An Astonishing Salvation

Today's scripture reading is found in Isaiah 52, 13 through 53, 12.

Please follow along as we read.

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 marked beyond human semblings

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.

Who has believed what he has heard from us?

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

For he grew up before him like a young plant

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him

and no beauty that we should design him.

He was despised and rejected by men.

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,

and as one from whom men hide their faces,

he was despised and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

And with his wounds 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.

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

And as for his generation who conceded,

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people.

And they made his grave with the wicked,

and with a rich man in his death.

Although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.

He has put him to grief.

When his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring.

He shall prolong his days.

The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul,

he shall see and be satisfied.

By his knowledge shall the righteous one,

my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

Yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

This is the reading of God's work.

Hi.

How are you all?

That's good.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

It is Christmas time,

and the time of Advent,

where we remember the coming of Jesus,

our Lord and Saviour, to this earth.

And as we've been going through this series of Advent,

we've been considering how Jesus came,

how his arrival was unexpected,

that it wasn't what God,

or what God was doing,

wasn't what people would expect.

And today we'll look a little bit closer,

at what God is doing in this world.

How Jesus came to bring forgiveness,

to bring reconciliation,

to accomplish these things by his life,

as we'll see,

and his death.

And in this passage that was just read out for us,

in Isaiah chapter 53,

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

we'll see that this is one of the key passages

in the Old Testament

that speaks of the one who was to come back for them.

And it's the key passage to unlock and to understand

what it is that Jesus came to do.

And so this theme that's in there

is one of forgiveness and reconciliation.

And one person who is known in the world today

for forgiveness and reconciliation,

for practicing forgiveness and reconciliation,

is the late Nelson Mandela,

who passed away maybe 10 days ago.

And some words were written,

many words were written about him.

And these words were written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu,

who was a friend of his and an ally

in the work of reconciliation in South Africa.

He says,

that emerging from prison in January 1990,

he, that is Nelson Mandela,

proclaimed the message of forgiveness and reconciliation.

And he embodied what he proclaimed.

He walked the talk.

He invited his former jailer

to attend his presidential inauguration

as a VIP guest.

And he invited the man

who led the state's case against him

at the Rivonia trial,

calling for the imposition of the death penalty

to lunch at his presidential office.

He visited the widow of the high priest of apartheid

in the white, Afrikaner-only enclave of Irania.

Can you imagine what would have happened to South Africa

had Mandela emerged from prison in 1990,

bristling with resentment

at the gross miscarriage of justice

that had occurred in the Rivonia trial?

Can you imagine where South Africa would be today

had he been consumed by a lust for revenge

to want to pay back for all the humiliations

and all the agony that he and his people

had suffered at the hands of their white oppressors?

Instead, the world was amazed,

indeed awed,

by the unexpectedly peaceful transition of 1994,

followed not by an orgy of revenge and retribution,

but by the wonder of forgiveness and reconciliation.

From where comes this story of the wonder

of forgiveness and reconciliation?

Many writers and thinkers

and even secular philosophers will say

that it came through one man, Jesus Christ.

And indeed, Nelson Mandela was also one

one who sought inspiration from the example of Jesus.

This passage in Isaiah talks about

the forgiveness and the reconciliation

that comes through the work,

not just the work, but the suffering of Jesus.

The book of Isaiah contains five songs

about the servant of the Lord,

and this one here in chapter 52 and 53

is the most famous.

So please have it open in front of you.

And we'll be referring to it.

Jesus himself quoted these songs

in his ministry,

seeing himself as the servant.

And the first thing we learn about the servant

from this passage

is that Jesus was rejected

as one who suffers.

And we'll see that the second thing

that we learn

is that Jesus suffered

for others,

for many.

And the third thing that we'll learn

is that it was not in vain.

It was not in vain.

But first,

we see that Jesus

was rejected

as one who suffered.

We see in this passage

a depiction

of people's reaction

to the servant.

And their reaction

is blind.

They can't see

what it is

the servant has come to do

or why he's here.

All they can see

is this pitiful,

wretched figure

who is struck down,

so they think,

by God

and despised and rejected.

Have a look at

verse 3

of chapter 53 there.

It says,

He was despised

and rejected by men,

pitied

by everybody.

It says that he was

a man of sorrows

and acquainted with grief.

In the people's eyes,

he was just another victim.

Cast down,

downtrodden,

beaten up.

It says that he was one

from whom men

hide their faces.

No one wanted to be like

this person,

this figure.

No one wanted

to trade places

with him.

Instead,

people shunned him,

hid their faces from him,

turned away from him.

And as it says,

he was despised

and we esteemed him not.

Nobody,

nobody at all

thought

that

this figure

was successful

or victorious

as he stood there

surrounded by

his accusers,

his attackers,

and as he was

ultimately

put to death.

No,

what people saw

was one

who was hated

and rejected

and cursed

and struck down.

Surely not

a servant of God.

Surely not

one who would be

the Messiah.

This is the way

that people saw it.

And as chapter,

as chapter 53,

verse 1 says,

who has believed

what he might have

heard from us?

Nobody believed

this message

that the servant

would come

and suffer like this.

And so it was

with Jesus.

As he was standing

there in the courtyard,

all his friends

had deserted him,

had run away.

His closest ally

denied him,

denied he knew him.

As he was standing

in there

in the trial room,

he was alone.

Not one of his

allies or compatriots

stood by him.

And he died

alone,

without his friends,

surrounded only

by strangers,

criminals.

And the people

saw this

and despised him

and esteemed him not,

as it says.

That is,

they did not count

this figure,

this wretched figure

as someone

worthy,

as someone

worthwhile to follow,

as someone

who had achieved

anything

in his life.

By

people's account,

he was

a failure,

just another victim,

one who was

to be discarded.

God.

And yet,

the second point

in this passage

that we see

is that this blindness

is only overcome

when people see

and realize

what God is doing

through the servant.

As it says

in verse 4,

surely he has borne

our griefs

and carried

our sorrows,

yet we esteemed

him stricken,

spidden by God,

and afflicted.

Yes,

the servant

was indeed

characterized

by griefs

and sorrows,

but they were

not his own.

Yes,

the servant

was indeed

struck down

by God.

But that didn't

mean that

he was not

the servant.

Rather,

it was the servant's

role to come

and be struck

down by God.

And that's

what the second

part of the passage

tells.

It explains

this paradox,

this blindness,

the reason why

it is that the servant

had to suffer

in this way.

There's a story

I heard once

about a school teacher

who went into

a school in Ireland

and this school

was in the roughest

areas in Ireland.

Very poor,

kind of urban

area.

And this teacher

was supposed to go in

and be a scripture

teacher to teach

the kids about

Jesus.

And when they

walked into the

classroom,

everything was

everywhere.

Kids were

throwing stuff

at each other,

they were standing

on the tables,

they were swearing

at one another,

at the teacher,

and so on.

And she thought,

how am I going

to bring order

to this classroom,

let alone actually

teach anything?

Anyone who's

actually taught

scripture in school,

I sympathize with you

because I've done

it as well.

In my first year

of teaching,

at the end of the

year,

one kid stood up

and said,

this year,

none of us have

learned a single

thing from Mr. Chu.

We need to do

better next year,

as she rebukes

the class.

That was my first

year of teaching,

I got better

after that.

But as this

teacher was thinking,

how do I control

this classroom,

which would have

been much worse

than anything

I'd faced,

she came to

a plan.

Instead of

kind of sitting

down and opening

up lessons

and getting

them to read

things or

anything like that,

she got them

boxes,

fish tanks

actually,

and a whole

bunch of

different materials,

soils and

plants and

different things

and they were

to decorate

their fish tank.

That's what they

did.

They got in and

put stuff in and

then they were

to make a

creature,

anything they

wanted to place

in.

Some people

made human-like

figures or animals

that they would

place in their

tank.

some of the

rowdier boys

made kind of

misshapen ugly

looking monsters

which they could

fit in and

they would craft

them and create

them and this

went on for some

weeks and they

had to create an

environment for

them and there

was some water

there and some

sand and trees

and all these

different things.

And then after

that she got

them to make

some rules for

the creatures so

that they would

be able to live

well in this

environment.

And some of

the kids they

made a rule like

you must obey

everything that I

say.

And some of the

other ones would

make up different

kinds of rules like

don't go in the

water or you'll get

wet and then fall

apart and things

like that.

As the creatures

are made of clay.

And so this

continued on for a

few more weeks.

And then one day

the teacher kind of

walked in and

they were all

looking after and

and creating

something new for

their creature in

the box.

And she said,

what if your

creature stood up

one day and

said to you as

the person who

had made it,

I don't have to

listen to you

anymore.

I'm going to do

what I want to

do and your

rules are worthless.

They're stupid.

I don't want to

follow them.

What would you do?

And one of the

little boys

flenched his

fists and said,

I'd crush him

like a bug.

And at that

point she opened

up Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 and

told them about

the God who

created this

world and made

us and placed

us in it and

given us this

fantastic world

to live in and

the way that we

rejected him.

What is God

going to do

with the people

who had rejected

him?

Would he crush

us like bugs?

The servant's

role was to be

struck down by

God.

And he bore

griefs and

sorrows.

in his life

that were not

his own,

but they

were ours.

It was not

his own

troubles that

Jesus bore

that were the

reason why he

suffered in his

way.

It was not some

flaw in himself

or some pride

within him,

but it was for

our sakes.

peace.

The middle part of

this passage gets

to the heart of

this when it

says in verse

5,

he was

pierced for

our transgressions.

He was

crushed,

yes,

but for our

iniquities,

our sins,

our failings.

Upon him

was the

chastisement,

the punishment

that brought us

peace.

And with

his wounds,

we are

healed.

You see,

we are like

sheep that

have gone

astray,

that have

turned away

from the

one who

created us.

Each one of

us has turned

to his own

way.

And so,

instead of

crushing us,

God laid

on him,

on the

servant,

all of

our sin

and our

rebellion

and our

iniquity.

Why was

Jesus despised

and rejected

and struck

down and

cut off from

the land of

the living?

For our

sakes.

People

turned away

from the

horror of

what happened

to him,

gasping in

astonishment

at this

figure that

was so

disfigured

that they

even said,

is he

even a

human?

And yet,

the

astonishment

of people

changes

as they

realize the

astonishment

of the

salvation

that Jesus

brings.

The

astonishing

grace,

the

astonishing

forgiveness,

the

salvation

and the

astonishing

cost of

that

salvation.

Sometimes

you hear

people today

think,

take

offense

at the

things that

are said

about Jesus

or the

things that

are written

about him

or the

things that

are done

to him

and so

on.

And as

I'm

reflecting on

this passage,

I think

that Jesus

just would

have laughed

at that.

He would

have despised

the shame

of it.

he wouldn't

have cared

what people

said about

him.

I mean,

what more

can the

world do

to him?

They

already

killed

him,

took away

his

dignity,

humiliated

him,

crushed

him.

We know

that this

is the way

that,

in fact,

the way

Jesus would

have acted

rather,

would have

been to

pray for

those people

who wanted

to mock

him,

to humiliate

him.

And he

wouldn't have

prayed that

God would

strike them

down in

their sin.

He would

have prayed,

Father,

forgive them,

for they

know not

what they

do.

Father,

bless them,

cause them

to come

back to

you.

He would

have been

seeking their

good,

even as

they were

crucifying him.

when it

says that

he was

pierced

for our

transgressions,

crushed for

our iniquities,

what that

is saying

is that

it is

our sin

that brings

Jesus to

the cross.

It is

our sin

that brings

Jesus to

this earth.

We are

the reason

that God

came down

at all,

and not

our goodness

or our

purity

or our

attractiveness

but the

fact that

we rebelled

against God,

that we

flouted his

laws,

that we

decided not

to listen

to him,

to rule

our lives

our own

way,

and

succeeding

only in

hurting and

destroying one

another and

this world

that we live

in.

It doesn't

take much to

look around

now at

the world

to persuade

people that

things are

not the way

that they

should be

in this

world.

And even

such a

figure as

Nelson Mandela

suffered

great injustice

as he was

imprisoned for

many, many

decades.

And that

kind of

injustice is

repeated throughout

the world

as we see

instead of

forgiveness and

reconciliation,

hatred and

ethnic cleansing

and mutual

exclusion.

Jesus came

to cut

through all

of that

to show

that forgiveness

was the

antidote to

injustice.

There's a few

implications we

see from this.

Firstly,

we see God's

compassion

because he

did not just,

he did not

come,

Jesus didn't

come in order

to crush

the world

or to

judge the

world or

to point

fingers or

to bring

an army or

a sword.

In fact,

when two of

his disciples

wanted to

raise up

swords to

defend him,

he made

them put

them away

and said,

enough of

that.

God has

not crushed

the world

or us in

it.

Instead,

he's had

compassion upon

us.

God has

not given

up on the

world either.

that's another

thing that

we might

have done.

If your

little creatures

had rebelled

against you,

maybe you

just would

have walked

away and

left them

to rot,

to decay,

to die

in that

box.

But God

didn't do

that either.

He came

back.

He came

into the

world to

seek and

to save

those who

were lost.

God

is the

judge.

God

is the

judge.

God

is the

judge.

That

actually is

good news

in a way

because it

means that

there is

meaning in

this world

because without

a judge,

without someone

to whom

you and

I are

accountable,

someone to

whom all

of the

Pol Potts

and

Hitler's of

this world

are accountable

to,

then this

world is

meaningless.

And

whatever

anybody does

means nothing.

We would

have to then

succumb to

hopelessness.

But that

God is the

judge means

that there

is meaning.

And it

means also

that what

we do

in this

life has

meaning.

That what

we do

in this

life,

in this

world that

we have,

is so

important to

God that

he should

send his

son to

die to

atone for

our sins,

to save

us from

our sins.

But the

third

implication is

that we do

in fact need

saving from

our sins.

We need

what the

Bible calls

repentance.

In order

to be

reconciled,

to be

reconciled

with one

who has

hurt you,

you need

to forgive

them,

but they

also need

to repent

and come

back to

you.

Repentance

means owning

up to

what you've

done,

to who you

are.

It's a little

bit like the

Truth and

Reconciliation

Commission

that was

established in

South Africa

and in

other places

around the

world.

That

reconciliation

could only

occur between

victims and

perpetrators

of injustice

when the

truth was

revealed.

That is,

when everything

was spelled

out,

when everything

was aired

out,

was opened

up,

and exactly

what happened,

what occurred,

and when

was listed

out for all

to see.

that is

what repentance

involves.

That is,

that we

own up to

who we

are and

to what

we've

done.

And we

need to

repent of

our own

sin, of

our own

rebellion

against God,

of our own

desire to

exclude God

out of this

world and

live in a

way that

rejects any

authority over

us, even

the authority

of the one

who created

us.

We need

to repent

as well

of hatred.

Hatred and

exclusion is

to seek to

create a

world without

the other.

And in

this world,

whether it's

in the

killing fields

of Sarajevo

or just in

your own

personal lives

here in

Hong Kong,

we see that

hatred and

judgment rather

than reconciliation

and forgiveness

is what tends

to rule the

relationships that

we live in and

that we work

through.

Instead of

wanting to

forgive,

instinctively we

seek revenge.

revenge.

The trouble

with revenge,

however, is

that it

enslaves us

and it

turns into

this kind

of endless

cycle of

violence and

revenge.

Violence feeds

on revenge,

revenge on

violence.

And so

victim and

perpetrator are

locked into

this prism

of mutual

hate,

unable to

forgive or

repent.

rather than

seeking

revenge,

Jesus taught

a new way.

One writer

said,

the discoverer

of the role

of forgiveness

in the realm

of human

affairs was

Jesus of

Nazareth.

And it's

such a

different

climate,

kind of like

a breath of

fresh air that

he brings.

because the

climate in

Jesus' day

was that of

pervasive

oppression and

the principle

was, if

anyone hits

you, hit

back.

If anyone

takes your

coat, burn

down his

house.

In the

Bible we

have someone

called Lamech

who his

kind of

revenge was

to strike

back 70

fold upon

those who

would strike

anyone who

would dare

to strike

him.

This

seemed to

him to be

the only

way to

defeat

injustice.

But turning

that logic

on his

head, Jesus

demanded of

his followers

not that

they strike

back 70

times, but

to forgive

70 times.

The

injustice of

oppression

must be

fought with

the creative

injustice, it

seems, of

forgiveness, not

with the

injustice of

revenge.

And as

Jesus hung

on the

cross there

where he

was sent

by an

unjust

judge,

he became

the ultimate

example of

his own

teaching as

he prayed,

Father,

forgive them

for they do

not know

what they

do.

As I was

reading through

this passage

and reflecting

on it and

reflecting on

my own

life, I

realized that

I too

needed to

repent of

this.

In my

own life,

I haven't

bullied

people or

kicked people

down, but

I've experienced

those things

in myself, in

my own

life.

And that

hatred that

I was talking

about before,

where you seek

to create a

world that is

without the

other in it,

is something

that I've

been guilty

of.

And

that cycle

of revenge

that I was

talking about

before is

something that

I've experienced

as well.

Not that I've

had the

opportunity to

do anything

about it,

but there's

that hatred,

that seeking

to want to

inflict back

onto the

one who

inflicted

upon you

hurt,

to what

seems to

you at

the time

like justice,

but actually

is just

revenge,

because you

want to

see them

suffer in

the same

way that

they made

you suffer.

And I

realized,

as I was

reading through

this passage,

that I

needed to

repent of

this,

just as

much as

the

perpetrator

needed to

repent of

what they

did.

And each

one of us

is like

that.

whether we

are perpetrator

or victim,

what unites

us in

humanity is

our capacity

to hate,

to despise,

to exclude

one another.

And it's

of this that

we need to

repent and

learn to

forgive one

another.

But how

can we

learn to

forgive?

It seems

such a

monumental

endeavor to

truly

forgive when

you have

been truly

hurt seems

just too

much for

so many

people.

Whether it's

in the

context of

a family

feud,

where years

of pent-up

anger and

aggression or

passive

aggression have

led to

silence and

exclusion,

or whether

it's a

relationship in

your work,

or a friend

who you

feel has

betrayed

you.

Real

hurts

require

real

forgiveness

and real

repentance.

And the

only way

that we

can begin

to understand

forgiveness

is to

understand

our own

need for

forgiveness.

forgiveness.

When we

realize that

we too

are sinners

who treated

God as

if he

didn't exist,

as if he

didn't create

this beautiful

world that we

live in,

even if we

have messed

it up somewhat.

If he didn't

create us

with bodies

that can run

and jump

and leap

and sing

and dance

and work

and play

and do

all these

things.

If he

didn't create

the air

that we

breathe.

Rather than

living as

though we

owe God

everything,

we live as

though we

owe God

nothing.

Or,

even worse,

we live as

though God

owes us.

Why,

God,

didn't you

give me

this that

I wanted?

Or,

if you

were really

God,

then what

you would

do is

this thing

that I

want you

to do.

when we

realise the

way that

we've

treated

God

and that

we need

forgiveness

and that

we have

received

forgiveness

or are

able to

receive

forgiveness

from what

Jesus has

done by

dying on

the cross

for our

sins,

only then

are we

able to

turn,

as Nelson

Mandela

understood,

to turn

and forgive

others,

to not

hold

against

others

what

they've

done

to

us.

Because God

does not

hold what

we've done

against him,

against us.

Instead,

he poured it

out upon

his son,

Jesus.

God

will

be

to

us.

The third

thing we

learn from

this passage

here is

that it

was not

in vain.

That Jesus'

death on

the cross

was not a

failure or

the end as

everybody thought

it was who

was standing

there that

day, even

his followers.

was not

others.

Rather, it

was the

beginning.

The beginning

of a new

people that

God would

bring into

being.

And God

exalted

Jesus.

I don't know

if you

noticed, but

in the very

first and

the very

last lines

of this

song, we

see God

sing the

praises of

his servant.

God delights

in his

servant.

Let me read

out the

first verse

here.

It says,

Behold, my

servant shall

act wisely.

He shall be

high and

lifted up and

greatly exalted.

God is going

to raise up

Jesus.

And Jesus

himself

reflected upon

these words.

And they

carried him

through as

he looked

beyond,

seeing, as

it says,

the joy set

before him.

He endured

the shame

of the cross

and now

seated at

the right

hand of

the throne

of God

almighty.

God's plan

of reconciliation,

of salvation,

revolves around

Jesus and

the exaltation

of Jesus.

And so,

what are we

doing in

this world?

Are we a

part of God's

plan?

Or are we

still standing

on the

sidelines?

God's

grace?

Many people

still hide

their face

from him

in the same

way that

those did

earlier.

And yet

more and

more find

true majesty

in the face

of Jesus,

even as he

was on the

cross.

To have

God's great

servant as

our saviour

is to be

saved from

the wrath

that fell

on him.

To reject

him is to

face God's

justice forever

by yourself.

Each one

of us in

this room,

no matter

where we

stand, we

need to

repent, to

come before

God and

to realise

that we

have not

done as

we ought

or thought

as we

should,

towards

him or

towards one

another.

And so,

I urge you

all to

come before

God this

very day

to confess

your sins

and to

receive,

once again,

the forgiveness

that comes

through Jesus

and to

receive the

healing and

the peace

that come

from his

wounds.

Let's pray.

Father,

we know

that Jesus

was pierced

for our

transgressions,

that he

was crushed

for our

iniquities.

Upon him

was the

chastisement

that brought

us peace

and with

his wounds

we are

healed.

Father,

we ask

that you

would bring

us this

peace,

this

shalom.

We ask

that you

would give

to us

healing.

We ask

that you

would forgive

us,

forgive me,

Father,

for when I

have failed

to love

others as

I should,

failed to

love even

those who I

would consider

enemies,

in the same

way that

Jesus loved

those who

were his

enemies.

Father,

help us to

be people

of Jesus,

people of

the cross,

people of

forgiveness and

reconciliation,

people who

understand and

know the

great cost

it was to

you to

free us

from our

sins and

to bring us

into your

kingdom.

And we

pray that

you would

help us

to extend

that same

love and

forgiveness to

those around

us so that

we can be a

reflection of

Jesus' forgiveness

to us.

So we pray

this in Jesus'

name.

Amen.