Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 16 Dec 2007
6. All we like the flock have strayed, each has faced toward his own way.
But Jehovah interposed in Him the iniquity of us all.
7. He was oppressed and He Himself was afflicted, but He did not open His mouth,
like the lamb is led to the slaughter
and a ewe before the face of her shearers is silent.
So He did not open His mouth.
8. From the prison and from the judgment-hall He was taken, and who will comment on His generation?
For He was torn away from the land of the living,
from the rebellion of my people, the stroke went towards Him.
9. And His grave was given to be with wicked men, however, in His martyrdom, it was with a rich man,
because He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth.
10. And His beating pleased Jehovah. He caused grief if His soul would place itself for a sin-offering,
He will see seed; He will prolong days.
And in His hand, what Jehovah pleases will prosper.
11. From the labor of His soul, He will see - He will be satisfied.
By His knowledge, my righteous Servant will make righteous the many
And their iniquities He Himself will bear.
12. Therefore I will divvy up loot for Him
with the many, and with the strong He will divvy [it] up,
instead of whom He poured out His soul to the death and was numbered with rebels.
And He Himself carried the sin of many, and will interpose for the rebels.
A couple hundred years after Isaiah, Socrates
pondered the question,
“What would we do if a truly perfect man were born?”
The initial response was that of course like all the Greek gods we would
bow down and worship him. But upon further reflection Socrates
concluded that if a truly perfect man were ever born, we would probably kill
him. He was right.
Isaiah prophesied
the violent death of Jesus, the perfect man who had done no harm and told no
lies (v.9), but this death was not merely the response of humans
to a perfect man;
it was the outworking of the plan of God to save mankind from our sins.
Our section of scripture opens with an allusion that Isaiah makes to the animal sacrifices made by the Old Testament Jews, which was a demonstration of the plan of God to save men from sin through the death of a substitute.
7b …like the lamb is led to the slaughter and a ewe before the face of her shearers is silent. So He did not open His mouth… 10b. He caused grief if His soul would place itself for a sin-offering…
a. Isaiah speaks in vs. 7 and 10 of a man who is like a lamb whose soul is offered as a sin offering
·
Definition of אשם sin-offering “Payment to make good an
injury done” (Hoffman )
“Making amends for a wrong done, rendering satisfaction” (Delitzsch)
· O.T. Example – Philistines & ark – upon realizing God was angry at them, striking them with sickness for removing the ark, the Philistines gave gifts, including oxen and gold, when they returned the ark.
·
Note: it was important that the
one offering the atonement be blameless. The sheep had to
be spotless.
EXAMPLE: Imagine Bin Laden coming up to the U.N. council and saying, “My
successor has send me to you to make a deal. Take me, and let him
carry on Al Qaeda however he wants.”
Would that be acceptable? No!
Why? Because both men would have earned punishment, not just one.
That’s why Isaiah emphasizes the righteousness of the Messiah.
He had “done nothing wrong and He had never told a lie.” That way He could be a
substitute for us.
· Isaiah presents to us here a Substitionary Sacrifice by the Christ:
o We have already seen several elements of substitionary atonement in the previous sermon, but there is more in the latter part of this chapter which I did not cover then:
o The grammar of the Hebrew wording in v.8 brings out the movement of the stroke, the punishment for sin “from us” and “toward Him.”
o
Looking ahead to v.12, the word “because” could be better
translated “instead of” - “instead of [the many] He poured out His soul to the
death and was numbered with rebels.”
This is substitionary language.
b. The Old Testament sacrificial system pictured substitionary atonement for God’s people
· Every day, God reminded His people of His plan of redemption. Ex. 29:38-39 "Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs each day, continuously. 39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.” (cf. 1 Chron. 16:40)
· To be forgiven of sin, a man would:
o Present an unblemished male animal at the temple,
o Lay his hand upon the animal, showing a transfer of his sin to the animal,
o Then cut its throat, killing it.
o The priests would then catch the blood in a basin and present the blood to God on the altar
· At the beginning and end of every day, God reminded the pre-Chrisitan believers that their sins would be forgiven by a substitute taking the penalty of death for their sin, in their place, and a priest bringing the blood to God to prove that a death had occurred to satisfy justice.
c. The self-sacrifice of Christ was an antitype for all four classes of O.T. Sacrifices, including:
1. Whole, burnt-offering (עלה)
o The whole body of the animal was burned up - indicating an offering of worship.
o Ephesians 5:2 “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
o Hebrews 10:4-10 “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure…’ 9 then He added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
2. Peace offering (שלומים)
o In this class of offerings, only the intestines and fat of the animal was burned. The rest was cooked and eaten by the supplicant along with the priests - indicating fellowship with God.
o Hebrews 13:8-10 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.”
o 1 Corinthians 5:7b “…Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
o The Lord’s Supper is a type of this meal which is eaten in fellowship with Him.
3. Food-offerings (מנחה)
o This offering was of grain and the produce of trees indicating a donation and consecration of the whole harvest. The tithe and the first-fruits offerings were in this class.
o 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's, at His coming”
4. The sin-offering (חטת or אשם)
o This was a type of burnt offering of animals that specifically dealt with guilt and sin - indicating expiation and atonement. These were released or burned outside the camp, the ashes of which were mixed with water to make lye, which was used in ceremonial cleansing.
o Hebrews 9:11-14 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come… 12 He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God!”
o 1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
In each case, the Old Testament sacrifices revealed the plan of God to save His people through a substitionary sacrifice. Isaiah builds on the Mosaic revelation by describing the man who would be that substitionary sacrifice and the circumstances under which He would make that sacrifice:
One of the most amazing things about this chapter of Isaiah is the number of detailed prophecies it contains. Any single point not being fulfilled could invalidate Isaiah’s whole prophetic ministry, yet 700 years after Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus fulfilled it in amazing detail:
1. Badly marred appearance (52:14) As I mentioned before, Jesus’ appearance was disfigured after:
a. Being beaten black and blue with a rod by a group of soldiers,
b. 39 lashes from a whip with bits of iron at all nine ends opening wounds all over His body,
c. Having a crown of thorns pressed upon His head so that the blood ran down His face,
d. Then being nailed to a cross.
e. This prophecy was specifically fulfilled by Jesus.
2. “Despised and rejected” (53:3)
a. Mark 8:31 “ He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed.”
3. Pierced, beaten, and whipped (53:5)
a. “He was being pierced from our rebellion - beaten from our iniquity, Chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes there is healing for us.”
b. In addition to the beating and the scourging, Jesus was pierced in the side with a spear while on the cross (John 19:34).
4. Unjustly taken as a captive and tried in court (v.8)
a. Mat. 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death… and many false witnesses came forward.
5. “Did not open His mouth” (v.7)
a. Matt. 26:62 The high priest stood up and said to Him, "Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?" 63 But Jesus kept silent.”
b. Any normal man who was innocent of crime would speak up and defend himself, but Jesus kept His mouth shut because He was volunteering to die. If He defended Himself He would not have ended up dying and fulfilling God’s plan of redemption. This prophecy was specifically fulfilled by Jesus.
6. “Did no wrong” (v.9)
a. Peter, who lived with Jesus for 3 years, affirms this in his first epistle, quoting Isaiah (2:22).
b. There is only one man who never did anything wrong – Jesus!
7. Killed with criminals, but buried with rich (v.9)
a. “Numbered w. transgressors” (v.12)
b. Matthew 27:38 “At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.”
c. Matthew 27:57-60 “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock…”
d. This also implies that He really died and was buried.
8. Rose again to prolonged days and saw disciples (v.10)
a. Prophecy more and more exclusive to the point now it can only be fulfilled by Jesus.
b. After death had “prolonged days,” indicating a resurrection to life again!
c. He
would also “see His seed,” indicating a reproductive process, that He would
give life to others and see them come alive after His resurrection.
The fictional story of The Da Vinci Code is not what this is
talking about.
This is fulfilled spiritually, not physically in Jesus, as we will see
in a minute.
9. “Justified many” before God (v.11)
a. Rom. 5:19 “For as through the one man's disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One [Man, Jesus Christ] the many will be made righteous.”
b. Jesus is the only one who could fulfill this prophecy, too.
10. “Intercedes for transgressors” (v.12)
a. 1
Samuel 2:25a Eli the priest instructed his sons, “If someone sins against a
man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?”
Who indeed, but Jesus?
b. Jesus interceded for sinners even from the cross: “Father forgive them…” (Luke 23:34)
c. Romans 8:33-34 “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
d. Hebrews 7:25 “Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
The ten + details in this prophecy alone are staggering, but if you take into account all the other prophecies made by Isaiah in other chapters, such as His virgin birth, His deity, the Holy Spirit resting upon Him, etc., it is no wonder that many have come to faith in Jesus on the weight of Isaiah’s prophecy alone.
The prophets revealed God’s plan to offer forgiveness of sin through a substitute payment for sin, just as the sacrificial system did under the Mosaic law. Both point towards Christ in a magnificent way.
But Isaiah didn’t stop there; he went on to prophecy the results of Christ’s work:
He will see seed; He will prolong days. And in His hand, what Jehovah pleases will prosper.
a. RESURRECTION OF JESUS: (First-fruits) Jesus would not be left dead after offering Himself as a sin-offering, but would “prolong days” and “see seed” – fulfillment of which began with the resurrection and the 40 days He spent with his disciples, and is fulfilled in heaven.
b. BIRTH OF THE
CHURCH: The cross of Jesus is central to the existence of
God’s people. No “seed” without expiation!
Jesus calls His followers his “children:”
· Matthew 9:2 “…some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’”
· John 13:33 “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’”
· Isaiah 45: 22 “Face toward me and be saved, all ends of earth! … 25. In Jehovah all the seed of Israel will be righteous and will praise.”
c. What did God want to PROSPER? (end of v.10) His church! Jesus’ suffering on the cross “prospered/advanced” God’s “plan” to bring His blessing to all the families on the earth, just as He had promised to Abraham back in Genesis 12.
Yet His beating pleased Jehovah. He caused grief if His soul would place itself for a sin-offering… By His knowledge, my righteous Servant will make righteous the many
a. How did it “please” God to crush Jesus? (v.10)
·
Sacrificial animals did not please or satisfy God’s wrath
like this act did.
Isaiah 1:11c
“I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of
he-goats.”
·
The key is that the self-sacrifice of Jesus is what was
“pleasing,”
Subject of “offered/placed” is “His soul,” not “God.”
· Jesus’ work was that of expiation and propitiation: appeasing the righteous wrath of God against sin, offering satisfaction to the demands of the law for punitive justice.
·
v.11 “out of the labor (anguish) of His soul He will see and be
satisfied”
The “labor of His soul” was Jesus’ life-work, climaxing in His death on the
cross.
God would look upon that work of propitiation and be satisfied.
b. Thus “my righteous Servant will justify the many”
· justify (NAS,KJV) = make righteous (ESV)
· Forensic Justification = clearing the guilty of guilt before the law
· Double imputation in view where we are not made neutral, but positively righteous by the imputation of righteousness from the “righteous servant.”
c. This justification comes “by His knowledge”
· The Means of our justification is not our knowledge of God or anything we do, but rather Jesus’ knowledge, which is His experience of suffering, His sovereign wisdom, and His relationship to us.
· He is the one with the “Spirit of Knowledge” resting upon Him (11:2)
· Matthew 11:27b “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
The result of Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice was to justify us, making us righteous and pleasing to God, giving birth to a redeemed people, His seed. But it doesn’t stop there! His work brings continuing blessing into our lives:
Therefore I will divvy up loot for Him with the many, and with the strong He will divvy [it] up,
a. “allotment with the many/great” – two parallels:
· “The many” parallels “the many” of vs. 52:15 & 53:11 who are saved, i.e. the spoils of war and the inheritance which Jesus won through His death will be shared out to us who believe as well.
·
“The many” also parallels “the strong” as in “He’s right
up there with the great and the strong” – the focus being not so much on the sharing
as upon the greatness of Christ, who will not only be right up there
with the great and the strong, but far surpassing them all,
as Phil. 2:8-10 says, “… He
humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death - even death by crucifixion.
9 Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the
name which is above every name; 10 that in the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the
earth…”
b. Allotment/inheritance of Jesus is a people
· Luke 11:21-22 In the context of the exorcism of demons, Jesus said, “When the strong man, fully-armed, guards his own court, his goods are in peace: 22 but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him his whole armor wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils.” Here the spoil is a person taken from the dominion of Satan and demons and claimed by Jesus as His!
· Psalms 68:18 “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men.” Quoted in Eph. 6:8 as a description of Christ’s triumph after the cross; Jesus gets people for His spoils of war.
· Ephesians 1:14-18 “[the Holy Spirit] is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of His glory… the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” We as a Christian people are the inheritance that Jesus will receive. The Holy Spirit receives the initial payment of that inheritance by getting to live in us before we go to live in heaven with Jesus.
· Isaiah also describes this influx of people with all their gifts in 60:3-11 "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms. 5 Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you. 6 …All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the LORD... 8 Who are these who fly like a cloud And like the doves to their lattices? 9 Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you. 10 Foreigners will build up your walls, And their kings will minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, And in My favor I have had compassion on you. 11 Your gates will be open continually; they will not be closed day or night, so that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession.”
c. These gifts are then shared with God’s people:
· 66:10-12 “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her… 12 For thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream...’”
· Daniel 12: 9 “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. 10 Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly… 13 But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.”
· Romans 12:3b “God has allotted to each a measure of faith” applied to spiritual gifts in v.6
·
Acts 1:17 & 25 speak of ministry being an allotment which
was given to Matthias, and
I Peter 5:3 speaks of a church congregation as an allotment
committed to the care of elders.
How do you pull together three different themes like we’ve covered today of the sacrificial system, the fulfillment of prophecy, and the inheritance of the saints?
All three concepts come together again in a New Testament passage that quotes this scripture from Isaiah: Acts 8:26-35. Understanding the sacrificial system and the fulfillment of it in Christ was crucial for the Ethiopian Eunuch to understand the Gospel and be converted by Phillip:
32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: "HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. 33 IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH." 34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
When that Eunuch, who believed in the prophets, understood how Christ Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial system, he was baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, becoming some of the firstfruits of the many nations which would be the inheritance of Jesus.
· Do you believe that your sin requires the payment of death pictured in the Old Testament sacrifices?
· Do you believe the Bible, including all the Old Testament prophecies are true?
· Do you believe that Jesus is the one the whole Bible points to as our God and our Savior?
· Do you believe that Jesus died to take the punishment for your sin and make you right with God?
· Then you, too are part of God’s inheritance and you will receive an inheritance.
The New Testament describes your promised inheritance as “eternal life” (Matt. 19:29) or, in Peter’s words an “imperishable… salvation” (1 Pet. 1:3-5) in the “kingdom of God,” Matt. 25:34 in the “new heavens and earth” in the comforting presence of God (Rev. 21:7, Matt 5:5).
It is now your calling to turn away from all distractions, hold fast to what you believe, and share the blessing you have received with others. Notice how the New Testament passages underscore these three responses in their descriptions of the promised inheritance:
1. Repentance - Turning from darkness to light from Satan to God, from collecting worldly possessions to collecting souls for God’s glory
a. Matthew 19:29 And every one that has left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.
b. Acts 26:18 “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.”
2. Perseverance and patience in faith that overcomes,
a. Hebrews 6:11-12 “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
b. 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
c. Revelation 21:7 “He that overcomes will inherit these things [new heavens and new earth, the holy city, the comforting presence of God, and the water of life]; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
3. Beng a blessing to others
a. Matthew 25:34 “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in.’”
b. 1 Peter 3:8-9 “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”
Repentance, faith, and service.
Sound familiar? The gospel really is simple, isn’t it?
Let us live it and share it, looking forward to the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in our eternal inheritance, even as Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial system in His death.
|
Reference |
Prerequisite |
What is Inherited |
|
Matt. 5:5 |
blessed are the meek |
the earth. |
|
Matt. 25:34 |
blessed of my Father… For I was hungry, and you gave Me something |
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world |
|
1 Peter 3:9 |
blessing; for hereunto were ye called |
blessing. |
|
Acts 26:18 |
eyes opened, turn from darkness to light and from power of Satan unto God, are sanctified by faith |
remission of sins |
|
Matt. 19:29 |
left houses or brethren…for my name's sake |
eternal life. |
|
Heb. 6:12 |
faith and patience |
promises. |
|
1 Pet. 1:3-5 |
through faith |
an [imperishable] salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. |
|
Rev. 21:7 |
He that overcomes |
new heavens & earth, the holy city, the comforting presence of God, and the water of life |
Nate Wilson’s website – Isaiah Sermon Expositions
Christ the Redeemer Church website - Sermons