).  The Davidic monarchy was never revived, but, in essence, went underground.  Though the fruit and branches were lopped off, the stump/root remained.  God can work with even a root/stump!  Jesus is known as the Root of David.

…the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.  Revelation 5:5

This speaks volumes to me.  God had made a promise/it went underground only to reemerge - ship that sunk was a submarine!  The nations said of Israel – she’s buried/gone forever.  The incarnation, God becoming a man in Christ, was the resurrection of a buried hope – it was life coming from a forgotten root.  The promises of God are life.  You may think that your hopes are dead/buried in the ground – so was Jesus – and look what happened to Him!

2b-3  Joseph/David/Rachel/Esther – described as being fair of form.  Not so Jesus - not be a leading man in Hollywood/no GQ cover/not physically attractive/no chiseled looks.  His appearance, combined w/ His sympathies and manner of life led people to dismiss Him.  Though out of step w/ man, He was in step w/ God.  He was a man of God/man of sorrows – but not a man of the world.

53:4-6  the suffering substitute/ successful servant/sorrowful son

He bore our griefs/sorrows…

          o Grief: sickness – not colds/flues – but life threatening/health draining disease.
          o Sorrows: mind numbing/soul crushing mental anguish

He bore our sorrows in His ministry; He didn’t bear our sins until Calvary.  Mt. 8:14-17 is a fulfillment of Is. 53:4.  But Mt. 8:14-17 takes place 2-3 years b4 the crucifixion at Capernaum, and not at Calvary.  Both time/place separate this from His atoning death  Many tell us that healing is in the atonement, but Christ bore sickness/disease apart from the cross.  Sickness doesn’t need atonement, but sin does.  Healing is in Jesus, and it is not automatically guaranteed in the atonement.

    * Sickness doesn’t carry guilt, sin does.
    * If forgiveness happens as often as healing happens, many are still in their sins.
    * If we are forgiven to the extent that we are healed, most are only partially forgiven.
    * If healing takes place to the extent that forgiveness does, we would never die, but be healed to the uttermost.

Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world…  vv5-6 are the heart of substitutionary atonement.  Tyrone would piddle when I came home.  His piddle became a puddle that needed 2b removed.  I would get a paper towel and wipe it up off the floor.  The towel became something to throw away in that it carried away Tyrone’s mess.  It became unclean and needed 2b buried in the trash.   

Our transgressions/iniquities needed 2b wiped up/out - carried away

Transgression - fundamental idea is a breach of relationship between two parties.

Iniquity - the basic meaning of the verb is, "to bend, twist, distort."

Rebellion is to go against and iniquity is to go apart.  We certainly have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Piercing kills and crushing returns to dust.  Instead of life/glory, there is death/dust.   

Chastening/discipline = correction.  Christ was cut/crushed/ corrected… all for us.