By His Stripes-4

BY HIS STRIPES-IV—Isaiah 52:13—53:1-12

OR: God’s Remedy For Sin

Attention:

To Brendan Johnston, it was a simple choice. The 18-year-old senior wrestler from The Classical Academy in Colorado had never competed against a girl, & faced with the option to do so & potentially move one round closer to his goal of winning a state title, he instead decided to forfeit.

For one of the two would-be female opponents, Johnston refused to face in the Colorado state wrestling championships last weekend, it was a frustrating outcome. She said she understood & respected his decision but questioned why any wrestler, of any gender, would decide to forfeit in the state tournament after making it so far. Johnston cited personal & religious beliefs for not wanting to wrestle a girl.

Jaslynn Gallegos, a senior at Skyview High staid, “My whole thing is that I’m not a girl wrestler; I’m just a wrestler. So it kind of doesn’t hurt my feelings, but I do kind of take it to heart.”

Johnston, who identifies as Christian & said he attends the International Anglican Church in Colorado Springs, said, “There is something that I really do find problematic about the idea of wrestling with a girl, & a part of that does come from my faith & my belief. And a part of that does come from how I was raised to treat women, as well as maybe from different experiences & things.”

Johnston, who has never wrestled a girl since he picked up the sport in seventh grade, has said that the physical aggression required in wrestling isn’t something he’s comfortable showing toward a girl, on or off the mat. He declined to wrestle Gallegos in the first round of the state tournament in the Class 3A 106-pound bracket. He then decided to forfeit against Angel Rios, a junior at Valley High, in the third round of consolations, effectively ending his high school wrestling career & an eventual shot at a college scholarship.

Rios went on to place fourth at the tournament. Gallegos placed fifth after Johnston’s early-round forfeit. It was the first time a girl had placed at a Colorado state wrestling tournament. Girls’ wrestling is not a sanctioned sport in the state, so girls have the right to participate alongside boys at the state tournament. There is a pilot program that allows for a female state wrestling bracket, but Rios & Gallegos decided they wanted to compete against boys.

Adapted from “Rather Than Wrestle A Girl, He Forfeited”

The Washington Post; by: Samantha Pell; March 2, 2019

It is a ‘seeming’ paradox that a person who has such impressive wrestling skills as Brendan Johnston & is capable of securing a scholarship, would choose to forgo that privilege.

Need:

It is a ‘seeming’ paradox that the Son of man who willingly gave Himself over to a criminal’s death on a tortuous Cross, was actually also the Son of God who willingly & of necessity, offered the only possible sacrificial payment for every man’s sin.

Background:

~700 years prior to the Cross of Christ Jesus, Isaiah prophesied of the substitutionary atonement which would one day come thru God’s “Servant”(52:13a). Isaiah records details of the coming Servant’s willing sacrifice for the sake of all sinners.

The prophet Isaiah declared a future time when God’s unique Servant would provide the remedy for sin.

Jesus is God’s remedy for sin.

Why/How/When is Jesus God’s remedy for sin?

Today, we will continue to look at Our reception of Jesus as God’s remedy for personal sin.

‘RECEIVE’—More than mental acceptance, which only makes possibilities plausible. ‘Receiving’ has to do with acceptance by the heart, so that what is received, is taken to the point of actual reliance upon what or Who is received.

We have already found that By His stripes we receive His...

1. WILLING ENSLAVEMENT(52:13a_a)

2. PRUDENCE(52:13a_b)

3. UNAPPROACHABLE HEIGHT Of EXALTATION(52:13b)

4—By His stripes I receive His...

DISARMING PERPLEXITY(52:14--53:1a)

Explanation:(52:14-15--53:1a)Shock/Dismay/Unsettling/Disconcerting

52:14—“Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men;”

‘PERPLEXITY”—Something complicated or baffling. How can this Man be the Savior & Lord when He so plainly suffers?

Jesus presents a ‘Disarming Perplexity’ because individuals & groups of people in their evaluation of religion, have limiting ideas of what they 'suppose' things should be.

“Just as many were astonished at you,”

“Having stated the supreme exaltation of the Servant”(52:13) “the prophet now introduces a contrast, addressing the Servant himself...”—Edward J. Young--‘The Book Of Isaiah’[EJYI]

This One who will be very highly exalted & extolled(52:13), will also be the One whom people will be “astonished” at.

“Just as”—rva ash-er'—a primitive relative pronoun(of every gender & number)—1) relative particle--1a) Which, who, 1b) That which; 2) conjunction--2a) That(in objective clause), 2b) When, 2c) Since, 2d) As, 2e) Conditional if. Strong—a primitive relative pronoun(of every gender & number); Who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb & a conjunction)--When, where, how, because, in order that, etc..