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Isaiah 53

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5/13/1990
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Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53
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23 Isaiah - 1990

Isaiah is perhaps the best known of the prophets, and he was frequently quoted by Jesus Christ. Pastor Skip Heitzig guides us through this study of Isaiah's warning to the people of God.

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Isaiah 52, let's begin there. And if you don't have a Bible, share with someone, or use one in the back of the chairs there. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.

Just as many as were astonished at you, so his visage or his face was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. And so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall set their mouths at him, for what had not been told them, they shall see. And what they had not heard, they shall consider.

Now, as we have said, this section and the next chapter are such a vivid description of the suffering of Jesus Christ. It's almost as if Isaiah was there at the foot of the cross watching the whole thing happen. And while it focuses not only on His death, there is a transition here where it speaks also about His exaltation-- that He rose from the dead and the work that He performed rising from the dead.

And that's also important to focus on-- not just His humiliation, but the fact that because He suffered the death at Calvary, because He was humiliated, He was also exalted. It's just like it says in the book of Philippians. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but He made himself of no reputation, becoming a man in the form of a man, becoming a servant, and becoming obedient to death-- even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name-- that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, every tongue should confess to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus came the first time as a suffering servant, and He's returning. But when He returns, He won't come as a suffering servant, but as a glorious, victorious Savior, a messiah, ready to rule and to reign. He came the first time to suffer. The next time, He will come as a judge-- to rescue people and yet to judge people who did not commit their lives to Him.

There's a story of a kid who went into the big city for the first time. He didn't know his way around, and he started across the street not looking like he should have. And a big, huge truck was barreling down the road. He felt just then a tug of a hand behind him, and yanked him out of the way. It was an elderly gentleman.

The kid said, thank you. You saved my life. Well, the kid got into trouble, being new into a big city. And a couple of weeks later, he found himself in court for committing a few crimes. The judge looked at him, threw the gavel down, and said, guilty.

The young boy said, judge, don't you remember me? I was the kid that you saved out of the street a couple of weeks ago. Now, you saved me a couple of weeks ago, can't you pull a few strings now? The judge simply said, son, two weeks ago, I was your Savior. But today, I have to be your judge. Guilty as sentenced.

Jesus came to be your Savior. And the way He became your Savior is what we are reading here in Isaiah 52 and 53. If you reject that, He will say the same thing to you one day. I was your Savior, but now I have to be your judge.

It says in verse 15, chapter 52, the very purpose for his coming and suffering, so He shall sprinkle many nations. The purpose that Jesus came was to sprinkle, like the priest in the Old Testament would dip his finger in blood and sprinkle seven times before the veil to cleanse the people. Jesus came, and His purpose was to sprinkle or to wash, to cleanse us from sin. That's His purpose. The purpose He was born is that he might die.

And it says, kings shall shut their mouths at him-- a form of astonishment. Having nothing to say, kings, rulers will shut their mouths at Him. There is a passage in the Book of Zechariah that simply says, the Jewish people, seeing the Messiah, will say, what are the meaning of the wounds in your hands? And He will say, these are the wounds that I received in the house of my friends.

And they will be astonished, and they will shut their mouths at Him, because they will recognize at the end, this is the one. And then who has believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed? He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant. And as a root out of the dry ground, he came from the line of David. He came during a very dry period in history, when the nation had turned away from God, yet there were people who were expecting God to do a new thing. It was a dry time, and He came out of that dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness. And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Oftentimes, people will have pictures in their house of Jesus. And I don't really take offense to them, necessarily, but it's interesting that they kind of fit the culture where you're at. When I was in California, the big picture of Jesus that was very popular kind of made him look like a surfer. I mean, He had kind of lightened hair and a really Southern California kind of a suntan look-- not really Jewish at all.

And I've been to other parts of the world, and it seems that Jesus looks like they look-- which is man's desire to relate to the Lord. I understand that. But according to scripture, looking at him, there was nothing noteworthy-- no beauty in His appearance physically. He probably wasn't a handsome man by human standards.

Now, we would like to think that because of our preconception, but He probably wasn't. He had no form or comeliness that we would desire when we look at Him. He certainly didn't look like a king. He wasn't what people expected. They wanted a different messiah than they got. He did not fit in to their preconceived notions of Him. He's despised, and He is rejected.

He is a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. We hid as it were our faces from Him. You know, it's interesting-- and we've mentioned this before-- that after Jesus rose from the dead, even after He rose glorified, He still bore the marks of the suffering in his body. So much so that Thomas could place his hand into Jesus' side and his fingers into the nail prints in His hands and feet.

He said, Thomas, stretch your hands forth. Look, touch. Spirit doesn't have flesh and bones like I have. And Jesus was so marred that even the disciples who spent 3 and 1/2 years didn't recognize him on several occasions after the Resurrection. It could be because of the changes that occurred because of His torture.

We also know that when Jesus rose into heaven ascended, that He ascended in the same body that He rose with. So He ascended with the nail prints and with the mars on his body. And I believe when you see Jesus in heaven, you're going to see those marks.

Because, as we said before in the Book of Revelation, when John was opening up the scroll or they said, who will open up the scroll of the one who sits upon the throne, they said, look, the lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed. And John looked and didn't see a lion, but saw a lamb as though it had been slain. And perhaps when you see Jesus for the first time, you'll go [GASP], because you will see on his body the marks of torment that he suffered on Calvary-- the marks of torment as that flogger ripped open His back and the crown of thorns were in His head.

And it won't be there to induce guilt to make you feel bad. He will bear them, whether temporarily or for all of eternity, as a mark of His glory. As we're going to see here, He was satisfied with his suffering. He was able to buy you and you and you and you, and give all of you a chance because of those marks. And those marks are his glory for eternity, because those marks is your ticket to heaven, and you're going to see them.

Surely, He has borne our griefs, and He carried our sorrows. You know, in that verse, we have the consequence of sin-- grief and sorrow. Grief and sorrow is the consequence of a person who follows a life of rebellion against God. Before you were a Christian, all of the griefs, all of the sorrows-- even the ones you experience now-- He came to bear them. That's the effect of sin.

It is said that when Leonardo da Vinci was painting his famous Last Supper, he was trying to find human characters that he could set down in his studio to draw the different disciples and Jesus at the Last Supper. And it took him a long period of time. And he found a man by the name of Pietri Bandinelli, who in his youth was a handsome man, had a loving look in his eyes, stood straight up. And he brought them into the studio and used him to paint Jesus at the Last Supper.

And one by one, he painted all of His disciples. And years passed and he hadn't found someone to portray Judas Iscariot. So going through the streets of Rome, he found a man who just looked pitiful. And he thought, this guy would be a good Judas. He had a hard, cold look in his eyes. His shoulders were bent toward the ground.

And so Leonardo brought him over to the studio and set him down to paint. And suddenly, the man started looking around as if he saw familiar items. And finally, he looked to Leonardo, and he said, maestro. Do you remember me? For years ago, it was I who sat when you painted Christ.

Sin had so marred his life, sorrow and grief became such a part of him, that he bore it in his own body. That's what Jesus came to destroy-- the consequences of a life of rebellion against Him. He carried our sorrows, and we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.

And there's an emphasis there-- this emphasizes the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. We deserved it, He took it. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed.

The result of someone coming to know this servant of the Lord, Jesus Christ, is peace. The chastisement for our peace was upon him. Now, that's the result of a person who makes God the master of their life-- peace in two ways. Judicially, all of the past is taken away, and we have right standing with God.

But more than that, there's an inner peace. We feel it. We sense the presence of God-- not always to the same degree, but there is a relief that occurs when all of the burdens of your sin are taken off your shoulder, and they're hanging on the Lord. And He takes them, and He works with them and destroys them. There's a peace.

Romans chapter 5. Therefore, we have peace with God having been justified by faith to our Lord Jesus Christ, a peace that passes all understanding. And He came for that reason. And by His stripes, we are healed.

I once read a story of two different artists who were hired to draw their idea of peace. And so one drew a very peaceful country scene with a country home, smoke coming out of the chimney, rolling hills, cattle, mist kind of in the glen. You could almost feel the breeze rustling the wheat. It was a very peaceful scene.

Next to it was a painting of another man. His concept of peace was very different. He drew a thick storm, clouds rolling in, lightning coming out of the sky, winds blowing the trees. It was a tempest. Waterfall rushing from the rocks into the river below. And you look at that, and you think, how in the world could that depict peace?

However, if you'd look very closely, in the cleft of a rock under the waterfall, you could see a little bird with her young. And she was hovering over them in the nest. Very peaceful, very serene, not a fretful look on her brow, just resting in the midst of the storm, not apart from it. Peace.

Jamie was speaking about all of the garbage that we see in the world today-- the storm that's going around us constantly. And it were like those little birds in the cleft the rock-- kind of [WHISTLING]. Not that we're not concerned. Not that we shouldn't be involved and make a difference and make an impact. But in the midst of it, we know the person who has the future mapped out and planned, and it brings us incredible peace-- a peace that surpasses or transcends human understanding.

Now, all we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. I want you to notice that that is all inclusive, folks. It does not say, most of us, like sheep, have gone astray, but there are a few of us who really don't do that. There is not a human being on the planet who hasn't gone astray.

All of us are in sin. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That is the damning thing about religion-- is that a person will often feel smug in a religious system apart from a relationship with God, and they will feel that verses like this just don't apply to them. I've never gone astray. I've always been good.

And a person who feels that way will often not come to the Lord. They kind of stop short, because they think they've got it together already. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. I've always been fascinated that God calls us sheep. To some of you who know about sheep, that could be an insult, because sheep are not known for their brilliance, their high intelligence.

They are known for being timid and following the leader, even when the lead sheep does stupid things. If they're all going along, the lead sheep jumps off of a cliff, often, they will too. They just follow the leader. And because of that, sheep need a shepherd. And David knew that when he wrote, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.

David was a shepherd. He tended sheep all of his life, and he knew that the quality of life of the sheep was completely dependent on the shepherd. And so with great pride, great joy, great security, he said, look who my shepherd is. Look who my boss is. Look who my keeper is. It's the Lord. And boy, do I need Him. Because all of us, like sheep, have followed the leader. We've gone astray. We've done what everybody else did.

And the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before its shears is silent. And so He opened not his mouth. His death was voluntary.

It was not a mistake, like Sun Myung Moon has said that Jesus did not mean to die, He kind of made a mistake. He was going along, and He had everything going for Him, but He got himself killed. And He was unable to have the perfect family, get married, and have celestial children.

Hey, it was not a mistake. Jesus said, no man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down and take it again. It was completely voluntary that He might sprinkle many nations. He was taken from prison, from judgment, and who will declare His generation, for He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people, He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked, but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence nor was any deceit found in his mouth.

A perfect fulfillment of scripture was found in the New Testament concerning this verse, because Jesus was crucified in between two thieves. He died with the wicked, but He did not get buried the normal way that a person would be buried under Roman crucifixion. Oftentimes, they would be buried in a common grave with the cross that they hung on. Jesus was taken off the cross.

And Joseph of Arimathea came to Pilate and said, let me have the body of Jesus. He said, sure. And He was buried in a rich man's tomb. So He died with the wicked, but in His death with the rich. Yet, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He has put him to grief.

You know, I have often just stared in silence at that verse. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him. I looked that up this afternoon and found out that in Hebrew, that means God received emotional exuberance to see his son bruised. And I was shocked.

But it wasn't a joy at seeing His son suffer and die, no, no, no. It was an exuberance of knowing the result of that suffering. The result of that suffering is that every person who would call upon the name of the Lord by faith, God would say, OK, I'll let you in. I'll have a relationship with you. You can be my child by faith if you put your trust in Jesus. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him and to put Him to grief.

When you make His soul an offering for sin, you will see His seed and prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out his soul to death.

He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many. And He made intercession for the transgressors. Remember, on the cross, Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Even while He was dying, He was interceding. He was praying for people who were crucifying Him and taunting Him.

Go back to verse 11. He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied-- satisfied that Him hanging on the cross was enough to buy us back to God. Remember what Jesus said as He hung on the cross? He said, it is finished. In Greek, it's the word "tetelestai."

It's a word that a servant would say to his master if the master said, hey, go out and do this for me, and make sure that you get it done in this way. The servant would return and say, hey, master, tetelestai. I did exactly what you told me to do. Now, Jesus is the suffering servant who said, I always do those things that please the Father.

It was also used by an artist as he was painting his picture. He would get down, and he'd stand back from the picture. And he would say, tetelestai, or, it's perfect. It's a perfect picture. You know, as you read the Old Testament by itself, it's a clouded picture. It doesn't quite make sense until you read the New Testament and you find out the fulfillment of the old. And you step back, and you go, what a perfect picture. It's tetelestai. It's complete.

And it was also used of a merchant when he would buy something or something was paid in full-- a transaction was complete. He would say, tetelestai-- paid in full. And when Jesus hung on the cross, He was satisfied. And He finally said, Father, as your servant, I've done all that you want me to do. Tetelestai.

As an artist, you have painted the history of the world. Now the picture is complete. Tetelestai. You wanted me to be the Redeemer of the sins of man. Stamped. Tetelestai. It's paid in full. Into your hands I commend my spirit. Now, that's the purpose of the coming of Jesus, as you know-- to be our Savior, to be our healer from our sin.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, at that point, little did the shepherds, or Mary, or Joseph, or any of the people who saw what was happening at that wondrous moment understand that this tiny little baby will forever change the history of the world. They will date their years and mark their calendars according to this event BC and AD. This tiny little baby will one day go to the cross.

There was a prophecy given to Mary that a sword would pierce her own heart regarding Jesus. And she pondered these things and kept them in her heart. And it could be that Mary was kind of going through the mixed emotions seeing Jesus being born-- not quite understanding it, but perhaps having that feeling that one day He will suffer greatly.

Max Lucado wrote a book called God Has Drawn Near. And in it, there's a tiny, tiny little chapter-- a couple pages. It's called, a mother's prayer-- Mary's prayer for Jesus-- as if she knew all that was going to happen to this little baby. And I'd like to just close in reading this. Listen very carefully to this.

God, o infant God, heaven's fairest child, conceived by the union of divine grace with our disgrace. Sleep well. Sleep well. Bask in the coolness of this night bright with diamonds. Sleep well, for the heat of anger simmers nearby. Enjoy the silence of the crib, for the noise of confusion rumbles in your future.

Savor the sweet safety of my arms, for a day is soon coming when I cannot protect you. Rest well, tiny hands, for though you belong to a King, you will touch no satin. You will own no gold. You will grasp no pen, guide no brush.

No, your tiny hands are reserved for works more precious-- to touch a leper's open wound, to wipe a widow's weary tear, to claw the ground of Gethsemane. Your hands so tiny, so tender, so white, clutched tonight in an infant's fist-- they are destined to hold a scepter. They are not destined to hold a scepter, nor wave from a palace balcony. They are reserved instead for a Roman spike that will staple them to a Roman cross.

Sleep. Sleep deeply, tiny eyes. Sleep while you can, for soon the blurriness will clear, and you will see the mess that we have made of your world. You will see our nakedness, for we cannot hide. You will see our selfishness, for we cannot give. You will see our pain, for we cannot heal.

O, eyes that will see hell's darkest pit and witness her ugly prince, sleep. Please, sleep. Sleep while you can. Lay still, tiny mouth. Lay still, mouth from which eternity will speak, tiny tongue that will soon summon the dead, that will define grace, that will silence our foolishness.

Oh, rosebud lips upon which ride a star born kiss of forgiveness for those who believe in you and of death to those who deny you, lay still. And tiny feet cupped in the palm of my hand, rest, for many difficult steps lay ahead of you. Do you taste the dust of the trails you will travel? Do you feel the cold sea water upon which you will walk? Do you wrench at the invasion of the nail you will bear? Do you fear the steep descent down the spiral staircase into Satan's domain?

Rest, tiny feet. Rest today so that tomorrow you might walk with power. Rest, for millions will follow in your steps. And little heart, holy heart, pumping the blood of life through the universe. How many times will we break you?

You will be torn by the thorns of our accusations. You will be ravaged by the cancer of our sin. You will be crushed under the weight of your own sorrow. And you will be pierced by the spear of our rejection.

Yet in that piercing, in that ultimate ripping of muscle and membrane, in that final rush of blood and water, you will find rest. Your hands will be freed. Your eyes will see justice. Your lips will smile. Your feet will carry you home. And there, you will rest again, this time in the embrace of our Father-- our Heavenly Father.

When we consider that infant Jesus born to die, whose feet walked the trails of this life, who became a man and suffered what we suffer and even greater, we stand in awe of that sacrifice. We sin incessantly, and those songs always concern our Savior. Our prayers always end in His name. We always look to the cross, and we will always look to the cross.

We thank you for death that brought our life. And Lord, I pray that we as Christians would never look upon the cross dimly or irreverently again. Thank you for the blood of your son which cleanses from all sin, whose each drop had our name on it-- the blood of God, the lamb slain from the foundations of the world.

Lord, we stand in holy awe tonight as we have read this chapter, a short chapter that depicted your suffering. And we recognize that we are Christians because of that. We are brothers and sisters, because we have a blood bond. And it's your blood that binds us. That blood cleanses us from all sin, and that blood can forgive any wrong we've ever done.

Lord, I pray that if there are those who have never had their sins cleansed and those of us who have had our sins cleansed that you'd cleanse us once more-- that we might stand free from guilt and enjoy peace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for those tiny feet and hands and heart that still live and still thrive at the right hand of your throne, everliving now to make intercession for us. We pray to a real Jesus-- a living one. And now, we sing to you, Lord, to bring you honor and glory.

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2/25/1990
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Isaiah 1-2
Isaiah 1-2
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3/4/1990
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Isaiah 3-6
Isaiah 3-6
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3/11/1990
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Isaiah 7-12
Isaiah 7-12
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3/18/1990
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Isaiah 13-24
Isaiah 13-24
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3/25/1990
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Isaiah 25-28
Isaiah 25-28
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4/1/1990
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Isaiah 29-30
Isaiah 29-30
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4/8/1990
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Isaiah 31-36
Isaiah 31-36
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4/22/1990
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Isaiah 37-38
Isaiah 37-38
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4/29/1990
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Isaiah 39-43
Isaiah 39-43
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5/6/1990
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Isaiah 44-52
Isaiah 44-52
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6/3/1990
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Isaiah 54-57
Isaiah 54-57
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6/10/1990
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Isaiah 58-60
Isaiah 58-60
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6/17/1990
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Isaiah 61-66
Isaiah 61-66
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There are 13 additional messages in this series.
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