By His Wounds We Are Healed (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Let's take our Bibles and open up to Isaiah 52.

Towards the end of the chapter in verse 13, we'll

pick up there and we're going to go through verse

12 tonight. I know that we're kind of parachuting

in to this location and it may have been a while

since we were in Isaiah, so just a little bit

of where we are within this text before I read

and pray. Within this portion of Isaiah, there

are several different songs that are composed,

if you will, by the prophet Isaiah. And they're

all very good, they're very special, but the

one that we look at tonight, I might say is the

kind of climactic song within Isaiah. This text

here has everything to do with what we are doing

here tonight. This is all about the suffering

servant. And so let's pay attention to the reading

of God's holy inspired word from Isaiah 52 beginning

in verse 13. 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 marred beyond human semblance 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 believed 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 desire 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 considered

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 has 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 God's word let us pray Almighty God,

we read this text and there is no doubt in our

minds that this is about our Savior Jesus Christ.

Father, would you move within us to have a greater

appreciation for what Jesus did, that he offered

up himself on the cross in order to make atonement

and to save us from what we deserve. Would you

grant us understanding? Now we pray for Christ's

sake. Amen. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said of this

text that it is the holy of holies of divine

writ. He said when you read this text you are

treading on holy ground. You've heard this text,

but still you might be asking how so? How is

this such an important text? What was Spurgeon

getting at when he said that? If you really pay

attention to this text what you realize is that

Isaiah has this to say, as if he is at Golgotha.

It is as if Jesus is there in front of Isaiah

being crucified. And yet, if you look at the

nature of the text, the way that this is written,

it's all very interesting. Because you probably

noticed that the tense of the verbs, it's in

the past tense, isn't it? And yet the prophet,

is writing with the crucifixion of Jesus still

hundreds of years in the future. He's writing

in the past tense about something that has not

yet happened. And so the way that this reads

is almost as if Isaiah is at the very end of

time reflecting on what might be just the most

pivotal moment in all of human history. And it's

so accurate, isn't it? It's so precise if you

are a Christian tonight There's no way that you

can walk away from this text and not know this

is about your Savior And yet people do deny this

text. It's as Paul says in Romans chapter 1 people

Romans 1 · chapter mention

really do suppress the truth But there's no suppressing

this because Isaiah writes this he portrays this

just as clearly as Matthew and Mark and Luke

and John by this chapter this passage has been

called the fifth gospel because it's about Christ

alone. Tonight I want you to get just one main

point that Jesus is the suffering servant for

you. He's the suffering servant for you. But

two ways in which we see this, Jesus was wounded

for us and Jesus is declared guilty for us. Look

at 52 14. It says his appearance was so marred

beyond human semblance. What this means is that

Jesus was quite literally beaten beyond recognition.

You've perhaps heard of the instrument that was

used upon Jesus. some sort of a whip with a sharp

bone and metal in it, that when it was hit upon

his flesh, it would tear away flesh and it would

expose organs. In addition to that, when that

instrument was used, oftentimes the person was

tied with their hands above their head. Sometimes

those strikes could be fatal. know your Bible

well, you might have read that a person could

only be hit 39 times according to Jewish law.

That's in Deuteronomy, but Paul also speaks of

it in 2 Corinthians. Only 39 times, but here's

the thing about that. Who is the one who is actually

beating Jesus? It's not the Jews. It's the Roman

soldiers. And I hardly, hardly believe they cared

very much about what Jewish law had to say. You

see in verse five, his wounds, his stripes. This

in some ways is more graphic than even the gospels.

And yet it's not the only place where we see

this sort of thing. You don't have to turn there,

but listen to these words from Psalm 22, 16 through

18. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can

count all my bones. They stare and gloat over

me. They divide my garments among them, and for

my clothing they cast lots. Doesn't this sound

like Jesus to you? Of course it does, because

that same Psalm is the one that Jesus utters

on the cross. For you know these words on the

cross. Jesus said, my God, my God, why have you

forsaken me? These prophecies, they're so accurate,

for we know. that Jesus was fastened to the cross

by nails in his hands and his feet. We know that

a spear was thrust through his side after he

gave up his spirit. Look in verse five. He was

pierced for our transgressions. Friends, when

the text uses this word, your word here in English,

pierce, this is actually using one of the most

violent terms. the Old Testament. This is what

was done to our Lord Jesus Christ. This is, as

some have said, the death blow when He was pierced

for our transgressions and He was crushed, destroyed

for us. And we know that crucifixion is perhaps,

no it is, the most torturous way to die. I'm

not medical, but I do know that Jesus experienced

there on the cross unexplainable pain, dizziness,

fever, cramping, tendons throbbing, exposed organs

bleeding, shock, asphyxia, thirst and dehydration.

Anybody else on that cross would have surely

sought the sweet relief of death, but it was

not finished until Jesus said, it is finished.

Jesus underwent that for you. That's what you

need to know tonight. Jesus went through that

for you. And it seems so clear to us, doesn't

it? And yet, look at verse three. It says that

we esteemed him not. What this is getting at,

what Isaiah is getting at, is that people didn't

believe. This prophecy in Isaiah's day, people

didn't believe it in Jesus's day, and people

don't believe that now. This is about unbelief.

And you would think in Jesus's time, Messianic

expectation would have been very high, and yet

people reject Jesus. They did, and they still

do. People today say things like, well, I do

believe that Jesus was a good man. And I do believe

that Jesus was a good teacher. And I even believe

that Jesus was a good prophet. Friends, he is

certainly those things, but he is so much more.

He's the only Messiah, the only one who could

truly say, no greater love has this than someone

lay down his life for his friends. And yet the

laying down of his life is really only the beginning.

Because not only was he wounded for you, not

only was he killed for you, He was declared guilty

for you. Nothing gets people more riled up it

seems these days than innocent punishment and

yet this is what Jesus submitted himself to.

He who committed no sin became sin for us. His

suffering then is vicarious. Because people sin,

Christ as mediator was punished. And because

Christ as mediator was punished, we get his righteousness.

Perhaps you've wondered, how does Jesus' dying

have anything to do with the removal of my sin?

How does this work? Well, look in verses 10 and

11. Verse 10, his righteousness is ours because

his soul makes offering for guilt. Verse 11,

many to be accounted righteous as he bears their

iniquities. This is how atonement works. You

remember the Old Testament sacrifices that had

to be offered again and again and again to make

atonement. But with Jesus it doesn't have to

happen again and again and again because he is

the perfect sacrifice He takes our sins upon

himself and a transaction takes place where we

who believe in him are credited with his righteousness

We get peace with God we get new hearts that

are not stained by sin But understand even as

Jesus did this for us He did it for us, meaning

that they did not take his life because he laid

it down. Jesus laid his life down. Look in verses

four, six, and 10. You see the phrase, smitten

by whom? By God. Verse six, the Lord has laid

on him the iniquity of us all. Verse 10. It was

the will of the Lord to crush him. And so he

was wounded, and he was rendered guilty for you,

and it was the only way. Jesus said it best.

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one

comes to the Father but through me. Christ is

the only one who could make atonement as a perfect

sacrifice. And so the Father offered up the Son

to save his people. But you don't have to take

my word for it. Because Peter in his sermon in

Acts 2 speaks of this perfect plan to save sinners.

Acts 2 23, this Jesus delivered up according

to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,

you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless

men. Why would the Father offer up the Son in

this way? Why? Friends, it's for his glory. It

is for his glory. Do you remember the high priestly

prayer of Jesus in John 17? He begins his prayer

like this, Father, the hour has come. Glorify

your Son that the Son may glorify you. The purpose

for the Son is to give glory to the Father. this

is also communicated within our text tonight

because how does verse 13 go in chapter 52 behold

my servant shall act wisely he shall be high

and lifted up and shall be exalted but also look

at the end of the pericope because there towards

the end we also see this in verse 12 of 53 therefore

I will divide him a portion with the many and

he shall divide the spoil with the strong the

picture here is that as Jesus is crucified on

the cross, we who are in Christ are victorious

with Christ. You have victory with Jesus. He

did this for us such that as Jesus is raised,

one day we too shall be raised to be with God.

And that's about glorification. That's really

what we're doing here tonight. We are here to

give glory to Father Son and Holy Spirit and

To be encouraged and to have hope because there

are many miseries in this life aren't there?

You're all going through something. You've been

through something or you will go through something

Might be cancer Might be slander Might be job

loss Might be persecution Might be the loss of

a loved one if you are tired of that Today is

the day of salvation to give yourself to the

Lord Jesus Christ who one day will save us from

all of this. He will lift us up to be with God.

But in the here and now, what is the point? What's

the point of what we are doing here? If you know

you're short of catechism, it's to glorify God

and to enjoy Him forever. And yet people who

deny who Jesus is, they don't live for God because

they don't see a need for God. And they don't

see a need for the righteousness of Christ because

they think they are righteous in their own eyes.

They don't need to glorify God because they're

glorifying themselves. Friends, Jesus died so

that we could glorify God. Tonight I pray that

you would be strengthened in your faith in the

suffering servant, that his death and his resurrection

would bring you hope, but I'm also aware there

could be those here who were hearing this for

the first time who've never thought about Isaiah

52 and 50. But think about it, who else could

Isaiah possibly be talking about? Who else in

all of history could be afflicted with wounds

and we get healing from it? Who else in all of

history could be numbered with the transgressors

and yet bear the sins of many to make intercession?

Who else, I ask? Well, just in case you're still

unsure. I'll land the plane with Acts chapter

Acts 8 · chapter mention

8. You might remember this episode, the Ethiopian

eunuch and Philip. And the eunuch is traveling

and he's reading something. And no, it's not

the newspaper. He's reading Isaiah 53. And the

eunuch, 834, the eunuch said to Philip, about

whom I ask you does the prophet say this about

himself or about someone else then Philip opened

his mouth and beginning with this scripture he

told him the good news about Jesus and so friends

it's not just that this is about Jesus it's that

it must be about Jesus because he's the only

one who stripes could bring healing. To put it

in another way, in a way that I think will stick

with you for the rest of the night, what can

wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.