Old Voices: New Beginings. Part 3. Isaiah 53:3.
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning church and welcome to a very full day around here. Worship this morning, then we gather together at 5 pm tonight to see all of our kiddos perform their Christmas musical. We want to say a special thank you to Anita McGee and Elaine Wendler and all their adults who helped to make this event special for our kids. You will want to come and support them and see a great show. Then we will head down the hallway and have our Thanks/Christmas/Holiday Meal together at 6. So make sure if you signed up, you come hungry. We love this time each year because it allows us to just gather as a Church and remind ourselves all the things God has done this year in the life of our church, in our families. We would love to have you join us.
Today we gather in worship and in our time in the word this morning, I’d ask you to turn to the book of Isaiah chapter 53.
Tension
When I was a kid we enjoyed a lot of times when we were, shall we say, less than financially blessed. I remember one year we were in between homes, our house had sold and we were waiting to find a house in our new town for that my dad could start his new job. However, we couldn’t find a house at the time, then the job fell through. We ended up living at my great-grandmother’s farm house. It was equipped with a fancy two-seater outhouse, a working hand pump water spiket, and my personal favorite, a bathtub that was located in the kitchen right next to the woodstove. Because, in the old days. Grandma would boil water on the stove then dump it right into the tub, mellow it out with cool water, then all the kids would get baths while dinner was cooking. Well that was what it was like in the old days. In the time I lived there it hadn’t just fallen into disrepair, it gave disrepair a new definition.
All of the old lenolium flooring had cracked and peeled around every room creating 6-8 inch orange-peels around each room that as a little kid you had to try and jump over but never could.
Many windows would cracked, missing glass, or in the case of my bedroom, all the way missing. A tree had been struck by lightning when I was a kid and fallen on that portion of the house, destroying the window and part of the wall. My dad, being the handyman he was, stapled up a tarp over the hole and “fixed” the problem. However, there were a couple nights that I woke up with snow filling up the end of the room and blowing up on my blankets all over me. My mom said, “Well grab another blanket, you’ll be fine.
The wood was cracked, splintered, falling down, and anytime the wind blew we all thought the house would come down.
You see, when Great-Grandma Davidson left the house, none of her kids wanted it. And over the years it started to fall more and more apart. Then no one would fix it. In fact, it started to become a fight among the kids who all thought it should be everyone else’s responsibility.
What was once a beautiful home filled with family, a home that they’d all grown up in, was now seen as a sore subject and one that they’d rather didn’t get brought up at all.
In today’s passage the prophet Isaiah was given some words to relay to the people about the upcoming Messiah, a Messiah they thought they wanted, but when push came to shove, not so much. I say “upcoming”, remembering that the words of Isaiah’s prophecy were penned around 600-700 years before the birth of Christ. So Isaiah would never live to see these words fulfilled, yet God used his voice to speak encouragement even to those who would not the taste the promise themselves. Mind you, Isaiah’s career was one that we look on with faithfulness but one that was spent speaking harsh truths to a people who refused to heed his warnings. He did what he was supposed to do but the people hated him for it. God told him as much.
We often equate Isaiah’s ministry with the glimpse he was given of the great throne room of God and his subsequent realization of his unworthiness, Isaiah 6:5 “5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”” He was fully aware he was given a vision well outside of his paygrade and his sinful nature overwhelmed him in the midst of true holiness. However, in the midst of this, God asks who will go and speak to his people. Isaiah, famously, stands in the gap, exclaiming, “Here I am! Send me. The passage then begins to outline, not just work Isaiah will be tasked with, a message of punishment and pain to a people who will not listen and not heed his words. How would you feel if your entire life was to preach the same message knowing from the start that it would never been heeded and would make you public enemy number 1 to all those you were sent to try and save? Isaiah’s next response when given this mandate was, “How Long, o Lord?” I would argue that we profit more today from Isaiah’s faithfulness than the entirety of his ministry. Such a lonely existence as a prophet of God, but sadly, often this was their job description. Preach a message no one wanted to hear, to a people who would not repent. How closely he must have personally clung to the hope God was giving in passages like today’s. So lets read together, the words of the prophet Isaiah as he gave the people hope in a sea of unfaithfulness...
Truth
Isaiah 53:3 (ESV)
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Pray
Exposition
Juston, you said hope. This has got to be one of the most depressing verses ever. How is this supposed to give anyone encouragement or hope? Good question and we will get to that. This week and next we will unpack part 1 and 2 of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Jesus but lets start this morning by unpacking verses 1-3 together.
Isaiah 53:1–3 (ESV)
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Versus 1 and 2 give us some insight into the mood of the day and the struggles that Isaiah and the faithful were up against when men cared only about themselves and their own appetites being satisfied.
The Remnant of God’s faithful sort of mourn the reality in which they currently find themselves. Their message about the Messiah, the servant of God is recieved by so few people, and on top of that, the people refuse to see that this message is from the Lord. Imagine having the best news ever any no one cares.
On top of this reality and the present lament around it, the reality pointed out in verse 2 is that when this servant would appear, nothing about his appearance would attract a large following. He would appear as a young plant of no significance. Yet, even this was a callback to the fact that the messiah would come out of David’s line as stated in Isaiah 11:1 “1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”
Like a root out of the dry ground. This calls to the present spiritual state of the people. They were as an arid desert, spiritually dry and desolate. He wouldn’t come in any way with the people would think him majestic or draw attention. This does not excuse the people but simply explain why they didn’t see. They were looking for majesty. They wanted beauty. They wouldn’t see anything else.
Which brings us to verse 3. 4 parts to this passage.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, The servant of the most high God, this messiah would ultimately come doing the Lord’s word and for his effort, he would be despised by the people and be rejected. Its impossible to hear this with New Testament ears and not harken back to Jesus’ words in the sermon on the mount.
Matthew 5:1–12 (ESV)
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
At the end of these beautiful attitudes, each standing upon the previous others, an odd change occurs. The first 4 discuss the internal change in the heart of the man of God. The next 3 have to do with this heart changing how they interact with the world around them for the Glory of God. Then, at the last, a result is predicted. If you become this person, changed and influenced by the pull and direction of the Holy Spirit, you will be a changed person on the inside, on the outside, you will sow seeds of peace and love in the world around you and the end result will be: you will be despised, rejected, reviled, and people will utter all kinds of evil against you falsely for your trouble. You will do all the right things and they will utterly hate you for it. This was Jesus’ words to his followers about the change that would come if they followed him. Oddly enough, or perhaps not odd at all, this is similarly describing both the life of Jesus himself and the life of the 600 years ago prophet who is speaking the prophecy about him.
To follow Christ doesn’t just mean in spirit like one follows someone on social media. It doesn’t just mean a firmer form of “like”. It means that you will do what he does, become like he is, and receive what he recieved. Jesus reminds us, “no servant is greater than his master.” And if we serve and follow Jesus, we should expect the same treatment as he recieved.
We have spoken at length in previous days of the reasons why, but to summarize: They wanted a king on a horse, not a messiah on a donkey. They wanted a military leader who would whip Rome, not one who healed the daughters of centurions. They wanted a teacher who would acknowledge their faithfulness, not call out their hypocrisies. So, he was rejected and despised.
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; Jesus would be man associated with sorrows and acquainted with grief for sure. Much the same things said about Isaiah’s mission could be said about Jesus’.
Isaiah 6:9–10 (ESV)
9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
The people Jesus meant to save were hard of heart, dull of mind, blind, deaf, and dumb. Yet his great desire was to save them from this sin-fueled fate. Think on the heart of God for a moment with me. Jesus’ would see the condition of sinful man and instead of being outright disgusted and angered he took pity. In fact, the only situations where his reaction was anger was when so-called holy men tried to confuse and spiritually abuse the people. When they elevated themselves above God’s law while they were mired in the sin they claimed they were without. But not this only; Jesus is called a "Man of Sorrows" because of the suffering he endured. Think about this.
Leaving heaven and his Father to become a man
Experiencing the same suffering as humanity without his divinity to lean on.
On the cross in physical anguish, he experienced spiritual anguish and the Father turned His face away from him for the first time in history. All of his wrath and justice were poured out, full sale on Jesus.
He had done no wrong at all yet the sins of others were foisted upon him for him to bear.
He was lied about, beaten, whipped, spit on, scourged, crucified.
All of this points to Jesus being a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, Jesus’ was well thought of by many while he was doing miracles, healing, and feeding the people. He was even, as we learned last week, ushered into Jerusalem as a king as people cried Hosanna, Hosanna. Yet those were the same people that cried “Cruicify him” on that Friday. Even the same men who would argue over who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God, his disciples had all but disapeared for fear of being associated with Jesus and sharing his shame and fate. Peter, ironically was the disciple that said he would die for Jesus, ran away in shame denying that he even knew him at all 3 times. When Jesus was killed and buried, it was the women, not his disciples that came to find the empty tomb. They were still at home hiding. The point is clear, that even those who were with Jesus and for him would abandon him, adding to his sorrow and shame. Truly a man of sorrows.
and we esteemed him not. For these reasons, the nations did not esteem Jesus as being of anything important. He was quite literally the most important person in the world and the world looked the other way.
John 1 gives us further insights into the fulfillments of this prophecy.
John 1:10–11 (ESV)
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
John 12 echoes it as well.
John 12:37–38 (ESV)
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Today, looking back upon these words, these prophecies, these ways in which Jesus was treated and recieved, I think we still have lessons we can learn and heed to this day.
There are still those that don’t believe and won’t receive.
There are still those that don’t believe and won’t receive.
There are days when we feel like Isaiah looking at the work and the hard nature of it. You have to try and convey God’s wrath towards sin for those who are convinced there is nothing wrong with what they are doing. In fact, many applaude and celebrate their rebellion against God as a net good.
Freinds, I was one of them. Lost in my darkness, convinced of my own goodness. Then I heard the gospel. Devoid of all the religious things I had seen previous as part of the whole, later to realize they were scaffolds hanging off the side of a perfect work of art. Jesus Christ and his love for the rebel, the outcast, the failure, and the sinner is the heart and foundation of the gospel message. Christ is for you EVEN WHILE YOU WERE HIS ENEMY. The nation of Israel was not only his enemy but they were also hostages. They had sold themselves into bondage, ignorant of the fact that God was not their enemy. He was their salvation. They had and enemy and they were in league with him. The were contributing to their captivity and so are those in our day. They are lost. Lostness is simply the condition of not comprehending and taking hold of the truth. They are under the wrath and justice of God whether they acknowledge it, see it, believe it or not. Yet, when truth is found, realized, understood, and the scales fall off of our eyes, repentance can happen. We cannot cause that to happen. Only the Holy Spirit can. We need to pray for him to intercede as we share the hope of the gospel in our world because without him it is all folly. But when he flips that switch the lost get found. The sinner become wracked with guilt and the kindness of Christ leads to repentance.
Jesus was the man of sorrows and those sorrows were heaped on him by our sin.
Jesus was the man of sorrows and those sorrows were heaped on him by our sin.
No matter how long it has been since you first took hold of the gospel and exprienced salvation, the message is still that Jesus died to cover our sins. Ours, mine, and yours. Your sin is just as black, just as vile, just as evil today as it was back there. Make no mistake, a great deal of the sorrow heaped upon the goodness of Christ was placed there by my failure. We must always acknowledge this and never forget. We are the problem as much as any man woman or child is. Yet, the same grace, mercy, and love that led Jesus up Calvary covers me and you alike. It is so deep and so wide that no matter the level of depravity anyone can make for themselves, his love is greater still.
If you follow him, likely you will receive his sorrows as well.
If you follow him, likely you will receive his sorrows as well.
Blessed is the one who is persecuted for my namesake. Jesus came so that people might have life and life to the fullest and we reviled him and turned away from him. Friends, as an agent of Christ, you should expect much of the same from this world toward you.
One of my dear friends in the past couple weeks relayed to me how he was counseling a friend at work. He and his wife were having issues at home and the thought of leaving was brought up. He shared godly advice and hope and it all blew up in his face. Coworkers made up lies, spread gossip and ran his name through the mud. Those that didn’t like his openness with his faith now had, in their minds, the smoking gun of hypocrisy they needed to justify their false opinions. The problem was none of their made up stories or lies were even 2% true. He seems to have been targeted for all of this just because he is a person of faith in Jesus and outspoken about it.
Friends if you walk with your teacher, you master, his fate will be your own. Get acquainted with sorrow and hardship because when you walk through those valleys because of Jesus, you can almost see the same footsteps he made. You are in good company and the God who sees what is done in secret will do right by you.
If we become too invested in who we want Jesus to be, we can miss the beauty of who he is.
If we become too invested in who we want Jesus to be, we can miss the beauty of who he is.
Jesus was a good teacher but so much more. He was a revolutionary but so much more. He was a great man but so much more. He was the son of God, the messiah fortold, the darling of heaven, the man on a colt of a donkey, the healer of the poor, and the one who came to set the captives free. Jesus was the messiah God had promised back in the garden. Yet they were so sold on who they wanted him to be they couldn’t see what was right in front of their face. Don’t make the same mistake friends. Jesus didn’t care about national borders or whose face is on your coins. He cared about your love for the Lord and your love for others. That is what his kingdom and the heart of God rests upon. See that for the beauty that it is. Remember that in a world where everyone has an opinion about who Jesus is and what he is for, that you can know Christ through the word of God. Let that picture be the one you understand and hold too. Do no veer from the right or the left.
How long oh Lord?
How long oh Lord?
the world is broken but Christ is making it new. He was a man of sorrows, yes. But he will be coming back in victory. In hope. In salvation and justice.
Landing
