Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / By His Wounds We Are Healed (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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By His Wounds We Are Healed (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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  Let's take our Bibles and open up to Isaiah 52.
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  Towards the end of the chapter in verse 13, we'll
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  pick up there and we're going to go through verse
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  12 tonight. I know that we're kind of parachuting
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  in to this location and it may have been a while
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  since we were in Isaiah, so just a little bit
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  of where we are within this text before I read
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  and pray. Within this portion of Isaiah, there
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  are several different songs that are composed,
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  if you will, by the prophet Isaiah. And they're
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  all very good, they're very special, but the
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  one that we look at tonight, I might say is the
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  kind of climactic song within Isaiah. This text
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  here has everything to do with what we are doing
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  here tonight. This is all about the suffering
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  servant. And so let's pay attention to the reading
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  of God's holy inspired word from Isaiah 52 beginning
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  in verse 13. Behold, my servant shall act wisely.
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  He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted.
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  As many were astonished at you, his appearance
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  was so marred beyond human semblance and his
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  form beyond that of the children of mankind.
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  So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall
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  shut their mouths because of him. For that which
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  has not been told them they see and that which
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  they have not believed they understand. Who has
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  believed what he has heard from us and to whom
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  has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he
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  grew up before him like a young plant and like
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  a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty
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  that we should look at him and no beauty that
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  we should desire him. He was despised and rejected
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  by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with
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  grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces.
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  He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely
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  he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,
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  yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God
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  and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions.
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  He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was
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  the chastisement that brought us peace, and with
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  his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have
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  gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own
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  way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity
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  of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
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  yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that
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  is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that
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  before its shearers is silent, so he opened not
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  his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was
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  taken away, and as for his generation, who considered
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  that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
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  stricken for the transgression of my people?
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  And they made his grave with the wicked, and
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  with a rich man in his death, although he had
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  done no violence, and there was no deceit in
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  his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to
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  crush him. He has put him to grief. When his
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  soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see
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  his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The
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  will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out
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  of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and
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  be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous
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  one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous.
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  and he shall bear their iniquities therefore
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  I will divide him a portion with the many and
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  he shall divide the spoil with the strong because
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  he has poured out his soul to death and was numbered
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  with the transgressors yet he bore the sin of
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  many and makes intercession for the transgressors
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  this is God's word let us pray Almighty God,
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  we read this text and there is no doubt in our
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  minds that this is about our Savior Jesus Christ.
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  Father, would you move within us to have a greater
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  appreciation for what Jesus did, that he offered
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  up himself on the cross in order to make atonement
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  and to save us from what we deserve. Would you
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  grant us understanding? Now we pray for Christ's
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  sake. Amen. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said of this
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  text that it is the holy of holies of divine
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  writ. He said when you read this text you are
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  treading on holy ground. You've heard this text,
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  but still you might be asking how so? How is
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  this such an important text? What was Spurgeon
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  getting at when he said that? If you really pay
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  attention to this text what you realize is that
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  Isaiah has this to say, as if he is at Golgotha.
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  It is as if Jesus is there in front of Isaiah
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  being crucified. And yet, if you look at the
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  nature of the text, the way that this is written,
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  it's all very interesting. Because you probably
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  noticed that the tense of the verbs, it's in
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  the past tense, isn't it? And yet the prophet,
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  is writing with the crucifixion of Jesus still
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  hundreds of years in the future. He's writing
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  in the past tense about something that has not
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  yet happened. And so the way that this reads
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  is almost as if Isaiah is at the very end of
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  time reflecting on what might be just the most
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  pivotal moment in all of human history. And it's
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  so accurate, isn't it? It's so precise if you
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  are a Christian tonight There's no way that you
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  can walk away from this text and not know this
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  is about your Savior And yet people do deny this
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  text. It's as Paul says in Romans chapter 1 people
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  really do suppress the truth But there's no suppressing
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  this because Isaiah writes this he portrays this
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  just as clearly as Matthew and Mark and Luke
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  and John by this chapter this passage has been
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  called the fifth gospel because it's about Christ
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  alone. Tonight I want you to get just one main
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  point that Jesus is the suffering servant for
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  you. He's the suffering servant for you. But
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  two ways in which we see this, Jesus was wounded
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  for us and Jesus is declared guilty for us. Look
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  at 52 14. It says his appearance was so marred
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  beyond human semblance. What this means is that
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  Jesus was quite literally beaten beyond recognition.
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  You've perhaps heard of the instrument that was
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  used upon Jesus. some sort of a whip with a sharp
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  bone and metal in it, that when it was hit upon
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  his flesh, it would tear away flesh and it would
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  expose organs. In addition to that, when that
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  instrument was used, oftentimes the person was
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  tied with their hands above their head. Sometimes
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  those strikes could be fatal. know your Bible
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  well, you might have read that a person could
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  only be hit 39 times according to Jewish law.
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  That's in Deuteronomy, but Paul also speaks of
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  it in 2 Corinthians. Only 39 times, but here's
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  the thing about that. Who is the one who is actually
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  beating Jesus? It's not the Jews. It's the Roman
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  soldiers. And I hardly, hardly believe they cared
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  very much about what Jewish law had to say. You
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  see in verse five, his wounds, his stripes. This
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  in some ways is more graphic than even the gospels.
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  And yet it's not the only place where we see
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  this sort of thing. You don't have to turn there,
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  but listen to these words from Psalm 22, 16 through
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  18. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can
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  count all my bones. They stare and gloat over
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  me. They divide my garments among them, and for
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  my clothing they cast lots. Doesn't this sound
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  like Jesus to you? Of course it does, because
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  that same Psalm is the one that Jesus utters
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  on the cross. For you know these words on the
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  cross. Jesus said, my God, my God, why have you
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  forsaken me? These prophecies, they're so accurate,
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  for we know. that Jesus was fastened to the cross
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  by nails in his hands and his feet. We know that
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  a spear was thrust through his side after he
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  gave up his spirit. Look in verse five. He was
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  pierced for our transgressions. Friends, when
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  the text uses this word, your word here in English,
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  pierce, this is actually using one of the most
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  violent terms. the Old Testament. This is what
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  was done to our Lord Jesus Christ. This is, as
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  some have said, the death blow when He was pierced
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  for our transgressions and He was crushed, destroyed
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  for us. And we know that crucifixion is perhaps,
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  no it is, the most torturous way to die. I'm
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  not medical, but I do know that Jesus experienced
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  there on the cross unexplainable pain, dizziness,
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  fever, cramping, tendons throbbing, exposed organs
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  bleeding, shock, asphyxia, thirst and dehydration.
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  Anybody else on that cross would have surely
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  sought the sweet relief of death, but it was
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  not finished until Jesus said, it is finished.
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  Jesus underwent that for you. That's what you
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  need to know tonight. Jesus went through that
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  for you. And it seems so clear to us, doesn't
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  it? And yet, look at verse three. It says that
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  we esteemed him not. What this is getting at,
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  what Isaiah is getting at, is that people didn't
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  believe. This prophecy in Isaiah's day, people
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  didn't believe it in Jesus's day, and people
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  don't believe that now. This is about unbelief.
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  And you would think in Jesus's time, Messianic
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  expectation would have been very high, and yet
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  people reject Jesus. They did, and they still
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  do. People today say things like, well, I do
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  believe that Jesus was a good man. And I do believe
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  that Jesus was a good teacher. And I even believe
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  that Jesus was a good prophet. Friends, he is
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  certainly those things, but he is so much more.
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  He's the only Messiah, the only one who could
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  truly say, no greater love has this than someone
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  lay down his life for his friends. And yet the
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  laying down of his life is really only the beginning.
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  Because not only was he wounded for you, not
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  only was he killed for you, He was declared guilty
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  for you. Nothing gets people more riled up it
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  seems these days than innocent punishment and
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  yet this is what Jesus submitted himself to.
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  He who committed no sin became sin for us. His
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  suffering then is vicarious. Because people sin,
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  Christ as mediator was punished. And because
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  Christ as mediator was punished, we get his righteousness.
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  Perhaps you've wondered, how does Jesus' dying
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  have anything to do with the removal of my sin?
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  How does this work? Well, look in verses 10 and
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  11. Verse 10, his righteousness is ours because
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  his soul makes offering for guilt. Verse 11,
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  many to be accounted righteous as he bears their
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  iniquities. This is how atonement works. You
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  remember the Old Testament sacrifices that had
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  to be offered again and again and again to make
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  atonement. But with Jesus it doesn't have to
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  happen again and again and again because he is
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  the perfect sacrifice He takes our sins upon
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  himself and a transaction takes place where we
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  who believe in him are credited with his righteousness
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  We get peace with God we get new hearts that
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  are not stained by sin But understand even as
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  Jesus did this for us He did it for us, meaning
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  that they did not take his life because he laid
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  it down. Jesus laid his life down. Look in verses
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  four, six, and 10. You see the phrase, smitten
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  by whom? By God. Verse six, the Lord has laid
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  on him the iniquity of us all. Verse 10. It was
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  the will of the Lord to crush him. And so he
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  was wounded, and he was rendered guilty for you,
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  and it was the only way. Jesus said it best.
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  I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
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  comes to the Father but through me. Christ is
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  the only one who could make atonement as a perfect
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  sacrifice. And so the Father offered up the Son
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  to save his people. But you don't have to take
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  my word for it. Because Peter in his sermon in
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  Acts 2 speaks of this perfect plan to save sinners.
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  Acts 2 23, this Jesus delivered up according
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  to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,
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  you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless
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  men. Why would the Father offer up the Son in
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  this way? Why? Friends, it's for his glory. It
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  is for his glory. Do you remember the high priestly
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  prayer of Jesus in John 17? He begins his prayer
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  like this, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
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  your Son that the Son may glorify you. The purpose
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  for the Son is to give glory to the Father. this
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  is also communicated within our text tonight
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  because how does verse 13 go in chapter 52 behold
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  my servant shall act wisely he shall be high
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  and lifted up and shall be exalted but also look
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  at the end of the pericope because there towards
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  the end we also see this in verse 12 of 53 therefore
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  I will divide him a portion with the many and
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  he shall divide the spoil with the strong the
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  picture here is that as Jesus is crucified on
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  the cross, we who are in Christ are victorious
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  with Christ. You have victory with Jesus. He
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  did this for us such that as Jesus is raised,
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  one day we too shall be raised to be with God.
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  And that's about glorification. That's really
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  what we're doing here tonight. We are here to
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  give glory to Father Son and Holy Spirit and
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  To be encouraged and to have hope because there
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  are many miseries in this life aren't there?
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  You're all going through something. You've been
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  through something or you will go through something
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  Might be cancer Might be slander Might be job
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  loss Might be persecution Might be the loss of
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  a loved one if you are tired of that Today is
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  the day of salvation to give yourself to the
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  Lord Jesus Christ who one day will save us from
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  all of this. He will lift us up to be with God.
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  But in the here and now, what is the point? What's
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  the point of what we are doing here? If you know
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  you're short of catechism, it's to glorify God
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  and to enjoy Him forever. And yet people who
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  deny who Jesus is, they don't live for God because
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  they don't see a need for God. And they don't
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  see a need for the righteousness of Christ because
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  they think they are righteous in their own eyes.
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  They don't need to glorify God because they're
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  glorifying themselves. Friends, Jesus died so
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  that we could glorify God. Tonight I pray that
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  you would be strengthened in your faith in the
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  suffering servant, that his death and his resurrection
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  would bring you hope, but I'm also aware there
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  could be those here who were hearing this for
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  the first time who've never thought about Isaiah
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  52 and 50. But think about it, who else could
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  Isaiah possibly be talking about? Who else in
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  all of history could be afflicted with wounds
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  and we get healing from it? Who else in all of
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  history could be numbered with the transgressors
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  and yet bear the sins of many to make intercession?
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  Who else, I ask? Well, just in case you're still
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  unsure. I'll land the plane with Acts chapter
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  8. You might remember this episode, the Ethiopian
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  eunuch and Philip. And the eunuch is traveling
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  and he's reading something. And no, it's not
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  the newspaper. He's reading Isaiah 53. And the
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  eunuch, 834, the eunuch said to Philip, about
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  whom I ask you does the prophet say this about
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  himself or about someone else then Philip opened
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  his mouth and beginning with this scripture he
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  told him the good news about Jesus and so friends
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  it's not just that this is about Jesus it's that
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  it must be about Jesus because he's the only
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  one who stripes could bring healing. To put it
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  in another way, in a way that I think will stick
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  with you for the rest of the night, what can
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  wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.