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I would like to begin
this lesson by calling attention to the words of our Lord as stated in
(Lk. 18:31-34); ---
If I were to ask you to turn to the GREATEST CHAPTER in the whole Bible, where would you start turning? Someone might suggest (Heb. 11:) the great chapter on FAITH!! Another could very well come back and say; (1 Cor. 13:) is the greatest, that wonderful chapter on LOVE; and after all the apostle Paul said LOVE was greater than FAITH!! Well, we've all pretty well got our own personal favorites I suppose when it comes to the New Testament; --- So let's just leave out the New Testament for now, and I'm sure we all with one accord would agree on (Isaiah 53:) as being one of the greatest (if not the greatest) chapters in all the Old Testament. (Isaiah 53:) --- Turn to it please! Now, when we're talking about one part of the Bible being greater than the other; we're not in any way implying that one part of God's word is more inspired than the other. ALL Scripture is inspired, totally and fully!! Paul said so in (2 Tim. 3:16) "All Scripture is inspired by God." That is, the first chapter of Genesis is just as inspired as the last chapter of Revelation!! And the 53rd. chapter
of Isaiah to me is a "mountain peak" in the Bible; --- and the Old Testament
particularly. And it was written at least 700 years before Jesus Christ
left heaven to be born of a virgin; --- And yet what a marvelous biography
it is of our Savior's life and mission. And that will be the theme of our
lesson for our learning
It has been
said; --- That great minds discuss IDEALS! Average minds discuss
EVENTS! And small minds dwell on PERSONALITIES!! While that might
be true generally; It is not true when it concerns our Lord Jesus Christ!!
The greatest person that your mind could discuss; --- The greatest thought
that your mind could contain; ---
Someone has
put it something like this; --- How sad for a man to know BIOLOGY (the
study of life), and not know Jesus Christ who is the GIVER OF LIFE!!
How sad indeed it would be for a person to know ASTRONOMY (the science
of the stars & heaven), and not know Jesus the Bright and Morning Star,
and how to go to heaven!!
That's what I want to be able to do in this lesson; --- To tell you the old, old story. But for our outline, I'd like for us to turn back to Isaiah, the "prince of prophets", and let him tell us about Jesus, the Prince of Peace!! Now there's several things I'd like for us to consider as we take into view the entire chapter; --- So just lay your Bibles open on your lap or table. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. The First Thing We Might Notice: --- The Mystery Of His Birth Notice (Isa. 53:1-2); --- Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He (Jesus)shall grow up before Him (the Father) as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, [There is] no beauty that we should desire Him. Now what is
Isaiah talking about?? He's saying, "It's going to be MIRACULOUS!!"
--- "Just like a tender plant would grow in a broiling, blistering, sterile
desert; --- THIS ONE is going to spring forth." There's no doubt the prophet
here has an allusion to the virgin birth, when he talks of the suffering
servant coming
You see, Isaiah
knew that the Savior of the world was going to be the virgin born Son of
God. Then again; ---Let's notice further how Isaiah describes that
child in (Isa. 9:6); --- "For unto us a Child is born,"
And who was
this "root out dry ground"? Who was this virgin born babe?
He was the Everlasting Father of (Isa. 9:6). Have you ever thought
about how that when Jesus Christ was born, He was OLDER than His mother;
---and JUST AS OLD as His Father?? And this baby was referred to by Isaiah
as MIGHTY GOD and ETERNAL
Several instances in the New Testament Jesus spoke in a fatherly way to the apostles; --- In (Jno. 13:33) During the last supper Jesus said; --- "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer." In (Jno. 1:1-2) John wrote;--- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, (And yet at the same time, John says;) --- and the Word was God." (Vs. 14) goes on to say; --- "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," Deity stepped out of heaven and became a man!! He didn't come in a jeweled chariot in splendor and glory wrapped in robes of light! But rather, He came down through that dark Judean night; --- Born into this world through the portals of a virgin's womb; --- Born in a smelly barn; --- wrapped in a coarse cloth; --- laid in a feeding trough or manger; --- And yet that baby was Infinite!! --- He was Deity / God in human flesh, this root out of dry ground, the Lord Jesus Christ!! Every now and
then we hear someone say; --- "Well, I don't have to believe in the virgin
birth of Jesus to be a Christian!" --- "The virgin birth is not all that
important, after all it's only mentioned several times in the Bible!"
Have you ever
thought about the essentiality of the virgin birth? Why did
Jesus have to be born of a virgin?
And this is the reason why Peter could say in (1 Pet. 1:18-19); --- " knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, --- but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." And so Isaiah
speaks of The Mystery Of His Birth!! Almost unbelievable isn't it?
No wonder Isaiah would say; ---"Who has believed our report?" (53:1)
2. Alright now, let's move on and notice, not only The Mystery Of His Birth; --- But also, The Manner Of His Life Read with me beginning at about the last half of (Isa. 53:2); --- He has no (stately)form or comeliness; And when we see Him,[There is]no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. The first thing
we notice is that it was a very common life. When people looked upon Jesus
there was no stately form or majestic appearance that might attract people
to Him. He came into this world in a very ordinary way.
But Jesus never performed any kind of miracles to get that kind of discipleship. As a matter of fact often, when He performed some miracle, He would say; "Don't tell anybody about this!" And on several occasions His enemies would taunt Him by saying; --- "Show us a sign from heaven!" And He'd say, (for instance) in (Mt. 16:4); --- "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed. They said, when
He was hanging on the cross; --- "Come down and we'll believe!!"
But He refused! Yes, Jesus lived a very common ordinary life, putting
aside all the splendor and dazzlement and all that kind of glory because
He knows there's a certain kind of discipleship He does not want.
The Bible speaks of those who followed Him
But Christ had
all the beauty of His character, without exploiting any of the splendor
of His glory! And there's something about a right heart that will
respond to the character of Jesus Christ; --- and that's what God wants.
And may I add; --- He lived a contemptible life!! Notice again, in (Isa. 53:3); --- " He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, [our] faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Jesus Christ,
--- Sharon's fairest rose. Jesus Christ, --- Truth personified, was
hated and despised by men.
He is
despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And He's still despised today. And He's still forsaken today, everyday!
It's so remarkable that the Messiah should be this way!! And yet
maybe this is one reason why our Jewish friends have missed the Messiah
message of Jesus Christ; --- because they have not listened to the Prophet
Isaiah. They're looking for a king, a mighty deliverer; --- But one day
they're going to face the judgment having been self deceived; --- because
by and large they did not believe Isaiah's report that He
A humble Galilean;
and they said; --- (Mt. 13:55) Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not
His mother called Mary?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. But now, let's look at; ---The Meaning Of His Death Let's go back and pick up in (Isa. 53:4); --- "Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted." What is the purpose of Jesus' death? The purpose of our Lord's death on the cross was that of substitution!! He took our sins and carried them to the cross. Notice: --- "Our griefs", (Lit. calamities, diseases, -- sin-sickness) He bore Himself. And "Our sorrows and anguish He lovingly carried." Notice (Vs.
6); --- " All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one,
to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity (sin) of us all."
See Him in the
Garden of Gethsemane; --- He's praying in dire agony; --- He's sweating,
and according to some medical authorities (Luke himself being a physician)
the minute capillaries may have ruptured in His skin, mingling sweat with
blood. And the Bible says in (Lk. 22:44); --- " And being in agony, He
prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood
falling down to the ground." and His disciples are sleeping; --- The city
is asleep; --- But His eyes won't close in sleep until they close in death!!
And He's praying, fervently, (Vs. 42); ---saying, "Father, if it is Your
will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours,
be done." ---
What was in that cup that Jesus was drinking? Was it the mere physical death on the cross? NO! Christ Jesus, heaven's fairest Rose knew that all the sins of all mankind was going to be dumped on Him!! YOUR sins; MY sins; they were in that cup!! --- All the thievery, lying, hate, bigotry, incest, rape, murders that goes on across this world and this country every day; --- that was in that cup!! Every conceivable form of man's inhumanity to man; and wickedness and evil throughout history; --- THAT WAS IN THAT CUP!! In that cup; --- He who knew no sin; ---God has made to be sin for us; ---And Jesus Christ took our sins and drank them all; ---Willingly and determinately! But not only did He take our sins; --- He took our shame! Notice in (Vs. 7); --- Look at it; --- " He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth." Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn't say something? Look in (MT. 23:62-63); --- And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing? What [is it] these men testify against You?" But Jesus kept silent. And in (Lk.
23:9); --- Here is Jesus before Herod the murderer of John the baptizer,
and; --- Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing.
But not only
did Jesus take my SHAME; --- He also took my SEPARATION!! Notice
(Isa. 53:8); ---" He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will
declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living;---"
I can't even
begin to comprehend the terrible, horrible sense of loss and SEPARATION
that must have raced like ice water and hell-fire mixed through the tortured
soul of our Savior at that moment!! But, you know what the Bible
And Christ,
when they put that cruel, bone laced lash across His back, He did not cry
out; --- When they spat upon Him, He did not complain; --- And when they
drove those spikes into His quivering flesh, He did not whimper; ---
But now, His beloved Father turns His back on Him, and He cries out; ---
"My God! My God, Why hast Thou
I'm persuaded
that at THAT MOMENT, Jesus Christ DIED SPIRITUALLY; --- At THAT MOMENT,
His spirit was CUT OFF from the Father. At that precise moment Jesus experienced
the utter black midnight of the darkness
Listen; ---
Isaiah said; He would take our SINS, our SHAME, our SEPARATION; --- But
also he said; ---He would take our SUFFERING!! Notice in (Isa.
53:9); --- " And they made His grave with the wicked -- But with the rich
at His death,---"
He took our
sins, our shame, our separation and suffering we so richly deserve; ---
He took it ALL and nailed it to His cross!! And that's The
Meaning Of His Death.
4. Now continuing:
Isaiah goes on to explain the wonderful
All of this,
700 years before Jesus was born. Let's began this stage at (Vs. 9)
again; --- " And they made His grave with the wicked -- But with the rich
at His death,---"
"And they made
His grave with the wicked -- But with the rich at His death, Because He
had done no violence, Nor [was any] deceit in His mouth."
Notice in (Vs.
10); --- " Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise (crush) Him; He has put [Him]
to grief." But don't think God's finished with Him yet; --- Yes!
He crushed His own Son; --- He beat Him to pieces until His bleeding flesh
hung from His back like ribbons; --- He bruised and destroyed Him on that
dreadful day; --- Hear it now! ---
You see, Jesus
died without any children; --- never even got married (Regardless what
DiVinci and others say); ---And now, He's dead!! And yet, God
says He's going to have children; --- and He's going to live a long life!!
He shall "prolong" His days!! i.e. Hebrew translation: --- "To cause to live / To tarry long" --- In other words; ---To LIVE AGAIN!! And by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah's showing you and me a beautiful picture; --- (Isa. 53:11); --- "He shall see the labor (Anguish) of His soul, [and] be satisfied." --- When a woman goes down into the valley of the shadow of death, to bring forth a child; --- She has those awful terrible labor pains; --- But she's looking beyond that, and she soon forgets the pain because of the joy of that new precious baby!! And that's precisely the picture Isaiah's painting concerning the Lord. --- As the result of the "labor pains" of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied! Notice again;
--- "By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall
bear their iniquities." That's the offspring he's talking about!!
They certainly tried to stop it; --- When He was put in the tomb, Pilate said; "Make it as sure as you can!" Nature made it as sure as she could, because a great stone was rolled into the entrance of that cave! The Roman government made it as sure as it could; --- because the seal of the Roman government and guards were set there! --- Unbelief made it as sure as it could; --- because the Sadducees scoffed at any idea of a resurrection! Death made it as sure as it could; --- because the body of Jesus lay in that grave, cold, stiff and clammy!!! But, Up from the grave He arose, a mighty triumph o'er His foes!! Confucius died
and he's dead; --- Buddha died and he's dead; --- Mohammed died and he's
also dead; ---And they all will stand before the risen Savior in the Judgment
Day; --- He who died, was buried, was raised and who LIVES FOREVER MORE!!
We serve a living Savior; --- He's in the world today!! And those
who believe and
5. And finally; --- Not only does Isaiah speak of the Miracle of the Resurrection, but also; ---The Majesty Of His Reign Let's read beginning in (Isa. 53:11) again; --- "He shall see the labor (anguish) of His soul, [and] be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, (Why so?) --- Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors." Notice particularly in the early part of (Vs. 12); --- " I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,---" Now, just briefly, let's couple that with a few other passages: (Isa. 52:7); --- " How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good [things,] Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" (Lit.- is King) (Acts 2:29-36)
Peter here is preaching that wonderful first sermon on the Day of Pentecost,
we read; --- "Men [and] brethren, let [me] speak freely to you of the patriarch
David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this
day. 30 "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with
an oath to him
Skipping back to (Isa. 52:13f); --- "Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men; 15 So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider (understand)." And lastly, I'd like to couple these with what Paul had to say to the Colossian church in (Col. 2:9-15); ---" For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with [Him] through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, ---He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." What is The Gospel According To Isaiah?? --- Precisely this; --- Living, He loved me; ---
dying, He saved me; --- Buried, He carried my sins far away; ---
And THAT'S what Isaiah said about 700 years before Jesus left heaven and came to earth!!
Submitted for your edification and learning;
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