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READ: Isaiah 53:1
CHALLENGE: Celebrate the Great Things About Jesus
Isaiah was written 600-700 years before the birth of Christ. It’s like the prophet has been to the future and he’s bringing back the report of what he’s seen and it’s unbelievable. And he’s bringing it to a disobedient group who will suffer greatly for what they’ve done wrong. He has a message of hope!
V1 – Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
What Isaiah is about to share is incredible. It’s so amazing that “Who would believe it”? It’s certainly not a story that man would invent. It’s a God thing! Since it’s not a story that humanity would write, it makes it even more believable. The unbelievability makes it more believable.
The strength of the Lord will be revealed! When you’re going through hard times, it’s important to remember that God is powerful and He’ll show that strength for you!! These people, who would be in exile, needed to know that God would come through in magnificent ways. They had sinned but God still loved them.
It’s palm Sunday, a day for celebrating Christ the way he deserves. What do we have to celebrate?
(trans.) What’s so great about Jesus?
- HE’S NORMAL and DOWN TO EARTH
V2 – 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 wasn’t handsome per se! There was nothing outwardly in the appearance of the Savior that would make him obviously the Savior. Afterall, how much would you notice a “tender shoot” or a root out of dry ground? The prospects of a root in arid soil becoming a great tree were not good. In this description alone, you would never think the Messiah would amount to much.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Majesty means “splendor” or “dignity”. Majesty was conferred on kings, thus they looked regal and people bowed. Everyone praised them. You’d think God’s son would have at least a hint of majesty but it was not given to him.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in a stable. He told followers that he didn’t even have a place to lay his head. Jesus was God in the flesh but didn’t flash his majesty card. When you’d see God showing up to Moses and there’s fire and brilliant light and it’s epic! The Messiah comes and it’s camoflauge and muted and nearly undetectable.
If someone in the future were to wonder why Jesus didn’t come down on a chariot of fire and make a statement, think no further about it. THE ONE was not going to stand out like THE ONE. He wouldn’t have to!
I have a Cannondale bike and it’s flat black and considered an “urban” bike. They didn’t want to make it obvious to thieves, so they made it boring on purpose. Jesus was not flashy in his appearance on purpose. He came to die, not to rein! Remember when God sent Samuel to appoint David, he said, don’t look at his appearance because I’m looking at his heart. God is not concerned about what you look like, he’s concerned with who you are.
There was nothing to draw us to him. Perhaps if you’re picking for teams, he’s not your first pick. Remember those playground days when they picked teams? No one wanted to be the last pick, but Jesus would have been. You wouldn’t be drawn to him looks wise which is so epic in light of this devilish world in which we live.
Let’s compare that to some of the buffoonery we see around us where ministers or Christians crave the limelight, the looks, the applause, the noticing. Please look at me – adore me – worship me. And if we have to look like a celebrity or act like a celebrity, who are we depending upon? Jesus came to humbly serve, learn a lesson. If we think we have to be hip or cool to do the work of God, that’s a secular perspective and not a spiritual one.
Jesus wasn’t flashy but He was powerful. I’d rather not be flashy but be powerful in God than be a moped dressed up like a Harley! You can dress a scooter like a Hawg but it’s still a scooter! So it’s not what you look like, it’s the arm of God and His ability to use you. Never discount your effectiveness because you’re ordinary. God uses ordinary people to accomplish great things.
Let’s go back to that comment that He grew up before Him! It’s cool that Jesus grew up and it’s great that He grew up in the presence of God. He was like a sapling growing up in the presence of God. You have much hope in these roots and saplings that they will eventually amount to something. I visit my little trees nearly daily. I am constantly looking to see what’s happening with them. If just paying attention to them was the key to success, I’d have the best plants on the planet.
Growing in the presence of God is a beautiful reality and clearly the difference maker. If you’re walking and living in the presence of God and His blessing, isn’t this from whence strength comes? Are you growing before God? Jesus was thinking about doing God’s will from the time He was a boy. He lived for it! May our lives and service and church be marked by His presence.
B. HE SYMPATHIZES WITH OUR HURTS
V3 – 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.
He was despised and that means to be dismissed, to be treated like you have little worth. Jesus was undervalued. Jesus healed a man born blind from birth and you know what the religious leaders said? He’s a sinner! The healed man knew that God doesn’t listen to sinners and that this Jesus did something that no one has even ever heard of! I know that I was blind but now I see! The people around him call him a sinner! Jesus you’re nothing! Nothing good comes out of Nazareth!! Carpenter’s son! You’re a NOBODY!
He was rejected and put on a cross. It’s so interesting that God, in his infinite wisdom, sent someone the world would cast off. Some might wonder why you should accept a person who was rejected. Why would I put stock into someone others didn’t? It’s the path of the Savior. He was a man of sorrows!
The word, “suffering”, means to “be sore, have pain, be sorrowful”. It also has to do with mental anguish. He knew what pain was. He was sweating drops of blood before his crucifixion. His lot on earth was not easy. He was familiar with pain and that word can mean “sickness, disease, and illness as well as grief”. Certainly, Jesus was someone who immersed Himself in the hurts of others. He touched a leper. He healed the blind. He caused the lame to walk.
Jesus was familiar with pain? He knew it. Jesus wept over his friend Lazarus. He wept over the city of Jerusalem. He was also betrayed which greatly troubled His soul. Peter denied him three times and that was heart breaking. The soldiers and crowds completely dissed Him. Taunted Him. Mocked Him. Spit on Him. Divided His clothing by lot while he was still alive. And if they split up your clothing, guess what you were not wearing?
Jesus dealt with hard things and talked about the hard things. He talked about lust, marriage, anger, hatred vs love, honesty, divorce, and a host of other things. He dealt with a lot of hardships including diseases, disabilities, demon possession, poverty, sinfulness, brokenness. He was there when children died and raised them.
Have you been rejected? Have you suffered? Have you anguished and sorrowed? So has Jesus.
Hebrews 4:15-16 – For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
We can be confident because Jesus can understand us because He’s already been through it. You will receive mercy and grace at the cross. Jesus invited all the weary to come to Him. He gets it!
Man of sorrows. I don’t think that we should think that life is perfect because it’s not. Human existence includes sorrow. You hope most of your stocks are up but you realize that at times some of your stocks are down. This life can be painful. We have our troubles. Jesus can sympathize.
(trans.) Not only that but
C. HE SUPPORTS US IN OUR SORROWS
Vv4 – Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
The words “took up” can mean to lift up, bear, carry, support. It can easily mean to bear the guilt of another by representation or substitution.
Here it would mean to carry or support us in our sicknesses and grief. When you think of the life of Christ, there were people who were very distressed with demons, diseases, and disabilities. They pressed around Jesus in their great anguish and he helped them.
The parallel concept says that he bore our pains and sorrows. This is a word that means to “transport a load”. It is also used in contexts of bearing punishments or penalties. “The coming servant, Messiah, lifts up and takes upon himself man’s sickness and bears the weight of his worrisome sorrows”.
I transport lots of things in my truck! I pick up dirt. I load up sticks. I pick up supplies and my truck carries them. It beats running a wheelbarrow up to Brobst for dirt! It carries the load and eases my burdens! I love it. The truck is indispensable to our lives! Christ carries burdens and that’s invaluable.
I know that God has not “taken away” every illness I’ve ever had. He has not removed every sorrow. However, he’s helped to take the weight off of my shoulders. Jesus supports us and sends help along the way. And as much as we can help people carry burdens, we are living in a Christ-like manner. As you look at Matthew 25, we are expected to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and visit the sick. It didn’t say that every illness was going to disappear but there will be help.
God bears weight through providing at times. Through prayer. Through the wise counsel of others. Through the Spirit giving strength. Through hope. Through Scripture. I’ve often heard people ask, “How does anyone make it through things without faith”.
So, while I have not seen God remove every painful thorn, I have seen his grace be sufficient. Paul had a thorn in the flesh and it was not removed. God used that to showcase His power.
He took up our pain. Bore our suffering. We thought that God was punishing Him for Him. There’s confusion as to why Christ was on that cross. He wasn’t for Him, it was for us. The people would see Christ getting what we had coming to us.
D. HE WAS PUNISHED IN OUR PLACE TO BRING US PEACE
V5 – 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.
Pierced is a word rendered ‘wounded‘ meaning to bore through, to perforate, to pierce; hence, to wound. Again, a reference the brutality of the cross. He was pierced in his hands and his feet. A Roman soldier pitched a spear into His side.
He was crushed and that word expresses the epic suffering he endured. In reality, Jesus was suffering for us. It was for our transgressions.
He died in our place and took our place by suffering instead of us.
ILLUSTRATION: Standing up for brother
It’s clearly love that drives you to that point. You’re not touching my brother! Jesus came to our defense! He suffered greatly for us so that we don’t have to.
He was pierced for our transgressions. The word “transgressions” is a strong term that means “rebellion”. It’s a reference to those who rejected God’s authority. It’s a word which denotes the sum of misdeeds and a fractured relationship. “Not only do transgressions a create a gulf between God and man, it generates distortions within humanity … deceit … love for strife … easily angered … etc.
He died for not only sinners, but for rebellious people! Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I’m sure in early Christianity that many thought that Jesus suffered because he deserved it. Can you imagine talking about your Savior being crucified on a cross? What kind of Savior can’t get himself off the cross? Even the one criminal said that very thing. If you’re really a Savior save yourself and us as well. He’s pierced for our transgressions.
There is no way a human makes up a story where an epic and humble character is forced to pay for our sins. This is the type of story that should tick people off. You know why? It’s so unfair! It’s outrageous and especially when you think of the fact that we rebelled.
However, His punishment brings us peace. How? We’re forgiven. Forgiveness is the gracious means where we don’t have to pay for every lousy thing we’ve done because it’s not possible. We could never pay for our sins and because of Jesus, we won’t have to.
Can you even put a price tag on “peace”? I don’t think that you can. Peace means there is no hostility between us and God. There’s nothing wrong. There’s nothing haunting you. You can just leave those old skeletons in the closet because they’re not going to do anything to you.
We are at peace because he got punished. It’s like when the cop has the lights on and he passes you and pulls over someone else. Or when it is you and you get a warning!
Maybe God could have just let it go. It’s not like Jesus could sign and executive order and just declare everyone’s sins forgiven. He couldn’t because God is holy and just and there must be a price paid for sins. Jesus did that.
We have a peace in this life being connected with Jesus and that’s a beautiful thing. We’re whole and fulfilled – it’s special. Sinners to saints.
E. HE TAKES AWAY OUR SINS
V6 – 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.
We wandered. We went astray. We turn there. We chose it. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. Iniquity is a work that means guilt and punishment. The guilt and punishment went on Jesus!
Who went astray? We all did. We all chose it. We were like sheep nibbling our way into danger. Willful. Deliberate. Yet here was God laying it on him. We all need Jesus!
Keep this in mind this Good Friday! We wandered but Jesus paid to bring us back.
John 1:29 – The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
ILLUSTRATION:
I appreciate what Jesus has done for us. Every one of us are called upon to carry our cross. But the one thing we’ll never be is nailed to it! Jesus paid it all.
One word I don’t want to lose sight of and that’s hope! Christ brings hope to people’s lives. Life can be different. Better. Problems can be fixed! He’ll be with us and forgive us and put us back on the right path. He frees you from your past and problems – praise Him!