Isaiah 53: The Big Picture

Title: The Passion of Christ

Theme: Show the true passion of Christ in Isaiah.

Text: Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12

Introduction

Get the right perspective. When Goliath came against the Israelites, the soldiers all thought, "He's so big we can never kill him." David looked at the same giant and though, "He's so big I can't miss."

God Can Make It Happen (Victor).

This prophecy was written 700 years before the crucifixion.

Isa 52:13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently (wisely, practical wisdom); He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. 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; 15 So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider.

Prudently - 1. Wise in handling practical matters; exercising good judgment or common sense. 2. Careful in regard to one's own interests; provident. 3. Careful about one's conduct; circumspect.

Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.

MSG 19 One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.

Exalted – Resurrection – Extolled-ascension be very high - glorification

Sprinkle many nations – the symbolic water of purification

Isa 53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

Quoted in John 12:38 and Romans 10:16

Arm – zerowah - help, power, strength

The “arm of the Lord” points to His impact through us, His might for us, His protection of us. Who wouldn’t want that! Who wouldn’t want that for the people you love?

(2) For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, (as a babe to a boy to a man) And as a root out of dry ground. (David’s lineage seemed to be dead, cut off, but a root would grow out of the hewn tree) He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

There was nothing physical that attracted people to him. He was an ordinary looking man. He was like me and you. Joseph is told to call His name, “Jesus”. A typical name.

(3) He is despised and rejected by men (could it be that being the illegitimate son of Mary also brought this about, Did he ever escape the fact that she was pregnant out of wedlock?), A Man of sorrows (suffering, anguish, pain) and acquainted with grief (sickness,) . And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem (regard, count, bring value) Him.

This was His plight.

Despised, rejected, Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief

We hid our faces from him (rejection)

Why? For Us (Game changer, this connects us to a personal God)

(4) Surely He has borne our grief’s And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

Mat 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

Isaiah 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;

MSG 14 But he didn't begin that way. At first everyone was appalled. He didn't even look human-- a ruined face, disfigured past recognition.

This is the Game Changer. This is what connects us to God. Because Jesus took all our sorrow on Him. He was stricken for us. When Jesus died on the cross the Bible says that the temple curtain. Tradition says that the curtain was 60 ft long and 20 ft wide. It was as think as a mans hand.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

(Mat 27:51-53)

This broke the barrier between God and man. Chirst’s death opened up a doorway to heaven to have a personal relationship with God.

He not only took our sins, iniquities but he also took our sorrows

Heb 4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.