"He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions" Sermon: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (video)

 (1) "He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions" Sermon: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 - YouTube

"He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions" Sermon: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (manuscript)

 

“He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions”

[Isaiah 52:13-53:12]

April 25, 2021 YouTube

            In the first section of Isaiah 52, God explains to Jerusalem that salvation is coming, that it will be seen by all peoples, and then will be the Greater Exodus. At a quick glance, it would seem that God is speaking about Jerusalem being freed from the impending Babylonian exile, and while it is true that God will redeem His people from Babylon, this pertains to spiritual and eternal salvation that the Promised Savior – the Servant Savior – will bring.

            Last week we saw that this salvation will occur, but Jerusalem is not told how it will come to pass.  In this morning’s text, we find out how God provides eternal salvation for all those who will believe.

            This will be a familiar text to many of us, still let us hear the Word of God.

            Here we are introduced to another aspect of the Servant:  He is the Servant Savior, and He is also the Suffering Servant.  God secures salvation for all His people through the work of the Suffering Servant.

“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.”

Does that sound familiar?

Back in Isaiah 6:1, we read: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (ESV).

The Suffering Servant is the Lord – the Almighty God Who Isaiah saw in the Temple.

And Matthew tells us about the victory of the Suffering Servant, “But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (Matthew 26:63-64, ESV).

So, the Suffering Servant is God Himself, but He – the Son – incarnate.  God the Son became a human being so He can be the Savior.  He must be God to be able to perfectly keep the Law and thus be righteous, and He must be human to take on the whole Wrath of God for our sins.

And so, we read:

“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. 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.”

To be the Savior – since we are sinners – the Servant must suffer unbelievably to pay the debt we owe to God.

Jesus is taken to Pilate and flogged – He is whipped until His skin is torn apart.

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him” (Matthew 27:27-31, ESV).

Due to the work of Jesus – including this horrific suffering – people – even the leaders of nations – when their eyes are opened, and they see and understand – either as believers or when it is too late – their mouths will be shut – they will not be able to speak a word.

Who can hear what Jesus taught about Himself and see what He did and understand the death He died and have a word to speak?  Our mouths are shut.

Prior to the resurrection, what can anyone really say? 

The disciples on the road answer the Resurrected Jesus, “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened” (Luke 24:21, ESV).

Then Jesus opens their eyes, and they see and understand, “They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32, ESV).

His blood sprinkles the nations.

Paul writes, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11, ESV).

The Servant Savior is necessarily the Suffering Servant.

Second, the Suffering Servant is innocent.

Paul asks, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’” (Romans 10:16, ESV).

The Gospel – the Good News – has gone out:  salvation is coming!  Salvation is seen by the world! The Greater Exodus is coming, and the people of God will be delivered from this sinful, fallen world into the Holy Kingdom!  And this must occur by the Son of God becoming a human being Who lives a perfect life and dies paying our debt by suffering the Wrath of God for all our sins.

The answer to this Good News by most people is, “You’re nuts.”

“Who has believed what he has heard from us? 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.”

“Look at Jesus – you expect us to believe that this is God become a human while remaining God?  You expect us to believe that He never sins and will suffer the full Wrath of God to save His people?”

“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.”

Paul writes, “as it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame’” (Romans 9:33, ESV).

God knew from before the Creation that the way that He would save His people would not make sense to the person enslaved to sin, the flesh, and the devil.  Many Jews then and now look at Isaiah 53 and say it has nothing to do with the Promised Savior, rather, it has to do with the triumph of the nation of Israel.

We see in the Gospels, Jews looking at Jesus and despising Him for Who He says He is.  Some of the Pharisees look at Him being from Nazareth and His interpretation of the Scripture and conclude that He cannot be the Savior.  They worry that the Romans will see Him as a threat to Caesar, and they want to avoid Rome cracking down on them and taking their power and position in Israel away from them.

“But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?’ They answered, ‘He deserves death.’ Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?’” (Matthew 26:63-68, ESV).

Isaiah continues, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, 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.”

And we may ask, “How can the death of one Man – not matter how horrific the death – cause those who believe to be delivered from sin and death and be made right with God?”

And we might answer, “The animal sacrifices for the sake of the sins of the people did not pay the debt for all of their sin.  The sacrifices had to be offered again and again.”

As we have already seen, the only Sacrifice that could be once for all who believe would be a willing Substitute – One Who is both the Holy God and a righteous human in the same Person – Who keeps the Law and credits that perfect keeping of the Law to those who believe and pays the debt to God for the sin we commit.

Jesus says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17-18, ESV).

From before the Creation, the Triune God decided to create humans who would rebel and sin against God, and God the Son willingly planned to become a human being to save those who would believe.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Every mere human is born a sinner – at enmity with God.  The only hope we have is that God planned to come to earth as a real human being and meet the requirements to take our sin upon Himself, paying the debt we owe to God.

Paul writes, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:9-11, ESV).

Jesus submitted to the Father’s Will and went humbly and with patience to the cross.  He became the final Lamb, fulfilling the Passover, and securing the salvation of His people.

“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 its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.  By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?”

Initially, Jesus’ disciples did not understand that He had to die to satisfy God’s Justice.  They looked at His brutalization and crucifixion and did not know what to make of it.  In fear, most of His disciples scatter and hide.

“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.”

Jesus is Innocent, and so He Alone can satisfy God, and save His people.  He was crucified with two criminals – as though Jesus was a sinner as well.  But Jesus is Innocent – He never sinned, so we are seen as righteous and will be righteous.

And as Isaiah prophesied:

 “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away” (Matthew 27:57-60, ESV).

            The Suffering Servant is Innocent and took our place to save us.

            Third, God willed the suffering of the Servant.

            “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.”

            This is truth we often neglect:  we say that God the Father sent His Son to incarnate as the man, Jesus.  We say that the Jews and the Gentiles – even we, ourselves -- caused Jesus to be crucified to save His people.  But we don’t often say that God willed Jesus’ suffering.

            After Pentecost, Peter preaches, ““Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it’” (Acts 2:22-24, ESV).

            From before the beginning, God planned to crush Jesus to save God’s people.  This is the fulfilling of the promise given after the fall in the Garden as God says to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman,     and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, ESV).

            Some argue that Jesus did not suffer because He is also God.  If He did not truly suffer the most horrific death having the Wrath of God poured on Him, then we ae lost – the debt is not paid, and there is no hope. If God is Just, He must punish sin fully.  But He truly did suffer:

            In the Garden, we read: “And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:41-44, ESV).

            “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.”

            The work of the Servant is complete as we read, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30, ESV).

            “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 transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

            The author of Hebrews tells us that we out to be “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV).

            Jesus did not enjoy the cross, but He had joy in the cross knowing that His death – and resurrection – would secure salvation for every person He died for.  And now He is seated at the Right Hand of the Father.  He has returned to His throne in heaven as a true and resurrected human, and He intercedes for us with the Father.

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (I Timothy 2:5-6, ESV).

God willed the suffering of the Servant.

How will the Servant bring salvation to His people?

The Son of God will Incarnate as the Person of Jesus to suffer as the Innocent Substitute for all we who believe.  God will crush Him and pour all His Wrath on His Servant, by which the Servant will pay all the debt to God that His people owe for their sins.  And He will rise from the dead, for an Innocent Man cannot be held by death – and in this, He secures our salvation.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, in Isaiah 53 we get a glimpse of the horrors that Jesus suffered that we would be saved.  We thank You for choosing us to be saved and did not just leave all of us to be received into Hell.  We ask that we would be willing to suffer for Jesus’ sake, that we would pursue righteousness and holiness all the days of our lives, and that we would recognize and submit to Your Sovereign Providence in our lives as Jesus did in His. Cause the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in the faith and make us able to rightly proclaim the whole Gospel that You would be glorified and draw many to Yourself.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen,

Review: "Death and the Dancing Footman" (video)

 (403) Review: "Death and the Dancing Footman" - YouTube

Review: "Death and the Dancing Footman" (manuscript)

 

            Jonathan Royal sits by the fire as he thinks of something fun to do over the weekend.  A devilish grin comes over his face as he thinks of what to do:  He will invite eight people for a party.  Unbeknownst to the guests coming, Royal has made sure that each of the guests hates at least one of the other guests.  Royal hopes for amusing fireworks.

            However, when one of the guests dies, the weekend is ruined, and Roderick Alleyn comes to sort things out in Ngaio Marsh’s eleventh novel, Death and the Dancing Footman.

            [This review appears on my blog, my YouTube channel, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

"Good News" Sermon: Isaiah 52:7-12 (video)

 (3) "Good News" Sermon: Isaiah 52:7-12 - YouTube

"Good News" Sermon: Isaiah 52:7-12 (manuscript)

 

“Good News”

[Isaiah 52:7-12]

April 18, 2021 YouTube

            As we turn to this morning’s text, let us remember that God has just told Jerusalem – and all believers, that we are to believe and act like who we are in Christ and who we will be in Christ, and God will make us to know His Name.  All who believe will know God’s Attributes intimately. This section is of the promise of deliverance, whereas this morning’s text is a view of the fulfillment of the promise of deliverance.

            We may remember that there were no phones or walkie-talkies in 700 B. C. – or in the times before this, so, as wars rage on, runners would be assigned to run back to the camp or the kingdom and report how the battle is going.  The runner would come yelling the bad news or the good news so the people could react in the appropriate manner.

            We remember bad news coming when Eli is the judge of Israel and his two wicked sons serve under him.  As war rages with the Philistines, the runner comes with news:

            “When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, ‘What is this uproar?’ Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. And the man said to Eli, ‘I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.’ And he said, ‘How did it go, my son?’ He who brought the news answered and said, ‘Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.’ As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years’” (I Samuel 4:14-18, ESV).

            This morning’s Scripture is not of a runner bringing bad news; it is of a runner bringing good news.

            And so, we see, first, good news comes.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”

Again, we remember that Jerusalem has heard that they will be taken for seventy years into exile in Babylon.  They know this is coming as discipline for their sin.  They also understand that God has promised to deliver them at the right time, because discipline is temporary.

Jerusalem is not told how God will deliver her at the right time, but the promise is made – and she is are told that the runner will come – and the runner will bring good news.  The fact that he runs with good news – victory – deliverance – causes them to see his very feet as beautiful for the sake of the news that he brings.  As opposed to the news that is brought to Eli – a runner whose feet are ugly.

The runner comes with two parallel sets of statements:

The runner brings good news – the good news of deliverance from Babylon – and he publishes peace – peace for Jerusalem is come on that day and the fact of it is made know to all the people of Jerusalem and all the surrounding nations.

The runner brings good news of happiness – it is good news that is so good that it makes the people happy – ecstatic – filled with the joy of God – and he publishes salvation – all of Jerusalem and the surrounding nations see the salvation of Jerusalem by her God.

As the runner says, “Your God reigns.”

This is the promise that is made to Jerusalem and the fulfillment of the promise made.

Paul brings this promise of fulfillment into the Good News of Jesus Christ – the salvation that He brings:

“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:13-17, ESV).

The ultimate fulfillment of the Good News given to Jerusalem is found in the Gospel – the Good News – of Jesus – the Promised Savior.  The runner who brings and publishes this Good News are those who preach Who Jesus is and what He has done.

Jesus announces Himself as a runner with Good News:

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

 

“’The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news  to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:16-21, ESV).

Jerusalem has the good news that she will be freed – joyously freed, and God promises the fulfillment of this promise of deliverance.  The runner will come with good news.

Ultimately, they are the beautiful feet of Jesus that bring the Good News of salvation through the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus to us – with the promise of total fulfillment when He returns for us and brings us into the fulness of His kingdom.

Second, salvation is seen.

“The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

If you have seen a castle or an ancient city, you likely would have seen some sort of wall around it for protection. Watchmen would be standing on the walls with weapons to help keep the city safe and intruders out of the castle or city.  The city of Jerusalem had a wall around it and watchmen watched for enemies coming against the city.

The watchmen see the runner coming towards the city – calling out good news – they understand that the Lord is returning to Zion – Jerusalem.  God keeps His promise to free Jerusalem, and as the runner gets close to the wall, the watchmen see him eye to eye.  (During the Revolutionary War, it was said, “don’t shoot until you see the whiles of their eyes.”)  They saw the runner well enough to see the joy in him – and the watchmen lift up their voices and sing for joy!

The desolate places are called upon to revive and sing for joy – in the finale of God’s redemption of His people all evil and sin and corruption will be done away with.

The reason for this singing – in the return of Jerusalem and in the return of Jesus to restore His kingdom – is that the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed His people, and He bears His arm before all the nations of the world.

He comforts His people.  We saw God comfort His people back in chapter forty:

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2, ESV).

Be comforted – you are being sent into captivity for your sin, but I will save you and return you to the land.

We remember these words:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6, ESV).

The Lord has redeemed His people.

“While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17.21, ESV).

Every single person Jesus came to redeem will be redeemed.  Jesus pays the debt of everyone who will ever believe throughout time and space to the Father, and we are welcomed into the kingdom.

And God bears His holy arm.

Have you ever seen a fight – or been in a fight – where a person rolls up his sleeve to fight?  God symbolically rolls up His sleeve bearing His arm, so the people will know coming against Him is futile.  He is the All-powerful God Whose Providence cannot be stopped.

Jesus speaks of His return, when the Arm of the Lord will be bared:

“Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31, ESV).

Salvation is seen in God’s keeping His promise to return Jerusalem when the captivity is done, but primarily in the work of Jesus and His return when all the world will know that salvation is only in Jesus Alone. For the great and cosmic battle is won by Jesus on the last day and all glory is given to Him.

Third, the greater exodus comes.

The history of the Exodus is used throughout the Scripture as one of the great examples of God’s salvation of His people, and we have this imagery here in the good news to Jerusalem.  Here we see that the force of this text is found in the work of the Savior and the salvation of all the people of God, rather than the return from Babylon.

“Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the LORD.”

Israel was symbolically covered and made holy through the blood of the lamb:

“Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you’” (Exodus 12:21-23, ESV).

The final Passover lamb is identified and brings us out of the kingdom of darkness through His blood.

The author of Hebrews explains, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12, ESV).

The Wrath of the Lord against His people is gone because Jesus takes it on Himself and washes us with His blood.  We are delivered from slavery to sin and its fruits.

“For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

God leads us out of wickedness and sin into His kingdom, and He goes before us and keeps us safe at the rear.  Israel saw this visibly in the Exodus:

“And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people” (Exodus 13:20-22, ESV).

God led Israel to the promised land by the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire.  He continues to lead we who are the Israel of God as our Good Shepherd.  He will not let us fall into a ditch or be eaten by a wolf.  He leads us through the dangers of this life and brings us into pastures of green in the New Eden.

Israel has an exodus yet to come out of Babylon, but all we who believe are engaged in the greater Exodus, following God.  “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6, ESV).

Good news for all we who believe.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You that it was Your will from before the Creation to send Good News to Your people.  We thank You for opening our eyes so we could see the salvation that Your Son brings.  We thank You that You are with us, leading us through the greater Exodus.  Brig us safely to the New Eden and be glorified in us.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

"You Shall Know My Name" Sermon: Isaiah 52:1-6 (video)

 (11) "You Shall Know My Name" Sermon: Isaiah 52:1-6 - YouTube

"You Shall Know My Name" Sermon: Isaiah 52:1-6 (manuscript)

 

“You Shall Know My Name”

[Isaiah 52:1-6]

April 11, 2021 YouTube

            We continue our look at Isaiah this morning as we turn to chapter fifty-two. Previously, we saw this back and forth of “awake, awake!” Jerusalem calls for God to awake, awake – to see the dire state she is in as they ready to go into captivity, and God calls on Jerusalem to awake, awake to understand that she is being punished for her sin, yet God is strong to save His people.

            This morning we see, first, Jerusalem is to look like who she is and will be.

            Isaiah repeatedly tells Jerusalem that she is going to be taken into Babylon to be disciplined for her sin. And being taken into captivity is a horrible thing – a painful thing – being taken away from your family and your home and your land and your possessions.  Yet God tells her not to wither away like a shrinking violet.  God tells her to be courageous – to put on the strength that she has as children of God – His chosen people.

“Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion;”

Paul similarly writes to Christians suffering intense persecution and tells them not to give up or to quiver beneath their enemies, but to stand strong in the full armor of God:

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” (Ephesians 6:13-18, ESV).

We are dressed for war by God Himself through Jesus.

And God tells Jerusalem not to merely be dressed in rags, but to put on her best clothes – to look like the person she is – a child of God.

“put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city;”

And Jerusalem could well ask, “How can we stand strong and put on our best clothes – we are sinners and God is disciplining us through the Babylonian exile.  All we can do is tear our clothes and mourn for our sin and the condition we now find ourselves.”

The answer is that God through the Servant Savior makes us able to look like – and be – who we are in Christ.

As Zechariah records:

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?’ Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ And to him he said, ‘Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.’ And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by” (Zechariah 3:1-5, ESV).

Peter describes believers in this way: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (I Peter 2:9-10, ESV).

Why does God tell Jerusalem to look like who she is?

“for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.”

Yes, Jerusalem has been taken into captivity and God will discipline her there, but that is not a reason to live as though we are defeated and without hope.  We must remember that we are who we are and who we are to be because God is making us into the Image of His Son.

So, God tells Jerusalem to get up and throw off the rags and the chains – the dust and the bonds around their necks – because God has freed them from their humiliation and slavery – just as we and all believers have been freed.

“Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”

This is what God does for us after we have gone into a far country and sinned and befouled ourselves.  Do we remember the parable of the two brothers and what happens when the younger brother returns?

“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:18-24, ESV).

God tells Jerusalem to throw off their drunken stupor, their self-pity, their filthy rages, and show the world who she is becoming through the Servant Savior.

John writes, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (I John 3:2-3, ESV).

It is not a lie to be as the person you will be.  We who believe are the children of God and no matter what our circumstance may be, we are called – with Jerusalem – to live as though we are now who God is making us to be.  As we live the life and beliefs and actions of who we will be, they become natural to us – we see God working is us – we begin to think and pray and be Christians – little Christs.

That’s not to say we should deny the truth.  No, if our spouse dies, we rightly mourn our spouse. Yet, we do not mourn as those who have no hope.  We mourn in hope that we will be rejoined with our spouse in the Kingdom of God that is coming. So, that even in the depths of our sorrow hope is strong.

So it is with Jerusalem’s discipline and exile.

Through discipline and persecution and hardship – Jerusalem and all believers are called to live – to be – the holy men and women that God is transforming us into as witnesses to the world and as witnesses against the evil one and his followers.

We are to be – and proclaim to the world – who we are in Christ.

Second, Jerusalem shall know God’s Name.

 God tells Jerusalem what is her past, present, and future.

“For thus says the LORD: ‘You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.’ For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.’”

God tells Jerusalem that sending her into exile in Egypt did not make God greater – it did not profit Him anything.  Sending her into Assyria did not make God greater – it did not profit Him anything.  Sending her into Babylon will not make God greater – it will not profit Him anything.  Rather, God sends them to these wicked nations to be disciplined – God sells them for nothing and redeems them back for nothing.  God is under no obligation to the wicked.  He uses them and their wickedness for His purposes.

As Jerusalem is readied to be freed from slavery in Egypt, God says, “Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians’” (Exodus 6:6-7, ESV).

God redeems His people whom He sold for nothing and gives no ransom to the wicked to redeem them.  God would sin to sell His people to the wicked for money, but God righteously uses the wicked to discipline His people. And discipline is always temporary.  God is the God of His people and He will not let them remain in the hands of the wicked forever.

God then turns His thoughts to the impending Babylonian exile.

“’Now therefore what have I here,’ declares the LORD, ‘seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,’ declares the LORD, ‘and continually all the day my name is despised.’”

Given that God is neither made greater by selling His people into captivity, nor is He made less by redeeming His people, what is the response of the wicked?

When the wicked understand that they gain nothing and are conquered by God in the end, they wail against God and despise God’s Name.

That does not merely mean that they despise the name “God,” but that they despise everything about God – all His Attributes.  The wicked hate God for being good, omniscient, omnipotent, loving, faithful, and so forth.  Everything that can rightly be said about God they spit on and try to force down into the mud.

What is God’s response to the wicked doing this?

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7, ESV).

The Babylonians think they have a right to keep Jerusalem, but she has no right to keep her – God sent her there for a period of discipline for her good – not for the good or the profit of Babylon, so Babylon despises the Name of the Lord in vain.

In despising God’s Name – in taking God’s Name in vain – in despising everything that makes God God – His very Being – God holds them guilty of cosmic treason – a debt they will have to pay themselves, if they do not receive the Servant Savior as their God and Savior.

But the people of God Who believe in the Servant Savior and bow to His discipline will be redeemed in the future soon and in the future on the last day.

“’Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.’”

As Jerusalem sees God work in her life – and as all we believers do – we know the Name of God more fully – we understand God in all His Attributes more fully.  We understand more of what it means that God is Holy, Loving, Faithful, and so forth.  And as we know the Name better, we simultaneously know that He is God Who speaks His Word to us, and God is here with His people.

God calls all His people to be who they are and who they are becoming accord to the promises of God as the Holy Spirit works within us and we strive after Christ-likeness. And as the Holy Spirit works within us, we know God’s Name more fully.

As Paul writes:

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained” (Philippians 3:12-16, ESV).

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for choosing us to be Your people.  As difficult as it may be, we bow before Your discipline of us and ask that You would help us to stand before the world as a witness to who we are in Christ and who we are becoming to Your Glory.  We thank You for the revelation of Your Name, and we ask that the Holy Spirit guide us to understand the Scripture and know Your Name even more fully.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Reformed Wisdom

 Calvin on Isaiah 52:5

"I do not here relate the various interpretations, or say to refute them; for it will be enough for me to have briefly explained the Prophet's real meaning."

Review: "Talking About Ethics" (video)

 (11) Review: "Talking About Ethics" - YouTube

Review: "Talking About Ethics" (manuscript)

 

            Talking About Ethics: A Conversational Approach to Moral Dilemmas by Michael S. Jones, Mark J. Farnham, and David L. Saxon is an unusual ethic book/text in that – as the title says – rather than “simply" putting forth one or more arguments for a certain position, the authors have three students dialogue about the issues and see what their philosophical and theological positions are on a variety of moral issues and attempt to defend them to each other.

In the first chapter, the authors define ethical relativism and ethical absolutism, and argue for why one or the other might be the better understanding of reality.

After this introduction to approaching the issues, the rest of the chapters are discussion between three students – either in class or at a local coffee shop.

They cover discussions about immigration, capital punishment, torture, animal rights, legalizing narcotics, abortion, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, organ transplantation, reproductive technology/human cloning, premarital sex, homosexuality, gender identity, environmentalism, world hunger, and war.

After each chapter, there is a selection of questions for reflection/discussion, a listed of important terms, and a list of other books – from varying positions on the topics discussed – for further reading.

The authors write with this being a textbook in mind, though it could easily be used for small group studies, and individual study and reflection.  The variety of views are well covered, and the students interact genially and thoughtfully.

The book ends with a selected bibliography and an index.

This book has much to recommend it:  the number of issues discussed, the examination of different issues, and the helps of questions, terms, and other resources noted.  I think it will catch on both as a textbook and as a book for personal study on these issues.

The only negative thing I have to say about it is that I found the dialogue difficult to follow.  I prefer – and better follow – a sustained argument from one side of an issue and then another argument, etc.  The back and forth of the dialogue confused me and made it hard to read.  I believe that is a matter of my own personality and way of learning.  But it is something to consider.

            I received this book for free in return for an honest review.

            [This review appears on my blog, my YouTube channel, Kregel.com, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

"Speak, But Don't Tell" Sermon: Mark 7:31-8:10 (video)

(9) "Speak, But Don't Tell" Sermon: Mark 7:31-8:10 - YouTube

"Speak, But Don't Tell" Sermon: Mark 7:31-8:10 (manuscript)

 

"Speak, But Don't Tell"

[Mark 7:31-8:10]

April 16, 2006 Second Reformed Church

April 4, 2021 YouTube

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

This morning, let us look at two events in the Gospel, and as we look at them, let us consider two questions: If Jesus is physically risen from the dead, how should we respond? And does He minister to us today?

            Jesus and His disciples leave Tyre and Sidon after He heals the little girl who was possessed by a demon, and they sail across the Sea of Galilee to the middle of the region of Decapolis. And as soon as they get out of the boat, a crowd forms around them, because they recognize Jesus and heard the stories about His ministry.

Now, there is a man who is deaf and has a terrible speech impediment, and his friends bring him to Jesus and beg Jesus to lay hands on him and make him whole in body. We should notice the compassion of the friends -- that they heard Jesus was coming and they made sure that their friend who was in physical distress got to see Him. Christians ought to care about the physical needs of others and help them in whatever way we are able. Some churches do well in that, when there is physical distress, some step up to provide counsel and rides and comfort. Let us minister to the physical needs of each other in whatever way we are able.

Jesus also has compassion on the man and heals him: God can sympathize with our physical needs because He incarnate and became a real human being. Jesus took the man aside, privately, but still in view of the crowd, so they could see and hear Him. And Jesus stuck His fingers in the man's ears, and then He spit on His fingers and touched them to the man's tongue, and then He looked up to heaven and sighed, and then He spoke the word, "Ephphatha," which means, "Be opened."

            Why? Why does Jesus go through all these gestures? They aren't necessary to heal the man. In the verses preceding this morning's text, we see Jesus heal a demon-possessed girl that He never sees or touches. And Jesus is the Incarnate God, the same One Who by His Very Word, spoke everything into existence. Why does He make all these gestures? Why doesn't He just say, "Be healed," as He does on so many other occasions?

            Jesus puts His fingers in the man's ears and spits and touches his tongue to symbolically show that He has the power to heal. He shows it is not a coincidence that the man is healed, but it is by His Power that the man is healed. And Jesus looks up to Heaven that they would know that His Power and Authority come from Heaven -- He is neither a magician nor a con-artist, but the Savior Whose Power and Authority come from Heaven. He also looks to Heaven to make it clear that He is the Only Mediator between God and Man -- it is Jesus Who stands between God and man and makes us right with God. And He sighs because He is truly sorry for the man and his afflictions. And then He speaks to manifest the healing. We read that as soon as Jesus speaks, "immediately," he is healed.

            We can conclude from this that God also desires that His own be delivered from spiritual death and disease. For if Jesus was so concerned and compassionate towards the physical needs of those around Him, surely, He would be even more concerned about the greater issue of the health of a person's soul. And so should we.

So, Jesus heals the man. "And he ordered them to tell no one, and the more he ordered them, the more zealous they proclaimed. And they were exceedingly amazed, saying, 'He has done all things well and he makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.'"

Jesus says to the man, "Speak, but don't tell." Why does Jesus tell them -- command them -- not to tell anyone? Wouldn't it make more sense that He ask them to spread the news as far as they are able? Wouldn't it only help His ministry to have more people know what He has done?

            No. For two reasons: Jesus tells them not to tell anyone because He doesn’t want them to get addicted to miracles. There are some today that preach that God wants everyone healthy and wealthy -- that belief is what Jesus wants to avoid, because the truth of the matter is, if God is God, then God gets what God wants. If God wants every single person to be healthy and wealthy, they would be. But He does not, and He doesn't want us to become addicted to the spectacular, because God does heal today, but not everyone will be healed in this life.

            The other reason Jesus commands them not to tell is that God is a God of order, and He works out His plan in time as it pleases Him. It was not time – that’s said over and over in the Gospel of Mark -- it was not time for Jesus to be revealed in His Fulness among them. But the time would come:

            On that first Easter morning, the women go to the tomb where Jesus is buried, "And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you'" (Mark 16:5-7, ESV).

If Jesus is physically risen from the dead, how should we respond? We should respond just like the friends do -- we've got to tell somebody. If we know that God cares for us and calls us to belief in Jesus Alone for salvation, if we know the Truth and the Truth is the greatest news that anyone could ever know or believe, we must tell -- we must speak up! Jesus Himself says, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15b, ESV).

About the same time that Jesus heals the man who is deaf and has a speech impediment, another great throng gathers around Him to listen to Him teach and preach, and they stay with Him in a desolate place, listening, hearing, for three days. And Jesus has pity on them and shows compassion towards them, because they have gotten so caught up in hearing Jesus, that they forgot to eat, and Jesus is concerned that they will start to faint, especially if He sends them back to their homes.

            So, He calls His disciples to Him and tells them that He is going to perform another miracle, one similar to one He had performed before. Jesus asks them for their bread -- seven loaves -- and their few small fish. And Jesus tells them to prepare -- to set out baskets, because He is going to bless the bread and the fish and feed all 4,000 people there with them.

            When Jesus fed the other crowd, He asked the disciples what food they had, and they responded in an unbelieving manner to Jesus; they did not believe He could feed about 15,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. They scoffed at Jesus. But now they know better, and Jesus prepares them for what is going to happen so they will be able to partake of the miracle rightly and to their benefit.

            We ought also to prepare ourselves before we come to worship, so we will not be caught off guard and fall into sin. We ought to get a good night’s sleep and arrive on time for worship. We ought to give ourselves enough time to quiet down and be ready to hear from God. We ought to pray for ourselves and each other -- that we would hear and receive the Word of God -- and we ought to be in prayer for the minister -- that he would prepare well and handle the Word of God accurately. And we ought to take special preparation on those days when we know the Lord's Supper will be celebrated. Since Jesus and the Apostle Paul have warned us against receiving the bread and the cup without discerning the body. Let us come, having confessed our sin, and having made ourselves right with each other. Let us come expecting that the bread and the cup will be for us the Body and Blood of Christ, such that He will be spiritually present with us as we receive the elements. We do well to prepare before we hear God's Word and receive the Sacrament.

            So, Jesus blesses the bread and the fish and feeds all 4,000 people, until they are satisfied, and the disciples collect seven baskets full of fish and bread that were left over. And then they get into the boat and sail to the region of Dalmanutha.

Notice again that Jesus cares for the physical needs of others, and, we understand, much more for their spiritual needs. So, how does the Risen Jesus minister to us today? The two primary ways He ministers to us are through the reading and preaching of God's Word and through the administration of the sacraments.

When the Word of God is read and preached, Jesus gives us His Grace, and when we receive the bread and the cup, Jesus gives us His Grace. As we join together in these primary actions, Jesus is spiritually here with us, strengthening our faith. The words printed on the pages of the Bible are not magic, neither is the bread nor the cup magic, but Jesus uses these things to be the conduit through which He meets us and ministers to us with His Grace. And becoming addicted to Jesus is a good thing. To desire Him more and His Word more and the Sacrament more are good things. It shows that we are becoming more and more vessels of God that declare His Glory, and that is why we were created. We were created to glorify God, and when we glorify God, we receive joy from Him, and on that day when Jesus comes for us and we enter into His Kingdom forever, then we will be constantly obsessed with glorifying God, and we will be filled with the eternal joy of Jesus.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we are amazed and humbled as we hear that You understand our weaknesses because Jesus lived among us as a human being. We rejoice that Your Work was accomplished, and Jesus is risen from the dead. We ask that You stir up the fires of the Holy Spirit within us and cause us to speak out that Truth even more. Grant us that excitement for Your Glory. We thank You for the gift of Your Word and for the sacraments. We ask that You continue to minister to us and give us Your Grace. We ask that You help us to prepare before worship and increase our desire to be in Your Presence. For it is in the Name of our Risen Savior, Jesus, we pray, Amen.