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[0:00] The first gospel is really the gospel of Isaiah. It was some 700 years before the Lord came, Isaiah prophesied that Christ would come and would be this one who would bear the iniquities, would bear the sins.

[0:17] He would be despised, hated and rejected, abandoned and forsaken by men. Hated, scorned, forsaken.

[0:28] Abandoned by his followers, by his heavenly Father, by his friends. They forsook him and fled. Let's look just at three aspects of the cross that Isaiah tells us in his gospel, so to speak.

[0:44] His good news that he shares with us. His report that he gives to us. And first thing we see, the sorrows. The sorrows. One of the names of our Saviour is the man of sorrows.

[0:56] Man of sorrows. It means pain and anguish. This was the man, our Saviour, our Lord. The pain and anguish. We see him there in the Garden of Gethsemane.

[1:07] The word Gethsemane, it means an olive press. It means a press that the olives were squashed to make the olive oil. And this is the word Gethsemane. And this is where our Lord was pressed and crushed in that emotion of Calvary as he was anticipating it.

[1:25] That was the crushing work that went on in the Garden of Gethsemane. The sorrows as he wept as it were. As he sweated drops of blood. His sweat became as drops of blood falling to the ground.

[1:36] The pain, the anguish of Gethsemane was a foretaste of what was to come at the cross. A man of sorrows. He was used to it. It says he was acquainted with grief.

[1:47] He was accustomed to it. To anxiety. And it says of him in verse 3 there, He was despised and we esteemed him not. He was despised. Hated. People loathed him and hated him.

[2:00] Treated with contempt. He was despised. He was rejected. Treated with contempt. As worthless. And we esteemed him not. We did not value him. We did not esteem him.

[2:11] We did not value him. He was counted as worthless. Unloved. Unwanted. And mankind still curse him. They use his name with disgust, with contempt.

[2:22] But his very name would be thoughtlessly spat out as a curse word. Blasphemously. And he is despised and rejected of man still today. In our nation, in our world.

[2:34] And we see there at Calvary, the rejection of his father. Forsaken. The rebellion of sinful man. A man of sorrows. Secondly, we see sufferings.

[2:46] We see sufferings here in Isaiah's gospel. In verse 4 it says, Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken. Smitten of God.

[2:58] And affected. Stricken. It means struck. Hit. Struck by God. Smitten by God. It's got the sense of like a plague.

[3:08] When someone is smitten at a plague. With such a dread disease. This was the sense of it here. The sufferings that our saviour would endure at the cross. Crucifixion.

[3:18] Crucifixion. Crucifixion. It's like the English word excruciating. Crucifixion. Excruciating. They're allied words. Excruciating means intense pain.

[3:30] It means intense suffering. And this was the pain that our saviour endured. Excruciating pain. The pain of the crucifixion. Pierced.

[3:41] Crushed. Punished. Think of the ordeal that he went through. As we remember at this time. As we remember really weekly. Daily. The sufferings of our saviour.

[3:52] Think of the ordeal that he went through. For you. For me. The despair of that moment. The discomfort of being on the cross. The death of a criminal. Hell. The nightmare of this dark place.

[4:05] As the sun was blotted out. The world was in darkness. As the shadow of Calvary. Covered the land. The cross. It was a place of humiliation.

[4:17] Of hatred. Of horror. Really and truly it was a living hell. A hell on earth. That Christ endured for you. For me. For mankind.

[4:28] Separation from God. Punishment. Misery. The very place was called Golgotha. The place of a skull. A place of death. It was the name of the place.

[4:40] Where Christ was defaced and disfigured. Stricken of God. Smitten of God. Stricken of men. Isaiah 52 verse 14 describes his face.

[4:51] His visage. His visible appearance it says there. In Isaiah 52 verse 14. His visage. His visible appearance. His face. It was more marred. More disfigured.

[5:01] Than any man. It's as if he seemed no longer human. What man did. To our saviour. What we did. Had we been there. We would have been in the crowd.

[5:12] Perhaps mocking or certainly turning our back. The whole world rejected him. At this moment. And truly this was an awful shocking sight. The sight of Calvary.

[5:23] Throbbing. Spasms. Convulsions. His body wracked with searing pain. The torture. The torment. The terror of it. And his pain. It was real. Not pretend.

[5:34] It wasn't just some movie star. Make believe. It was real pain. It was real suffering. For you. For me. But he took it there. And he no longer looked human.

[5:45] Torn. Brutally beaten. And verse 10. Describes it. As being like a travail. Now that's not something. I'll ever know. As such. But I know. Perhaps some women here.

[5:56] Might have had a travail. Where they gave birth. And the intense pain of it. I can't. Other than. Hear about it. But I know some ladies here.

[6:06] Might have experienced travail. Where they've given birth. And the intensity of that pain. Of that birth. And of Christ. It says in verse 10. A travail. Of his soul.

[6:17] That is what he went through. In his very soul. Galatians 3 verse 13. Tells us. That he was made. A curse for us. It tells us that. Cursed is everyone. Who hangs on a tree.

[6:28] And he bore that very curse. Of the punishment itself. As a lamb. He was slaughtered. As a leper. He was to be avoided. Stricken. Is used of leprosy.

[6:40] And as a criminal. He was to be punished. What drove him to this. What made this happen. The word of God tells us that. At any moment. He could have called. 10,000 angels down.

[6:52] From glory. To scatter his enemies. And to release him. What held him to the cross. Was not the nails. Brother and sister today. He was held to the cross.

[7:02] By cords of love. Cords of his love for us. Held him there. To the cross. For you. For me. He bore it willingly. Patiently. And the eyes of love.

[7:12] Looked down from Calvary. Even at those. That were killing him. And hurting him. And cursing him. Father forgive them. For they know not. What they do. So we've seen.

[7:24] The sorrows. The man of sorrows. We've seen the suffering. The intensity of it. And lastly. The sin. This is what took him there. Was your sin.

[7:34] My sin. The Bible says that he. For. In his own body. Our sins. On that piece of wood. On that tree. And. It says in verse 5 here. But he was wounded.

[7:46] For our transgressions. Transgressions means sins. He was wounded. He was hurt. For our sins. For our transgressions. He was bruised.

[7:56] For our iniquities. For our sins. The chastisement. The punishment. For our peace. Was upon him. And with his stripes. We are healed. All we like sheep.

[8:08] Have gone astray. We have turned everyone. To his own way. And the Lord have laid on him. The iniquity. The sin. Of us all. It says we like sheep.

[8:18] Scattering and wandering. Going astray. The Lord have laid on Christ. The iniquity. The sin. Of us all. It tells us elsewhere. That he became. Sin for us. Who knew no sin.

[8:30] He became your sin. Every bit of it. Every part of it. And verse 8 tells us. For the transgression of my people. Was he stricken. For the sin.

[8:41] Of my people. He was struck. He was stricken. So he became. Sin for us. Our guilt. Our shame. Our wrongdoing. Our pollution.

[8:52] And our peace. Is made possible. Because of it. Verse 10 refers to his soul. Being an offering. For sin. He carries the weight. Of our sin.

[9:03] It says in verse 12. He's poured out his soul. Unto death. And he was numbered. With the transgressors. The thieves. Either side of him. They deserved their punishment. And it says.

[9:14] He bore the sin. Of many. His very body. Bore your sin. And mine. The punishment of it. And he carries the weight of it. He lifts it off us.

[9:24] It tells us. He carried. Our sorrows. He bore our sins. It is finished. This is the cry of victory. From the cross. As our saviour. Cried out.

[9:34] In victory. It was accomplished. The transaction was made. The payment was given. The price was paid. What will our response be. To Calvary. What will your response be.

[9:46] We know Calvary was not the end of it. Because he was buried. And then he rose. Three days later. From the dead. He's alive. He's risen. Calvary demands a response.

[9:57] Thank you.