Good Friday Service | "Exalting the Suffering Servant" Isaiah 52:13-53:12 | Thursday, April 2, 2026

Take your Bibles and let's go to Isaiah

Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

chapter 52 for our text tonight. Isaiah

Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

chapter 52.

We're going to begin

in Isaiah 52:13.

Isaiah 52:13

Our text will go through the entire

chapter of Isaiah 53

as we see what is the clearest

prophecy about the suffering of our

savior

as we read through his crucifixion

account tonight.

I want you to have his crucifixion in

mind as we read our text.

Isaiah 52

verse number 13.

The Lord says, "Behold, my servant shall

deal prudently.

He shall be exalted and extolled and be

very high,

as many as were astonished at thee. His

visage was so marred more than any man,

and his form more than the sons of men.

So shall he sprinkle many nations. The

kings shall shut their mouths at him.

For that which had not been told them

shall they see, and that which they had

not heard shall they consider.

Who hath believed our report? And to

whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a

tender plant, and as a root out of dry

ground. He hath no form nor clumliness.

And when we shall see him, there is no

beauty that we should desire him. He is

despised and rejected of men, a man of

sorrows and acquainted with grief. And

we hid as it were our faces from him. He

was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and

carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem

him stricken, smitten of God, and

afflicted. But he was wounded for our

transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities. The

chastisement of our peace was upon him,

and with his stripes we are healed. All

we like sheep have gone astray. We have

turned everyone to his own way. And the

Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us

all.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted.

Yet he opened not his mouth. He is

brought as a lamb to the slaughter and

as a sheep before her shears is dumb. So

he openeth not his mouth. He was taken

from prison and from judgment. And who

shall declare his generation? For he was

cut off out of the land of the living.

For the transgression of my people was

he stricken. And he made his grave with

the wicked and with the rich in his

death, because he had done no violence,

neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet

it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He

hath put him to grief. When thou shalt

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

travail of his soul and shall be

satisfied. By his knowledge shall my

righteous servant justify many. For he

shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion

with the great, and he shall devo divide

the spoil with the strong, because he

hath poured out his soul unto death, and

he was numbered with the transgressors.

And he bare the sin of many, and made

intercession

for the transgressors. And I just want

to read this first verse of chapter 54.

Sing, O baron, thou that dar, break

forth into singing and cry aloud, thou

that dst travail with child. For more

are the children of the desolate than

the children of the married wife, saith

the Lord. What you see at the end of

chapter 52

is a promised exaltation

of the servant.

What you see after the suffering of the

servant in chapter 53 in verse 12 is

that exaltation is fulfilled

and the outpour of his suffering and his

exaltation is sing.

I want to preach to you tonight a

message entitled exalting the suffering

servant. Let's pray and ask God to help

us. Heavenly Father, we need your

spirit's help to understand your word.

Help me to make it clear. Help all of us

who hear to understand it clearly and

faithfully what Christ accomplished for

us. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for standing. You can be

seated.

To be elevated in life requires a

rigorous climb from obscurity to the

peak of success. I want you to consider

for a moment that if an athlete wants to

rise to the top levels of competition,

they have to work hard. They've got to

spend lots of money. They've got to

promote themselves on social media and

getting filmed to send to the right

people in the right places so that they

can get recognized and recruited to the

top schools to reach office politicians

and have to campaign online and on TV.

And they go through rallies and town

halls and caucuses and they do

everything they can to secure votes and

endorsements and rise to the top of the

party. And even when you are seeking a

promotion at work, you put together a

resume that details your experience,

your successes, and your achievements.

You might promote or present a business

plan to promote yourself as the one

person for this job. That's normally how

we rise to the top. And so to reach an

elevated status, you must reach up. You

must climb higher. You must make your

name known to those who matter the most.

That's how the world works. But what we

read in Isaiah 52 and 53 is that that is

not how God works.

God promised in the book of Isaiah to

raise up one whom he identifies as his

servant to defeat Israel's enemies to

bring deliverance, cleansing, and

restoration not only to Israel but also

to all the nations. That's God's plan

being worked out here in Isaiah. The

servant is identified by the messianic

term as the root of David, the branch,

the seed of David. He will be exalted to

an eternal throne and will establish an

eternal kingdom. But the rise of this

servant king will be like no other.

Instead of climbing higher, he will

descend lower. Instead of promotion, he

will come in humiliation.

Instead of being widely accepted, he'll

be widely rejected. And instead of being

protected, he'll suffer. And instead of

living, he will die.

But not even suffering and death can

stop the Lord from exalting his servant.

That's what we see in this text.

It foreshadows how Jesus would give his

life on the cross for our sin. Isaiah 53

is mentioned 21 times in the New

Testament to show that Jesus is the

promised servant that he is the one who

would bring salvation to the ends of the

earth through his sacrificial death. But

after his resurrection, what happened to

Jesus? He ascended into heaven. He was

seated upon a throne. He was exalted and

given a name that is above every name.

And this exaltation of Jesus that he

received from God makes him worthy to be

exalted by every one of us to be

worshiped to be praised and extolled

forever more.

From this text tonight, I hope to show

you two simple things about the

exaltation of this servant. First, we'll

look at how the servant is going to be

exalted. How he will rise to this

exalted standing. But then we also want

to see why. Why is it that his suffering

brings the Lord to exalt him to this

standing? You notice that he says in

verse 13 that he shall be exalted and

extolled and be very high. Those are

three different ways of saying the same

thing. He's going to be thrice lifted up

just like God is thrice holy. Holy,

holy, holy is how God revealed himself

to Isaiah in chapter 6. And now God,

it's as if he is saying about his

servant. Exalted, exalted, exalted he

shall be. Why? That's what we want to

look at. And my prayer is that as we see

Jesus fulfill this prophecy that each of

us would exalt him in our own lives to

this thrice exalted standing that he is

given by God his father. And so let's

first see how the servant will be

exalted. The first thing we notice the

end of chapter 52:es 13- 15 is that the

servant will be exalted through

humiliation.

through humiliation.

It says there in verse 13, "Behold, my

servant shall deal prudently."

This is a phrase that means to act in a

way that is wise so as to bring success.

That's the whole idea of this word. I

want you to think for a moment about the

way an architect carefully uh designs

and executes a building plan from start

to finish. that he sees it all the way

through and then uh once it's finished

it it's like a wonder of the world and

we see it and behold it and think man

how does it stand that tall how did he

get all those shapes this structure is

amazing that's the idea of dealing

prudently that there is a plan that God

has put in place a plan of salvation and

he has put it into the hands of this

servant that we identify also as his son

and the son is going to deal and act in

a way through his perfect wisdom that

brings that plan to full success. He's

going to finish the job is what it

means.

It says that he at that time shall be

exalted and extolled and be very high.

That he is going to be thrice exalted.

But the way that he is exalted

and elevated to this status is going to

be utterly shocking.

It says in verse 14, "As many were

astoned at thee," this thee is speaking

to Israel, as as they as people were

astonished at how Israel lies in ruins

after Jerusalem has been destroyed,

their their poverty, their strickeness,

just as they are astonished at at you

right now,

so will they be astonished at the

appearance of this servant. It speaks to

his identity with his people that he is

going to humiliate himself down to their

condition. In fact, I'm going to say it

this way, beneath their condition.

It says his visage

was so marred more than any man and his

form more than the sons of man. The idea

here is that that this almighty, all

powerful, conquering servant will be

exalted not through campaign and glory

and brilliance, but rather through

humiliation.

It literally says that there will be no

the the brilliance and and luster of his

appearance will be deformed.

It'll be disfigured.

It it says more than any man. The idea

is is beyond or we might even say

beneath the level of a man. There's an

extreme lowering

to this servant long before there's an

exaltation of him.

And this is going to be utterly

shocking. It says in verse 15, "So shall

he sprinkle many nations." This is how

he will bring Levitical cleansing to the

nations. the same word that refers to

the way that the the priests would

sprinkle whether it was oil or if it was

water or if it was blood upon the

people. He's going to sprinkle them

clean. But then notice it says the kings

shall shut their mouths at him. The

kings of the earth, those who rose to

power through their campaign, their

conquest, and their own glory, they are

going to be left speechless by this.

Why? Because they are going, it says,

"For that which had not been told them

shall they see, and that which they had

not heard, shall they consider." They

are going to see this man exalted in a

way they have never ever heard of

before.

It's going to be a humiliating

fashion.

But then number two, the servant will be

exalted through rejection.

It says in chapter 53:1, "Who hath

believed our report?" This will be

unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

And to whom is the arm of the Lord

revealed. When you study the book of

Isaiah, he he presents his coming

salvation and deliverance as the mighty

arm of the Lord. that the Lord's arm is

stretched out. It's not shortened. And

and it speaks time and time again about

the arm of the Lord. To whom is the arm

of the Lord going to be revealed? And

what's being revealed here is the arm of

the Lord, the means of his salvation,

the extension of him that is going to

bring this deliverance and salvation is

this servant. The servant is the arm of

the Lord. But who shall he be revealed

to? says in verse two, "For he shall

grow up before him, the one to whom he's

being revealed, as a tender plant." You

know what a tender plant is? That tiny

little green chute that sticks out of

the ground. It even says, "And as a root

out of a dry ground."

This is how he's going to be revealed.

You're going to be walking around like

when you hike a mountain trail. that

worn, beaten, rocky, dry path. And

upcoming out of that path are these tiny

little blades of grass and plants and

aspens that you just walk right on by

and perhaps even trample under your

feet. That's how this servant will come.

He will not be recognized.

You will not be noticeable.

He will be obscure.

In fact, he says here, "He hath no form

nor comeliness."

And when we shall see him, there's no

beauty that we should desire him.

There's there's not going to be anything

about him that really stands out and

draws us to him. Therefore, verse three,

he is despised

and rejected of men.

He's not the kind of victorious,

conquering, glorious king that they

thought would come. They didn't even

recognize him for who he was and

therefore they belittled him in their

minds and then they rejected him.

It says he is a man of sorrows and

acquainted with grief. You know what

this is saying? He goes through the same

things that we go through.

Pain,

sickness,

suffering,

cuts, scrapes, financial hardship,

poverty, homelessness,

betrayal.

He goes through the same things that we

go through. And if he's in the same boat

as us, how can he get us out of the boat

we're in?

Therefore, it says we hid as it were our

faces from him. We covered our eyes at

him.

He was despised and we esteemed him not.

Somehow

this servant will be exalted through

humiliation

and somehow he will be exalted through

rejection.

But notice number three that the servant

will be exalted through suffering. It

says in verse five, surely he hath borne

our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Notice what it's saying here. That man

of sorrows who is acquainted with grief,

we thought the sorrows and grief that he

experienced

were his own. That they were his fault.

They were the fallout of sin. just like

they are for us. And yet what we find is

he is bearing our griefs. He is carrying

our sorrows

that that these are not his to carry

because he is not responsible for them.

And yet

we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God

and afflicted.

that the things that he goes through,

the pain and the suffering and the grief

that he endures is because he has done

something wrong before God. God has

stricken him. God has smitten him. But

verse five,

he was wounded for our transgressions,

he was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon

him, and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We

have turned everyone to his own way. And

the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity

of us all. The suffering that this

servant endures will not be because of

his own sin, but because of ours.

I want to point something out to you.

Every single one of these words,

stricken,

smitten, afflicted, wounded, bruised,

chastised, and stripes. These are all

judgments that have been pronounced on

Israel throughout the prophecy of Isaiah

that they will face all these things.

But now God says instead of these

judgments being laid on them, they will

be laid on him, the servant.

He will suffer.

And this sinless suffering

will bring exaltation,

but it will not stop with suffering.

Number four, the servant will be exalted

through death.

It says in verse 7,

he was oppressed

and he was afflicted

yet he opened not his mouth. He has

brought as a lamb to the slaughter and

as a sheep before her shearers is dumb.

So he openeth not his mouth that he this

servant will walk silently to his death

as a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter.

He will as he will not open his mouth as

a lamb who gives up his wool to provide

a living for some and a covering from

the cold for others.

It says in verse number eight that he

was taken from prison and from judgment

that what he faces will be like an

unjust sentence and the reason why is

because he will die without sin.

It says who shall declare his

generation. The idea here is who will

give praise to his offspring. It it

suggests that there will be no offspring

from this man that he will be killed

short of his prime. It says for he was

cut off out of the land of the living.

But notice it was not for his own sin.

For the transgression of my people

was he stricken.

But his sacrifice,

his sacrifice is not

the end of the story.

He will die with wicked men. It says

verse 9.

and he made his grave with the wicked

and with the rich in his death because

he had done no violence neither was any

deceit in his mouth. You know the

easiest sin to commit is a lie.

You know the easiest way to commit sin

is with your tongue.

And yet this man is so innocent that you

couldn't even find a lie in his mouth.

What is this suggesting? that his

suffering and his death is not because

of anything that he had done but because

of everything that we had done. It was

because of our sin.

I want you to know the sinless servant

came in humiliation and rejection to

suffer and die for the sins of others.

And there is only one person that fits

that bill and that is the Lord Jesus

Christ.

Because it was Jesus who was born in a

lowly stable.

He escaped to Egypt and he grew up in

the obscure Galilean village of

Nazareth. Nazareth in the home of a

lowly carpenter.

He rose from obscurity

only to be trampled on, blasphemed, and

belittled by the Jewish leadership. He

was rejected, arrested, imprisoned, and

tried. And yet, he remained silent as

the Roman governor marveled.

Jesus, you know what that sounds like,

by the way? The Roman governor marveled.

The kings of the earth shut their

mouths.

They couldn't believe this.

Jesus was tied to a post and beaten.

Stripes were laid across his back with a

cat of ninetails. His beard was plucked

out. They spit on his face. They drove a

crown of thorns into his brow. They

robed him in royalty and mocked him,

spit upon him. He was led through the

streets like a public spectacle,

beaten beyond human recognition

with a cross on his back up the hill

called Golgtha. And he was nailed to

that cross through his hands and his

feet. And he hung between two criminals.

Yet all along the way, Judas called him

innocent.

Pilate called him innocent. Herod

suggested that he was innocent. And even

as Jesus breathed his last breath and

the sky went dark and the temple tore

into and the earthquake, the centurion

said, "Truly, this was a righteous man."

They all declared his innocence.

Jesus was humiliated,

rejected,

wounded, and killed.

And to the human eye, it makes no sense

how this man could possibly be thrice

exalted.

It makes no human sense.

This is how God said the servant would

be exalted.

But now, why?

What is it about the sinless suffering

of Jesus that leads the father to exalt

his son?

I want to point this out in verses 10

and 11

that the servant's suffering

accomplishes the Lord's will. Would you

look at verse 10? Yet it pleased the

Lord to bruise him. The idea that it

pleased the Lord, it's that it was his

desire. It was his wish. It was his

will. He was pleased for it to go down

like this. He hath put him to grief. Why

would he do this? It says, "When thou

shalt make his soul an offering for

sin?"

He gave his life

as what is called here the guilt

offering that we studied in Leviticus.

The one that atones for even the sins of

ignorance.

The ones we may not even be aware of.

The ones that we may not intentionally

commit that he covers all of them.

All of the sins.

But his sacrifice is not the end of the

story. It says verse 10

that when thou shalt make an offering

for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall

prolong his days, and the pleasure of

the Lord shall prosper in his hands. If

this suffering and dying servant will

see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the pleasure or the the divine will

of the Lord will continue to prosper and

be successful in his hand, then this

servant must not stay dead.

This servant must rise from the dead. He

must live to see the seed. He must go on

in longer days. And he must continue to

fulfill the Lord's will

resurrection.

Then notice in verse number 11,

and he shall see of the travail

of his soul and shall be satisfied.

This word travail is not the same word

that typically refers to child birth.

But what you can see here is that it's

conveying the same thing that there is

an agony. There is a suffering that he

is going to go through that's going to

bring forth a seed as we saw in verse 10

that he's going to see his seed. And now

in verse 11, it's saying that just as a

mother goes through the deep pains of

childbirth, only for once that child is

born to be satisfied and filled with joy

and gladness. Immediately after the

pain, in the same way, this suffering

servant will pour out his soul to death.

He will suffer immensely and be beaten

beyond human recognition. But on the

other side of that suffering, he will

see what comes of the travail of his

soul, and he shall be satisfied.

It says,

here's really the

crux of the message. What shall his

suffering bring forth? The answer in one

word is this, justification.

It says, "By his knowledge shall my

righteous servant justify many, for he

shall bear their iniquities." In other

words, the sinbearing sacrifice of the

servant accomplishes the Lord's pleasure

to justify sinful people. That is what

the Lord's will is.

His sinful creation

to be cleansed and purged from their sin

and thereby declared righteous before

him. Why? So they can be restored to

him. That is the Lord's pleasure. That

is the Lord's delight. That is the

Lord's will.

And it is the sinless suffering of the

servant that accomplishes

the Lord's will. And because he

faithfully accomplishes the Lord's will,

he is exalted.

Verse verse 12, therefore will I divide

him a portion with the great, and he

shall divide the spoil with the strong.

This is language of triumph and conquest

and victory that he will be exalted to

the place of gathering the spoil and

receiving an inheritance from the

father. This is his exaltation. Why? It

says because he poured out his soul unto

death. and he was numbered with the

transgressors and he bare the sin of

many and made intercession for the

transgressors.

This servant did everything that was

required for men to be justified.

He finished the job.

Do you notice how it reflects back to

chapter 52 when it says that he will

deal prudently, that he will act wisely

in such a way that it finishes the job,

that it brings forth success. And now

that the success has come, the

exaltation has arrived.

And it's because he did everything

necessary

to justify

all who believe.

Now he lives forever in this exalted

status to intercede for every person

whom he justifies by faith.

Thus the servant is exalted through

sinless suffering because it

accomplishes the Lord's will to justify

sinners.

He's exalted for finishing the Lord's

will.

So, I want to say to you first of all

tonight

that Jesus had to suffer for you to be

justified.

When Jesus was crowned with thorns and

beaten beyond recognition, when stripes

were laid across his back, when nails

were driven through his hands and his

feet, uh when Jesus breathed his final

breath, it was not because of anything

that he had done. It was because of

everything that you and I have done. It

is because of our sin. And because of

our sin, it is impossible for us to draw

near to God, to stand or to live in the

presence of this thrice, holy God. And

the only hope that we have is for our

sin to be atoned for in a way that

allows God to call you righteous. And no

lamb would do, nor could a ram or a bull

or a goat. The only thing that would

suffice God's wrath was the sinless

blood of his only son, Jesus.

And now, because Jesus died for your

sin, you can be justified by accepting

his death in your place by faith. You

can be made holy, acceptable, and just

in God's sight. Which means in Christ,

you can draw near. And when Christ

returns, you can stand and live forever

in the presence of God. Jesus was

rejected so that you could be accepted.

He was wounded so you could be healed.

He was punished so you could go free. He

died so you could have life. And he

became sin so you could become

righteous. Jesus stood in your place and

did everything that was necessary for

you in spite of all of your sin.

to live forever before God. He fulfilled

God's plan. And now, having accomplished

God's plan to justify your soul, Jesus

has been exalted by God. Philippians

Philippians 2:10

2:10 says that he humbled himself and

became obedient unto death, even the

death of the cross. Wherefore God also

hath highly exalted him, and given him a

name which is above every name, that at

the name of Jesus, every knee should bow

of things in heaven, and things in

earth, and things under the earth, and

every tongue should confess that Jesus

Christ is Lord to the glory of God the

Father. God Jesus fulfilled God's plan,

and God fulfilled his promise. Jesus is

exalted. And because we have been

justified by Jesus, Jesus should be

exalted by us.

That we should kneel to him and confess

him as both savior and lord and exalt

him personally in our lives above all

others. He is worthy that we would

regularly and faithfully come to church

and give him praise. Not just to mumble

words, but to actually let noise come

out. To sing loudly a and gratefully to

our savior who gave his life for our

sin. To sing of his grace and for his

glory. He's worthy that we would bow

before him in worship as we have tonight

and as we do on Sundays, but also in

your own personal life. He's worthy that

you would take time every single day and

never forget the price that he paid on

the cross of Calvary where he poured out

his soul unto death so that you could be

justified. Sometimes our life gets out

of whack and it gets all out of

perspective because we stop taking the

time to remember the cross. To remember,

I don't deserve anything of this life.

All I deserve is death. That's what I

would get for my sin. I don't deserve

the bed I sleep in. I don't deserve the

home that I live in. I don't deserve the

spouse that I have or the car that I

drive or the job that I have or the

money in my bank or the money I don't

have in my bank. I don't deserve any of

that. I'm just thankful to have life.

But because God is gracious and

merciful, he sent his only son to die

for my sin so that I could be reconciled

to him. Friends, when we start every day

with that perspective, I deserve

nothing, but Jesus gave me everything,

it'll change our perspective on life. We

won't struggle with with anger and

bitterness and resentment as much as we

did before. Why? Because we realize that

everything those people have isn't

something that I deserve. But we also

realize at the same time that everything

that I have in my life, I don't deserve

either. and they don't have without

Jesus.

It shifts your perspective.

The the suffering, the rejection, the

humiliation, the death that Jesus

endured for us makes him worthy of our

exaltation even in the greatest

sufferings that we go through. Why?

Because those pains and sorrows and

griefs that he experienced were not his

fault.

They were ours.

Yet he bore them for us. So how can we

not praise him even in the midst of the

darkest valleys of life?

He who is seated on the throne in heaven

is worthy to be seated on the throne of

your heart.

that you would take in his word, whether

it's at church or at home, and bring

your life under full submission to him.

to bring your lustful thoughts in

submission to him and your anger in

submission to him and your finances in

submission to him and how you dress and

the things you put in front of your eyes

and the things that you put in your ears

that I I'm going to bring my entire

life, my marriage, my children, our

church, everything that we have comes

ultimately from him and has been

redeemed by him. And therefore, I exalt

him above all else and bring it all

under his reign. He's worthy of that

because he's seated on a throne in

heaven. He's worthy to be honored above

your boss, your coach, your friends,

your teachers. He's to be exalted above

all governments and kings and

legislation and rulers. He is even

worthy to be honored above your spouse,

your kids, and your parents. He's worthy

to be honored above all else.

No one in your life should be honored

above Jesus Christ because no one else

offered atonement for your sin. Only

Jesus could do that.

Jesus suffering accomplished the Lord's

will to justify you. And for that

reason, God exalted him. And so should

we.

Give him glory with your life. Give him

personal time of worship and praise. Put

him first over everything else. Give him

the place in your heart that God has

given him in heaven.

Friend, you are justified.

So exalt him. Our father, we thank you

for sending your son to fulfill your

plan to save our souls.

Your word says, "He who knew no sin

became sin for us that we might be made

the righteousness of God in him."

Your word says that Abraham believed God

and it was counted to him for

righteousness. You impute righteousness

to sinners who give you their faith.

And I pray tonight that if anyone has

not yet given Christ their faith,

they would believe on him even now.

But for those of us who have believed on

Christ, may you remind us through your

word that we are undeservedly,

mercifully, and graciously justified

in Christ,

declared righteous,

holy, and without sin in him.

We could never deserve what you've done

for us.

And so I pray that we would do the only

befitting thing

and that is to exalt Jesus to the throne

of our lives

to give him the place that you have

already given him and to let him reign.

Would you please work in our time of

response? Humble us in your sight that

we might put Jesus where he belongs in

our lives. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.