WOUNDS THAT HEAL
Isaiah 52.13-53.12
‘Wounds that Heal’ – may seem a very strange title to a sermon. It may not even seem to make sense to you. How could a wound bring healing? Psalm tells us that the words of a friend may wound but they may also bring healing. This morning it is not the words of a friend that we are going to look at but physical and spiritual wounds that bring us healing and ultimately salvation. Turn with to Isaiah 52 verse 13 and following. This happens to be one of my favourite OT passages and if you are familiar with Handel’s Messiah it is one of the pieces of Scripture included there.
52.13-53.12 is one complete passage which is rich in teaching about the cross of Christ Jesus. In fact, it is so focused on the Cross that even if we added the name Jesus to the passage we would shed no more light on the Cross than the passage itself does at present.
52.13-15 The Servant’s exaltation and humiliation.
In some translations the first word of verse 13 is ‘Behold’, the NIV has ‘See’ but see does not come with the force of the Hebrew here. It is the Lord God speaking and it is a literal command for people to stop what they are doing and to have a look at this. They are commanded to look and see ‘The Suffering Servant of the Lord.’ ‘Behold’, stop and look, really look at what is going on here. God draws our attention, our gaze, to his servant. Note too ‘my servant’ – he is God’s servant and in God’s eyes he acts ‘wisely’ and the result is that he is given a three fold exaltation – ‘raised, and lifted up and exalted.’ This is the lord God’s testimony of his servant and it flows into a description of the servant’s sufferings and reactions to it.
Verse 14 what a stark contrast to the three fold exaltation of the servant by God. There is revulsion and rejection here. When people gaze upon his suffering they are appalled because the suffering meted out to him has consumed both his individuality and humanity. They are left asking ‘Is this really a man?’ His true beauty is hidden from the ‘many’ because they viewed him merely from a human point of view and yet when you read verse 12 you realise that human appearance is irrelevant to God.
Verse 15 the appalling suffering of God’s own wise servant who deserved none of it and the subsequent elevation of one so dishonoured by men is hard to believe for many. God’s way of doing things does not seem to make any sense and yet in verse 15 this suffering, this disfiguring of the servant of God, will by divine revelation leave kings (those who are highly exalted by men) dumb before him. It is only by divine revelation that this will make sense and the ‘many’ (not all) will understand. His work is priestly and many nations benefit from this ministry – ‘shall sprinkle…many nations.’
Isaiah 53.1-3 The Suffering Observed and Misunderstood.
Have you ever seen something you do not understand? It may be a piece of modern art or one those photographic puzzles. No matter how you view it, it does not make any sense to you and you fail to understand. That is exactly what we encounter here in verses 1-3. The people see the servant of the Lord suffering and they fail to understand why.
Verse 1 - At one point there were no believers but now because of divine revelation (v13) there are believers. Hence the first question ‘Who has believed our message?’ The answer would appear to be ‘no-one’ and verses 2 and 3 bear testimony to that. On the basis of human observation alone there is no discernment of who the servant really is. If you look at 52.10 you will see that ‘the Arm (capital A) of the Lord’ is revealed by God as the one who brings salvation.
Verses 2 and 3 the reason people dismissed him was because he appeared to have a completely earthly origin – the imagery of growth out of soil and it speaks of his humanity. When we come to the NT we find that just such questions are asked about Jesus – Matthew 13.55 ‘is this not the carpenter’s son?’; rejected because he came from Nazareth John 7.41-42 etc. There was nothing special about his appearance that would attract men to him – in appearance he was like any other man. So they would ask ‘How could this be the Lord?’ There is nothing special or distinctive about him. The result of their observance and understanding of him is seen in verse 3. They not only reject him they also despise him. They shun him and will not follow him. Hence in John 6, after he has taught about himself as the bread of Life, many desert him and he asks his disciples ‘will you too leave me?’ So men dismissed, despised and rejected him. This man of sorrows and grief is counted as of ‘no value’ by men. He is seen as ‘nothing’ by them. Verses 4 and 10 explain fuller the reason for his sorrows and grief.
Verses 4-6 Explanation: The Vicarious Suffering of the Servant.
These verses explain verse 3. What the human eye has failed to see and the human mind failed to understand the heart also fails to believe. This is the key section of this passage and in understanding this we will understand why the Servant of the Lord suffers. Here we have revealed the voluntary substitutionary death of the servant of the Lord. Note please the contrast ‘He…our/we.’
Verse 4 ‘Surely’ – the unexpected nature of what he has done is revealed. No matter what the ‘many’ have seen and understood the truth is now revealed. ‘He took up…he carried’ – he lifted them up and bore them on the cross. The weaknesses of sickness and the burden of our sins he put upon his shoulders. How have the many seen, understood and reacted to this? We, the many, considered him smitten, afflicted and rejected by God. His suffering was for us and yet we have stood aloof and even understood it as God punishing him, not on our account, but because he deserved it.
Verse 5 ‘For’ (not ‘But’ as in the NIV) it he was, all the time, who was dealing with our sinful state before God. He deals with our sinful state (our transgressions and iniquities), our alienation from God and our broken humanity. The past, the present and the future are all dealt with by him. The cost of all of this to him – his wounds – they bring us peace. For – you see it is as a direct result of our sinfulness that he suffers so. It is our transgressions – the wilful rebellion of sin and it is our iniquities – the perverted bias of human nature towards sin – that requires punishment in order for there to be peace with God. It is by his suffering and death that ‘we are healed.’ It is a finished and accomplished act. We thought he suffered all of this because of something he had done whereas it was because of us, because of our sins.
Verse 6 and what is our reaction to all of this – we are like straying sheep. This summarises all our inadequacy and the sinfulness of our nature. We are in grave danger as sheep without a shepherd. We each go our own way. We do not listen and we take no heed of anything or anyone around us. Our heads are down and we are wandering. Please note ‘we all . . .each one of us…’ no one is spared, we are all included here. And yet there is a second part to this verse – it is the work of the Lord God to lay on him the iniquity, the sin, of us all. God has a plan and the provision of a substitute for each and every one of us. God transfers the guilt of the guilty to the head of the innocent as the means of atonement for our sins. Here is the language of the Day of Atonement and the substitution of the innocent for the guilty. As Hebrews 10.4 tells us all the blood of bulls and goats could not atone for the sins of man. Just like Lady Macbeth saying ‘”Out, out damn spot…will ner all the perfume of Arabia wash this little hands…” so all the animal sacrifices could not atone for the sins of man and God provides the answer in the substitution of his Son, the innocent, for the guilty.
Verses 7-9 The Servants Final Act.
Verse 7 we read of the procession to death. He offered no physical resistance but humbled himself. He went to death in the full knowledge of that death. He, unlike the animals who knew no better, was willing to die. Only a consenting will can substitute for a rebellious will. This good shepherd gives his life for the sheep who are the murderers.
Verse 8 we read of his execution. Those who were in power used it for evil ends – oppression. We read again that his death was not for his own sake but as an atonement for the sins of ‘my people.’
Verse 9 wicked people and a rich man were involved in the burial of the Servant. There is in this verse a striking prediction fulfilled in due time. The Servant dies with the wicked but is not assigned a grave with the wicked. How? Joseph of Arimathea explains it.
In contrast to the violence of his death his gentleness is depicted here. Further the fact that ‘he had done no violence and no deceit is in his mouth’ reveals his innocence and sinlessness.
Verses 10-12 The Servant Triumphant.
Verse 10 ‘Yet’ – despite all the injustice done to him and despite the reaction of men God redeems man by his Servant. Here it is clear that the suffering of the Servant of the Lord is the God’s will and plan. Man’s unjust treatment is balanced by God’s saving purposes though the slaying of the innocent in the place of the guilty. As Revelation tells us this was God’s plan since before the foundations of the world were laid. You know the amazing thing is that we went astray as sheep (v6) and come home as ‘children’ (v10). He offered his life as a ‘guilt offering’ to make satisfaction to God for the sins of many. It is God who is sinned against, who is offended by sin and it is God who is to be ‘satisfied.’
Verse 11 this servant who is slain justifies many. He does this by bearing their sin and receiving on his self their punishment and ‘by his knowledge.’ The promise of God is that though the servant of the Lord will die for the sins of many, yet he will be raised to life again (‘see the light of life’). The Servant knows what needs to be done and he does it. The task is accomplished by him fulfilling the will of God. The outcome of his death – the Lord’s delight, the family thus generated and the authority accorded to him (verse 10) becomes a matter of personal experience (to see) and brings him fulfilment. If he had no ‘knowledge’ he would not have known what to do, nor how to do it and nothing would have been achieved. It is ‘my servant, the righteous one’ who accomplishes this. Without be ‘righteous’ he could not have been our substitute because Exodus 12.5 tells us that the lamb must be perfect and without blemish in order to be sacrificed on the Day of Atonement.
Verse 12 – let me give you a translation of verse 12 – ‘I will allocate to him the many, and the strong he will apportion as spoil.’ He is the victor even though is the victim. Why? Because he voluntarily poured out his life, it was not taken from him. he personally identified with sinners. He lifted up and bore our sins. He is the only mediator between God and man. He voluntarily comes to stand with us so when he had borne our sins he might bring us to God. Even when vindicated by God he is concerned to intercede and minister for and to his people.
When you look at this passage and when you understand this passage there can be no doubt as to whom it is referring. Here is the outworking of the cross. Here is one of the clearest doctrinal statements on the cross in all of Scripture. Here is the revelation of God’s salvation plan and as I said at the beginning by adding the name of Christ we don’t reveal anything more clearly than what is already stated.
The question is simple this morning – have you been healed (saved) by these wounds?
Amen.
