The following sermon is brought to you by Capitol Community Church, located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol Community Church is a people awakened to a holy God. If you are searching for a new church home, or from out of town looking for a church to worship with, or simply seeking for answers. Please join us for worship at 1045 a.m. every Sunday morning and 6 o'clock p.m. for our evening service. If you have any questions, please email us at info at CapitalCommunityChurch.com. We pray this sermon will help you grow deeper in your walk with Jesus Christ. Open your Bibles to Psalm 52. It's right before Psalm 53. Just grab a Bible that's near you in the pew. This is an Old Testament book. Open up to the middle and then turn to the right a couple hundred pages, you'll land in Isaiah. And we're gonna be beginning in the 52nd chapter. While you're turning there, let me pray for us and pray for our time. Heavenly Father, I pray, Lord, that you would speak through me as I teach your word, that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit, and that you would open up the eyes of our heart to your truth. And I ask this in Christ's name. Amen. Well, welcome to Friend Day. Welcome to Friend Day. I heard somebody say this week, well, I invited somebody, but they don't want to be my friend. but they said that they're still going to come. So maybe you're visiting here and somebody invited you and that person might not be somebody that you consider your friend, but you're here. So welcome, we're glad that you're here today. What we do here at Capitals is we do a form of preaching which is an ancient art. It's something that not many people do anymore. It's called Bible exposition. Bible exposition and what you do with Bible exposition is you open up to a chapter or a verse in the Bible and you explain it. You hold it up and you look at the truth and then you seek to understand what it means, and then you begin to apply it in your life. So you're going back to the ancient texts of the Bible and seeking to understand it, discern it, and apply it. So we are going back to this incredible passage of scripture, this really awe-inspiring section of the Old Testament. It really is breathtaking. It's truly epic. It's written by Isaiah who was a prophet in the 8th century B.C. So we're talking about 750 years before Christ. So this is nearly 3,000 years ago that this was written, 750 years before our Lord even came. And Isaiah's prophecy or his ministry was notable because it spanned four kings. He prophesied for over 50 years. And there's one story I think that's quite interesting. This is when Hezekiah was king. And the Assyrians came and they basically came outside the city of Jerusalem seeking to siege the city. And Hezekiah said, I don't know what to do. And Isaiah came and Isaiah prayed. And Isaiah said, you don't need to worry. The Assyrian king, Sennacherib, will not step one foot into this city. And later that day, an angel came down from heaven and killed 185,000 Assyrians, and they left. So that's Isaiah. Tradition has it that he was martyred, that he was put in a tree trunk by a wicked king of Judah named Manasseh and he was sawed in half. So this is a man who was willing to stand convictionally for his message. We only have this book, the book of Isaiah, which is the collection of his writings. There's no other book that he wrote in the Bible. What's interesting is that sometimes the book of Isaiah is called the Bible in miniature. The Bible in miniature because there's 66 chapters in Isaiah and there's 66 books in the Bible. And even more interesting, the first 39 chapters of Isaiah are chapters that relate to judgment. And the last 27 chapters of Isaiah relate to redemption. How many books are in the Old Testament? 39. And in the New Covenant, there are 27 books in the New Testament. So it really mirrors the Bible itself. In the capstone of the book of Isaiah, really the crown jewel of Isaiah, is chapter 53. Chapter 53. In the last few verses of chapter 52. because it is here that Isaiah speaks of someone who is called the suffering servant, the suffering servant. And for this reason, chapter 53 is called the Old Testament gospel. It is the good news of the Old Testament, the good news the coming Messiah. There's a story in Acts chapter 8 of an Ethiopian eunuch. He was a treasurer in Ethiopia under the the reign of Candace and he was somewhere in Israel and he was sitting in his chariot and And he was reading this section of scripture. And Philip, who was one of the deacons in the early church, came across him and he said, can I help you? He said, well, yes, you can help me. I'm reading this. I'm reading this verse. Like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb, before it shears, it's silent, so he opens not his mouth. And the eunuch asked Philip, do you know who this refers to? And Philip said, why yes I do. In Acts 8.35 says, Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news. That's the word gospel. He told him the gospel about Jesus, the good news about Jesus. So this is the gospel of the Old Testament. Martin Luther said regarding Isaiah 53, he says, this is the foremost passage on the suffering and resurrection of Christ, and there is hardly another like it. Charles Ryrie, a theologian, said one of the most treasured and important passages in the Old Testament is Isaiah 53. Now I want you to look at verse 13, and I want you to circle or underline this word, servant. In the book of Isaiah, the servant is a theme that runs throughout the entire book. And the word means slave, servant, somebody who serves. It's a Hebrew word, ebed. And at first in the book of Isaiah, this phrase, the servant of the Lord, refers to the entire group of people known as Israel. It refers to the nation of Israel, that all the people collectively are to be the servant of the Lord. But then something switches beginning in Isaiah chapter 42. There are four sections beginning with Isaiah 42 in the book of Isaiah where the servant refers to somebody singular, an individual. Somebody that the rabbis begin to teach would be the Messiah. Somebody who would be the representative of the people. For example, jot down this verse, Isaiah 49.3 says, He said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. So the servant comes to be one person in Isaiah chapter 42. One person. And we know that this is one person and it cannot be the nation of Israel for four reasons. Let me give these to you. First, because this servant perfectly executes the will of the Lord. This servant perfectly executes the will of the Lord. The nation of Israel fell in many ways. They did not obey Yahweh perfectly. So we know that this cannot refer to the nation. Second, The servant suffers unjustly, whereas Israel did not. Remember, Israel went off into captivity, they went into Babylon, they suffered many things, but all of that was because they were being punished by God. This servant suffers unjustly even though he is righteous. Third, this servant suffers on behalf of the people, where Israel does not suffer for anyone. The nation never suffered for the Gentiles or anybody else. The nation suffered for their own wrongdoing. And then fourth, this servant is ultimately vindicated for his righteousness. Now I emphasize this, that this is a singular servant, because beginning in about 1200 AD, so about 800 years ago, the rabbis, the Jewish rabbis said, uh-oh, if we believe that this passage of scripture is referring to the Messiah, then it is Jesus Christ. And so they switched their interpretation. Remember I told you that the Jews for a thousand years had interpreted this as referring to the Messiah? They changed their belief and they said, no, it refers to the nation, it doesn't refer to a singular person. But clearly, it's referring to an individual. And when you read the New Testament, you see the apostles quote Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53 again and again and again and again because the apostles to a man believed that this was a incredible prophecy that predicted in detail what the Lord Jesus Christ would do and who he would be. And it's really startling when you actually begin to look at this prophecy about how it outlines and defines the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry. So this morning what I want to do is I want to show you, with our time, three characteristics that this servant song of Isaiah 52 and 53 shows us about the Lord Jesus Christ. Three characteristics about the suffering servant. First, beginning in verses 13 to 15, this is the first stanza of the song. I want you to see the preeminence of the servant, the preeminence of the servant. What's fascinating is that Isaiah begins with the end. He doesn't start with the beginning of the Messiah's life, he starts with the end of the Messiah's life. He shows us what the end picture is. He shows us what the end game is. And he says, here's the end, here's what you need to know about Jesus. He's preeminent. He's exalted. He's worthy of worship. That's the end game of this suffering servant. Look at verse 13. He says, behold, my servant shall act wisely. Now, in the Bible, wisdom is always of an ethical nature. It's not just smarts. It's understanding how to live in this world with the fear of Yahweh. and he's saying the Lord Jesus Christ will embody this wisdom of God, that he will display this skill of living before God in perfect righteousness. The Apostle Paul says in Colossians 2.3, in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So when you read the Proverbs, Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, by and large. But even Solomon fails to live out the wisdom that he writes. Jesus lives it out perfectly, walks before God perfectly. And that's why Jesus was such a fascinating person when he spoke. He was filled with wisdom. People couldn't stop listening to him teach. Remember the Sermon on the Mount, people were stunned hearing him speak with authority. That was the wisdom that filled his mind. And then he says, look back at verse 13. He shall be high and lifted up. He shall be exalted. Now in the book of Isaiah, if you read the other previous 51 chapters, who is the only one who is to be exalted and lifted up? Yahweh. Yahweh. Isaiah is saying that the identity of this suffering servant is Yahweh. He is the Holy One. Paul again says in Colossians 2.9, in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. This is the doctrine of the Trinity, that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. Now this is somewhat of a mystery. It's hard for our minds to understand how God could become a man. how there could be three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which make up the Trinity, each equally God, yet distinction amongst the persons. But this is what the Bible teaches, and it is what we must affirm. And as the Son of God, Isaiah is saying he is to be lifted up, he is to be praised. That's what the word exalted means. He's to be worthy of exaltation and worship. And that really is the end game of the universe. The apostle Paul says in Philippians 2.9, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That is where history is going. The exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Christ is exalted right now at the Father's right hand. He is coming back. We will see him coming with the angels in all of his glory and we will worship him and we will praise his name forever and ever and ever. Now this victory that Isaiah talks about comes at a great price, at a great price. In Christianity, this is a principle that runs all the way through. The cross always comes before the crown. The suffering comes before glory. Look at verse 14. As many were astonished at you, His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. What's he talking about? Well, he says there's going to be a point in the suffering servant's life where he is going to be beaten to the point that he no longer looks like a human. You remember, Jesus allowed himself to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. The soldiers came, and Jesus says, I am he, I'm the one you're looking for. He allows himself to be arrested, taken into custody. They take him to Caiaphas, the high priest's house. And there they started to beat him and punch him. They started to throw their fist at him. And they said, who's punching you now? If you're a prophet, tell us. Tell us who's punching you. And then they took him to Pilate. And Pilate was a weakling. Pilate was somebody who put up his finger and saw where the winds of politics were blowing, and he saw that the Jews wanted this man to suffer and to die. And he knew it was unjust. He knew that this man had done nothing wrong, but in an effort to appease them, he said, I'll have him flogged. and maybe that'll do it. A Roman flogging is where they would take a whip, had lots of leather strands on it, and they would attach glass and pieces of metal and bone to those leather straps. And then they would hit you, 39, 40, really, maybe we lose count. However much until you are in complete agony. And that's what they did with our Lord. And when that happens, those pieces of bone and glass stick into your back. When they pull it out, it just rips the skin completely off, completely serrated the skin on his back. But that wasn't all. Then they took the thorns, now they call it the Jesus thorn over in Israel. It's a plant that grows these two to three inch thorns. Now these aren't the little burrs that you get playing tackle football in your yard. These have some bite to them. And they put the crown of thorn on his head, and then they gave him a reed, a little scepter, a fake scepter. And they would take that little scepter from him, and they would beat that crown of thorns, hammering it into his head. So his scalp was completely maimed, and the blood must have flowed down his face to the point that you couldn't even identify his facial features. And then they marched in a fake parade before him, pretending to salute him, saying, hell, king of the Jews. You see, he was marred, the prophet says, beyond human semblance. The Legacy Standard Bible translates it like this. It says, so his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. They turned him into somebody who was unrecognizable. You couldn't do it justice with the movies. Jim Caviezel couldn't do it justice. He was turned into something that looked otherworldly, Isaiah says. Beyond human semblance. But, I came across a quote this week. This is St. Augustine. He said, his deformity is our beauty. But that wasn't all, Pilate gave the unjust sentence. Jesus allowed himself, at any point he could have spoken a word and the angels would have come down to rescue him, but he allowed himself to go to the cross. Look at verse 15, for this purpose. So he shall sprinkle many nations. He shall sprinkle many nations. That word sprinkle is an important Hebrew word. It's used in reference to the priest, the priestly sacrificial system of the Old Testament. On the Day of Atonement, the priest, the high priest, would take two goats. One was called the scapegoat, and he would put his hand on that goat and pronounce the sins of the people, and he would send that goat out into the wilderness, symbolizing the fact that God was providing a way for your sin to be carried far away. But that wasn't enough. He would take the other goat and he would pronounce the sins of the people on that goat. And they would slaughter that goat. They would slaughter that goat, and they would slaughter that goat as a symbol that a payment must be made for sin. And the priest would take the blood of that goat, and he would go into the Holy of Holies, the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was. You know about the Ark of the Covenant. You've seen Indiana Jones, right? You would go into the Holy of Holies. He would do this one time a year. And on the Ark of the Covenant, In the middle of those two angels where their wings were spread, the two golden seraphim, was what was called a mercy seat. And he would sprinkle that blood on the mercy seat. as a propitiation for the sins of the people. That means a sin satisfaction for the sins of the people. And here's what Isaiah is saying, is that Christ is this, not just this priest for Israel, but he's this priest of the nations. who propitiates the wrath of God for the nations. His blood redeems people from every tribe, tongue, and people. In fact, John says in Revelation, he sees the heavenly vision and the angels and the elders are crying out in heaven, to the risen Christ saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe, tongue, language, and people, and nation. and the past 2,000 years have testified to this fact. As we've seen the gospel go forth, and people from all different ethnicities, from all different nationalities, from all different languages, from all different continents, I think every continent except one, Antarctica, right? People from all over the globe have trusted and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at this, look at this last verse, 15 of chapter 52. 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. Now, what Isaiah is saying here, who is the greatest of men? The greatest of men are kings. Kings are the greatest of men. So what Isaiah is saying is that the greatest of people, from the least to the greatest, no one excluded, their mouths will be shut because of the Lord Jesus Christ. when they hear and understand the good news of the gospel of what he has done. When they understand, he says, when they see, and that which they have not heard, they understand. When they hear the good news, their mouth is stopped. Here's what this means. When you open your mouth as we did earlier, we were singing those hymns, those great hymns of the faith, until the projector went out, but we're singing hymns. We're opening our mouths. That's exaltation. Singing praises to God. The Bible says that's a sweet aroma to God, that God loves hearing the praises of his people. That's why we sing. I once heard Warren Wiersbe say, he says, exaltation is when we open our mouths and praise his name. Worship is when we stop talking and we bow down before him. That's what Isaiah is talking about here. He's saying it comes a point where you simply bow down before this exalted suffering servant. And the praise becomes worship. That's what the Greek word worship means, proskunio, it means to bow down. Do you remember Isaiah chapter six, famous chapter, where Isaiah has the image of God. He sees God in his holy heaven, sees the angels. And do you remember what Isaiah says? He says, woe is me, for I'm a man of unclean lips. He says, now is the time for my mouth to be shut. When was the last time that your mouth was stopped because of the transcendent beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ? Where your heart was so caught up in His worship that you were rendered speechless. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He is exalted. and our lives are meant for his worship. That is the preeminence of the suffering servant. That's where it's all going. But how we get there is difficult, tragic, but good. So next I want you to look at verse one of chapter 53, and I want you to see the pain of the servant, the pain of the suffering servant. And there's several things that I think are painful as we look at his life. And the first is, is that few believed in Him. Few still believe in Him. Jesus said, the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are on that path. Few enter it. Few believe. Look at verse one. Isaiah asks a rhetorical question. Who has believed what he has heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? In other words, he's like, I'm looking around, I don't see anybody that believes. Who's believed? I don't see anybody acknowledging that he's Lord. I don't see anybody acknowledging that he's the Messiah. Sometimes it feels like that, doesn't it, in this world? You look around and you say, where are God's people? Jesus, at the end of his ministry, he comes into Jerusalem and He preaches, this is right after the triumphal entry, right before he's about to go to the cross, and in reflecting on the few people who actually believed in him, the apostle John records this in John 12, 37. He says, though he had done so many signs before them, that's miracles, they still did not believe in him. so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. And he quotes this verse. Who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? That us there, the word us, refers to the witness of the prophet. He's saying who has believed this message? Jesus Christ manifested the power of God with miracles, with His message at the cross, and yet few believe. Look at this phrase, into whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? The arm of the Lord represents the power of God. It represents the might of God. When Israel, if you read the book of Exodus, when they come out of Exodus, it says that the Lord led them with what? An outstretched arm. When the Red Sea parts, it says he led them with his mighty arm. The arm of God represents the power of God. So what Isaiah is saying is, is that the power of God, the arm of God has a name. and it's the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul confirms this. You remember in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, he says, the rock followed the people of Israel, but the rock was who? Christ. Jesus Christ was the one in the cloud leading the people of Israel. Jesus Christ was the one parting the Red Sea. Jesus Christ is the right arm of God. He is the power of God. But what the world did not expect is for the right arm of God to come as a baby. The world did not expect for the power of God to be manifested and demonstrated on a bloody cross. The world did not expect the power of God to be witnessed in weakness. The world did not expect a man who only owned one robe. He said, the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. They expected him to be living in the Hilton, to staying in the palace. They didn't expect him the way that he came. Therefore, few believed. Few believed. Paul says in Romans chapter 10, verse 16, They have not all obeyed the gospel, the good news. And then he quotes this verse. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? Why do so many people refuse to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Why do so many people refuse to believe? Well, I'll tell you why. Because Jesus Christ was crucified. That's it. Jesus Christ was crucified. You say, is that really it? Why was Jesus Christ crucified? As a substitute for what? Sin. Oh. You mean that there's this thing called sin and I'm accounted as a sinner? Yes. Yes. Oh, I really don't like this message anymore. Because now it's getting a little personal. Now it's getting, you're beginning to step on my toes. Yes, that's what the gospel is about. It's about the fact that Jesus Christ died to save sinners. For the Jews in the Old Testament, the book of Deuteronomy says anybody who hangs on a tree is cursed. Greeks wanted a God who was strong. They liked their Zeus and Apollo. They wanted a God who was seen in power. and yet Christ was proclaimed crucified. This isn't a God who appeals to me. That's why Paul says, for Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. The second reason why his life was painful, just taking it back and looking at it, is that he had a low birth. He had a low birth. In the ancient world, your birth was everything. You often didn't rise above the social status that you assumed, but Isaiah says, look at verse two, for he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. This speaks to his lowly birth. A young plant, it refers to a young shoot that comes out of the trunk of a tree, just a little sapling. And this speaks to the unexpected way that the Messiah came. It seemed insignificant. He was born to a virgin, Mary, as prophesied, by the way, in this book, in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14. His stepfather, Joseph, was not a man of note, even though he was of the Davidic line. He was a carpenter in a place that was off the beaten path, nobody really knew about it, called Nazareth. And moreover, when he was born, you remember his parents came to Bethlehem because of the census, and when they got to Bethlehem, there was no place for them to stay, so they went to an inn or a stable. They went to a place where animals were kept. And after he was born, he was laid in a manger. Ancient people didn't lay their babies in mangers. That was a sign, remember, even to the shepherds, that they were to find him lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. And Isaiah says, like a root out of dry ground, he came at a dark point in history where, spiritually speaking, there had been 500 years of silence, no prophetic word. And he came to this obscure place, eventually Nazareth. One of his disciples, Nathanael, said, can anything good come from Nazareth? I don't know. The point being he's this lone light in the sea of darkness. And third, he lacked a majestic appearance. Notice this phrase, he had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. I think this is really interesting. This speaks to his physical appearance. You know, George Washington, wherever he went when he was riding his horse, they said he looked like a king. When he came into a room, you know, people just stood up a little straighter, became a little quieter. And some people have that effect. They're majestic-looking people. Actors and actresses are often chosen, not because how well they can act, but because they look beautiful. If people get bored with the show, they'll keep watching just because the features of the person are pleasing to the eye. Beauty is found in symmetry and proper proportion, that everything is perfectly aligned and balanced. And what Isaiah is saying about the person of Christ is not that he was an ugly person, that's not what he was saying, but that he wasn't majestic either. This word beauty actually refers to seeing or appearance. What he's saying is that there was nothing about his physical features that would cause you to catch your eye. Nothing about his physical features that would cause you to look twice. He sort of physically blended in. You remember when the Sanhedrin wanted to find Christ, they got Judas, and they said, well, you betray him for 30 pieces of silver, and Judas agreed. The reason why they needed somebody to identify Jesus is because he didn't stand out. Have you ever wondered that? You know, they go into the, which one's Jesus? You would think all the miracles he did, all the preaching he did, they would know exactly who Jesus was. They couldn't identify which one he was, except by the kiss. He didn't have a majestic appearance like he appears on the kids' coloring sheets or in the movies. But what's Truly remarkable is, is all of that changed when he opened his mouth. When he opened his mouth, people, sat up and listened. He was the greatest preacher the world has ever known, the greatest prophet the world has ever known, the greatest speaker of truth the world has ever known. There was that one point where he was speaking in the temple. And the temple officials sent the temple guard to go arrest Jesus. They said, go arrest him, go arrest him right now. And Jesus, it was during the Festival of Lights, the festival of what we know today as Hanukkah, and Jesus stood up and he said to all the people, he said, you know what? I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." People were just listening to him. And those officials, guess what they started to do? The people who went to arrest him, they started listening too. They couldn't arrest him. They went back and the Sanhedrin said, well, where is he? They said, we couldn't arrest him. Nobody has ever spoken like this man before. People marveled at him. But they marveled because of the truth that was in him, because of the beauty of his character, and the wonder of his person, not because of his outward appearance. And then the fourth aspect of his pain is in verse 3, look at verse 3, and that is he was despised and rejected. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. By and large, Jesus Christ was rejected by his own people. There's one point in his ministry where he's preaching in a room, he's talking to his disciples, and somebody comes and says, Jesus, your mother and your brothers are outside waiting for you. They want to bring you home. because they think that you've lost your mind, essentially. And he says, who are my mother? Who are my brothers? But these, my disciples. That's who my mothers and brothers are. John chapter seven, Jesus' own brothers don't even believe in him. End of John chapter six, Jesus had this huge following of disciples. Turns out they were false disciples. because they all leave him with the exception of the 12. He's rejected and despised. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised. In this world, it's a shame, honor culture. A shame, honor culture. So when somebody is receiving great shame, you hide your face from them. You don't want to be associated with them. Remember when Jesus was at Caiaphas' house being tried, and in the courtyard Peter was there. And a little girl says, aren't you a Galilean too? Weren't you one of his disciples? I do not know that man. Peter hid his face, hid his face from the Lord Jesus Christ. And then look, he says, and we esteemed him not. Not only was he shamed where people hid their faces and he was despised, but we esteemed him not. We did not hold him up. We did not give honor to him. And I think Isaiah here is speaking of the Jews generally, but he's also speaking about the world. that the world fails to esteem the Lord Jesus Christ, even today. The one worthy of honor, worthy of worship, is shamed. Ever go to a, think about this, go to your business, it's a secular company, lots of secularists, and somebody says, are you a Jesus follower? and all that goes with it? Are you ready to claim that title of being associated with Him? Yeah, I'm one of those people. I'm one of those Bible people. I'm one of those Christ followers. It's becoming harder and harder and harder in this generation to be a Christ follower. Jesus said this, you better count the cost of what it takes to follow me. And those words mean now, those words mean more now than they did 50 years ago in America. Because the cost is greater now to following Christ. Jesus's life, here's the point of all this that Isaiah is making, is that his life was difficult and his life was painful. It was a challenging because Jesus was looking forward to the eternal reward. I emphasize that because there's a Christianity here in America that says that Jesus wants you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy now. It's called the prosperity gospel. That gospel doesn't exist. In fact, it's a false gospel that takes you straight to hell. cross before the crown. Jesus says, if anyone wants to come after me, he must take up his cross daily and follow after me. For those who wish to find their life must be willing to lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Jesus was despised and rejected. Jesus said, a slave is not greater than his master, so they persecuted me, so they will persecute you. Well, the third thing I want you to see is this remarkable, and this is the centerpiece of this servant song, is the passion of the suffering servant. The passion of the suffering servant, beginning in verse 4. In review, we've seen the preeminence of the servant. We've seen the pain of the servant. And now we come to this climax, the passion of the servant. And he's going to describe our Lord's passion in several ways. And the first is that he is our sorrow carrier. Sorrow carrier. Look at verse four. This is such a wonderful truth. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. That word carried means to pick up, to lift up. The idea is that the Lord lifted up Our sorrows, that word sorrows could also be translated sickness, our sicknesses. He lifted up his sicknesses and he put them on his back. Do you hear me? This is the work of Christ. When Jesus went to be baptized, John the Baptist was confused by this reality. John the Baptist was the one who went before the Lord. John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Messiah. All of Israel was going out to be baptized by John for a baptism of repentance in the forgiveness of sins. So when Jesus the Messiah shows up, John the Baptist is saying, okay, here's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus says, I want you to baptize me. No, Lord, it's the other way around. I should be baptizing you. Jesus says, no, this is to fulfill all righteousness. Here's what's taking place. Thousands, if not a million people are being baptized by John. Jesus says, you put me down in that dirty water, which symbolizes the cleansing of all these people's sin. and then I'm going to come up out of that water as their representative, as one who is carrying their sickness and their sin. After the Sermon on the Mount, there was a leper. He came up to Jesus. You know what leprosy is. It's a disease that eats away your flesh on the outside. And Jesus, he comes and he says, Jesus, I know you can make me well. You know how Jesus healed him? He put out his hand and touched him. Touched him. And then he was made clean. It symbolized something. That man's sickness was being transferred from his skin to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he Heals a centurion's servant from a distance, you remember that? Then he goes into Capernaum to Peter's mother-in-law's house. She has a fever. You remember what he does? He touches her. and she's made well. People are starting to clue in. They bring the masses all in northern Israel. Hundreds, thousands begin waiting outside the door and he heals them all, probably putting his hand upon them. And Matthew says this, at the end of Matthew 8, don't miss it, he quotes this verse from Isaiah. He says, this fulfills what was spoken by the prophet. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sicknesses, our sorrows. Second, Isaiah says, this is even more remarkable, that he is our sin substitute. This is the righteous one, the one who is all wise, the preeminent one. Look at this statement at the end of verse four, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. This perfect one was stricken, afflicted, smitten. That word smitten means to beat, to strike, to wound. The same word is used in the book of Exodus to describe the 10 plagues that God struck Egypt with. Remember the locusts and the darkness and the hail The water turned to blood. He struck the Egyptians. Same word. He strikes the son. God treated his son like he was you, so you could be treated like his son. That is the theological meaning of the cross. The cross is about substitution. Do you remember what I said earlier? The Jews understood that the cross was a symbol of cursing. Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree. They understood this. When Jesus Christ was on that cross for six hours on Calvary, he was underneath a curse from God. But it wasn't a curse from God for something he did, it was a curse from God for something you did and I did. It was a substitutionary act. It was because of sin. The two costliest things in the world, and you need to know this and understand this, are grace and sin. There's nothing costlier than grace, and there's nothing costlier than sin. And we could talk about the costliness of sin for a long time, but sin's consequences are always more tragic than you think that they will be. always worse than you expected. But so is the costliness of grace. And we see these things at the cross. And the reason why we don't understand the costliness of grace and the costliness of sin at the cross is because we don't understand the holiness of God. Sin is when you violate the law of a holy, righteous God who created you. That's what sin is. That is the problem with man. Listen to me very carefully because our society is saying what the problem is is that we're not educating people well enough. The problem is income disparities or whatever. Our world is making up all these sorts of problems that aren't really the issue. The issue is in the heart of man and the issue is the fact that we are sinners and the fact that we have broken God's law. That is what sin is. And as soon as you acknowledge that, you must acknowledge the fact that there is a God in heaven who is holy, and that's why everything is done to avoid this truth. But at the cross, we get a glimpse of His holiness and a glimpse of the costliness of grace. And you see, God is a just God. And this is why grace is costly. Because God loves you. And he wants to forgive you of your sins. But he simply can't sweep sin under the rug. He's just. He's just. And when you think about sin, and you think about something that's terribly wrong, You know that justice must be done. Justice must be accounted for. When you read about that horrific story in the news, whatever it is, somebody murders somebody else. There's something in your blood that curls that says, I want justice. And so it is with God. God demands justice. But in his desire to forgive and show mercy, he must execute justice. And so he executes justice on the Son. He afflicts the Son. He smites the Son. That's why Jesus cried on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It was this, judgment of God on the Son, the wrath of God on the Son that He experienced. Look at verse 5. Isaiah says, He was pierced for our transgressions. That's another word for sin. I mean, you couldn't be more plain with what Isaiah is saying. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement, that's punishment, that brought us peace. This is a vivid description of the cross, that He would be pierced Talking about nails, this is literally fulfilled, that he would be crushed by the wrath of God, that he would be judged. Peter says, 1 Peter 2, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds we have been healed. And he quotes the second part of verse five, with his wounds we are healed. The only way for you to be restored with God is by the wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Christianity is the only true religion. It's why Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And then the second phrase that people don't quote, no one comes to the Father except through me. Because there's no other healing atonement for you. Also, look at this. He says, with his wounds we are healed. This is solus Christos, Christ alone. Only the work of Christ heals your wounds. It's not mostly by the wounds of Christ we are healed, and a little bit of our good works. A little bit of church attendance. A little bit of helping other people, a little bit of Bible reading, and his wounds. It's not what he says. By his wounds we are healed. Only by Christ can we be forgiven. And that's why third point about this passion. Verse six, he is our sacrifice. He is our sacrifice. He is the living sacrifice. Just as those priests in the Old Testament would sacrifice the goat, he is our sacrifice. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. How much do we contribute to our salvation? the sin that makes it necessary. We wander away. Have you ever watched these videos of sheep? They need dogs to round up sheep. And the dogs will bite them. These border collies, it's amazing. And they send out two or three border collies and they're nipping at the sheep and they're getting all the sheep to go in the right place because sheep are inherently dumb. and they wander away. I once was at a ranch in Texas and I saw a group of sheep just go right off a cliff into a river. They just go places that cause their own detriment and their own harm. And Isaiah says, you know, if we really wanna understand what we're like and our role in all of this, look at the sheep. We're like the sheep, we go astray, we turn to our own way. But Yahweh has laid on this sheep, on the Lamb of God, the sins of us all, the iniquity of us all. This is what the Lord has done. Now does this mean that everybody is saved? No. Because we must believe in Him. The Apostle Peter says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Most people are too prideful to ever admit that they're sinners. They're too prideful to ever admit that they need someone else to atone for their sin. The atonement has been made. Jesus Christ now, we're looking back retrospectively 2,000 years, he's already made the atonement. but you must believe and trust in him and trust that his atonement paid the penalty for your sins. And by the way, because he was perfect, he was vindicated. You see this in the rest of Isaiah 53. And he rose again from the dead, guaranteeing that all who trust in him will one day rise from the dead. There's two things that you can do with your sin. So yes, you're a sinner. You do have sin. There's two things you can do. Solomon says, Proverbs 28, 13, you can one, you can conceal your sin. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper. Or two, you can confess and forsake them and you will obtain mercy. You're here this morning for a reason and I pray that you find mercy. but it comes at a cost. You must be willing to confess your sin. Say, Lord, I am a sinner. I know that I could never in a million years earn heaven. But I trust in the sacrifice that you have made, the blood atonement that you have made, that Christ died for me. You trust him. You confess your sin. You repent. You forsake your sins. You turn from them. And God says you will obtain mercy. So call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. He is the suffering servant. He died to sprinkle the nations and I pray that that's you. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this suffering servant who is preeminent. He's worthy of worship, worthy of praise, worthy of exaltation. We pray, Lord, that we would praise him. And Lord, as we look at his life, this life of pain and difficulty, this man of sorrows who was rejected and despised. We remember, Lord, that such has promised us in this life. And so, Lord, we set our minds on things above, not on things of this world. We look to you, the author and perfecter of our faith. But most of all, Lord, we remember the cross of Christ, that you are our sin substitute, that you paid the price on Calvary that we could never pay. that you were chastised for our iniquity, that you were pierced for our transgressions, that you brought us peace with God by your death. And Lord, we praise you for that. We praise you for these things. We ask you that you would do them in Christ's name. Amen. Thanks for listening. For more sermons, information, and events, check out our website at capitolcommunitychurch.com.