WEBVTT 00:00:00.260 --> 00:00:07.660 Good morning, everybody. It's a real privilege to join with you for this Good Friday service. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:16.920 Obviously, it's not ideal. We're not together, and it's tough, but we are still opening God's Word. 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:23.460 We are still praying to God. We are still thinking about what Jesus has done, and there is a lot of goodness in that. 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:33.359 It seems almost impossible to not think of the situation with coronavirus minute by minute, hour by hour. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.640 Day by day, it's turning into week upon week, and soon more than likely month by month. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:49.240 It dominates the news cycle, our Facebook feeds, Messenger conversations, WhatsApp conversations. 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:54.120 Zoom has become this household brand overnight. 00:00:55.660 --> 00:00:59.020 Mortality has confronted us in a very real way. 00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:02.579 In the West, we insulate ourselves from death. 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:06.620 We push death as far away as we can to the margins. 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:10.900 We orient our lives away from death as much as we can. 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:16.120 And who could blame us? Sickness and death is the antithesis of a good life. 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:19.500 Who wants to be acquainted with death? 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:21.680 Who wants to suffer? 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:28.859 So when a pandemic is declared for a virus without a vaccine, we experience great fear. 00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:33.400 But some of us actually don't have that much fear. 00:01:34.380 --> 00:01:37.960 Some of you that may be listening in aren't crippled by fear. 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:41.280 You feel very removed from the virus yourself. 00:01:41.399 --> 00:01:50.339 You might not know anybody personally that has contracted it, let alone has gone to an ICU or, God forbid, has passed from it. 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:57.339 So instead of a great fear, you feel more of a high-grade inconvenience, if you're to be honest with yourself. 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:02.180 A frustration at the intensity of the social distancing. 00:02:03.100 --> 00:02:04.840 Anxiety with its duration. 00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:07.820 School closures. 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:09.379 Working from home. 00:02:10.060 --> 00:02:13.360 Max five people for gatherings. 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:15.099 Not gathering at all. 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.219 Lineups just to get groceries. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:20.300 It's frustration. 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:22.020 It really is tough. 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:24.659 I'm not going to downplay that. 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:25.680 It's a real thing. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:27.840 Or maybe you're somebody who's kind of in the middle. 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:36.099 You have some legitimate fear around death of this virus, but not a whole ton. 00:02:36.200 --> 00:02:43.200 Maybe it's a mix between frustration with all the inconveniences and the fear of the virus. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:56.500 It's not as if the coronavirus has somehow accelerated our demise as individuals and as a culture, or has become the source of our frustration. 00:02:56.500 --> 00:03:06.759 Rather, it has merely opened our eyes to the reality that no matter how hard we try to insulate ourselves from death and from suffering, 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:11.699 we are more frail than we would like to admit. 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:22.479 Our bodies, our bodies, our finances, our careers, our worldly hopes, our daily schedules are way further outside of our control than we're comfortable with. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:26.599 C.S. Lewis talked about this. 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:31.659 He wrote about this when Britain was at war with the Axis forces. 00:03:31.799 --> 00:03:32.479 He said this, 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:49.780 And he goes on to say, 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:52.500 What does war do to death? 00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:54.800 It certainly does not make it more frequent. 00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:59.360 A hundred percent of us die and the percentage cannot be increased. 00:03:59.860 --> 00:04:02.020 Yet war does do something to death. 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:03.599 It forces us to remember it. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:11.819 The only reason that cancer at 60 or paralysis at 75 do not bother us is that we forget them. 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:19.120 All schemes of happiness centered in this world were always doomed to final frustration. 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:23.300 In ordinary times, only a wise man can realize this. 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:25.719 Now the stupid of us knows. 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:27.680 It's a bit cheeky. 00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:31.120 So here we are. 00:04:31.219 --> 00:04:31.980 We are isolated. 00:04:32.180 --> 00:04:32.959 We are shaken up. 00:04:33.539 --> 00:04:35.240 Some of us are suffering great fear. 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:37.100 Others, great inconvenience or both. 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:46.780 We are watching a good Friday service from our couches, from our kitchen tables, from our beds. 00:04:48.320 --> 00:04:51.560 This is not the way church is supposed to be. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:56.180 And maybe for the first time we are asking why. 00:04:56.320 --> 00:04:59.200 Why would God allow something terrible to happen? 00:05:00.280 --> 00:05:05.120 Why are my greatest efforts towards creating stability in my life so frail? 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:13.439 Maybe for the first time you have had the chance to peek behind the veil and see that life is actually lived. 00:05:13.699 --> 00:05:17.019 The human condition is actually lived on the edge of a precipice. 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:19.439 And you're understanding that for the first time. 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:24.019 That you are small and more powerless than you realize. 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:26.699 Or more closer to death than you'd like to admit. 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:31.339 And if this is the case, maybe you are asking some difficult spiritual questions. 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:33.680 Like, is there any worth in this life? 00:05:34.259 --> 00:05:36.699 Do I have any worth in this life? 00:05:37.219 --> 00:05:39.459 Is my situation seen by God? 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:42.180 If it is, why am I suffering? 00:05:42.300 --> 00:05:43.019 Where is he? 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:44.579 Does he not hear my cries? 00:05:45.599 --> 00:05:48.579 Even if I don't cry, why isn't he coming to save me if he is good? 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:55.359 As I said, today is Good Friday, which is a somber day in the Christian calendar. 00:05:55.579 --> 00:06:02.659 It marks the betrayal, the trial, the torture, the unjust execution of Jesus. 00:06:03.319 --> 00:06:07.000 Some 2,000 years ago outside of the city walls of Jerusalem. 00:06:07.259 --> 00:06:09.079 But it is a glorious day as well. 00:06:09.159 --> 00:06:11.979 Because we know that after Jesus has breathed his last. 00:06:11.980 --> 00:06:14.580 And is put in a borrowed tomb. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:18.120 Three days later, he will rise again from the dead victorious. 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:18.520 Hallelujah. 00:06:19.900 --> 00:06:28.160 We're going to spend some time in a prophecy that incredibly and vividly depicts the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:34.160 Written centuries before he was born to Mary in Bethlehem. 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:39.980 And through his suffering and crucifixion, we will see that there is more hope in this life. 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.620 Than we could ever imagine. 00:06:42.819 --> 00:06:45.920 And that we matter more to God than we could have ever hoped for. 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:51.340 So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Isaiah 52. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:53.780 Starting in verse 13. 00:06:53.900 --> 00:06:58.000 And we're going to read all the way to the end of chapter 53. 00:06:58.280 --> 00:07:01.500 So start with Isaiah 52, verse 13. 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:05.000 All the way down to the end of chapter 53. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:10.019 Behold, my servant shall act wisely. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:12.699 He shall be high and lifted up. 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:14.980 And shall be exalted. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:20.839 As many were astonished at you, his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:24.300 And his form beyond that of the children of mankind. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:27.259 So shall he sprinkle many nations. 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:30.639 Kings shall shut their mouths because of him. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:35.500 So that which has not been told to them, they see. 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:36.139 Sorry. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:38.639 For that which has not been told them, they see. 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:42.019 And that which they have not heard, they understand. 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:45.519 Who has believed what he has heard from us? 00:07:45.939 --> 00:07:48.459 And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 00:07:49.099 --> 00:07:52.120 For he grew up before him like a young plant. 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:54.199 And like a root out of dry ground. 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:57.740 He had no form or majesty that we should look at him. 00:07:57.740 --> 00:08:00.280 No beauty that we should desire him. 00:08:00.780 --> 00:08:03.180 He was despised and rejected by men. 00:08:03.579 --> 00:08:06.439 A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:11.000 And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised. 00:08:11.280 --> 00:08:12.920 And we esteemed him not. 00:08:14.139 --> 00:08:17.519 Surely he has borne our griefs, carried our sorrows. 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:21.480 Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:23.939 But he was wounded for our transgressions. 00:08:24.019 --> 00:08:26.180 He was crushed for our iniquities. 00:08:26.180 --> 00:08:29.759 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:35.940 And with his stripes that are whips, we are healed. 00:08:36.940 --> 00:08:38.879 All we like sheep have gone astray. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.240 All have turned everyone to his own way. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:44.419 And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:46.720 He was oppressed and was afflicted. 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:48.600 Yet he opened not his mouth. 00:08:48.659 --> 00:08:51.039 Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:54.620 And like a sheep that before its shearers is silent. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:56.419 So he opened not his mouth. 00:08:56.959 --> 00:09:00.019 By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. 00:09:00.419 --> 00:09:06.980 And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:09.740 Stricken for the transgression of many people. 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:13.159 And that and they made sorry. 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:17.200 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:21.580 Although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.480 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. 00:09:26.019 --> 00:09:26.860 He was put. 00:09:26.860 --> 00:09:28.500 He has put him to grief. 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:32.600 When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.419 He shall prolong his days. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:36.919 The will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.460 Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. 00:09:42.659 --> 00:09:48.240 By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous. 00:09:48.800 --> 00:09:50.539 And he shall bear their iniquities. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.980 Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many. 00:09:54.980 --> 00:09:58.560 And he shall divide the spoil with the strong. 00:09:58.800 --> 00:10:03.159 Because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:09.940 Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors. 00:10:10.100 --> 00:10:11.279 This is the word of the Lord. 00:10:11.379 --> 00:10:12.159 Thanks be to God. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:15.779 A bit of a background before we get into the text. 00:10:15.980 --> 00:10:19.279 This is the fourth servant song. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:28.179 Isaiah has four of these throughout kind of the middle part, the middle to the end part of his prophecy. 00:10:28.179 --> 00:10:40.519 And the suffering servant from the first instance to the second to the third to ours today is this progressive revelation of who this servant is. 00:10:40.599 --> 00:10:49.839 And the servant is this messianic type of figure that looks to deliver Israel from their foreign exile, from their oppression. 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:54.820 On one hand, the servant, he is clearly a man. 00:10:54.920 --> 00:10:59.019 But there's more to this servant than just a regular man. 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:04.040 Isaiah talks about him with these divine characteristics. 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:05.019 And we'll get into that. 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:08.340 And if you are a Christian, you are likely very familiar with these words. 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:12.280 They're very, very famous words in the Christian faith. 00:11:13.060 --> 00:11:17.680 And if you're not a Christian or you're unfamiliar with this, you might have heard them in Handel's Messiah. 00:11:18.420 --> 00:11:19.620 These are very famous words. 00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:23.259 So as a way of introduction, let's jump into our text. 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:27.320 We'll see four things that this text will teach us. 00:11:27.860 --> 00:11:42.120 It'll teach us that the suffering servant is both God, fully God and fully man, is a substitute for broken and sinful humanity, is completely victorious in what he sets out to do. 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:45.539 And finally, is the source for universal blessing. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:46.899 I'll say those four things again. 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:59.840 He is both fully God and fully man, is a substitute for broken and sinful humanity, is completely victorious in what he sets out to do, is the source of universal blessing. 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:01.759 Let's jump into the first one. 00:12:01.819 --> 00:12:03.259 He's fully human and fully God. 00:12:03.259 --> 00:12:13.139 So if you look with me in chapter 52, verse 14. 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:20.620 As many were astonished at you, his appearance was marred beyond human semblance. 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:26.120 We'll get into this idea of why he is so marred, this suffering servant. 00:12:26.220 --> 00:12:28.100 But it is very clear that he is a human. 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:31.820 In chapter 53, 1 to 3, it says, 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:52.060 This is a regular looking man. 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:56.199 A man that wouldn't necessarily stand out in a crowd. 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:02.119 Not particularly tall or good looking with a fantastic physique. 00:13:02.239 --> 00:13:04.079 It's just a regular person. 00:13:05.439 --> 00:13:07.339 He was despised and rejected by men. 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:11.139 A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. 00:13:11.659 --> 00:13:15.879 And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:25.759 He, this suffering servant being fully human, not just looks like a human, an average human, but experiences human emotions. 00:13:26.980 --> 00:13:28.360 Human sufferings. 00:13:28.899 --> 00:13:37.899 If we take a moment, not that we were going to jump into the Gospels, but if we were to take a moment to do a survey through the Gospels, 00:13:38.100 --> 00:13:40.559 we will see that Jesus was fully human. 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:42.159 That he was tempted. 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:44.039 He had family members. 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:49.179 And he had family members actually that he didn't necessarily jive with perfectly. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:51.099 He had issues with them. 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:53.579 He hungered. 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:55.439 He felt anxiety. 00:13:56.439 --> 00:13:58.199 He felt betrayal. 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:02.059 Very human thing to feel, betrayal. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:04.299 He was abandoned. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:05.599 He was beaten. 00:14:05.959 --> 00:14:06.839 He was killed. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:08.699 And he was buried. 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:13.360 All things that human beings can experience. 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:15.300 Especially death and burial. 00:14:16.660 --> 00:14:19.500 He did not merely understand the human condition. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:20.420 Jesus did. 00:14:21.020 --> 00:14:23.000 He didn't just merely understand it. 00:14:23.460 --> 00:14:25.460 But he lived it in complete fullness. 00:14:25.460 --> 00:14:28.519 And this is a great comfort for us. 00:14:28.920 --> 00:14:33.560 Because we have a Savior that can commiserate with us. 00:14:33.560 --> 00:14:35.160 That can relate to us. 00:14:35.160 --> 00:14:36.920 That is sympathetic to us. 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:38.840 Not as a far off deity. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:42.519 But one who has lived the human life. 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:44.980 But he's not just human. 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:47.720 The servant, the suffering servant. 00:14:48.300 --> 00:14:49.480 He's also God. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:51.759 Passage. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:54.379 The passage opens up. 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:57.240 Verse 13 of chapter 52. 00:14:58.340 --> 00:14:58.660 It says, 00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:00.899 Behold, my servant shall act wisely. 00:15:01.340 --> 00:15:03.120 He shall be high and lifted up. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:04.259 And shall be exalted. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:07.259 Nowhere in the Bible are. 00:15:07.899 --> 00:15:09.139 We don't see things in the Bible. 00:15:09.460 --> 00:15:10.259 I'll say it this way. 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:12.259 Very rarely do we see things in the Bible. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:15.639 That are spelled out in such an explicit, obvious way. 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:20.860 Nowhere do we see in the Gospels Jesus saying, 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:21.960 I am God. 00:15:22.580 --> 00:15:24.199 But we see hints of it. 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:25.559 We see instances of it. 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:28.139 Things in the narrative clearly. 00:15:28.740 --> 00:15:30.960 That Jesus does clearly. 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:33.240 A regular person couldn't do. 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:34.460 Only God could do. 00:15:34.860 --> 00:15:37.620 And here, Isaiah is doing the same type of thing. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:39.759 So he says this servant is high and lifted up. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:43.819 If you're looking for this term, high and lifted up. 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:47.420 We see it actually in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:49.680 Where Isaiah is in the throne room of God. 00:15:49.800 --> 00:15:53.280 And he declares that God himself. 00:15:53.640 --> 00:15:56.320 Describes God himself as high and lifted up. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:00.080 You don't use this language for God. 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:02.580 And then use it for a regular person. 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:05.780 It is very holy language. 00:16:06.020 --> 00:16:07.860 That describes a very holy God. 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:09.000 And here the servant. 00:16:09.780 --> 00:16:11.580 He is high and lifted up. 00:16:11.680 --> 00:16:12.780 He is exalted. 00:16:12.779 --> 00:16:14.439 It's remarkable. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:20.419 Additionally, the servant is called the arm of the Lord. 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:21.600 We see that in verse 1. 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:24.980 Who has believed what he has heard from us. 00:16:25.259 --> 00:16:28.419 And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. 00:16:28.539 --> 00:16:32.600 Throughout scripture, the arm of the Lord is a reference to God himself. 00:16:33.459 --> 00:16:37.059 Specifically how God provides deliverance. 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:40.399 For his people from bondage. 00:16:40.719 --> 00:16:41.859 The arm of the Lord. 00:16:41.939 --> 00:16:43.719 The servant here is the arm of the Lord. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:51.359 Again, we see Jesus doing things that only God can do throughout the Gospels. 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:53.219 He forgives sins. 00:16:53.779 --> 00:16:55.459 He heals people. 00:16:55.460 --> 00:16:57.360 He casts out demons. 00:16:58.420 --> 00:16:59.960 He knows the future. 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:02.780 He's in control of the elements and the created order. 00:17:03.280 --> 00:17:07.279 He heals and performs all sorts of miracles. 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:10.559 Things that only God can do. 00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:15.220 The servant here is both fully man and fully God. 00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:18.000 Jesus is both fully man and fully God. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.360 And why is this important to us? 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:23.180 Why is this important? 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:25.640 I mean, I talked about the struggle. 00:17:25.779 --> 00:17:30.539 The very real struggle that this coronavirus is causing for us. 00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:32.960 But if it wasn't the coronavirus, it would be something else. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:34.799 I mean, why is this important? 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:39.720 How does that relate to my struggle, to my experience, to the human condition? 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:44.460 This matters to our hope and meaning in a very, very deep way. 00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:46.419 This isn't a sidebar. 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:49.960 Humanity has fallen away from communion with God. 00:17:50.139 --> 00:17:56.539 And the sufferings that we experience, both small and grand, are because of this. 00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:03.359 I read recently, and I'm totally lifting this from a book that I was reading recently. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:11.519 It's that we decided, as humanity, we decided to find a home for ourselves by leaving the only true home that we were created for. 00:18:12.659 --> 00:18:21.500 God has created us, humanity, with a purpose to know him and be known by him, to be in his presence. 00:18:22.059 --> 00:18:27.559 It's what happened with the garden in the first opening chapters of the Bible in Genesis. 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:40.379 But we, like our first parents, Adam and Eve, we chose our own way that was bent and broken at the expense of God's way, which we were designed for. 00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:47.980 We went out searching for a home by leaving the only true home that we could ever hope for. 00:18:47.980 --> 00:18:55.440 We are restless because we don't have our rest in God. 00:18:55.900 --> 00:18:58.839 It's a paraphrase from St. Augustine in his confessions. 00:18:59.620 --> 00:19:00.360 And this is sin. 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:01.779 This is sin. 00:19:01.860 --> 00:19:03.640 And it's not just that we go our own way. 00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:07.160 And it's like God's way is fantastic. 00:19:07.360 --> 00:19:09.980 But our way, I mean, it's not fantastic, but it's pretty good. 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:11.140 No, no, no. 00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:13.000 God's way is the only good way. 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:17.400 And when we go our own way, there is destruction and despair. 00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:19.240 There is brokenness. 00:19:19.820 --> 00:19:22.220 People get stomped on and betrayed. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:25.800 Lying and gossip become the norm. 00:19:26.460 --> 00:19:27.340 We covet. 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:31.420 We live destructive lifestyles. 00:19:32.040 --> 00:19:32.700 We do. 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:40.140 And maybe if your lifestyle isn't very destructive, maybe somebody else's destructive lifestyle has wreaked havoc on your life. 00:19:41.140 --> 00:19:51.800 When we go out searching for a home from the home that we were meant for, brokenness is the result. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:52.620 And this is sin. 00:19:54.100 --> 00:20:02.040 So the penalty for sin is death because God in his perfection cannot be united with imperfection. 00:20:03.820 --> 00:20:07.160 There would be no choice for us to go back home. 00:20:07.340 --> 00:20:08.780 That ship has sailed. 00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:16.579 However, God in his kindness and love and long suffering made a provision for the sin by creating a sacrificial system. 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:18.160 You can read about that in Leviticus. 00:20:18.940 --> 00:20:21.879 That would atone or pay for our sinfulness. 00:20:22.899 --> 00:20:27.039 An animal like a lamb was put in our place to pay for the sins of individuals. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:36.579 The thing is, the offering system was never designed to cope for the scale of wrongdoing committed by God's people, let alone the entire world. 00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:38.500 It was never meant to. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.440 Rather, it was meant to point to something greater. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:47.599 You see, a lamb cannot die in a human's place, but a perfect human could. 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:55.059 And if that human is also God, he could die for every human sin once and for all. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:01.919 The atonement for sin that was required by God could only be satisfied by God. 00:21:02.819 --> 00:21:06.819 No one, nothing is perfect except for God himself. 00:21:06.819 --> 00:21:14.439 The thing is, no one can pay the penalty for a human except the human. 00:21:14.879 --> 00:21:25.639 This is why it is so vital that we understand that Jesus being fully human and fully God is actually great hope for us. 00:21:25.700 --> 00:21:29.919 Because there's no other way for us to be made right with God. 00:21:30.939 --> 00:21:34.099 Where God's justice and mercy meet together. 00:21:34.099 --> 00:21:41.199 Jesus, the suffering servant, both fully man and fully God. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:43.779 It's a great comfort for us. 00:21:47.059 --> 00:21:50.000 I wasn't sure if I was going to share this, but I think it's appropriate. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.839 We are separated from God. 00:21:55.259 --> 00:21:56.119 We are down here. 00:21:56.919 --> 00:22:02.000 And philosophies and spiritualities, religions, secularism. 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:03.539 I mean, you name it. 00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:16.819 The hope is to do good, to achieve good, to be good in such a way as to climb some kind of spiritual ladder, some kind of social ladder, some kind of ladder. 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:24.299 Up to the God, to Allah, to the heavens, to nirvana, to the good life. 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:32.339 It is a futile way to live our lives because this chasm is jimongous. 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:33.099 It's huge. 00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:35.000 How can we possibly bridge it? 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.419 Years ago, I helped out at a basketball camp. 00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:46.080 And this family that we knew in the neighborhood, we invited them to come. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:46.840 They're two boys. 00:22:47.660 --> 00:22:49.240 And they're around 10. 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:50.900 One was like 11 or 12. 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:52.279 The other one was 9 or 10. 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:54.299 And they were from Iraq. 00:22:54.399 --> 00:22:57.519 This was before all of the craziness happened in Iraq. 00:22:58.220 --> 00:23:00.740 And they were just fresh back from Iraq. 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:03.539 And they spent a number of months in a madrasa. 00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:06.240 A madrasa is an Islamic school. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:11.680 And for whatever reason, their parents allowed them to come to this Christian basketball camp. 00:23:11.900 --> 00:23:14.259 And it was a full week, Monday to Friday. 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:19.380 And by Tuesday, Karar, one of the boys, he came up to me. 00:23:19.480 --> 00:23:21.200 And he said, why aren't you Christian? 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:22.700 Or sorry, why aren't you Muslim? 00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:26.019 And I said, do you want to talk about this? 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:26.859 He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:23:27.339 --> 00:23:28.299 This was the older brother. 00:23:28.299 --> 00:23:33.359 And he was hearing the gospel for two days straight. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:37.799 And I think it was eating at him. 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:41.740 Because he was just freshly back from all of this Islamic teaching. 00:23:42.719 --> 00:23:44.259 And he was moved. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:45.039 And he was crying. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:48.279 And I said, Karar, how do you get to heaven in Islam? 00:23:48.819 --> 00:23:50.759 And Karar said something to me that I'll never forget. 00:23:50.859 --> 00:23:53.899 He said, every good deed is like a strand of hair. 00:23:54.740 --> 00:24:00.359 And we build a staircase to Allah, to heaven, by strands of hair. 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:03.479 I said, Karar, how are you doing? 00:24:03.979 --> 00:24:04.939 Is that even possible? 00:24:05.719 --> 00:24:07.000 And he was a bit gobsmacked. 00:24:08.099 --> 00:24:16.439 But that is what life is like for spiritualities and religions and philosophies and secularism. 00:24:16.679 --> 00:24:21.579 It's trying to build the staircase to heaven by strands of hairs. 00:24:21.959 --> 00:24:23.339 Good works being the hairs. 00:24:24.199 --> 00:24:26.679 I mean, that sounds unbelievably futile. 00:24:27.399 --> 00:24:28.299 So what does God do? 00:24:28.299 --> 00:24:30.720 He condescends. 00:24:30.919 --> 00:24:31.960 He comes to us. 00:24:32.740 --> 00:24:35.240 He clothes himself in humanity. 00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:42.399 In the mud and the experience and the heartache of what it means. 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:45.619 And also the joys of what it means to be a human. 00:24:46.539 --> 00:24:50.700 His tongue is dry because he's thirsty. 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:51.919 He feels thirst. 00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:54.599 His belly rumbles because he's hungry. 00:24:55.740 --> 00:24:57.440 His feet ache from walking. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:59.580 He gets tired. 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:00.759 He has to sleep. 00:25:01.360 --> 00:25:07.940 Jesus, God, the son of God, comes into humanity to the human experience. 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:09.440 He condescends. 00:25:09.820 --> 00:25:11.360 He breaches the chasm. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:13.680 Fully God and fully man. 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:20.380 He is our sacrificial substitute for sinful humanity. 00:25:20.380 --> 00:25:22.420 The servant here. 00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:23.520 If we go back to our text. 00:25:24.060 --> 00:25:24.880 The servant here. 00:25:25.080 --> 00:25:28.960 It says that he carries a burden that is not his own. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:35.040 And we're on our second point here that the suffering servant is a sacrificial substitute for broken and sinful humanity. 00:25:35.260 --> 00:25:37.840 The servant carries a burden that's not his own. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:39.539 We see this in verse 4. 00:25:41.019 --> 00:25:45.259 Surely he, the servant, has borne our griefs. 00:25:45.259 --> 00:25:51.399 By the way, an easy way to kind of handle this text is if you see he in the singular, it's talking about the servant. 00:25:51.859 --> 00:25:54.839 If you see a plural we, our, it's talking about humanity. 00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:59.859 So again, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. 00:26:00.139 --> 00:26:01.240 Not his own. 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:03.039 Not his own. 00:26:03.099 --> 00:26:08.019 The suffering and crushing that he experienced was actually supposed to be ours. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:13.879 In verse 14, if you go back in chapter 52, verse 14 to 15, it says, 00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:23.460 As many were astonished at you, his appearance is so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. 00:26:24.040 --> 00:26:25.740 So shall he sprinkle many nations. 00:26:25.940 --> 00:26:30.440 Kings shall shut their mouths because of him for that which has not been told them. 00:26:30.520 --> 00:26:31.000 They see. 00:26:31.380 --> 00:26:32.500 Anyways, it continues on. 00:26:32.580 --> 00:26:39.320 But that, especially in verse 14, that he was crushed and beaten so that he was almost unrecognizable. 00:26:39.319 --> 00:26:46.700 Not because of what he did, but he did that on our behalf. 00:26:47.379 --> 00:26:48.240 He was crushed. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:49.460 It goes on. 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:54.319 Return with me to chapter 53, verse 5. 00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:58.960 But he was wounded for our transgressions, our sins. 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:01.319 He was crushed for our iniquities. 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:06.119 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:12.699 And with his stripes, again, whips, we are healed spiritually. 00:27:13.659 --> 00:27:21.899 Jesus, in the account that George read in the other gospel accounts, Jesus suffers incredible torture. 00:27:23.339 --> 00:27:26.079 He is beaten almost to the edge of death. 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:32.119 He is whipped in such a way as to expose his flesh on his back. 00:27:32.119 --> 00:27:38.399 Not because he was the criminal, but because he did that for us. 00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:39.919 For us. 00:27:42.419 --> 00:27:44.259 But why would God be angry? 00:27:44.419 --> 00:27:46.199 Why wouldn't he just be forgiving? 00:27:47.139 --> 00:27:48.919 Because he's a God of justice. 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:52.259 And because our sin was so grievous, it was real. 00:27:52.419 --> 00:27:54.539 It wasn't a little white lie. 00:27:54.699 --> 00:27:59.579 It was a combination of all of the brokenness of humanity. 00:27:59.579 --> 00:28:01.359 It had to be dealt with. 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:04.019 Because if God didn't, he wouldn't be just. 00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:11.619 If you struggle with this idea of a wrathful God, God cannot be loving unless he is wrathful. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:18.659 If somebody attacks a child and there's no cries for justice, 00:28:20.059 --> 00:28:23.199 then that is not a loving reaction. 00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:27.460 The loving reaction is to bring the perpetrators to justice. 00:28:27.659 --> 00:28:28.799 Wrath is a good thing. 00:28:29.579 --> 00:28:31.019 If it is a just wrath. 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:37.179 And God satisfies his own desire for justice by himself. 00:28:37.819 --> 00:28:39.679 That's what we talked about in the first point. 00:28:40.439 --> 00:28:42.439 Jesus, the suffering servant. 00:28:43.199 --> 00:28:44.599 Let's continue on in verse 6. 00:28:45.099 --> 00:28:46.899 All we like sheep have gone astray. 00:28:47.059 --> 00:28:49.599 We have turned everyone to his own way. 00:28:50.139 --> 00:28:53.039 And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:59.339 Sheep without a shepherd are powerless and defenseless completely. 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:02.960 Sheep need a shepherd. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:10.220 Without a shepherd, their lives are always just inches away from falling down a cliff. 00:29:10.220 --> 00:29:22.019 Jesus innocently dies for us because we were going our own ways with death just around the corner. 00:29:22.019 --> 00:29:24.779 Verse 7. 00:29:24.779 --> 00:29:28.960 It says that the suffering servant and that Jesus, he does this voluntarily. 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:29.859 This is what it says. 00:29:30.379 --> 00:29:32.180 He was oppressed and he was afflicted. 00:29:32.379 --> 00:29:39.539 Yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before it shears is silent. 00:29:39.539 --> 00:29:41.680 So he opened not his mouth. 00:29:42.779 --> 00:29:54.480 Jesus, in the accounts, does not, when he's standing trial before the Jewish leaders and before Pilate, he is not trying to justify himself, saying he got the wrong guy. 00:29:55.500 --> 00:29:58.420 He silently does this. 00:29:58.879 --> 00:30:06.420 In the garden, he says, not my will, but yours be done to God the Father. 00:30:07.059 --> 00:30:09.480 That he voluntarily did this. 00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:18.420 And that ultimately he innocently died with wicked people, those that truly did deserve death, and was buried with a rich man. 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:19.839 In verse 9, this is what it says. 00:30:22.339 --> 00:30:30.339 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. 00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:33.599 Jesus hangs on the cross between two criminals. 00:30:34.420 --> 00:30:39.039 And then he is buried in a wealthy man's tomb. 00:30:39.539 --> 00:30:44.980 This was written centuries before Jesus would suffer all of this. 00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:47.680 And here we're reading about it. 00:30:47.779 --> 00:30:48.740 It's remarkable. 00:30:48.740 --> 00:30:59.160 Verse 8, it says that to his sufferings was added the pain of a total lack of sympathetic understanding from those around him. 00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:00.079 In verse 8, it says this, 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:14.019 Jesus was abandoned by his best friends. 00:31:14.019 --> 00:31:20.539 He was completely, completely disowned and maligned by his people. 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:27.160 He was given an unjust trial. 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:28.420 It was a kangaroo court. 00:31:28.420 --> 00:31:32.380 He experienced no sympathy at all. 00:31:32.900 --> 00:31:34.960 Yet he voluntarily did this. 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:37.440 And what was the result? 00:31:38.180 --> 00:31:40.400 It was victory, complete victory. 00:31:40.900 --> 00:31:46.580 Now, this is Good Friday, so I'm not going to talk about the resurrection at length. 00:31:46.579 --> 00:31:49.859 George will be here Sunday morning, 10 a.m. 00:31:50.399 --> 00:31:51.759 Live doing that. 00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:58.159 But nevertheless, Isaiah 53 talks about the great victory of the suffering servant. 00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:04.199 There's no usage of the term resurrection in this passage. 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:12.420 But verses 10 to 12 see that this suffering servant is actually alive after he dies. 00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:17.360 So in verse 9, he is dead. 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:19.120 In verse 10, he is alive. 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:20.840 In verse 8, he is condemned. 00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:23.980 In verse 11, he's righteous. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:27.340 In verse 7, there's helplessness. 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:29.500 In verse 12, there is victory. 00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:34.460 Clearly, there is something wonderful that has happened to the suffering servant. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:41.599 That he no longer is dead, but that he is alive again. 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:43.059 Praise God. 00:32:44.519 --> 00:32:46.380 All of this was God's plan. 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:47.500 All of it. 00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:49.799 Verse 10, it says this. 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:53.279 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. 00:32:54.819 --> 00:32:56.779 He has put him to grief. 00:32:56.779 --> 00:33:00.660 When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. 00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:02.980 He shall prolong his days. 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:07.200 And it opens up, verse 10, with the will of the Lord. 00:33:07.259 --> 00:33:09.500 And it closes, verse 10, with the will of the Lord. 00:33:09.799 --> 00:33:12.079 The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 00:33:13.299 --> 00:33:17.740 It was never God's will simply to crush the suffering servant. 00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:21.059 To crush Jesus, God, the Son of God. 00:33:21.779 --> 00:33:23.139 And leave it there. 00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:24.160 That wasn't his will. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:26.000 It was his will to do that. 00:33:26.080 --> 00:33:26.680 But why? 00:33:27.380 --> 00:33:29.540 So that he would prosper him. 00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:36.019 This idea is prosper, not like I did really well in my RSPs. 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:37.940 Or I'm, you know, I'm kind of moving up. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:38.640 I'm prospering. 00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:41.140 It's this victory. 00:33:42.200 --> 00:33:47.980 That the suffering servant would destroy and be victorious over death itself. 00:33:48.620 --> 00:33:51.240 And that it was the will of the Lord to prosper him. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:52.740 And all of this was God's plan. 00:33:52.740 --> 00:33:58.299 And he knew that we as sinful people could not even begin to pay the penalty for our sin. 00:33:58.579 --> 00:34:01.920 And yet from the beginning of time, this is not a plan B. 00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:05.440 From the beginning of time, God had a plan to redeem us. 00:34:05.900 --> 00:34:10.719 Even though he knew that we would go our own way like sheep without a shepherd. 00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:14.599 That we would leave our home to find a better home. 00:34:14.599 --> 00:34:19.739 Even though there is no better home than the one we left. 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:25.319 Although we strayed like sheep, verse 6, we return as his offspring. 00:34:25.739 --> 00:34:27.500 This is what it says in verse 10. 00:34:27.719 --> 00:34:28.839 I don't know if you guys caught this. 00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:31.099 He shall see his offspring. 00:34:31.500 --> 00:34:33.019 He shall prolong his days. 00:34:33.019 --> 00:34:38.980 This idea that we go off as lost sheep, but we return as sons and daughters. 00:34:40.340 --> 00:34:42.699 We are in communion with God. 00:34:42.699 --> 00:34:49.599 Again, we are united to God by virtue of the suffering servant, Jesus Christ. 00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:51.539 Because of what he has done on the cross. 00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:53.400 Hanging on the cross. 00:34:53.639 --> 00:34:54.119 Dying. 00:34:54.460 --> 00:34:55.199 Rising again. 00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:02.139 So, the suffering servant is fully God, fully man. 00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:06.339 Is a sacrificial substitute for the sinful humanity. 00:35:06.759 --> 00:35:12.059 Is completely victorious in what he has set out to do. 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:13.000 But the fourth thing. 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:17.859 And this is what is remarkable and fantastic and glorious and beautiful. 00:35:18.059 --> 00:35:22.359 Is that the fruit of his victory is universal blessing. 00:35:23.359 --> 00:35:24.679 What do I mean by this? 00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:29.679 The fourth servant song is followed by like a tale, so to speak. 00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:34.339 And that takes up two chapters, verses 54 and 55. 00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:43.379 And for people that are reading the suffering servant from a non-believing Jewish background. 00:35:43.379 --> 00:35:46.739 They see the servant as a representative of Israel. 00:35:46.980 --> 00:35:49.179 Not as this ultimate messianic figure. 00:35:49.279 --> 00:35:53.679 And most definitely not a picture of God himself. 00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:59.519 And the messianic figure was to save just the Jewish people. 00:36:00.559 --> 00:36:01.819 Simply the Jewish people. 00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:04.279 But here we actually don't see that. 00:36:04.859 --> 00:36:10.619 We see that, of course, that the suffering servant was sent to win the victory. 00:36:10.619 --> 00:36:14.299 And ultimately to save the exiled Jewish people. 00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:16.419 But this blessing is universal. 00:36:16.420 --> 00:36:19.920 Why? Because it gets extended to the entire world. 00:36:20.340 --> 00:36:23.780 So look with me in chapter 54, verse 1. 00:36:23.780 --> 00:36:27.060 We'll kind of jump around a little bit. 00:36:27.120 --> 00:36:29.540 But it opens up in verse 1, chapter 54. 00:36:30.260 --> 00:36:32.600 Sing, O barren one who do not bear. 00:36:33.160 --> 00:36:35.340 Break forth into singing and cry aloud. 00:36:35.720 --> 00:36:37.840 You who have not been in labor. 00:36:37.980 --> 00:36:44.260 For the children of the desolate one will be no more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord. 00:36:44.260 --> 00:36:50.380 Lord, enlarge the place of your tent and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:51.520 Jump down to verse 4. 00:36:52.040 --> 00:36:54.460 Fear not, for you will not be ashamed. 00:36:54.660 --> 00:36:57.320 Be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced. 00:36:57.600 --> 00:36:59.900 Remember, the Jewish people are disgraced. 00:36:59.900 --> 00:37:10.559 And here, the servant, the ultimate victory, the fruit of his victory, will be the erasing of the disgrace of the Jewish people. 00:37:10.720 --> 00:37:12.619 No more shame. 00:37:13.059 --> 00:37:13.840 But not just them. 00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:16.559 Look with me in verse 55, starting in verse 1. 00:37:17.320 --> 00:37:18.960 Come, everyone who thirsts. 00:37:19.180 --> 00:37:20.240 Come to the waters. 00:37:20.900 --> 00:37:23.599 And he who has no money, come, buy and eat. 00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:27.099 Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:28.160 Verse 2. 00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:34.379 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? 00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:35.739 And jump down to verse 5. 00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:46.799 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know and a nation that did not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and of the Holy One. 00:37:46.879 --> 00:37:50.940 That is the suffering servant of Israel, for he has glorified you. 00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:51.980 Verse 6. 00:37:52.139 --> 00:37:54.059 Seek the Lord while he may be found. 00:37:54.219 --> 00:37:56.119 Call upon him while he is near. 00:37:56.119 --> 00:38:00.159 Let the wicked forsake his way and the righteous man his thoughts. 00:38:00.380 --> 00:38:04.900 Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God. 00:38:05.259 --> 00:38:07.579 For he will abundantly pardon. 00:38:07.579 --> 00:38:08.819 Ultimate blessing. 00:38:08.819 --> 00:38:10.960 Ultimate blessing. 00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:29.199 That those of every tongue, every ethnicity, every background, every culture, if they confess their sin, if they look to God for pardon because of what Jesus has done because of the suffering servant's ultimate victory, 00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:33.199 they will be made right with God. 00:38:33.739 --> 00:38:36.000 They will be brought back home. 00:38:37.519 --> 00:38:39.919 The only home that they were made for. 00:38:40.539 --> 00:38:50.159 It is a wonderful, wonderful, incredible picture of the ultimate salvation of God through his son, Jesus Christ. 00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:55.980 So how should we live in light of this? 00:38:57.980 --> 00:39:04.159 We should think upon and pray upon the image of Christ on the cross. 00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:05.179 Think about him. 00:39:06.420 --> 00:39:07.079 See him bear. 00:39:07.219 --> 00:39:07.779 Picture him. 00:39:07.940 --> 00:39:20.139 Read in the gospel accounts of how he hung on the cross, bearing your sins, bearing your shame, bearing all of the brokenness that has ever come about in this world. 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:24.579 Dying in our place once and for all. 00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:30.019 Our salvation, our hope, our return home was purchased at a great, great cost. 00:39:30.699 --> 00:39:32.400 It was done for love. 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:37.099 It was done so that we would be made right with him, that we would enjoy God. 00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:41.659 We would worship him forever like we were made to do. 00:39:42.839 --> 00:39:47.879 We should praise him because he has not left us like sheep on the edge of a cliff. 00:39:47.880 --> 00:39:54.539 Because his son descended into the cliff on our behalf so that there's actually no more cliff for us. 00:39:54.920 --> 00:39:55.900 No more ultimate cliff. 00:39:57.400 --> 00:40:01.940 Jesus tasted all there is to taste of death and sin. 00:40:01.940 --> 00:40:04.760 So that we don't have to. 00:40:06.539 --> 00:40:14.099 The thing is, if death and famine and disease no longer have their eternal bite. 00:40:15.139 --> 00:40:19.119 Do not linger over us in an eternal way. 00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:23.159 What's there to truly, eternally, ultimately fear? 00:40:24.539 --> 00:40:26.420 Our search for true home is over. 00:40:26.519 --> 00:40:32.440 That's why we can't put our hope and trust, our ultimate hope and trust in things and people. 00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:34.480 We can't find our meaning in these things. 00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:41.400 And quite possibly, because they're quite possibly gone today, or they might be here today but gone tomorrow. 00:40:41.539 --> 00:40:42.099 They might be. 00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:44.500 Our life is not guaranteed. 00:40:45.800 --> 00:40:56.179 Instead, let us put our hope and trust and find our eternal meaning in and through and for the suffering servant, Jesus Christ. 00:40:56.179 --> 00:41:07.299 What would happen as God's people, if we truly grasp this, we could then suffer with great meaning. 00:41:07.819 --> 00:41:13.639 We could live a life that when we engage with suffering, that there would be great meaning to this suffering. 00:41:13.639 --> 00:41:25.739 That when it is our time to breathe our last, we can die in such a way that echoes the words of the Apostle Paul. 00:41:26.319 --> 00:41:30.679 That to me, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:41:30.779 --> 00:41:32.900 That all of a sudden, death has meaning. 00:41:35.480 --> 00:41:37.619 That is a wonderful, wonderful thing. 00:41:38.219 --> 00:41:43.319 Friends, I encourage you today to think about the cross. 00:41:43.639 --> 00:41:46.159 Think about Jesus hanging there. 00:41:46.319 --> 00:41:46.920 Dwell on it. 00:41:47.059 --> 00:41:47.900 Meditate on it. 00:41:48.500 --> 00:41:50.460 Let it rip you up a little bit inside. 00:41:52.799 --> 00:41:58.679 But remember that in three days, he rises again from the tomb. 00:41:58.980 --> 00:42:00.539 I'm going to close with this. 00:42:01.519 --> 00:42:06.940 In light of everything we just looked at, of everything we thought about and meditated on, 00:42:07.539 --> 00:42:11.739 take these words from Romans chapter 8, verses 38 and 39. 00:42:11.739 --> 00:42:19.859 For I am sure that neither death or life, angels or rulers, nor things present or things to come, 00:42:20.179 --> 00:42:27.539 nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us 00:42:27.539 --> 00:42:32.279 from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:42:32.280 --> 00:42:40.120 Friends, those of us that are saved and those that are yet to put their hope and trust in salvation, 00:42:40.380 --> 00:42:44.900 know that today is the day that we can call upon the Lord and be saved. 00:42:44.900 --> 00:42:52.760 Lord God, thank you so much for your goodness and kindness that you have written about your son 00:42:52.760 --> 00:43:01.700 centuries before he was born to Mary in Bethlehem, that he lived a sinless life. 00:43:02.500 --> 00:43:04.559 He died an unjust death. 00:43:05.579 --> 00:43:07.019 He went into the grave. 00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:07.980 He rose again. 00:43:07.980 --> 00:43:17.679 Lord, thank you so much that that is our reality, that we are in union with you because of your son. 00:43:18.059 --> 00:43:23.840 And today, as it is Good Friday, help us to think about Jesus hanging on the tree, 00:43:25.300 --> 00:43:28.960 suffering all of our brokenness, all of our sinfulness. 00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:34.699 Lord, help that to go deep in us by your Holy Spirit. 00:43:34.880 --> 00:43:40.019 And on Sunday, let us come back and rejoice in your salvation. 00:43:40.139 --> 00:43:42.139 In Jesus' name, amen.