Is It Enough?

“It was the will of the LORD to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

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.”

We have sinned. We have each offended Holy God. Mankind is lost, deserving of being forever cast away from His love and from His goodness. The court prophet, Isaiah, stated the issue in this way,

“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.”

[ISAIAH 53:6]

“We have turned—every one—to his own way!” What a damning indictment of the race.

Paul pens the sweeping formal accusation that exposes each of us when he draws together the summation of the condition of all mankind, writing,

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”

“Their throats are open graves,

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.”

“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood,

ruin and misery are in their paths,

and the way of peace they have not known.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

[ROMANS 3:10-18 NET BIBLE, 2nd ED.]

Using the words penned by various writers of the Poetic Literature of the Bible, the Apostle is emphasising the exact situation Isaiah was confronting. It will be impossible to correct the situation hanging over the head of all within the race if we cannot diagnose our condition. And Paul is simply drawing together multiple sources to demonstrate that our sinful condition is not something mentioned occasionally by the Word of God, our justifiable condemnation is a feature! God is presenting the great need of all mankind in order to provide the remedy we so desperately need. And Isaiah is taking the same tack in order to reveal the cure for sin.

After pronouncing the dark condemnation of the race, Isaiah penned a statement of hope for all mankind, promising,

“It was the will of the LORD to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

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.”

[ISAIAH 53:10-12]

And what he has written causes me to wonder, “Is it enough?” Is the determination by the LORD to crush His servant sufficient to set me free of my deserved condemnation? When the LORD makes His servant an offering for sin, will that be enough to free me from my sin? Is it possible that I, to say nothing of all mankind, can be freed from the threat of God’s wrath? That is what we must explore in this message today.

IT WAS THE WILL OF THE LORD — Reading the text, it is easy to overlook little words. Notice that the tenth verse begins with a conjunction, “yet.” Here are the opening words of the text: “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him” [ISAIAH 53:7a]. The conjunction serves in this instance as a means of informing readers that what follows is based on what has previously been written. We cannot understand what is being said if we ignore the earlier information that was provided.

Writing of the work the Servant of the Lord would accomplish [see ISAIAH 52:13], Isaiah stuns us, revealing that this person would possess neither majestic presence, outstanding beauty, nor anything that would compel anyone to be in awe. The Prophet continues by saying of this One that people would despise Him, and based on His outward appearance, people would reject Him. The majority of mankind would turn from this One because it would be impossible to esteem Him [see ISAIAH 53:2-3]! The One Whom Isaiah describes would be associated with pain, He would be someone well acquainted with grief. Therefore, people would turn from Him to avoid being associated with Him or even admitting they know Him. By implication, those who would affiliate with Him would be on the receiving end of pain and grief.