Astonishing Servant
Astonishing Servant | Isaiah 52:13- 53:6
- A book rich with references to the person of Jesus Christ
- now we come to an essential doctrine - the atonement of our sin (upon Him was our chastisement that bought us peace)
- A privileged passage - quoted at least seven times in the New Testament
- This is the build-up of all other servant passages in the book, the climax
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I. His astonishing triumph (Ch52 Vs 13-15)
- Talking about so great and profound suffering of Christ that people will even wonder if this is human
- Supposed to stir up certain emotions in us - discomfort, shock and shame
- The point of this description is to give us a sense of the severity of sin which put Christ "there"
- That we be even more astonished that in this state "shall He sprinkle many nations".
II. His misunderstood humiliation (Ch53 Vs 1-3)
- Isaiah turns to speak about those who don't believe (Luke 12:38-40)
- He was expected to be one that would fail (not kingly, weak, unimpressive)
- The reason people thought this about Jesus was not because of anything lacking in Christ, but because of sin.
III. His substitutionary suffering (Ch53 Vs 4-6)
- "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4)
- People thought He deserved all the punishment He received. They misunderstood why He was killed - not because He was evil, rather, because He bore in His body our griefs and sorrows.
- "All we like sheep," which are stupid to wander, but precious to the Shepherd.
*We have wandered away
*We deserved punishment
*The chastisement fell on Christ
We should never forget the amazement for the cross of Christ nor be shocked at how "absurd" it may sound to the human mind.
So, how should we respond?
We know how all others responded.
The earth started shaking, the sun stopped shining, dead people started to rise, kings' mouths were shut. What about us?
He was counted as a sin so that we may be presented pure before the Father. That is astonishing!