Please turn your Bibles to Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52, verse 13, is where our reading will begin. That's on page 516 in the Pew Bible. We've seen that Isaiah is a book about the great salvation that God is accomplishing, our God saves and that our God reigns. And, of course, we can ponder and are led to ponder, particularly in this passage this morning, if there is such a great salvation How is it purchased? What is the purchase price for so great a salvation? And we'll see that, of course, that this great price is, as we've been singing in Psalm 22, through the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, that by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 52.13-53.12 is one of the great and key Old Testament texts, of course. These 15 verses are quoted or referenced over 34 times in the New Testament, in all four of the Gospels and Acts and Romans, I Corinthians. You're starting to get the point of in Hebrews, in 1 Peter, extensively in 1 Peter, in 1 John, in the book of Revelation as well. So, this is really a crucial passage in the flow of the Scripture. between Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, we probably get our closest glimpse into the sufferings of Christ. And Isaiah, if you will, was as close to the pinnacle of the understanding that anybody in the Old Testament era got of the coming ministry of Christ, of what Christ's life and His sufferings and His death on the cross would actually entail and be like, as he was given this revelation from the Lord. Now, I will say that for many of you, probably, Isaiah 53 is one of your favorite biblical texts, and you are in good company. There are whole books of sermons written, and, you know, reflections on these 15 verses alone. And yet we're going to deal with it this morning as just one section. One of the reasons for that is, really, it is one poetic section. as we will see. And it's kind of the pace that we've been going through, going through the book of Isaiah. But that being said, let me just offer to you a defense on your behalf. If in your mind you're saying, you know, I could really be very content to slow down and spend you know, ten weeks in Isaiah 53, or five weeks in Isaiah 53. That's not a bad instinct on your part at all. Sometimes we might feel guilty. Is it okay that I have certain passages of the Bible, certain chapters, certain verses that are more dear to me, that seem more significant? How can we square that with in 2 Timothy, right, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Is it okay that I have certain parts that really seem to feed my soul and strengthen me more? Well, yes, it is okay. Even Jesus, right, when He was asked, what's the greatest part of the law? What's the greatest commandment? He didn't say, oh, all parts are equally important. He said, no, the greatest commandment is what? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second commandment is like to love your neighbor as yourself. Right? So Jesus Himself acknowledged that there are certain verses, certain passages that are of greater weight, of greater significance. Not that all of it's not God-breathed. Not that all of it is not important. for our edification, but that it is appropriate for us to have passages that we say, I love Isaiah 53 in a way that maybe other parts of the Old Testament or other parts of the New Testament don't resonate with me this strongly. So, we'll be looking at this poetic section this morning. One more thing before the Scripture reading. If you are following along in the New King James Bible and, you know, in the Pew Bible or in your own, you are going to notice that when we come to verse 8 and verse 12, that I'm going to offer a little bit of a modified reading that I'm convinced makes actually the translation more clear and easier to understand for us, and actually is a better interpretation. And that's not just based on my knowledge of Hebrew, which is quite limited, but on some various commentators. Isaiah 52, beginning in verse 13. Behold, My servant shall deal prudently." he shall be exalted, and extolled, and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at him, for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider. Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of 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 by 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. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shears is silenced, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living? for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due. 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 in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide the great as his portion, and he shall divide the strong as his spoil, because he poured out his soul unto death, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Well, around the world, of course, this upcoming week is the week that outside of any other week, that more than any other week, is the week that people think about and reflect on Jesus Christ going to the cross. And so, it's very fitting for us to meditate on the sufferings of Christ as they are described for us. here in Isaiah 52 and 53. John the Baptist, of course, as he met Jesus early in the ministry of Christ, as Jesus came to be baptized, he acknowledged that he was not worthy to stoop down and unfasten even the sandal of Jesus. And there's a reality, as we come to the precious truths of the Scripture, and particularly ones like Isaiah 53, that so carefully describe for us Christ's ministry on our behalf, that we need to come carefully and reverently. That there's a reality here of coming into, as it were in the Old Testament era, coming into the holy of holies, the most perfect of all perfect places on earth, that area that was even more holy than the other holy areas of the temple, that it's extra special in that regard. And Derek Kidner points out, in this regard, that Isaiah's… even in the poetic structure of these fifteen verses, that Isaiah reflects, if you will, that cubic structure, that ten-by-ten-by-ten structure of the Holy of Holies, that Isaiah reflects in his careful poetic structure of these fifteen verses, just how special, how precious the doctrines and the descriptions that he's unfolding are. What we have within these fifteen verses are, in fact, five paragraphs or five stanzas each, three verses long. And Kidner says the poem, unusually symmetrical, is in five paragraphs of three verses each. It begins and ends with the servant's exaltation in the first and fifth stanzas. Set within this is the story of his rejection in sections two and four. which in turn frame the centerpiece, verses 4-6, where the significance of Christ's suffering is explained. So you have the exaltation of Christ in the first and in the fifth section bracketed by, we could say, biographical descriptions, the first really being the biographical details of His incarnation and the sufferings of the incarnation, then bracketed in section four with the biographical details of the progression and suffering on the cross and ultimately being buried And the middle section then becomes the editorial section. Why? Why did he do this? For what reason? And, of course, there, right in the middle, we find that very precious verse, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, every one of us, to his own way. What are we going to do? The Lord has laid on Him the iniquities of us all. Why does this suffering make sense? Because He is the sin-bearer on our behalf. And God wants you and me to join in His exaltation of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to reflect on that for just a moment. Jesus is exalted right now, whether you acknowledge it or not. Whether we bow the knee or not, He is exalted because of what He has done. But Isaiah 53 beckons us and invites us to join in exalting the suffering servant by trusting His sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins. So we are called here to join in exalting this suffering servant by trusting in his sacrifice, by saying, it is finished, it is good, it is sufficient, and it is trustworthy for the forgiveness of my sins. That's why Isaiah paints this picture for us. And we're going to look at each of these five sections in turn. And each one of the five sections, I'm going to give you a title or name or description of Jesus. followed by two modifiers. So, in essence, you'll get a name, and maybe you want to put in a colon. I think that's maybe grammatically what I'm looking for. And then I'll give you two more words that give us further light. First of all, in chapter 52, the first section, verses 13-15, we meet a servant from spectacle to spectacular." A servant from spectacle to spectacular. Verse 13, behold, God says, look, look and see. Lift up your eyes, look at Him, examine, think about this. Look at My servant. Look at the one I've chosen for this particular role, with this particular task that I've sent Him. he will, my servant shall, deal prudently." His behavior will be wise. His course of action will be in accord with wisdom. The ladies of the congregation have been studying the book of Proverbs, right? And the behavior that accords with what's the best possible course to achieve the best possible outcome. And God here from the beginning is telling us, you know, the things that you're going to read about in the next few verses, the things that you will observe in the life of Jesus will be a little bit head-scratching to you. Why would this great miracle worker go to the cross? How can this possibly be a good ending? How can this lead to a good outcome? This does not make sense to me. It does not make sense, right, to the apostles on the day of the crucifixion. It's a head scratcher. And God says, no, my servant in doing this is actually dealing in wisdom, and he will accomplish the intended results. My servant will deal prudently He will be exalted and extolled and be very high. God, once again, is giving us the end of the story from the beginning. And Isaiah here actually, interestingly, uses language that he, vocabulary that he used back in where? Isaiah 6, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. That's the first two Hebrew words in this sequence here, exalted and extolled. And really, instead of very high, you could translate that, and enthroned. that He's echoing His own wording, that the same Lord God, the same holy, holy, holy God who is high and lifted up, My servant will be high and lifted up and enthroned in that same way. You can also see in those three words, echoes of, that He will be raised up, resurrected, he will ascend on high, and he will be received into the heavenly places and said, Psalm 110, sit here at my right hand. The resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the end of the story. But now we flash back, don't we? We flash back from this end of the story back to the spectacle that is made of Jesus. Verse 14, many were astonished at you. His visage, His face, was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. It's the opposite, right, of what we read about in the description of Moses, when Moses in the Old Testament came face to face with God, meeting with Him at the Tent of Meeting, and He would come out and His face shone. But this is a face that is marred and disfigured. A face that is marred and disfigured that, as we come to understand later in chapter 53, 10 through 12, where in each of those verses there's an emphasis on his soul being made an offering for sin. That helps us to understand why, in fact, Roman leaders and the officials were so surprised at the speed of Christ's crucifixion. How did he die so fast? Well, it's because he was not just afflicted bodily, but to his very soul, and his face reflected that draining. That absolute destruction that had wreaked on His entire person, the cost of our atonement, more than any other time, the brutality. and the effect that has never been seen before and never will be seen since, because of this draining that took place. Verse 15, So shall he sprinkle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths at him, for what they had not for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider." Out of this spectacle, the result is the sprinkling, the cleansing blood of Christ's priestly ministry, so much so that the great people of the world, verse 15 tells us, will stop in their tracks. And that they'll say, how do we make sense of this? What is the meaning of this? How can the battered one be exalted in this way? And those of you who are in geometry, We'll want to remember that what we have here is Jesus Christ's life pictured for us as the great parabola. How low can you go, and going lower than anyone has ever gone or ever will go, followed by this great and glorious exaltation. He shall be exalted and extolled and very high, a servant a servant of whom a spectacle is made, but the result is spectacular, and the exaltation that he receives is spectacular as well, a servant. And then we see in 53, one through three, the second section, and remember, this gets us into the biographical section, we see Jesus described to us as a man, a man, dependent and despised. There's an installment here, if you will, in the biographical narrative of the life of Christ and the prediction about who He will be of the incarnation. What's this incarnation going to entail? And verse 1 warns us, what I'm going to tell you, Isaiah says, is unbelievable. It's not the way any of us would write the story. If I tell you in the Old Testament, the Son of God is going to come to the earth, who would picture that His life would look like this? Who would picture that His body would be subjected to these torturous horrors? Most unbelievable. Unlikely of saviors. Because it's not the way we would write the story. But it describes to us, v. 2, that this incarnate Savior, this God who came in the flesh, will actually grow up. Now, for you and for me, growing up is a desirable thing. We want to get smarter. We want to get stronger. We want to get on with our life. But for Jesus Christ, as the eternal Son of God, who had never been subjected to change at all, to come in the place of weakness, the tender plant, the plant that needs daily care and cultivation, the plant that needs water, the root out of dry ground. He doesn't even get to be planted in the beautiful garden places. It doesn't get to be sold in the section of Home Depot where you go and buy the hanging baskets that already look really beautiful, but just the root, planted in a dry, thirsty place, a place of dependence and need, and not only needy, but also despised. He has no form or comeliness. Those are the words, actually, that are used in Genesis 29, 17. The very two terms are used to describe Rachel when Jacob met her. He is not, though, attractive. She had form and comeliness, Jesus is not coming with form or even majesty, could be the translation there as well. When we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. Instead, how is He treated? He is, verse 3, despised and rejected by men. Nobody wanted to be His friend. Nobody desired His company. A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. We can certainly read that into and know that that's true of Christ's trip to and time on the cross. But given its placement within this structure, Isaiah's actually challenging us to think of this as a broader framework to the life of Christ. And I don't have this all sorted out in my own mind yet, and probably never will, but it's led me to spend some time this week reflecting on the burden, the burdened childhood and young adulthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. that as he came, that there would have been a greater sensitivity to the sorrows and griefs of the community around him. That when people were struggling, that whereas you and I might try to tell them a little joke to cheer them up, or just able to kind of move on and just say, well, that's not my day, you deal with that, I'm going on with my stuff. that he had a heart that much more sensitively connected the sufferings of mankind to the sin of mankind, and a heart that understood, your grief is not just something that I can walk away from. Your grief is something that I've been sent to carry. Your grief impacts me and my person. And then it's easy, if you start thinking about that, to realize probably a lot of kids on the playground didn't want to hang out with him. You know, that there would have been a weightiness to his person, a burden that he's always carrying, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. But there would have been many times that people just wanted to avoid him, as verse 3 attests to. We hid, as it were, our faces from him. I'd just rather not interact with you. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. The word there, esteem, has to do with the concept of examining and determining that there's nothing really valuable here. So, for instance, imagine that you are at Goodwill, and there is a priceless antique vase there, but you don't know anything about antique vases like me. And you pick it up, and you look at it, And you say, well, that's kind of ugly, and you set it back down and walk away. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. We picked him up, looked at him, and said, this isn't important for me. A man made dependent, and despised." The incarnation, and the incarnation done in such a way that this is not the man you would choose to be the Savior of the world. This is not the man who you would choose to be the hero of the story. This is the man who, if he shows up at the grand play practice of the world, you would say, you know, we might have a role for you backstage. Or maybe you can be one of the background players who walks across the stage at some point in the scene of the townspeople, but you'd never say this is the one who will have the main role. A servant and a man And then verses 4-6, what's the purpose? Remember, this center section is where we really get to the editorializing, the explanation of what is going on. What's the meaning of these things, verses 4-6? And we see here, a sin-bearer weighed down and misunderstood. a sin-bearer weighed down and misunderstood. Surely He has borne, He has carried, He was wounded, He was bruised. The chastisement was upon Him and by His stripes. he being whipped." And this is a description, right, of his going to the cross and his experience, his suffering as he went to, as he carried, as he was on the cross. And, of course, it's a description far beyond just physical sufferings, back to the anguish of the soul, the spiritual sufferings, as well as what he is enduring is for the carrying of sorrows and iniquities the Lord has laid on him," verse 6, the iniquity of us all. Now, why did he endure these things? Well, part of the humiliation of Jesus Christ, the humiliation that he endured, verse 4, is that as He's enduring these things, that we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. That as He is on the cross, that the assessment that the passersby had of Him is, you did something wrong. This man must have sinned in grievous ways. We have seen him smitten on his own account. God must be very angry with that guy. What did he do? But Isaiah tells us that his being weighed down has been misunderstood. because it wasn't him being stricken and smitten on his own account or because of his own criminal record, if you will, but because of your and my criminal record. Why was he wounded? Why was he bruised? Why was he receiving chastisement? Because of our transgressions, because of your and my sin, our iniquities, because we were not at peace with God, he entered into a place of not having peace with God in order to rescue and to bring us out of that sorrow, that grief, that place of loss, so that we might have peace, so that we might have healing. He received the stripes, verse 5, so that you might be healed. It's describing for us this tremendous and great exchange I have a billion dollars. Would you trade me your used Kleenex for it?" Of course I would. And we give up our sin, our iniquity, our conflict with God, our distance from God. He takes that and in turn gives us His peace, His healing, weighed down, but yet misunderstood as the sin-bearer. Why was he bearing the sin? Verse 6, because all we, like sheep, have gone astray. That as Paul will quote later on in the book of Romans, there is none righteous, no, not one. That there's no one can say, I have driven my life perfectly down the middle. No, we all steer into the ditch. We all, like a little sheep, run off and do our own thing. We've turned to our own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all, the sin of the world, all on the Savior of the world, all on the sin bearer, and Him bearing the consequence of what our actions, in fact, deserve and deserved. A servant, a man, a sin-bearer. And then we see in verses 7-9, building on that, a sacrifice. Verses 7-9, a sacrifice, submissive and slain. All we, like sheep, have gone astray Verse 7, "...but he was led as a lamb to the slaughter." That we're the ones who went astray, but he as the sin-bearer became the sacrifice on our behalf, receiving our sin. And this biographical section then describes to us… Remember, the prior biographical section described the incarnation. This biographical section describes to us the sacrifice. And you can see this played out, really, in v. 7, the progression to the cross, v. 8, the death on the cross, and v. 9, His burial as well. Progression to the cross, death on the cross, and burial in the grave. And he goes, it tells us, Isaiah takes great pains to tell us that he went willingly. that unlike the lambs that go to slaughter in slaughterhouses here, who don't know what's coming until it's far too late, that he knew, but he opened not his mouth. He was silent, and he opened not his mouth. He was submissive, not argumentative, even unto his death. And then it tells us in verse 8, by oppression and judgment, he was taken away. It wasn't a fair trial. He was being oppressed, but it was under that heavy handedness that he was taken away and his generation, going back to the, we didn't understand what was going on. His peers never considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people. to whom the stroke was due. The sin-bearer became the sacrifice because of the transgressions of God's own people, people who God had chosen from eternity past. And Jesus then, verse 9, He died with the wicked, but was with the rich in His burial. And God did that as a testimony to His righteousness and the exaltation that was yet to come. A servant, a man, a sin bearer, a sacrifice made, But then verses 10 through 12 return us to that bracketed theme of the exaltation of Christ. As we are reintroduced or as the story resolves and we see a victor alive and well satisfied. That the grave did not have the last word. And it says, "...yet while it pleased the Lord to bruise him, to put him to grief, to make his soul an offering for sin, you, the Father, have made his soul an offering for sin, Yet while all that is true, He shall see His seed." He's going to see what springs forth from His death. Remember, Jesus says unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it can't bear fruit. But this seed will actually get to see the seed that will rise from Him to do His will. Psalm 22. And it will please the Lord to prolong His days and to prosper Him as well." It's telling us that death did not have the last word at all. But it's describing the reception of the Father, the Father's response to the sacrifice, and the reception of the Father to the Son, as the son's sacrifice is received, and then as he is raised up, and as he re-enters heaven, that through his experience, that he will, verse 11, justify many by his knowledge, by what he has known and experienced, he will justify many, because he will bear their iniquities. And because of what he did, he is exalted, and the great and the strong will be his portion. I think it's actually very important in verse 12. You can read verse 12, like in the New King James, and get the impression that in the heavenly places that Jesus sits down at a big table with all the other great victors of history, that he gets to sit down there and then divide up the spoil. And that's really actually pretty bad theology, right? Because he says to us, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. I am not a victor among victors. I am the victor. No one else has won a victory like this. And so it's actually reflecting on the fact that part of the victory of Christ is that even the kings of the earth, even the mighty of the earth, even the wise of the earth, that God will bind some of them, as it were, and give them as a gift to Jesus Christ. And this victory will extend to even the most lofty of places in the world. that I will give you as your portion, even the powerful and the great." And certainly then we can say the poor and needy as well, if the powerful and great are given. And what's Jesus' response to this? Well, it tells us he will see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that comforting and reassuring that Jesus went through all of this suffering, all of this agony, all that that second and fourth section entailed, what it meant to be the sin-bearer, to suffer and die and to come to the other side and say, Wouldn't it be very difficult to read this and to have in the back of your mind the question of, does he look at me and say, I went through this for you? But no, he sees the result of the labor of his soul, and he says, this is pleasing to me. The purchase price that I paid, you were worth it. your beauty, your holiness, you arrayed in the robes of righteousness I've given to you, I'm happy. I don't have buyer's remorse." And what a humbling thing that is as we ponder the price paid. Was it worth it, Jesus, for me? Was it worth it for the church?" And his answer is, yes, I'm pleased. I'm satisfied. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. A servant, a man, a sin-bearer, a sacrifice, and the victor, the victor who is alive and who is satisfied with his accomplishment. And that leaves us then with one really simple question. Are you satisfied with Jesus' sacrificial service? What do you make of this suffering servant, this sin bearer? Is your response like v. 1? I don't believe it. I don't believe this report. This story can't possibly be true. Is your response to treat him as worthless, to not esteem him, to pick him up? And, well, that might be up some people's alley, but not mine. Do you despise Him or reject Him? It's not what I'm looking for in a Savior. That's not the way I want the story written. Do you hide your face? If I pretend He's not there, if I pretend Isaiah 53 doesn't exist, then there's no accountability for me. You think that Jesus went to the cross because of his own shame, because of his own sin. Like verse 4 describes, we esteemed him stricken. It must be his fault. He did it. Wow, he did a lot wrong. Esteeming him worthless, esteeming him guilty. Or perhaps you think of him as still dead. that the grave did get the last word, did get the last laugh. Are you satisfied with Jesus' sacrificial service? Because His whole life here on earth, through His death and through His resurrection and ascension, He has always been underestimated and undervalued and underappreciated. But Isaiah wants you and me to know that the Father sees what Jesus did and is happy with it and sees it as the path to peace with you. that Jesus sees what he did and says, it is good. What I've accomplished is worthwhile and deserving of praise. Jesus and the Father are satisfied with the work and with the result. Are you? Or do you have a different idea of what it takes to save you from your sin? Do you have a different, better plan in mind for your salvation? The Father and Jesus are satisfied. Are you? Because if you are, you will exalt Him by believing that this suffering servant, this sin-bearer, this lamb who was slain is the Savior of the world and is the only way of salvation. Charles Simeon, and reflecting on the Old Testament sacrifices and on what it means to take Jesus and to say, this is my Lamb, reflected on the fact that the Old Testament Jews knew what they did when they transferred their sin to the head of the offering. When they laid their hand on the Lamb and transferred, as it were, through prayer, their sins to that Lamb, that that Lamb might die in their place. And he says, if the thought came to my mind, what, may I transfer all my guilt to another? Has God provided an offering for me that I may lay my sins on His head? Then God willing, I will not bear them on my own soul one moment longer. Accordingly, I sought to lay my sins upon the head of Jesus. If you are satisfied with the sacrifice that God has provided, you will eagerly and willingly run and say, all my sin, all my guilt, all the things that create enmity and distance between me and God, I put it all on this lamb. who went to the cross to die for me. And you will exalt Him then by joining with the church of Jesus Christ and the angels in heaven who say, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power. and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. Amen. Our Lord Jesus Christ, we are truly amazed and humbled at what You endured to redeem us, the price that You paid because of our sins being placed on You. And we thank You for being battered and bruised, being afflicted, being despised, carrying the burden and facing death itself. in order that we might be saved. And so we want to tell you this morning, thank you. And we want to exalt you and say that you have done what we could never do for ourselves. And you deserve glory and praise and honor. You deserve to be high and lifted up, to be exalted and extolled forever and ever. And we confess and declare, along with Your Word, that this plan is beyond satisfactory to us, that it is wondrous in our eyes. Make it more so, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.