The Death of the Servant

So let's read together from Isaiah 53.

This week we're going to concentrate on verses 7 to 9, but let's again read the whole chapter.

Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away, yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgression of my people he was punished.

He was signed a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.

And though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.

By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

So today we're thinking about the death of the servant.

So Isaiah 53 verses 7 to 9.

Isaiah 53:7–9

One of the roles that I have in our presbytery, the Edinburgh and Perth presbytery,

is that I get to help with candidate interviews, those who are considering ministry.

And one of the questions that we always ask is about the nature of ministry.

You know, ministry involves leadership and service.

We'll ask, you know, how do you assess your strengths and weaknesses?

And I love it, and this happens more and more, when our candidates answer,

do you know, you can't separate love, leadership and service.

They belong together.

Jesus taught about servant leadership.

It's the pattern of Jesus.

Paul Miller, a Bible teacher, has written a book called The J Curve.

And his point is that in the ministry of Jesus, what we see is a descent

from his incarnation then down to his suffering and his death

before that J curve rises upwards to the resurrection.

And then Jesus ascended again into the glory of heaven,

where he is exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords.

And of course, that's a pattern that we see to and hear in the teaching of Jesus.

If you want to be great in God's kingdom, you must be the servant of all, Jesus said.

And here in Isaiah 53, Isaiah led by the Spirit is anticipating this J curve.

And particularly here, we find ourselves reaching the lowest point,

the suffering and death of Jesus.

Next week, Easter Sunday, we'll be on the upward rise with the resurrection.

But here we're focusing on the cross.

And one question for us to think about, what is my response to the cross of Christ?

First of all, do I have saving faith?

Am I trusting and resting in Jesus for salvation?

And is this J curve pattern the pattern for my life?

And we'll think about what we mean by that.

The big idea for today is that because Jesus submitted voluntarily,

submitting willingly to suffering, death and burial on behalf of sinners,

we should both love him and pattern our lives on him.

So let's think in verse 7 about voluntary submission.

What's the picture that we have in here?

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent.

So he did not open his mouth.

A lamb being led to the butchers, a sheep being led to be sheared,

will go quietly and willingly.

Why?

Because that animal has no idea what's coming next.

The point of comparison for Isaiah is that Jesus submits willingly to the Father's plan.

But there's a point of contrast.

Unlike those animals, Jesus knows exactly what was coming last week in church.

We were thinking about the agony of Gethsemane as Jesus anticipates drinking the cup of God's wrath.

And he says, if you are willing, let this cup be taken from me.

If there's any other way to save sinners without me bearing the sin of the world and being cut off,

then let's do that.

But Jesus submitted, not my will, but yours be done.

The voluntary submission of Jesus is seen in that he will silently face what's described in verse 7 as oppression.

We come across that kind of language in the way that Pharaoh and the Egyptians treated Israel when they made them slaves.

And he is afflicted.

The idea is that he kept submitting to affliction.

His reflex action is to submit to suffering, knowing it was the will of God.

And Isaiah, led by the Spirit, helps us to think about the question, why is Jesus going to do this?

So looking ahead 700 years, why is the servant going to do this?

And we can go back to verse 6.

And again, to use the imagery of sheep, he's going to do it because we, like sheep, have gone astray and we've turned to our own way.

He is going to have that sin and punishment laid on him for rebellious, wandering sheep like us.

Now, how do we see this prophecy fulfilled in the life of Jesus?

We can go, for example, to Matthew 26 and 27.

Matthew 26, verse 62.

Matthew 26:62

And then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, are you not going to answer?

What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?

But Jesus remains silent.

And then, as Jesus is taken before the Roman governor, Pilate, chapter 27, verse 12.

When Jesus was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.

Then Pilate asked him, don't you hear the testimony they're bringing against you?

But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge, to the great amazement of the governor.

So after the agony of Gethsemane, Jesus will not fight.

He will not resist.

His disciples would have resisted for him.

And remember, Jesus said that he could have.

He could have called in legions of angels to protect him from suffering and death.

But he says he will submit willingly to fulfill scripture.

He understands Mark chapter 10, verse 45.

Mark 10:45

Jesus didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

The price for our freedom is the death of Jesus.

So in that J curve, at that low point, Jesus willingly has become one of us.

And he goes to that lowest point of suffering and death.

And remember, Jesus is the son of God.

He deserves all worship and glory and honour.

But he volunteers to take sin and its punishment.

What is my response?

What is your response to the cross of Jesus Christ?

I've been reading a book by Jonathan Edwards called Charity or Love and Its Fruits, all about exploring 1 Corinthians 13.

And he has a wonderful phrase in that book where he says,

We should be humbled by the loveliness of God.

It's a lovely phrase, isn't it?

To see God as infinitely above us as he is, yet to see Jesus becoming the suffering servant to save us,

should humble us and help us to see the loveliness of our God and Saviour.

With the response then, the proper response to that being faith, trust, receiving God's grace as it's offered to us in Jesus.

That humble, grateful worship would be our response.

And then it would be the pattern for our lives.

Again, going back to those interviews that I have to do with Presbyterian.

I get to do rather.

I definitely get to do.

One candidate was talking about the ministry apprenticeship that he had done previously.

And he had two weekly tasks.

As someone training for ministry, task one, clean the toilets every week.

Task two, clean the pigeon poop off the church steps every week.

Principle, since Jesus has gone so low to become one of us, to die for us, to rescue and save us,

nothing should be too low for his servants, for his people.

Makes us ask the question, am I willing to serve for the sake of Jesus?

Am I willing to bear injustice and opposition in a loving way as part of my service to Jesus who has loved me and served me?

So we see voluntary submission from Jesus.

And in verse 8, we discover that voluntary submission leads him towards injustice and death in verse 8.

Now, as a society, one thing that we clearly value as a people is the idea of justice.

And that shouldn't come as a surprise.

The Bible presents a God who is just and we are made in his image.

Therefore, justice is something that we are concerned for.

Now, we've seen this recently.

We've seen it in the Black Lives Matter movement.

We've seen it in the vigils that have sprung up because of what happened to Sarah Everard

and in response to violence against women more generally.

Maybe you've been in the meadows and you've seen Sarah's tree.

Or we can think about the protests going on in Myanmar as the army are oppressing the people and oppressing democracy.

And again, remember that we stand with that.

The Bible says all people are created in the image of God.

Therefore, all people have value.

So absolutely, as Christians, we can say black lives matter to Jesus.

Therefore, black lives matter to us.

Or they certainly should.

Women and their rights matter to Jesus.

Therefore, women's rights should matter to us as they are defined biblically.

But each of these movements that we see connected with justice has led to forms of protest movement, haven't they?

And I introduce that because when we read of Jesus' suffering and death,

a sense of injustice should rise up in us.

Isaiah anticipates Jesus would be sentenced to die.

Jesus, who had done nothing deserving of death, nevertheless is unjustly tried and executed.

And so there is an injustice that goes on.

Verse 8 then says,

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

That word oppression, sometimes translated as from arrest and judgment.

He was taken away to be executed having faced trial.

That's what Isaiah anticipates.

But we know that that would be an unjust verdict.

False witnesses are encouraged to speak against Jesus.

A false verdict of blasphemy is reached.

After all, Jesus is God.

Therefore, he is entitled to claim the position and the titles of God.

And Pilate, the Roman governor, condemned Jesus despite saying,

I see nothing wrong in this man.

And yet, verse 8, yet, who of his generation protested?

There was no protest movement among his generation, among his contemporaries.

The vast majority approved.

The vast majority in Jerusalem on that day cried, crucify him.

And that's the message that the apostles in the book of Acts pick up.

When they say to the crowds,

You, with the help of wicked men, put Jesus to death.

You disowned the holy and righteous one.

You killed the author of life.

Of course, Peter and the apostles will also say,

But God, God had his plan behind and beyond and above that.

But they were responsible for that injustice.

Isaiah continues,

This servant was cut off from the land of the living.

He was killed.

What's the ultimate cause for them?

In God's words,

For the transgression of my people,

He was punished.

Is it the transgression, the wrongdoing,

The rebellion, the disobedience of the servant

That leads to his death?

No.

It's the transgression of my people.

Here is a reminder that Jesus,

The servant of the Lord,

Dies as a substitute in the place of God's people.

And he is punished.

Punished by God.

But is that for his sin?

And again, the answer is no.

He is sinlessly perfect.

Rather, Jesus is loaded up with the sin

And the shame and the guilt of those he came to save.

That's why in Acts chapter 8,

Acts 8 · chapter mention

When the Ethiopian is reading

This passage,

Philip begins,

And he begins to explain

The good news about Jesus.

There is good news in Jesus

Willingly submitting to

This death.

Because in this death,

There is life for all

Who will trust in him.

How is it good news?

On the one hand,

We see it's the most awful injustice.

Here is the one perfect man.

And yet he is condemned as a criminal.

But in God's plan,

Jesus is handed over so that

He might become our suffering saviour.

When we look at the cross,

It should remind us,

Here is the verdict

That you and I,

By nature,

And because of our actions,

Deserve.

We are not sinless and perfect.

And a holy God,

It is right to

Condemn.

We should be

Cut off

From God and his goodness,

From his mercy,

For all eternity.

That's what hell is,

The place of

Punishment

For those who refuse

To trust in God's salvation.

But here is the good news,

The good news of that J curve.

Jesus is cut off,

Both in death

And as he feels abandoned

By his father,

So that we might never

Experience that.

In Jesus being cut off,

God's justice is satisfied.

God in Jesus

Takes the penalty,

The punishment,

The place of

Sinners.

Jesus faces his

Personal hell.

So that we

Never have to

If we would trust in him.

So again,

What is my response?

What is your response

To Jesus facing

Injustice,

Death,

And the justice of God

For sinners like us?

As we recognise that the cross

Is just a glimpse

Into the

Horror of

The punishment

That sin deserves,

We have a choice.

Either

We can say no to Jesus

And we can face that punishment

Ourselves

When we stand before

God on the judgment day

As we all will.

Or

We can trust in Jesus

We can turn from our sin

Knowing that

In love and in grace

He takes

Our sin

And he takes

Our place.

He is abandoned

So we can be welcomed.

And when we appreciate that

Let this

Create a J-shaped

Pattern

To your life

And mine

Where we're willing

To face

Our many deaths

Where we are willing

As Jesus says

To deny ourselves

To give up

Personal pride

And honour

To sacrifice

For the sake of others

To show them

The love of God

That God has shown

To us in Jesus

And now having seen

Jesus

Willingly submitting

To

Injustice and death

I want us to see

God's response

The beginning of God's response

In verse 9

Where Jesus is honoured

In burial

Now it's a long established

Principle

And it was certainly

Held by the Romans

And the Jews

In the first century

That criminals

And enemies

Were typically not

Honoured in death

They'd be thrown in

A common

Criminal's grave

Something similar

But what does Isaiah

Anticipate

Isaiah anticipates

That Jesus would

Die a criminal's death

Verse 9

He was assigned

A grave with the wicked

But

He would be honoured

At his burial

He was assigned

A grave with the wicked

And with the rich

In his death

Who's involved

In the death

And burial of Jesus

The wicked are involved

Those who conspire

To kill

The innocent servant

Of the Lord

Though he had

Verse 9

Done no violence

There was nothing

In his actions

That was sinful

That merited punishment

Nor was any deceit

In his mouth

There were no

Words of his

That would

Lead him to be

Described as guilty

As charged

No they conspired

To kill the innocent

Perfect servant

The son of God

So the wicked

Were involved

In his death

And burial

But so

Were

The wealthy

And this sounds

So unusual

And it's

One of those

Things that

Only makes sense

Like at home

Most of Isaiah 50

They only make sense

Once it was fulfilled

How is it fulfilled

In the life of Jesus

Well when it's

Discovered that

Jesus has died

Joseph

A secret follower

Who is wealthy

Comes and asks

For Jesus' body

And honours it

And wraps it

And places it

In his own tomb

Buried with honour

Unexpected honour

At burial

And this is the first part

Of the upward rise

Of the J-curve

And this is a sign

Of the father's approval

The logic is

That yes

He was

Killed by enemies

Who despised him

But God

Wanted him honoured

In his burial

Because he had done

No violence

Nor was any deceit

In his mouth

Here is a sign

Of the father's approval

Of the son's work

Here is a reversal

That takes place

Those enemies despise

But God honours

His obedient

And faithful servant

And next week

Of course

We're going to see

That reversal theme

Continue

We're going to see

The J-curve rise

Further upwards

In the glory

And the honour

Of Jesus

In the resurrection

But our point

For today

Is that as Jesus

Is laid to rest

There is a sign

That God approves

Of his son

And his work

We put up

Don't we

Headstones

For loved ones

By way of honouring

Their life

And their memory

God wants to honour

Jesus

In his being buried

In a rich man's tomb

He is God's verdict

Of his servant

The son who he loves

He is honoured

At death

To show

His approval

His work is finished

And God is satisfied

Justice is done

Love is displayed

Salvation is open

To all

Who will believe

Again

What's my verdict

What's your verdict

On the cross of Christ

Does it match up

To the verdict

Of God

The father

Do we love

Jesus

As the beloved son

Do we honour him

As the saviour

Of the world

And our saviour

May we have

Faith

In Jesus

May we turn

From sin

And turn to put

Our trust in him

May this Easter

Be a precious time

Of remembering

All that God

Has done for us

In Jesus

And may we share

This pattern of love

With others

For the sake

Of our witness

To the world