SEVEN WAYS JESUS SUFFERED FOR OUR SIN
Isaiah 53:3-5
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
Why will all of the referees check their voicemail immediately after the Super Bowl? So they can hear someone say "no missed calls."
B. TEXT
3 “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Isa. 53:3-5, NKJV.
C. THESIS
1. Many of us might say, “I’m a pretty good person; I haven’t sinned very much, I’m a good Christian.” But God sees every thought you have, every wrong motive, all our selfishness and pride, how impure we are, in a corrupt society. This short list should enlighten us to our guilt:
Addictions: Media, drugs...............Ingratitude
Boasting, bragging, pride...............Hypocrisy
Always needing to be right ............Impurity
Anger, self-control..........................Judging
Burying our Talents.........................Living for pleasure
Complaining....................................Lovers of self
Cowardice........................................Loving others more than Jesus
Critical spirit, find faults..................Lusting after a woman/man
Defiling our Body.............................Lying
Desiring praise................................Malice
Disobedience to parents................Presumptuous
Evil Thoughts..................................Quarrelling
Cursing, profanity...........................Sensuality
Practicing Favoritism.....................Sex outside marriage (God’s idea of)
Gossip, slander...............................Stealing- from Govt, God, Boss
Food- eating too much...................Racism
Fearfulness.....................................Stubborn, hard-hearted
Immodest Clothing.........................Questionable activities
Being a Stumbling Block................Provoking children to wrath
Greed, materialism.........................Unforgiveness
Hatred.............................................Withholding good from those it's due
We’re all sinners & need Christ!
2. The suffering of Jesus Christ wasn’t an after-thought of God to save mankind after our fall into sin, but was planned from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8).
3. As Robert Coleman said, “His life was ordered by His objective. Everything He did and said was part of the whole pattern...God’s strategy for world conquest. There was nothing haphazard about His life – no wasted energy, not an idle word. He lived, He died, and He rose again according to schedule. Like a general plotting his course of battle, the Son of God calculated to win. Weighing every alternative and variable factor...He conceived a plan that would not fail.” [“Master Plan of Evangelism,” p. 24.]
4. The specifics of His sufferings were prophesied 100s or 1,000s of years in advance; his rejection (Isa. 53:3), betrayal (Ps. 41:9), sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12), struck & spat on (Isa. 50:6), crucified with sinners (Isa. 53:12), hands & feet pierced (Ps. 22:16), mocked & insulted (Ps. 22:6-8), given vinegar to drink (Ps. 69:21), his side pierced (Zech. 12:10), his clothing divided (Ps. 22:18), buried in a borrowed grave (Isa. 53:9), and feeling separated from God (Ps. 22:1).
5. Since so many aspects of human beings had been effected by the Fall, the sufferings of Jesus were very precise and the many ways He suffered each had a purpose and provided for some aspect of our healing.
6. So we’re going to look at “The 7 Ways Jesus Suffered for our Sins” of Jesus and how these bring healing & salvation to our lives. The first way He suffered was in…
I. THE BLOODY SWEAT: HEMATYDROSIS
1. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, "Not My will, but Yours be done." While praying, Christ experienced hematydrosis; such intense pressure was placed on the membranes of His skin and arteries that blood began to pass through His skin in the form of perspiration known as “bloody sweat.”
2. Luke the Physician recorded, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (22:44).
3. What caused the intense pressure that Jesus felt? Possibly, He didn't want to become the embodiment of sin! “For [God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21). Imagine that Holy Being immersed in sin! Jesus had to submit His will to the Father’s.
4. We also must be willing to die out to our own will. That’s why the first prerequisite to salvation is, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me” Mt. 16:24. We can’t be saved if we won’t surrender all. The 2nd way He suffered…
II. THE CROWN OF THORNS
1. Before His crucifixion, the Roman soldiers, in mockery, arrayed Jesus as a king – with a scepter, a purple robe, and a crown made out of thorns (Matt. 27:29). The crown was most likely made of the Euphorbia milii plant which usually has 1.2 inch long sharp spines along its stem. This crown of thorns was thrust down on Jesus’ forehead, piercing the skin of His head all around, but especially along His forehead.
2. This suffering impacted THE HUMAN MIND. The thorns encircling His brain signify the terrible thoughts that our minds experience. Jesus bore our mental anguish (Isa. 53:4). The crowd, the leaders, and the soldiers all mocked. Blood ran down his forehead and into His eyes – atoning for the thoughts & sins our imaginations have entertained. We need our minds purified by the blood of Jesus! The third area of His suffering was…
III. THE HANDS OF JESUS
1. Both of Jesus’ hands were pierced and poured blood profusely. Our hands represent our activities & abilities; -- what we do, our work, our efforts -- even to save ourselves. Once Christ's hands were nailed to the cross, He suffered for all “the works of our hands” Hos. 14:3.
2. A major problem is that we think we can save ourselves. We try various ways of doing this: by doing good works, by medical intervention, or through the legacy we leave behind, people try to win the esteem of others, in order to achieve a perception of value.
3. Only Jesus’ blood, trickled from His hands, could attain God’s righteousness and atone for the wrongs our hands have done. We are saved by grace, NOT by the works of our hands, lest anyone should boast! The fourth area of suffering was…
IV. THE FEET OF JESUS
1. Jesus’ feet also had to make atonement for us. The Bible tells us our “feet run to evil" (Prov. 1:16), and they are “swift to shed blood" (Romans 3:15). Jesus had to make atonement for our feet because of all of the evil places our feet have taken us.
2. Our feet represent our wrong pursuits and goals. Our feet take us to all the places where we do either evil or good. So Jesus’ feet bled so that our evil travels could be purified and made holy.
3. On the other hand, Isaiah says, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"(Isa. 52:7). It is also with our feet that we trample down the enemy, so that’s another reason we need sanctified feet! The 5th area of His suffering was…
V. THE FACE OF JESUS
1. The face of Jesus was battered and bruised by the scepter the Roman soldiers hit him with. His hair and beard were torn out for our vanity and pride. The Bible says that He "hid not his face from shame and spitting" (Isa. 50:6). He was slapped by His Jewish guards and told, “Prophesy who hit You!” (Mt. 26:68).
2. Why did our faces have to be atoned for? Because the Bible says we “made [our] faces harder than stone and refused to repent” Jer. 5:3; we bore “shame…on [our] faces” Ez. 7:18; we “disfigured faces” with hypocrisy, Mt. 6:16; and we wear an “impudent face” of sin, Prov. 7:13.
3. Another reason for the assault against Jesus’ face was that the devil can’t stand to see the face of Christ – the face of his Master in Heaven and because, in it is seen the glory of God (2 Cor. 4:6)! It’s the seat of identity and the focal point of beauty. The 6th area of suffering was…
VI. JESUS’ BACK
1. The back of a person is what carries most of the weight. Atlas, the titan, was said to carry the world on his shoulders. That's what Jesus did; he bore the sins of the whole world on his shoulders. Matthew says that He “Bore our sicknesses and carried our diseases” (Matt. 8:17).
2. The stripes that were laid on Jesus’ back were clearly laid there for our healing, for the Bible says, “and with His stripes, we are healed” Isa. 53:5.
3. ILLUS.: THE SUBSTITUTE
a. Ned Wright lived in London during the 1800s. After getting drunk in a saloon, he was tricked into joining the military and woke up in the barracks. Of the men there, he was drafted to serve in the Boer War between England and South Africa. He did not want to go to the Boer War, but another recruit DID want to go and was not chosen, so they switched identities and clothing, since they looked almost identical.
b. It was not long after that that it was reported that
Ned Wright had been killed. This had a profound effect upon the real Ned. He said, “Had I not exchange with him identities, I would now be dead. I would’ve received the same bullet that he received. I owe him my life for he died for me!”
c. This is exactly what Jesus did for us; He assumed our identity and died in our place on the cross. We too owe him our lives! The last area of Jesus’ suffering was…
VII. THE SIDE OF JESUS
1. One of the saddest accounts of the crucifixion is the cruel thrust of the spear into the side of Jesus. The apostle John told that when the spear was pulled out, that blood and water flowed out (John 19:34). This indicated a broken heart. This tragic wound represents a double cleaning: we are cleansed by Jesus’ blood, and His Word (“cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word” Eph. 5:26).
2. As the old song, Rock Of Ages says, “Let the water and the blood, from his wounded side which flowed; be of
sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure." God has, through Christ, given us a DOUBLE CLEANSING.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: JESUS AS SAVIOR
1. D.M. Stearns was preaching in Philadelphia. At the close of the service a stranger came up to him and said, "I don't like the way you spoke about the cross. I think that instead of emphasizing the death of Christ, it would be far better to preach Jesus, the teacher and example."
2. Stearns replied, "If I presented Christ in that way, would you be willing to follow Him?" "I certainly would," said the stranger without hesitation. "All right then," said the preacher, "let's take the first step. He did no sin. Can you claim that for yourself?"
3. The man looked confused and somewhat surprised. "Why, no," he said. "I acknowledge that I do sin." Stearns replied, "Then your greatest need is to have a Savior, not an example!"
B. ALTAR CALL
1. Some of you need to receive that love today by accepting Jesus as your Savior. The Bible tell us to “repent & believe” – turn from our sins and put our faith in Jesus to save us. Why don’t we pray right now and ask forgiveness.
2. Lord’s Supper – now let’s celebrate the Lord’s death and resurrection!
