Isaiah 52:13-15 - The Servant: Exalted yet Marred

Take your Bible and go to the book of Isaiah, chapter 52.

Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

Isaiah 52.

And if you don't have a Bible, you'll find it a Bible in the pew in front of you.

And right around page 650 or so, you'll find Isaiah chapter 52.

Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

There are moments that we experience when things happen so quietly, so subtly that you don't even realize that something new has begun.

Back in 1995 or 1996, my memory is a little fuzzy.

So 29 or 30 years ago, a friend of mine, Dan, invited me and my family to see an entertainment group by the name of Stomp.

I had no idea who they were.

I thought it was kind of a strange name, too.

All I knew was, and all that Dan would tell me, is that they were a percussion group and used percussion and movement in creative ways.

I had no idea what to expect.

We'd arrived early, sat down with Dan and some other friends, and we were enjoying some conversation, waiting for the show to begin.

And eventually, uh a man popped out from behind the curtain with a broom.

And just the movement of his presence on stage caught my attention.

But when I saw him sweeping the floor, I was a little puzzled and eventually went back to the conversation that we were having.

And this man, as he came out, wasn't dressed in any way that you would expect a performer to dress.

And he was pushing a broom around.

And so that glance and that momentary peak of my interest uh soon faded away until his movements started to become a little more rhythmic as he manipulated the broom.

And I thought, well, that's that's a little odd.

Again, I didn't know what to expect.

And then the curtain pulled back, and there were a whole host of people dressed exactly as he was, all holding brooms, and all of them began the show of doing some wonderful movement and and uh rhythm with with their brooms that they had in their hand, and off the show started.

It was a great show.

But it started in this small, quiet, insignificant way, this intentional subtlety that passed by my attention.

Isaiah's fourth servant song begins in a similar kind of way.

Now it calls us to attention quite strongly, but we don't catch it often.

In chapter 52 and verse 13, uh the CSB says, see, and that could easily pass behind by us.

Uh the ESV says behold, as my some of the other versions do.

And that term is is meant to capture us.

It's meant to hold for us to hold our attention on something.

It's not a casual glance, it's not a passing interest, it's a call to fix our eyes and pay our attention to something.

And back in the 90s, again, I gave my son some video games, and one of them was uh The Legend of Zelda, the Ocarina of Time, and there's this little figure, Navi, and she would go, Hey, hey, listen, listen, listen, hey, listen.

And my boys played that game to death, and that phrase just burned in my head.

This is the prophet saying, Hey, hey, listen, listen, listen.

But Isaiah's hears, and even all the way into our generation, this announcement deserves no more than a momentary glance, much like the one I gave that guy who was pushing the broom right at the outset of the stomp concert.

And it partly has to do with what we're to pay attention to.

See my servant.

Now, if God had said, Hey, hey, listen, we'd go, what am I supposed to pay attention to?

A king?

I'll pay attention to a king.

Um, a wealthy person?

I'll pay attention to a wealthy person.

Hey, a prophet?

Uh, maybe.

A singer?

Yeah.

A servant?

Why are you bothering me?

A king's interest would command attention in any room.

But what if you were in a ballroom and a servant and entered?

Would you notice?

Would you follow that person's movement throughout the room?

Would you care to pay any attention at all?

But it is to that person, the person with the broom, that God says, Hey! Listen, look here.

Well, why should we?

Well, because this servant's going to be like no other that we've ever met.

Let's just read about him in these three verses we'll look at today.

See my servant, will be successful.

He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.

Just as many were appalled at you, his appearance was so disfigured that he did not look like a man, and his form did not resemble a human being.

So he will sprinkle many nations.

Kings will shut their mouths because of him, for they will see what they've not been told, and they will understand what they've not heard.

This servant's going to be like no other servant ever.

Now we would expect him like any other servant.

We might have an attitude that said, well, despised, rejected, silent, and suffering.

Yeah, whatever, servant.

That is sadly too often the case of how people think.

But not this servant.

Oh, yeah, all that, yes.

But something else.

He's going to be exalted.

He's going to be glorious.

He's going to shut the mouths of kings.

He's going to be one who acts wisely.

Yes, he'll be turned away and not valued.

But he's much, much more, much, much more than just a broom-sweeping man on a stage.

He enters quietly just like that.

And if we don't pay attention, we might miss it.

But God is doing something new here.

God is doing something glorious here, and he's doing it through this servant.

Listen.

Pay attention.

It's not going to be obvious, but it should never be overlooked.

It's not going to be grand, but it's definitely unexpected.

And it's not to be done in strength.

It's going to be accomplished in suffering.

Are you ready to listen?

This is the paradox at the heart of Isaiah's fourth song.

This is the one who will be high and lifted up, who will silence kings, but also will suffer injustice and will not be valued.

And Isaiah wants us to hear this.

He wants us to walk through this and understand this strange paradox of this servant.

So let's hear him.

See my servant will be successful.

He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.

Isaiah introduces us to this servant, and there's much to say about his suffering.

But interestingly, the first thing that he says about this servant is that not his suffering, but rather his success.

Now turn over to the next chapter and go to the very near end, not the complete end, but the near end of this.

In verse 10, and notice, yes, the suffering of this servant.

The Lord was pleased to crush him severely and made a guilt offering.

But he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand the Lord's pleasure will be accomplished.

He will see light and be satisfied.

By his knowledge, many will be justified.

And he will be given a portion and will receive the mightiest spoil.

Why?

Why are we told that he'll be successful in the beginning?

Why are we told at the end he's going to be fully accomplishing all of God's purposes and will therefore be exalted?

Why this affirmation?

Because Isaiah wants us to know at the very outset that the suffering and the rejection that the servant is going to face is not some detour off of the road to success, but is actually the path itself.

That his suffering does not stand contrary to his exaltation, but that his exaltation is intimately, directly, and necessarily connected to his suffering.

That his suffering is part of his success, and it is not an obstacle to it.

And it's this very point that the disciples of Jesus did not understand.

In the very last chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has to say to them, How foolish you are, how slow to believe all the prophets have spoken.

Wasn't it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?

And then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in the scriptures.

All of that encapsulated here in this psalm.

Christ first to suffer, and then enter into his glory.

And this servant will be wise, he will be skillful, he will be faithful, he will be obedient, and he will bring about all of God's intended purposes.

He will fulfill the mission that God gave him.

He will not falter, he will not fail, he will look like he's faltering, he will look like he's failing, he will look like he's defeated, but that is not the end of him.

And as a result, take a look.

In verse 13, I want you to notice a phrase.

He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.

Now, just read that again.

Just to cement it a little more deeply in our mind.

He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.

Isaiah has used this language before.

Back in chapter 6 of the book of Isaiah, right at the very beginning of his ministry, Isaiah saw Adonai, the Lord, enthroned in glory, surrounded by the seraphim, crying, Holy, holy, holy.

And there he says he saw Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of armies, the Lord of all lords, the Lord of all strengths and powers, high and lifted up, the exact same language that's used here.

That vision of divine majesty in Isaiah chapter six, and the language of the exalted Lord of armies is the exact exaltation that the servant is going to receive.

You see, he's not merely a human figure who succeeds, he is the mystery itself, a divine majesty and humility.

The servant who suffers is the same Lord who is glorified in the earlier vision.

Now, with that in mind, let's go to John chapter 12 for just a second.

John 12 · chapter mention

John chapter 12.

Here in John chapter 12, Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 6 are blended together, as we'll see in a moment.

John 12 · chapter mention

And we don't have time to walk through all of this, but we'll eventually move through verses 23 to 41.

But before we get there, in verse 12, you'll see in your Bible what we call the triumphal entry of Christ.

Jesus coming in, and the people shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.

Your king is coming.

And you can imagine all the people laid out there in the entryway into the city, laying down their palm branches and crying out with jubilant praise.

And here comes Jesus on top of a beast of burden.

And the disciples don't catch it.

What they catch is all the fanfare.

They're like, Yes, we go.

Yeah, he's coming.

Our king.

We've been his disciple for three years, and we're right behind him.

And we're going to sit on the right and the left hand side of his throne.

We've got this.

You guys come and join us.

This is victory.

We're in.

We're doing this.

It's going to happen.

Verse 23.

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Yes.

Yes.

It's going to happen.

Victory, power, might, success.

But Jesus didn't stop there.

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself.

Huh?

All of a sudden, Peter, James, and John, who've been pushing each other around, saying, I'm first, no, I'm first, no, I'm first, no, I'm first, are looking at Jesus, going, What are you talking about?

Jesus speaks about his impending glorification.

Now, now is the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified.

And I'm going to die.

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself.

But if it dies, it'll produce much fruit.

And here Jesus is in his humanity and deity, not relishing in the idea of death or taking the curse of sin upon himself.

His soul is troubled.

And yet he embraces the hour of suffering.

And so in verse 27 and 28, he says, My soul is troubled.

What shall I say?

Father, save me from this hour.

But this is why I've come, come, Father, glorify your name.

And the Father responds, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.

All surrounding the idea of the death of Jesus.

And so in verse 32 and 33, Jesus says, This voice was not for me, but for you.

Now is judgment to this world.

Now is the ruler being cast out.

And again, James and John and Peter and the other disciples are like, Yeah, okay, we're getting back on track here.

We're getting back to armies and power and swords and success.

As for me, if I'm lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.

And he said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.

And again, the disciples are shocked.

And even the crowds confused.

And they're like, wait a second.

What is this?

Verse 34.

We've heard it said in the law that the Messiah must reign forever.

How can you say the Son of Man should be lifted up?

Jesus says in verse 36, While you have light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.

You need to listen to this.

Don't miss what God's doing here.

And then verse 37.

Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him.

And this was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet who said, Lord, who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Isaiah chapter 53.

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

Verse.

Okay.

Okay.

But we're not done yet.

Just in case we missed the point and we haven't quite understood what Isaiah was doing when he connected Isaiah chapter 6 and Isaiah chapter 52 and 53 together, with this servant being high and lifted up and exalted.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

John quotes Isaiah 53, and then verse 39.

This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said, He's blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts in turn, and I would heal them.

A quote from Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

Now, what about the glory thing?

Look at the next verse.

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him.

So who is the Lord in Isaiah 6?

And who is the exalted servant in Isaiah 52 and 53?

It is Jesus, and his suffering and his exaltation are necessarily linked together.

The one Isaiah saw as high and lifted up in the temple in Isaiah 6 is the same one who is high and lifted up as the successful servant in Isaiah 52, and he is also Jesus, who is lifted up on the cross so that he might also ascend into the heavenlies and be sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high?

This is him.

How successful will he be?

Will death stop his plan?

Will the murderous considerations and schemes of evil people bring his plan to nothing?

Will the disbelief of the people as they mock him?

No, nothing, nothing can stop his plan.

Because God is conquering the powers that be.

God is putting to death the one who holds the power of death, that is the devil, by sending his son to die.

This is why John could say that Isaiah saw the glory of the servant, the glory of Yahweh, the glory of Emmanuel Jesus.

He's not merely a representative of God who's successful, he's the embodiment of God's saving person and purpose.

And this arc, this movement arc of suffering into glorification is exactly the arc that Paul brings up in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God highly exalted him.

The wisdom of the servant is obedience, and the reward of that obedience is glory as he gives himself over to God's purposes.

I have come to do your will, O God.

Isaiah has mentioned people as servants, himself as a servant, Cyrus is a servant, the nation as a servant, but there's a new thing happening here with another one who is the servant like none of those servants, because all of those other servants were sinful and did not fulfill their purposes as fully and as completely as God intended.

But this one does, even though it looks like failure.

What does this tell us?

Well, we don't worship the Lord in spite of his sufferings, we worship the Lord because of his sufferings.

Amen.

But let's take it a little deeper for us.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Oh, wait a second.

You mean my life is to follow this ark as a believer in Christ?

Yeah?

Yeah.

What does it mean for your life to be obedient, even if it brings suffering?

But don't worry, that doesn't mean the end of God's goodness and plan for you, because he will also bring you to glory with your Savior.

It may look weak, it may be costly, it may be counted foolish, it may bring suffering, but it will also bring exaltation in the final day.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

What was this mind?

The self-pouring out for the purposes of giving all of your resources to the betterment of somebody else, so that he might save undeserving sinners.

What mind are we to have as believers?

The giving up of ourselves in sacrifice and suffering, if necessary, for the benefit of others.

What does this mean for us by way of implication?

It means that we are to live the ark of God's designated purposes that He's already shown us in our Savior Jesus Christ.

And the church today largely is about as far away from that as can be, and it's tragic.

We measure our success with the metrics of size and influence and connections, and we are as worldly as the world itself, and even more culpable because we should know better.

But we take glory in celebrity conversions.

Have you heard that ye became a Christian?

Let's get him up on a platform and have him talk.

Because, well, somebody of that stature talks about Jesus.

Maybe they'll like Jesus.

And then he crashes and burns.

And then what happens to the name of Christ?

Strategic partnerships with cultural elites, platforming influencers to boost Christianity's visibility, mimicking corporate branding to appear professional, pursuing political endorsements for legitimacy, curating worship that matches entertainment trends, highlighting wealthy donors as proof of God's favor, using social metrics to validate our spiritual impact, softening truth to avoid offending the powerful, prioritizing public relations over our need to be a prophetic witness in our generation, seeking academic prestige to gain intellectual credibility, framing of the gospel as a tool for personal success, hosting events and even stunts in order to gain media coverage.

Let me go burn a Quran and see all the press come and pay attention to us.

That's our generation.

But what do we have here?

We've got a servant that succeeds by his suffering.

And in contrast to all those worldly strategies, we must measure our obedience by the same way he walked.

Are we willing to follow Christ?

Or are we just trying to be another voice in the crowd?

Using the same techniques?

Are we willing to serve quietly, suffer patiently?

To speak truth when it's unpopular.

Remember the servant.

Remember that his life is not fruitless and it's not failure, even though it's suffering.

And if you follow him, you will follow him with God's blessing.

The world will hate you if it hated me, Jesus said.

So just do what they do, and it'll be all okay, and you can call yourself a Christian.

No, it's not what he said.

If you're here this morning and you don't know Christ is your Savior, He's not calling these demands on you.

He's calling you to find life in that suffering that he gave.

And we'll talk about that in just a second in the next point.

But I want you to just hear this for a moment.

Because he does know your weaknesses, and he understands your wounds, and he knows your waywardness also.

And yet he came to save people just like you.

So let's move to the second point.

It'll be a lot shorter than the fourth one.

The servant will be successful, but the servant will also shock the world through his sufferings.

Take a look at verse 14.

Just as many were appalled at you, his appearance was so disfigured that he did not look like a man, and his form did not resemble a human being.

This paradox deepens.

This exalted one is now a disfigured one.

And the people are looking at him not yet in admiration, but they're looking at him in horror.

He doesn't even look human.

And this is much, much deeper than just poetic exaggeration.

This is this is exactly what happened.

And the Hebrew word here is astonished at him.

Appalled, devastated, desolated, wiped out at him.

He's a grotesque spectacle.

The servant, he doesn't look heroic, he doesn't look divine, he doesn't even look like a man.

He's so beaten and mocked and scorched.

And when we read the gospel accounts, those things are talked about.

Matthew talks about him being spat in the face and struck, and John says that he was flogged, and the Romans scourging of leather whips embedded with bone and metal designed to tear at his flesh, the crown of thorns, the beat-up face, the bloodied back, this the pierced scythe.

They sneered and mocked and derided him.

He can't save himself.

It's brutal, this crucifixion.

But why?

Why?

Because his disfigurement was not a punishment for sin.

He did no wrong.

It was obedience.

He humbled himself and became obedient to death.

Even the death on the cross.

This is the scandal of divine love.

That the servant brought to death is not a failure of God's plan, but the fulfillment of God's plan.

That the shame of the cross is the beauty of redemption.

And this is why Isaiah says, Hey, listen, behold my servant.

Because you would look at that and you would not think it's anything to pay attention to.

But it is everything to pay attention to.

Because it's not a moment to pity, this is the place of worship.

Because his scars are not a blemish on his glory.

They are a part of it.

And Isaiah Isaac Watts said, When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on my pride.

This is a call to worship.

And if you're not a follower of Christ yet, this death of the servant is the means by which humanity is saved and delivered.

And this is why when we read the book of Acts in chapter 3, under the delightful direction of Ethan, it said that these people in that generation were to look to the servant for the forgiveness of sins.

And so we call you to see in this servant the means by which you might be forgiven.

None of us need to hide from God.

We don't need to push our brokenness and our broken lives and the brokenness we've made for others' lives away and try to present ourselves as something so that God would say, okay, I'll let you in.

Because he crushed his own son with the judgment we deserve.

So you don't have to wear that and bear that.

And so you can come just as you are.

Bruised and bruising, broken and breaking, destroyed and destroying.

Come as you are.

Come as a sinner to the sin-bearing Savior and find life.

Because this is what He's done.

Now notice verse 15, our last point.

The servant will not only be successful, and not only will he stun and surprise, but he will also sprinkle the nations.

This is an interesting word, verse 15.

He will sprinkle many nations.

Kings will shut their mouths because of him.

For they will see what they've not been what has not been told them, and they will understand what they had not heard.

He will sprinkle the nations.

But it's not a strange term if you're an Old Testament Jewish person.

Because that word sprinkle brings them back to the Leviticus.

It brings them back to the Day of Atonement.

It brings them back to that time when the high priest would bring the one sacrifice for the year, the only day of the year in which he was allowed into the very presence of God's manifested presence in the temple in the Holy of Holies.

And there he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, so that there would be a passing by of God's judgment for the people.

And so they would be cleansed, so that they would be reconciled, so that they would be forgiven.

So that they would be brought in.

But year by year, by year by year, they had to do it again and again and again because that wasn't going to take away sin.

But this servant will sprinkle not just the Jewish people, but the nations.

The nations.

Because he is both the priest and the offering.

And he doesn't just sprinkle the altar, he sprinkles the nations.

He does sprinkle the Jewish people.

He sprinkles the Jewish people and all who believe on him.

This is staggering.

That this servant, his sprinkling ministry will flow outward to the ends of the earth.

It crosses all boundaries and borders.

And it will cleanse all of his people, even the distant peoples who will hear what they have not been told.

And so Paul in Romans 15, in this long discussion about the gospel ministry and the proclamation of the missionary endeavor to bring the name of Jesus around the world, quotes this verse in Romans 15 and verse 21, and he says, Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.

And this is the fulfillment, like Peter said in Acts 3, if you caught it, in all in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

The servant is the one seed of Abraham, who is the means by which the nations are blessed.

This is the reversal of Babylon.

At Babel, humanity sought to ascend, and they were brought low and scattered.

Here, the one who is already ascended is brought low so the people can be gathered.

This is the reverse of Babel.

This is the Son who reconciles.

And what happens because of him?

Kings will shut their mouths.

The powerful will be disarmed.

The rulers of the earth who are used to speaking and commanding and judging and motivating and moving are struck dumb and rendered speechless.

Not by force, but by grace.

Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

An Ethiopian man came from the courts, was reading Isaiah chapter 53.

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

And he said, Please help me understand.

What am I reading here?

When he asked Philip in Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

And Philip told him about the blood that sprinkles the nations.

And this Ethiopian eunuch brought the gospel to Africa.

So much for Christianity being a white man's religion.

It went to Africa before it ever went to Europe.

It was in Asia before Europe even thought about listening to this.

The Roman centurion who looks up at Christ and he says, Surely, this is the Son of God.

A Gentile soldier, hardened by violence, silenced by grace.

This is our servant.

And for the next three weeks after this one, we're going to be looking at chapter fifty-three.

We're slowing down.

The servant's mission.

It's global, it's sufficient, and it's successful.

But it doesn't look like power.

It doesn't look like the things we expect success to look like.

It's the way God makes success.

Because he likes to make the wise look foolish and to give wisdom to the ignorant.

That's just who he is.

He's not impressed by how strong our legs are at all.

And if you're here this morning and you don't know Christ, here is this servant who's come for people just like you.

He wants to strike you so full of awe that you would be unable to talk just like kings.

And he doesn't want to shut your mouth because he's powerful.

He wants to stun you into joyful silence and saying, Why would God save me?

Why would he deliver me?

Why would he forgive me my sins?

So behold him, shall we?

Let's listen.

Let's fix our eyes.

Let's shape our lives after who he is.

This servant who succeeds, this servant who shakes, this servant who sprinkles.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for the servant, your son, our Savior, Jesus, who is high and lifted up, yet marred for our redemption.

And today we behold him with reverence and with awe.

And we see in his obedience the wisdom of heaven.

We see in his suffering the depth of your love.

And we see in his atonement the hope of the nations.

And so, Father, those of us who already know Christ, deepen our trust.

Teach us to be obedient the way Jesus was.

Father, in the midst of our hurting, remember, help us to remember that your glory shines on our scars.

For those of us who are seeking forgiveness and reconciliation with you, Lord, I pray, open their eyes to behold the beauty of the cross and the welcome of grace.

May we be a people who behold the servant, not just with our eyes, but with our whole person.

And let us worship him, not in spite of his sufferings, but because of it.

And let us proclaim his name until every nation sees and every heart understands.

And that at the name of Jesus, all knees should bow and declare him as Lord to the glory of God the Father.

And it's in his name we pray.

Amen.