Isaiah 52: 13-15 GOOD FRIDAY "He was wounded for our transgression"

Today we remember “Good Friday”.  It is a good  day, not  because Jesus died a horrible death  at the hands  of horrible, sinful people. It is a good day because on this day  God, in Christ provided an answer  to a terrible dilemma  which we  could not  fix.  This is the day when  we remember that the perfect, sinless Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Lord   Jesus,  gave His  life in exchange for  all those who trusted in His Name and in His work  for them. This is the day   on which  the Lord Jesus Christ provided an effective cure  for  the  problem of sin. This is the day  when   redemption  became a reality. 

This is the day  when our sin died with Christ on the cross (Col.2:14,15). This is the day when  Christ  paid for the penalty  for  our sins. Oh,  how our God knows how to turn tragedy into triumph!

On Palm Sunday  we worked through   most of the 52nd chapter of Isaiah. The ESV entitles  verses  1- 12,   “The Lord’s coming salvation”,  and I showed you  on that Sunday  how aptly  this text fitted  into the context of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.[1]  In the 4 gospels  we see  that Christ came  riding  into Jerusalem  in a most unassuming manner, as a servant [2] on a donkey, and yet the crowd shouted  “Hosanna”  (save  we pray! Cf. Psalm 118:25 ). Now combine that  with the fact  that  Jesus’  name  means,   “Yahweh saves”[3], and  then we understand that Jesus’   journey into Jerusalem was   for the purpose of  saving His people  from their sins.  But  more than that, He  did not just ride  into Jerusalem to preach good news – the gospel.  Jesus Himself was the gospel! He Himself  was the good news in person, riding   into Jerusalem   to do for His people what they  could never  have done for themselves. They were so weighed down by their own  sins and  so weighed down by their  nation’s  sins.   As a result they had  experienced  themselves  forsaken by God (Isa. 49:14).   People were acutely aware of their need for a Saviour. The truth of Isaiah’s prophetic preaching (e.g. Isa.  45:22-24 ; 48:1,2)   was ever before them, even while they were experiencing the physical threats of the  assault of the Assyrians.  It is into this  spiritual  darkness  that the prophet  Isaiah speaks  his twin messages of  doom and  encouragement.  This  is nothing new as you may recall from  passages  such as Deuteronomy  28, in which God spells out  blessings for obedience  and curses for disobedience.

Thus,  Jesus came riding into a city  so burdened with  a sinful history  and  burdened with present idolatry. He came riding into  the city  of David which had  been favoured  with so  many  blessings in the past – the temple, God’s  manifest presence, the priesthood, all which was  designed  to  be  a blessing from  God  to serve  the people, helping them to remain focussed on God in this earthly journey  …  and yet, all that blessing was now terribly abused  and  empty  of  the true presence of God.  So Jesus, the gospel in person,   entered  the city  to save a people  who could not save themselves, and  Isaiah  with  joy  sees the servant of God  by faith and  by the Holy Spirit he declares: “How beautiful upon the mountains  are the feet of  him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness , who publishes  salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns.” etc. (52:7-10). 

And please note,   He comes not only to Zion, symbolic of  the heart of Israel’s  existence, but Isaiah also   declares, “The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall  see the salvation of our God.”  Thus Jesus, the Saviour came to die not only for the chosen Jews, but  He came  to die  for all the chosen people among  all the nations. As I said  on Palm Sunday, so I say again : This is BIG!

And so  this  amazing  pre-amble, the  triumphal entry  in the ‘gospel of Isaiah’  (53:1-12)   gives way to   Isaiah  52:13-53:12, that legendary and mind boggling text  which describes  the death  and resurrection of Christ,  more than 700 years before it actually happened.  Just in passing we  also want to remember that it was this text that puzzled the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts  8:26-40, until  God miraculously sent an expositor  called  Philip   to  his side, explaining that this  scripture  containing information concerning the  mysterious suffering servant,  was nothing less  than  the good news about Jesus  (Acts 8:35). When  the eunuch saw that  he  believed in Jesus there and then and   he was  baptised,  and he went  on his way to his country rejoicing!

Our  chosen text begins with these words : Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. (Isa. 52:13-15)

Let us now consider  the  closing  3 verses of Isaiah 52. Josh Hooker will pick up on  Isaiah  53 tomorrow  morning ,  the silent day of Easter, the day that Jesus  was in the grave .

TAKE  ANOTHER  CAREFUL  LOOK AT THE SERVANT ! (V. 13)

"Behold my Servant.”   Stop, and look at Him! … says Isaiah.  This one who came riding into Jerusalem, unassuming, on a donkey,  this servant  ….look at Him!  Do not be fooled by His unassuming appearance! Do not be fooled by His humility! What He is about to do  is stupendous!  Behold ! (Look!), says John the Baptist , the Lamb of God  who  takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29,36) “Behold, my servant shall act wisely…”. This is the  servant  of God, and as such  He will act wisely. Another way to read this, according to the footnote  is,  “my servant  shall prosper”. Notwithstanding the fact that He looks so very  unpromising, He will succeed in this  divine mission. This text sets the  direction for the rest of the chapter.  Because  the servant  acts with wisdom,  the prosperity  or  the success  of his mission is guaranteed. Now this is very important  to understand, since at face value  you may not see  Christ’s  identity with the poor,  and the powerless  and the sinful  and  weak, and  you may not see His unassuming  entry  into Jerusalem,  and then His cruel trial and death in terms of a success story. And so we ask the question as we contemplate Good Friday: What good can come out of a suffering servant? The prophet, speaking for God maintains:“Behold my Servant  shall act   wisely”. He will prosper…  We are  of course privileged to know the story from the other side of the cross. We  now know  and appreciate the wisdom of Jesus as   He  rode into Jerusalem,  as He was  tortured by cruel men, as He was crucified  and as He rose again. We  now know that this was the wisdom of God.  He did prosper. He did succeed, and we are amazed at the wisdom of God, so contrary to the wisdom and logic of this world.  The apostle Paul comments on this in 1 Corinthians  2:6,7.

But  the  success of His mission is seen in particular in this  phrase:  “He will be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted”.  Isaiah  goes on to describe  Christ’s  exaltation, and once again we are reminded of this  in Philippians 2:  “Being in very nature God … (He) made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant … He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow .. every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The suffering servant  is the exalted Christ , who after His  death and resurrection ascended  to the Father in heaven, from where He shall come again , but this time as  conquering King  of kings and Lord of lords, to judge  the living and the dead and   thus to set up His eternal kingdom, just as He had proclaimed at His first coming.

BEHOLD  THE SUFFERING  SERVANT! (vv. 14, 15a)

Behold  my servant! … But now  from  a completely different angle. “As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind”.  The first  portrait was  of the servant   high and lifted up, and  exalted! But now   we find a  striking contrast  as we are introduced to a very different picture. Isaiah expresses  “astonishment”  that this exalted servant should  be so disfigured … a man whose appearance is marred beyond human semblance.  

We imagine  that we  hear someone asking : “Excuse me, but is this the same  person we are looking at?” He looks  scarcely human. He is entirely disfigured.   Why this disfigurement?  Verse 15a provides us with the profound answer. “… so shall  he  sprinkle  many nations.”

The sprinkling  referred to here  was something  associated  with the work  of the  priests of the OT.   The  sacrificial system which they administered  was  associated with the sprinkling of blood[4], and this act signified  an act  of  cleansing and purifying the sinner who by faith had brought the blood sacrifice to the priests for  the  atonement of His.  Isaiah, with this picture of  the disfigured servant, is saying  here  what  he will  frequently  repeat in this text, namely that  by the suffering of this servant there will be healing and wholeness and cleansing.  The most  famous  text  in this regard is  Isaiah  53:5,6: “With His stripes we are healed … the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The effect  of  the servants work will  be  BIG…by His blood He will sprinkle the nations, not just those that believed in Him  in Jerusalem, and not just those who believed  in Him in Israel, BUT all who would believe  in Him  among the nations!  He will sprinkle them with His blood of  atonement (Hebr. kippur à covering)

BEHOLD, OUR RESPONSE TO THESE CONTRASTING PICTURES OF JESUS (v. 15b-c)

“…kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand”.The image  of  the Jesus, the suffering servant, whom we are called to look at  is strangely mixed: triumphant, reigning, in control,  and full of authority.Yet  we find Him also disfigured, distorted and  seemingly defeated.  Mankind simply does not know how to deal with such an image. We struggle  to  accept such   redemptive, vicarious suffering. It  is beyond our grasp.How do we reconcile this apparent paradox? Isaiah leads us  to a conclusion.  “Kings shall shut their mouths because of  Him.”  They do not know what to say.  The picture is too powerful – it transcends language. “… for that  which  has not been  told them they see; and that which they have not heard, they  understand.” This unassuming  servant, who is  riding on the  foal of a donkey, who is  recognised by some as the Messiah in His triumphal  entry, but who is then   arrested, beaten and  killed upon a cross is in fact  the King of kings and the Lord of lords. 

And so the thought of the Servant’s supreme exaltation causes the lesser kings of the earth to shut their mouths. The truth about  this servant  has dawned. Sadly  for many people and kings, the truth about this  great Servant King who  has been revealed to the world  has dawned , but  not really sunk in.  But on the day of His appearing , “every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father. “  On that day it will have no saving effect .

The final question is therefore,   do you trust this  exalted , disfigured King now  for  His work on the cross ?

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[1]  All four gospels record the triumphal entry : Matthew 21: 1- 11 ; Mark 11:1-11 ; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19

[2] Note the four servant   passages  in this regard :  42:1-9; 49:1-7 ; 50:4-11 ; 52:13-53:12

[3] Matthew 1:21

[4] Ex 29:16,20 ; Lev. 1:5,11  etc. 

Isaiah 52:1-12 - "The Lord’s Coming Salvation" (PALM SUNDAY)

As we begin to focus on the  last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we begin with His significant  triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This  event is described in all four gospels [1] and is  specifically prophesied   by the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 9:9)  and in so many other indirect ways  in the  Old Testament, such as this passage which we have just read in  Isaiah, which precedes  the  famous Isaiah 53 passage  which we shall  consider   on  Easter  Friday  and also on a special occasion  on   Saturday.

Today we remember the occasion   when Jesus, as  the  chosen  servant   of God[2] came, riding on a humble donkey   to fulfil  the work that the Father  had given  Him to do in laying down His life for His people[3]. As He entered  the city,  He was most   surprisingly  received  in the manner of  a conquering King, although “he had no  form or majesty  that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him…”  (53:2), and yet the crowd  received Him  with  these words, "Hosanna[4] to the Son of David”. This   was tantamount to saying (and so  it was understood  by the Pharisees e.g. in Lk 19:39) that He was the long expected Messiah of Israel.    

In Luke’s account of the triumphal entry, Jesus  following His entrance  is deeply disturbed at what He sees. In fact He weeps over Jerusalem  (see Lk  19:41- 44 ; and see  also  Lk  13:34 – 35).  This act is followed  by the famous  temple cleansing (Lk. 19:45-48; Matt 21:12-17)

It is particularly   Lk  13:34 – 35 that gives us an insight  into  the spiritual state of Jerusalem. It was  this city  that  had killed the prophets. It was this city that would kill the Son of God, and amazingly, Jesus  knew that  this was going to happen! What was the purpose for which Jesus rode into Jerusalem to lay down His life?   It was  to hand Himself over to wicked men  to do what they had wanted to do all along, BUT  in this  atrocious act  He  would make atonement for  sin! By His  death He would  secure  eternal life for  all his own people,  for all those “who did receive Him, who believed  in His Name” (John 1:12). It was  ultimately  to secure for them a  future, not in this earthly Jerusalem, but  in the new, the heavenly Jerusalem, the home of every true believer  which Jesus went to prepare in John 14:1-4  and of which  we read in   Revelation 21.

Now we know from the history of Jerusalem  that she had been  besieged and captured many times. In the days of  Israel’s  occupation of Jerusalem[5], this city was  sacked  eventually by the Babylonians in around  586 BC. She  was  burned and destroyed and her  people taken into exile in  Babylon, just as  Isaiah and Jeremiah and others had said. But before that, approximately 135  years  earlier,  in the days of Isaiah,  this city  was also threatened by the Assyrians  who did in fact capture the northern territory of Israel and with it 10 tribes, who were sent into  exile in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:5ff).   All prophets, particularly the  major  prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, and later the Lord Jesus, God’s final Revelation (Hebr. 1:1-3) saw  that the continued rebellion  of this city  that had experienced  so much  of God’s favour, in terms of hosting  the temple of God, and therefore  the visible presence of God in Israel, that this city  would  face the wrath of God.  This leading  city  of the Jews   had lost the vision   of God in her midst.

Now Isaiah’s  prophecy  can be divided into two parts. The first part,  Chapters  1-35  focus on God’s judgement on Israel, the northern kingdom,   by  Assyria; then there is a ‘bridge’  in Chapters 36-39 before the prophecy closes with the second major part  in chapters 40 – 66,  where we find  a vision of the  return of the remnant from Babylon.

The point is this. Isaiah’s vision is big!  Not only does he  include future events from his own perspective in about 722 BC;  Isaiah sees  the restoration of Israel  after the Babylonian captivity, much later in 520 BC, when he was long dead. But more  than that, Isaiah’s  prophecy anticipates  the  ministry and mission of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ (whom we shall meet as the suffering servant in  Isaiah 53) more than 700 years later! And from our perspective Isaiah  foresees  even more than that. He foresees  the rule  and restoration  of all things under Christ  in  days to come, which, from our perspective,  is STILL  in the future!

Now from the present perspective  of Isaiah, and  from Christ’s  perspective, when He rode into Jerusalem, and also  from our own perspective, this earthly Jerusalem  was and is  anything but a holy city.   But  Isaiah  sees  beyond that  and he  like His Messiah, the Lord Jesus look  to the far future  when things will look very different. And it all began  on that day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. On this day  He came to  Jerusalem  to  secure the future  of  the inhabitants  of a far greater Jerusalem. He came to  do this   in His death  and resurrection  which is described  in Isaiah 53. In preparation for that I want you then to take a look with me at this text[6] which precedes the phenomenal  events of Isaiah 53, just as the triumphal entry     preceded the phenomenal events of the week that lay ahead:

1.Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Obviously,  the prophet is not speaking here of  a political  entity  called  Jerusalem. He is speaking  of  that future city where  there  shall be no sin – the heavenly Jerusalem of  Revelation 21. That  is the city that Jesus ultimately  came to establish when He came riding into  this sinful Jerusalem, that killed the prophets, and therefore the prophet continues …

2. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. What did the Lord Jesus  achieve  in his death and resurrection?  He  purchased  freedom  for a people in the dust, a people enslaved by sin. He freed them  for citizenship in the new Jerusalem,  by the shedding of His blood.

3.  For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” What does this   mean?  In context  this  would refer to the Babylonian captivity. Babylon acquired   Judah and paid nothing for  her when they took her captive in 586 BC. However,  roughly 70 years later under Cyrus  the Persian and then Artaxerxes [7]  she was freed  without the payment of money,  when men like Ezra and Nehemiah led the people back to Jerusalem  from captivity, being in fact supported by the Babylonians to rebuild Jerusalem[8]. But in a greater sense it would mean  that the sin which our  first father Adam committed, and of which we had borne the fruit, would now  be borne  by Christ in His death, BUT no  one has  to pay for their redemption. It was free for those who would take it.    This  was the purpose for which  Jesus  came to ride into the city! 

4 For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Israel’s first stint away from their   earthly Jerusalem in Canaan  was  experienced when they had lived  for 430 years in  Egypt, after which they returned under Moses and Joshua  to Canaan, their promised land.  Then  David  established the   physical Jerusalem  for Israel, but under  the often foolish rule of his  grandsons, substantial chunks of the kingdom were gradually lost – first under the  Assyrians, who   claimed the northern kingdom of Israel.  

In Christ’s day the  Jews were oppressed  by the  Romans, and the Jews hoped for  their Messiah  to return to  deliver them from the  Roman yoke. But was this ultimately the yoke  that  they needed to be  delivered from? Was not the yoke of sin their ultimate problem?  And who alone could effectively deal  with sin, if not the Son of God? And so Jesus rode into Jerusalem …

  

5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Many a time when Israel was  attacked by her enemies (no doubt, due to their own foolishness, which resulted in the hand of God being lifted from them),  their enemies  were  blaspheming the  name of God  when they  taunted  Israel: “Where now is your God?”  (e.g. Ps 42:10;  115:2; Joel 2:17). In truth, this was also  the  general attitude of the Jews   to Jesus. When he hung on the cross they mocked Him, saying: “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One.”(Lk. 23:35). The truth was that in continually  mocking Christ they were continually mocking the work of God. And so Christ rode into Jerusalem on  this day  to make a distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous!  

6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.” In the  historical context  the  release from Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of Jerusalem would be  a true testimony  to the power of God.  Nehemiah confirms this in Neh.6:15,16  when he says, “… all the nations around us …perceived that this work  had been  accomplished with the help of our God !” But in a greater sense  the greatest work  would be the   establishment  of the  eternal city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, which would be populated by  those who had been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.  Jesus came riding  into  Jerusalem  to  declare that He would do this ON THE CROSS!   This  is  therefore what gives rise to the next verse!  Here is the gospel  of the good news   for all the people… for all the nations !

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Paul quotes this passage in Rom 10:15.  The point is that whatever historical situation brought  the good news  in Isaiah’s day, he was looking much further, when our  Messiah  made the gospel  terms  effective  by His death and resurrection .For this reason Jesus came riding into Jerusalem.

8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy;  for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.  In the  historical setting this  was accomplished  when God restore the Jews to liberty under the leadership of men  like  Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Yet again,  and in a greater sense, these things were fulfilled in Christ’s coming into Jerusalem  for this purpose – that He might lay down His life for a great number of people  and to establish  for them a city whose foundations cannot be shaken.

9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.  Historical deliverance happened  under Cyrus, (2 Chron. 36:22,23). The  Lord  displayed his power among the Medes and Persians, but afterwards he made it visible to all the nations. But again, see the ultimate fulfilment  in this  text. The Abrahamic covenant  is being fulfilled, as not only Jews but  gentiles  were participating in the salvation of God in Christ. All this began  to be fulfilled  in Christ riding into Jerusalem  to lay down His life for  Jews and gentiles. 

11 Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. In context  this was a call to  all  the Jews to leave Babylon, and to leave the things of Babylon behind. Those  that were  carrying the vessels of the Lord ( i.e. the vessels  for the temple), the priests, these were to be  especially consecrated. 

The redeemed would not need to  leave in haste as they had done when they left Egypt in the Exodus. They were completely free. God would go before to lead them and behind to protect them as they journeyed to their Promised Land (cf. Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 14:19-20). In our context, it is important that we need to leave the city of destruction and make sure that we are on the  road to the heavenly  Jerusalem. (Pilgrims Progress)  

Here then,  in this  part of  Isaiah’s prophecy  the dual implications of the prophet's promises are very clear.  The Babylonian captivity  formed the background  to what  Isaiah  said, but  Isaiah  had the larger issue of slavery to sin in mind.  Return to the land was in view, but even more so, the opportunity to return to the Lord through spiritual redemption was his greater focus. God would deal with the result in Israel's case, captivity, but He would also and more importantly deal with the great cause of  every man's   problem, namely sin !

All this Jesus  came to do when he rode on that donkey  into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  

Hallelujah, what a Word! 

Hallelujah, what a Saviour! 

AMEN .

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[1] Matthew 21: 1- 11 ; Mark 11:1-11 ; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19

[2] Note the four servant   passages  in this regard :  42:1-9; 49:1-7 ; 50:4-11 ; 52:13-53:12

[3] i.e. as the Lamb of God for His sheep

[4]  Lit. “save now”

[5] This city was captured by David from the Jebusites  in  2 Samuel 5:6-10 , after which it was called “the city of David”

[6] The proper  parameters for this text is  Isaiah 51:1-52:12. The chapter division at 52:1 is unfortunate . Similarly  the chapter division should not begin with 53:1, as it does, but should start at 52:13.

Outline of Ch.  51:1- 52:12 : 1. A threefold  call  to listen :  i.e.  51 : 1; 4; 7   2. A threefold  exhortation to awake  : 51:9;17 & 52:1  

[7] Ezra 1:1; 4:7

[8]  Ezra 1:2ff ;Neh. 2:8