The Oppressed Savior Series

INTRODUCTION

 Raise your hand if you have ever been unjustly accused of something?

 Raise you hand if you have ever been punished for something you did not do?

 If you had, what was your natural reaction to what happened to you? Did you just sit idly by and let it happen? If you are like me, you would have been screaming out at the top of your lungs about the injustice behind what was happening to you.

 It seems like we are hearing more and more people who are found guilty in our court systems that later DNA evidence finds them to be innocent. Some people have been within days or hours of receiving the death penalty. I saw one guy who was in prison for over 18 years for a rape he did not commit.

 All these people who have been unjustly put into prison are victims of failures in the system.

 As we close in on Resurrection Sunday next week, Isaiah is going to tell us about a savior who fell victim to a failed system.

 Over 700 years before Jesus came to save mankind; Isaiah is going to tell us about the oppression that our savior would face at the hands of His own countrymen.

 The dictionary tells us that the word “oppression” means, “the act of subjecting to cruel and unjust hardships.”

 A person is not being oppressed if they are being justly punished for something they did.

 When you look in the bible, one example of a person who was oppressed was Joseph. His brothers who did not like him sold Joseph into slavery and he was later put into prison for something he did not do. Joseph was oppressed.

 As you follow the story of Joseph you see that Joseph did not get angry with God, but instead he did all he could to serve God in the midst of terrible circumstances. Later Joseph was placed under Pharaoh and because of his position, he was able to help keep the nation of Israel alive.

 In a stirring scene in Genesis 50:13-21 when Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they thought that Joseph would now pay them back for the evil they had done to him. Instead he responds in Genesis 50:20 by saying, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

 The evil that the oppressor of Jesus meant for Him was going to benefit mankind because of the love that God has for us.

 AS we have been looking at the Suffering Servant Poems in Isaiah 53, I hope that one of the things that you are starting to grasp is the love that God has for you. I hope that today’s text will deepen that understanding even more.

 Jesus was oppressed. We are going to look at how Jesus dealt with His oppression. We will also once again see that the oppression He suffered was unwarranted, but that it was only temporary.

 As we close in on Resurrection Sunday, let us never forget what God has done for us!

SERMON

I. HIS OPPRESSION WAS SUFFERED SILENTLY V7

A. He was oppressed.

 As we look at verse 7, the first thing that jumps out at me is the fact that Jesus was oppressed. Verse 8 also speaks of oppression.

 The interesting thing about this is that Jesus did not have to allow Himself to be oppressed?

 Why didn’t He do anything to stop the oppression? Why did Jesus allow Judas to betray Him? He knew what Judas was going to do. (Matt 26:22-ff)

 Why did Jesus allow Himself to be arrested? Why did He allow Himself to be mocked by the religious leaders? He could have wiped them all out or just a few of them to make a point?

 Why did He allow the soldiers to beat Him and hang Him on a cross? Why did He allow the religious leaders to falsely accuse Him? Why did He let Pilate condemn Him?

 None of this was something that Jesus was looking forward to. Listen to the anguish He was struggling with before His arrest.

 MAT 26:36-38 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me."

 READ Luke 22:41-44

 Here is the reason He allowed Himself to be oppressed. READ Matthew 26:26-28.