Please turn with me to Isaiah, chapter 53
Happy eleventh day of Christmas, everyone!This Sunday is called Epiphany Sunday. At Epiphany, we celebrate the revelation that this child born to Mary and Joseph is none other than the Messiah, God’s chosen one, the Savior of the world.
Last week and this week, we are looking at two prophecies from the book of Isaiah that foretell the coming of the Messiah, spoken around 700 years before His arrival. These prophecies, among others in the Old Testament, shaped the expectations of God’s people, including Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, the Shepherds, and all the other characters in the Christmas story in the Bible.
Last week in the Book of Isaiah 9, we read the famous Christmas passage about a child born to us—the promised King whose light breaks the darkness and whose government will never end. As Isaiah continues and the prophecy unfolds, we see that starting in chapter 42, this very same promised child-who-becomes-King will also be the Servant of the Lord.
This Servant is God’s chosen one, upheld and empowered by God’s Spirit, who will bring justice to the nations. He brings that justice with gentleness, not with crushing power. He succeeds in God’s mission where Israel as a nation failed. He is obedient, where God’s people have been rebellious. His mission is to be a light to the world and to bring healing and salvation to God’s people. Yet Isaiah also makes clear that this Servant will be opposed, rejected, and will suffer—not only at the hands of the nations, but even by his own people. The glorious kingdom will be established not only through kingly power, but through the self-sacrifice of the King.
And now, in chapter 53, Isaiah shows us how this rejection and suffering bring about the healing and salvation of the world. This is a passage we usually bring out at Easter time, around Good Friday, but it is a good one for this season as well. It reminds us of who the baby is, which we celebrate this time of year. As we read this passage, we are going to see some important things about who Jesus is, and who we are, as we examine our hearts, and find that the prophet Isaiah, 2700 years ago, is as relevant for us today as he was for the nation of Israel in his time. Let’s read.
Isaiah 53:2b–6 (CSB)
He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. 4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.
Let’s study through this together: who he is, what we did, who we are, and what he did.
Who the Savior King Is
How does Isaiah’s prophecy describe this King who is also a servant? Unimpressive. Undesirable. Despised. Familiar with sickness and suffering. In short, not who we would expect as a glorious, conquering king, who will finally reverse the world order and bring justice and peace.
It's notable that, even though the Messiah is clearly described in these terms, and Israel should have known, when Jesus finally arrived, his own people did not receive him because they were expecting a triumphant conquering King who would overthrow the Roman Empire with military force.
The human tendency, across history and cultures, to look for a strong man, with the physical capability to meet force with force, fight fire with fire, take an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, and to think of justice in terms of retribution rather than mercy. This has been a common problem for humanity throughout our history, and it was the reason Israel missed its Messiah in his first coming, and the reason we Christians often get off track in our mission to bring the good news of the gospel to the whole world.
In a few weeks, we’re beginning our walk-through of 1 Corinthians, and we will see that God uses “what appears to be weakness in the eyes of the world to shame those who think they are strong” (1 Cor 1:27). Don’t miss the message of the Gospel and the teaching of Christ because it appears to be weak and foolish. This is precisely how He saved the world and tells his followers they will carry his message to the world.
What We Did
How did we humans respond to this suffering servant, this humble king, this seemingly weak preacher who was born in a manger, and didn’t wield the political power we expected? It was exactly as Isaiah prophesied 700 years before his arrival.
We rejected him, we turned away from him, we didn’t value him, we regarded him not as chosen by God, but cursed by God. Because of that, we turned from him and relied on our own ways, and strayed from God like sheep.
This passage today gives us time, at the start of the new year, to examine our disposition toward the way of Jesus. Do we trust him with our whole life direction, even when it seems to be a way of weakness? Or are there times when we say: “But His way doesn’t work. It is too hard. It’s not effective. It's not going to get me what I want. It's going to cause people I respect to think less of me. It’s not worth it.”
Who We Are
Isaiah 53 accurately diagnoses our situation in the world. We are sick, suffering, rebellious, and iniquitous (in a word: sinful.) I think that’s a pretty good summary of the human condition in this broken world! In short, we are in need of a rescuer!
What He Did
Which is why this passage also tells us the good news! What did the Servant-King come to do? He bore our sickness and suffering. He was pierced, crushed, and punished for our sin (“rebellion” and “iniquity”), and because of that, because he was wounded, we can be healed! God, the Just and righteous judge, is also merciful and forgiving. He carries out justice! But He allows a substitute in our place! The servant-king stood in the courtroom, condemned for our rebellion, and He took our punishment on Himself!In short, we are in need of a rescuer, and He is that rescuer!
His Work, Foretold
The whole book of Isaiah is an extraordinary work and such an important part of Scripture. Written hundreds of years before Jesus’s arrival on that first Christmas morning, it speaks with startling clarity about who He would be, and the work He came to do! At times, it sounds like New Testament writing, after Jesus, not Old Testament prophecy before Him!
Isaiah is also one of the most remarkable literary artifacts in human history. Archaeologists have discovered nearly complete copies of this book preserved in manuscripts dating hundreds of years before Christ. These texts were not edited or rewritten by the church after the fact—they were faithfully copied and preserved. What we are reading today is the same prophecy that existed long before the first Christmas morning.
And we would do well to pay attention to it. Isaiah goes on to invite the whole world to come and worship this Suffering-Servant-King, and to come to Him to find the mercy, grace, and forgiveness we need to live and thrive in this life, and to walk with our creator, savior, king, and God with peace, joy, and hope for the rest of our lives and for eternity.
His Invitation
Isaiah 55:1–3; 6-7 (CSB)
1 “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the water; and you without silver, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without cost! 2 Why do you spend silver on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. 3 Pay attention and come to me; listen, so that you will live.
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will freely forgive.
Study this with me for a moment. Who is invited? What is the offer? What does it cost?
Who is Invited?
The thirsty and hungry. The empty-handed. The wicked. And the sinful.Anyone and everyone who knows their need. Not those who have it all together. Not those who have cleaned themselves up. Those who haven’t. Those who are currently poor and needy, those who are currently wrecking their life, those who are currently pursuing satisfaction in things that will not satisfy. They are invited! They are told where the things they are looking for can actually be found! All the fulfillment you are seeking to fill that hole inside you is to be found in the suffering-servant-king Jesus!
Jesus said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).
And he didn’t mean that some of us don’t need Jesus while others of us do. He meant that we all need to realize that this is our condition apart from Him.
Everyone is invited.
What is the offer?
The offer: hunger and thirst, finally satisfied! Jesus said
John 6:35 (CSB)
35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.
In Isaiah 55, God calls the hungry and thirsty to come and be satisfied without cost—and in the Gospels, Jesus stands up and says, I am the one Isaiah was talking about.
The offer: Life! In Isaiah 55, God calls the hungry and thirsty to come, to listen, and to live. Jesus says:
John 14:6 (CSB)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”
The offer: compassion and forgiveness! Paul wrote to the Ephesian church
Ephesians 1:7 (CSB)
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
Hunger and thirst satisfied, eternal life, compassion, and forgiveness! All through Jesus!
What Does it Cost?
It costs nothing. And it costs everything.
“Water without silver! Food without cost!” You cannot buy the satisfaction, mercy, grace, forgiveness, compassion, and life that God offers through Jesus with any amount of money. There is nothing you can give in exchange for it. Nothing you can bring will be a sufficient transaction to pay your way.
But it will cost you everything you are. We give our attention. We must listen. We must seek.
We must abandon our ways and our thoughts and turn around from everything we’re doing with our lives and return to Him! It will cost you your whole life, not because you are paying for grace and mercy with service, but because grace and mercy will reorder everything about your life.
If you continue to try to do life your way, on your terms. If your relationship with God is at your convenience, according to your ideas, you are just continuing in your rebellion, and you will never find Him or the life you are running after.
But if you abandon that life, and return to Him, you will find what you’ve always been looking for! Jesus said:
John 12:25 (CSB)
The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
To wrap up and get super practical for a minute: How does one abandon their way and turn to Jesus? Well, that’s kind of the whole thing. When asked essentially the same question, the Apostle Peter said:
Acts 2:38 (CSB)
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“Repent” is a short way of saying “turn from your old life to following the way of Jesus”, and “Be Baptized.” Baptism is a ceremony, a sign Jesus gave us to identify ourselves with him and with his people publicly.
If you are responding to Jesus for the first time and have not yet been baptized, we have an opportunity for that here in two weeks. I’d urge you to sign up to be part of that with us!
From there, it is about daily learning to follow Jesus, hearing Him speak to us by reading the Bible, speaking back to Him in prayer, and obeying what He commands His people to do. This Spring, Summer, and Fall are going to be an excellent opportunity for a crash course in the Christian life as we study the books of 1 Corinthians in the Spring and Summer, and Romans during the next school year, which are about as foundational and direct as you can get about how to live out the Christian life. I hope you’ll join us.
Resource Info
