[0:00] chapter 53. Isaiah 52, from verse 13. Behold, my servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.
[0:18] As many were astonished at you, his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. So shall he sprinkle many nations.
[0:32] 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. Who has believed what he has heard from us?
[0:46] And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 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. 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. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him. Yet we esteemed him streaken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before it sheers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
[2:19] Now for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, streaking for a transgression of my people.
[2:31] And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
[2:44] Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
[3:19] Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressor.
[3:33] Yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressor. Amen, and may the Lord bless to us that reading of his own holy inspired word.
[3:50] Let's turn for a short time to God in prayer. Heavenly Father, as we turn to your word now, we pray that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts, in our minds.
[4:05] This is your word, Lord. It's the revelation that you have given to us. This part from the Old Testament is a part that speaks of things that happened in New Testament days.
[4:19] Lord, we pray that you would not allow us to simply listen to the sermon, listen to your word being explained, but that you, Lord, that you would bring conviction, that you would bring us to be, as Christians, more and more in love with you, in worship of you, for all that you have done in and through your Son.
[5:02] Lord, we pray that your Spirit would apply it to our hearts with power, life-changing power.
[5:14] And any who are not yet Christians, Lord, we pray that hearts would be opened, minds would be opened, and that your word would find an entry into their heart irreversibly, fruitfully, to bring glory to your name and salvation to them.
[5:37] And what we pray for ourselves, we pray for all the preaching of your word today. This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
[5:48] Amen. This morning and this evening, I want to look at the last three verses of Isaiah 53. Some of you are aware that I've been looking at this passage in midweek meetings or Sunday services since last February, I think, and the other occasions when I've been preaching.
[6:12] And this would be the fifth sermon in that series, I suppose. Verses 10 to 12. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.
[6:24] He has put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for skill, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
[6:38] Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous.
[6:49] And he shall bear their iniquities. The question before us today is why did Jesus die on the cross? Why did Jesus die on the cross?
[7:03] All of us who are Christians are so used to putting Jesus and cross, Jesus and death, Jesus and blood, Jesus and sacrifice together.
[7:16] We're also at the same time happy to put Jesus and heaven, Jesus and glory, Jesus and victory together. We're so familiar with all of these concepts.
[7:30] For I grew up in the north of Lewis, an area called Ness, about a mile from the butt of Lewis. And between us and the butt of the Lewis, if we were going directly, I would come across a building that we would call in Gaelic and Chaipal, the temple.
[7:49] And it's an old church, an old Celtic church, St. Moloch would be the official name for it. Now I grew up in that area and I never once went into that building, never gave it a second thought.
[8:07] It was there within my reach. I was familiar with it. I would drive sheep around it. I would walk around it. But never think anything more about it.
[8:19] It was just there. So familiar with it that I didn't ask the question, who built this temple? Why is it here? What kind of people used to worship here?
[8:31] Why did they stop worshipping here? In the place where I used to work, that's the first time I've said that. In the place where I used to work at ETS, on the fifth floor, there's actually on the wall, there are two slots.
[8:50] I'm not sure if they're there now, but there were when I went. Two slots on the wall. I passed them by year after year after year, never giving them a second thought.
[9:01] And then one day, Nigel was walking with me up the station. See these slots? That was a child gate when I used to live in the flat that is now these classrooms.
[9:14] I used to live there, and that was the child gate. Of course, I saw the slots. So familiar with them. But it never made me ask the question, why is it there?
[9:27] It's the same with the Ten Commandments. Ten Commandments. Ten Commandments. What's so special about these Ten Commandments?
[9:38] At the moment, the world out there, and you know it, is trying to live life, create society, raise families, and hopefully make a better world, and at the same time ignore the Ten Commandments.
[9:54] Totally ignore them. As if they don't exist, they're beginning from scratch. So everybody's making their own rules. They are just doing what is right in their own eyes.
[10:06] But the thing is, God gave these commandments because we actually need them. But we're so familiar with them, that we sometimes don't give them enough of a thought.
[10:20] And the cross of Jesus, and the crown of Jesus, is something that we don't think about perhaps enough. And I want to ask this morning the question, why did Jesus die on the cross?
[10:36] And three things. It wasn't an accident. It was very much the plan of the Lord, the divine plan. It's not child abuse, because some theologians have written about the death of Jesus on the cross, that this is the father abusing his own son.
[10:54] If this is God sending his son to the cross, it's really the equivalent of child abuse. But that's not what it is. The cross was the willing sacrifice and choice of Jesus.
[11:10] And the cross isn't futile. It's something that didn't just happen. It had the most amazing results.
[11:21] And we'll explore them very briefly in a few minutes with God. So first of all then, what do we learn about the reason why Jesus died?
[11:32] It wasn't an accident. See there in verse 10. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. See the word will there.
[11:46] Sometimes it can actually be translated pleased. God was pleased to crush him. God was pleased to put him to grief.
[12:01] This is something that the Lord took pleasure in. This is something that pleased him to do. Now, of course, you ask the question, didn't God love his son?
[12:15] Yes, he did. But at the same time, we're told here that the cross, the suffering, the death that he experienced, he wouldn't have experienced it if the Father himself wasn't pleased to do it.
[12:31] It was his desire to do it. It was his will. It was his plan. How can these things be true? We read in Ezekiel that the death, the death of the wicked gives no pleasure to the Lord.
[12:49] And that's true. The Lord takes no pleasure even in the death of the wicked. But he is Jesus and he's not wicked. He's righteous.
[12:59] So how can it be true that it pleased the Lord to crush him, to put him to grief?
[13:12] One thing you learn about this is that you must never think of the Father as reluctant to send his Son to the cross.
[13:23] He's not reluctant. He's not reluctant. He chooses to do it. He is pleased to do it. It's his will to do it.
[13:35] He's not torn about doing it. He does it. It was the will of the Lord to crush him. The language is so strong.
[13:46] The crushing, the putting to grief. He understands what the Son, Jesus, is going to experience in a measure. But he will not hold back.
[13:58] He is not reluctant to do it. Why? Because there is no other way for him to fulfill his purposes in salvation.
[14:12] There is no other route. No other plan. There's no other way in which his wrath could be satisfied.
[14:23] Jesus had to be crushed. Jesus had to be put to grief. So that God's wrath would be satisfied. So that people would be saved.
[14:35] And there was no other way to do it. The theologians have been writing that for decades, for centuries, for millennia.
[14:47] But the best theologians know that there's a mystery here, just as we said to the children. God is pleased to do it.
[15:00] Yet he loves his son. He gives his son. You heard earlier on about Abraham being asked to offer his son Isaac.
[15:11] Isaac. And you read Genesis 22. And you ask, is there any record of Abraham weeping when he's asked to do this?
[15:25] No. He takes the wood, takes the fire, takes everything, puts it on his son with his servant. They go off on the journey. And for three whole days, he has to think about offering his son up in death.
[15:44] And yet we're not told that he was reluctant. Even when his son, whom he loved, and that's underscored in the passage, even his son whom he loved, when he asked him, here's the wood, here's the fire, where is the sacrifice?
[16:02] God will provide. There was this incredible trust in the Lord. Even when Abraham couldn't fully understand, he was willing to give his son.
[16:22] And in a measure, that's true of the father. The Abraham incident gives us some insight, perhaps. But he did not withhold his own son.
[16:38] He didn't hold his own son back, but gave him up for us all, says Paul in Romans 8. He didn't withhold his only son. And he wasn't reluctant to do it.
[16:52] And that, my friends, is a measure of how much he loves you and me, who are Christians.
[17:03] If you have trusted in Christ, he was willing to crush his own son, put him to grief, so that he could rescue you from his own wrath.
[17:16] In love. In love. How can God do things in love and yet at the same time have wrath towards us?
[17:27] That's a mystery. But we were children of wrath, according to Paul in Ephesians 2. Even when he was planning to save us in eternal love.
[17:42] So that's the first thing, just to ponder in your minds. The cross, the death, the suffering of Jesus is not an accident.
[17:55] It's part of the divine plan. And don't try to legally resolve this into nice little packages. Because it doesn't fit.
[18:08] This is truth revealed. Truth to be received. Even when you can't ace it and totally understand how it fits together.
[18:22] You worship the God who gave the cross, whose plan it was. The second thing I'm saying is that why did Jesus die?
[18:32] Well it's not because of child abuse. It wasn't because the father was abusing his son. Why? Because the son himself was willing to be there on the cross. See what the next phrase says.
[18:45] When his soul, and for our purposes today, that is the soul of Jesus. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring.
[18:57] So his soul, this is Jesus. He is offering himself as a sacrifice to deal with our guilt.
[19:08] If you read in John chapter 10, you find Jesus saying there, I lay down my life. No one takes it from me, he says. I lay down my life and I will take it up again.
[19:23] I am doing it. Yes, the father asked me to do it. Yes, the father opens a way for me to do it. Yes, it's the father's plan for me to do it. And I am willing to lay down my life for my sheep.
[19:37] I am willing to go to the cross for me. I am willing to make my soul and to give my soul as an offering for guilt.
[19:49] See this idea of the offering for guilt. This is when God needs to be compensated. We have withheld something from God with our sin.
[20:01] And God being God needs to be honoured, must be honoured. And nobody knows that more than Jesus Christ.
[20:12] He knows how much God deserves to be honoured, needs to be honoured, must be honoured. And what does he do? He gives his own life.
[20:23] His own soul makes an offering for guilt. And he does it willingly. And once Jesus suffers on the cross, once he gives his life on the cross, do you know what has happened?
[20:38] God has been honoured to utter perfection. No dishonour is left. Nothing is left undone.
[20:51] He has perfectly compensated the father, given to the father the reparation that he is due, he has given the father his place.
[21:02] All our sins dishonoured God. But Jesus, he willingly lays down his life for us as a sacrifice.
[21:13] And it's the willingness that I want you to notice here. Yes, it's the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. But then the change of patience, when his soul makes an offering for guilt.
[21:27] It's not child abuse. You might have thought that Jesus would rather be anywhere in the world than at Calvary on the day that he died.
[21:40] The reality is, he had been waiting all eternity for that moment. And for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.
[21:52] And part of the joy was that he could restore to God the honour that was due to him by paying the debt. And the debt was paid by his own offering of himself.
[22:09] No child abuse. This is love. The third thing, why did Jesus die on the cross?
[22:22] It wasn't futile. It wasn't a waste of time. Of course, Satan knew that. Satan knew that. Have you noticed how often Satan tried to stop the cross happening?
[22:35] Remember, even the temptations that Satan configured in the wilderness were all designed to stop Jesus going to die on the cross.
[22:47] To stop any suffering happening. Make these stones into bread. You don't want to suffer. Don't ask the Father. Just make the stones into bread. Just force yourself to do things.
[23:01] Don't take account of the Father. Jump from the pinnacle of the temple. The Father will be forced to send the angels to keep you from suffering when you fall.
[23:12] Or if you want glory, I'll give you glory. You don't need to go via the cross. Satan would do anything to stop the cross.
[23:27] Even Peter he would use. Remember when Jesus shared with them. They confessed him as the Christ, the Son of God. And Jesus says, well, yes.
[23:40] And now I'm going to Jerusalem. I'm going to suffer. I'm going to be put to death. And so Peter says instinctively, far be this from you. That's not going to happen to you, Jesus.
[23:52] And the implication is, we'll make sure of that. We'll be on your side. That's not going to be how your life will turn out.
[24:06] Instinctively, Jesus says to him, Peter, you're thinking not about the things of God, but about the things of man. By implication, I'm thinking about the things of God.
[24:19] You, Peter, in this moment, you're like Satan, trying to keep me from the cross. That's why he said to him, depart. Get thee behind me, Satan.
[24:32] And then when the cross is about to happen, when Jesus is on the cross ready to die, Satan can't stop it happening.
[24:46] There's Jesus impaled on the cross itself. He's ready to die. And nobody can make him die. Not the father, not the angels, not the archangels, not the soldiers.
[25:03] Nobody can make him die. And then he effects his own death. He lays down his life. He severs his body from his soul.
[25:16] He gives his life as an offering for sin. And Satan was powerless to stop that happening. And you think, oh well, Satan will have learned his lesson.
[25:30] No. No, no. All down through history, Satan has been trying to pervert the atoning work of Jesus Christ within the church.
[25:45] Over and over again. New theological theories that somehow mean that you don't need Jesus to get to heaven. You don't need the death of Jesus in your place.
[25:58] What kind of God would do that? That demonic, satanic thinking is from hell itself. Sometimes they'll say, God is all love.
[26:12] You don't need the cross. Or God, he just cosmically abuses his child. It's just a slaughterhouse at Calvary.
[26:22] No. Listen to what we're told here. Several things about the results of the cross that Satan doesn't want this to hold to.
[26:35] When he, his soul makes an offering for sin, first of all, he shall see his offspring. Jesus shall see his seed.
[26:47] He won't see them unless he makes his soul an offering. He's got to die for them. But once he does, he will see his offering.
[26:59] A people will benefit. And those of you who are Christians, you are his seed. That means there's a relationship between you and Jesus.
[27:13] You are the seed of Jesus. You're related to him. I am the seed of my father. I couldn't exist without my father, physical father.
[27:26] As a Christian, I could not exist as a Christian without Jesus. I am part of the seed, the offspring of Jesus.
[27:42] I have directly benefited from his offering for guilt. He shall see his offspring. He shall see his offspring.
[27:53] He knows about me. He knows about you. He sees you as the people who have benefited from his suffering.
[28:07] Are you part of that seed? Are you part of the offspring? The second thing is, he shall prolong his days. Once he lays down his life, you would think, that's the end of it.
[28:23] No. No. No. This is one of the places in the Old Testament where you find the mystery. Death and then prolonging days.
[28:34] Lays down his life and death. And yet, there's life after death. His days are prolonged. There's a stage after death.
[28:45] And this is one of the astounding results of the death of Jesus. He shall live forever.
[28:56] If he hadn't died. If he hadn't died, he wouldn't be able, as the God-man, to live forever. It would be impossible.
[29:09] But when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall prolong his days. His perfect obedience is rewarded with his resurrection.
[29:22] So when he says to the disciples shortly after, when he meets them, he, I'm sure, would want them to recall what he had said to them earlier.
[29:35] Because I live, you also will live. And he lives. How long does Jesus live?
[29:48] You will live that long. He shall prolong his days. You shall prolong your days. We buried a friend this week, last week.
[30:05] And that friend will prolong days as long as Jesus does. And there is no end to that.
[30:15] One of the astounding results. The third, the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. See, this is it.
[30:27] The cross of Jesus was the hinge of the whole of the history as God planned it. And there was no plan B. If this didn't work, it's not as if God said, oh, well, didn't get that one quite right.
[30:42] Let me try this one. No, this is it. He has to endure this suffering, this death, in order for the will of the Lord to prosper in his hand.
[30:56] And that's what we find. Remember in John chapter 13, Jesus said these amazing words. Before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.
[31:13] Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands. And that he had come from God and was going back to God.
[31:27] Got up, took off his clothes and washed the disciples' feet. Symbolizing the death, he was going to die so they could be purified. But notice what it said. He knew that God had put everything into his hands.
[31:41] Right there and then, he went to the cross, knowing that God had put everything into his hands. But now that the cross has happened, we're told that the will of the Lord will prosper by his hand.
[32:00] We'll explore more of that tonight. The reign of Jesus Christ. The one who is crowned over the universe. The one who conducts the whole of history from Calvary onwards.
[32:14] The one who is crowned over the universe.
[32:44] The one who is crowned over the universe. The one who is crowned over the universe. The one who is crowned over the universe. So, Jesus shall see his seed. One of the results.
[32:55] Jesus shall live forever. Jesus will reign with royal power. The fourth astounding result. He shall see. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see.
[33:10] some of the manuscripts here have light he shall see light I actually don't think that's required but he shall see and be satisfied do the two things go together he shall see and be satisfied I think that they are separate but they are joined together as well he shall see doesn't need somebody to tell him it's not just something that has been told to him he will see for himself out to the anguish of his soul he shall see he suffered this anguish on the cross and the result of it out of the anguish he will see and what does Jesus see he sees disciples he sees Pentecost the spirit poured on the church he sees the conversion of 3000 on the day of Pentecost he sees the conversion of 2000 shortly afterwards he sees Christians growing under the ministry of the converted soul who became Paul he sees a whole era in which people are rescued out of the anguish of his soul he shall see nobody needs to knock on Jesus' door and say do you know what's happening?
[34:52] do you know what's happening in Korea? do you know what's happening in Malawi? do you know what's happening in these places? I know he says do you know about that Christian?
[35:05] that new Christian that has been born again? yes he says I know I see but look at the next one he shall be satisfied don't you just love that out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied satisfied satisfied this is what God says out of the anguish of his soul says God he shall see he shall be satisfied God sees it there'll be nothing left undone nothing incomplete nothing unfinished he won't have any if only moment he will be satisfied absolutely satisfied absolutely satisfied with all that is death achieved out of the anguish of his soul he will see and he will be satisfied now if you take the view that Jesus died for everybody every human being that ever lived and some of these people will go to hell it's very hard to see how that could satisfy Jesus but if the father had given him a people to die for and he laid down his life for these people and he knows that everyone for whom his life was given will be saved that is satisfaction he will see and he will be satisfied and he is satisfied he is satisfied there are people who are yet to be saved maybe in our own loved ones and that will bring satisfaction but you can even bring this to Persia there are probably no Christians in this room today who are satisfied with themselves no Christians we look at ourselves we look inwardly and frequently we confess our sins and we mourn and yet Jesus at the same time is satisfied why?
[37:31] because you are safe you are saved your sins have been atoned for your future is secure you've been born again and while at this precise moment you are not perfect you are ready for glory don't ever deny the satisfaction of Christ briefly he shall justify many this would deserve a whole sermon on his own by his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make many to be counted righteous he's righteous even when he was on the cross even when he was giving his life as a sacrifice he was still perfectly righteous how can God see him as righteous and yet put him through that suffering precisely so that he can make many to be accounted righteous he shall bear their iniquities the two things go together as Christians we are accounted righteous in the eyes of Jesus and in the eyes of God he makes many to be accounted righteous because he's the righteous one because he's
[39:24] God's servant and because of what he knows and because of what we know of him we could explore his knowledge at another time is it what he knows or is it our knowing of him as the one who has experienced all of this and he shall bear their iniquities notice this is one of the astounding results of the death of Jesus he shall bear their iniquities you might have thought but he's already done that he already died for our iniquities on the cross would it not be better to say he bore our iniquities past tense no he will always be our sin bearer and when we meet
[40:36] Jesus when we go to where our loved ones in Christ must have gone we will see him as our sin bearer the one who took all the sins that we sinned bore them into the presence of God we we will know him so well because the sins that we sinned he bears he will always be our sin bearer who has made atone for our sin in other words when we meet Jesus we will never meet him without being mindful that he is our saviour and that's one of the most beautiful thoughts our past sins our present sins our future sins and then when we arrive in heaven and on the morning of the resurrection all our sins will be past but we will always be able to say see
[41:54] Jesus he bears my iniquities always my sin bearer it's never simply an event in the past it's who Jesus is in his own passion so the cross is no accident it's divine plan it's not child abuse willing sacrifice by Jesus and it's got these astounding results it's so so effective let us pray heavenly father we ask that you would lead us more and more into the truth of this cross the suffering your death lord Jesus don't allow us to forget you said do this in remembrance of me and you know that every time when we meet for the lord's supper we will remember you as the one who lay down his life for us and so it will be when we meet you in glory we will still be remembering you and you will always want us to remember you to worship you you are our saviour you will always be our saviour without you lord we have no hope but with you with our sins born forever we are so safe even for the presence of a holy god keep us for we ask it in jesus