Jesus the Suffering Servant – Is. 42:1-7; 52:13-53:12 Steve Simala Grant, January 12/13, 2002
Intro: Oswald Chambers wrote: “Suffering is the heritage of the bad, of the penitent, and of the Son of God. Each one ends in the cross. The bad thief is crucified, the penitent thief is crucified, and the Son of God is crucified. By these signs we know the widespread heritage of suffering.” This morning we are going to look at suffering, as it applies to Jesus and as it applies to us.
Context: One of the amazing things about our faith is the ability God gives us to look back over time and see how everything that is happening now is part of His plan. As we study the Old Testament in light of Jesus’ coming, we are able to do just that – to see how God had been planning to send Jesus, preparing His people and the rest of the world for that event, and even giving us detailed pictures of events long before they came about. We saw that last week as we looked at Psalm 22, as a portrait of Jesus the Suffering King. This morning we are going to look at another portrait of Jesus in the OT, found in the book of Isaiah – the portrait of Jesus the Suffering Servant. We are going to look at both 42:1-7 and 52:13-53:12. These two passages are part of what are known as “The Servant Songs” in the last half of the book of Isaiah. There are four passages there which talk about “the servant of the Lord.” And so, of course, the first question that comes to mind is “Who is this servant?” 1. The Identity of the Servant:
Isaiah was a prophet; as such his role was (if I can oversimplify it) to speak to the people on behalf of God. Sometimes this was forward looking – “God will do…,” but the main concern was always to speak to the people regarding their present circumstances. One of the amazing things about how God works is that He can speak to His people in their circumstances but also see far ahead and have the words mean something far more significant later on. That is what we see happening in the servant songs in Isaiah. If we were to take the time to look at the history and background in depth, we could identify the servant in Isaiah’s time. But because we now look back through Jesus and His work on the cross, we see that Isaiah’s descriptions are most true about Jesus.
John 12:41states it clearly: Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him – this after quoting two specific passages from Isaiah, one of which is in our text this morning. And there are a number of evidences in the verses themselves: Who but Jesus:
• brings justice to the nations (42:1)
• establishes justice on earth without faltering (42:4)
• is a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles (42:6)
• opens eyes that are blind/frees captives (42:7)
• was humiliated and then exalted (52:14-15)
• and the climax: could (and did) take the punishment for our sin, as a substitute for us (53:5-6, 11-12).
The rest of the New Testament also makes it clear that we can look back and see Jesus as the suffering servant in Isaiah 42 and 53. Acts 8:26-40 tells the story of a man from Ethiopia reading the same passage we have read, and asking the same question: who is the prophet talking about? And beginning from there, Philip “told him the good news about Jesus.” My study Bible makes the claim that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is quoted more in the NT than any other OT text, and those quotes are linked explicitly to Jesus.
So, enough background. What picture of Christ does this paint, and what does that mean for you and I? Those are the next questions I want to look at this morning. 2. The Role of the Servant:
The picture is first of a servant. We know this is exactly how Jesus lived His life on earth: Philippians 2:7 tells us Jesus “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” In Matthew 20:28, in a very direct allusion to Isaiah 42/53, Jesus says: “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The most famous example is Jesus washing the feet of His disciples in the upper room the night He was betrayed (John 13).
Isn’t that an incredible thing. I want you to think on that for a moment – Jesus, our Lord and Savior and King – came to serve. He served God the Father first, of course, but He served His disciples also. Why? He tells us exactly why in John 13 – to be an example for us of how we need to treat one another. We need to be servants also. We need to look for ways to meet one another’s needs – not in flashy, noticeable, obvious ways that result in all kinds of public accolades – but like Jesus in ways that genuinely meet needs of the heart without fanfare and publicity. And let me tell you from experience – that is exciting ministry. The time I cleaned a rather disgusting plugged toilet at a missions project, gave a street person a winter jacket, sat on the floor outside a Sunday School classroom with a student who had been disruptive and so had to sit outside, made a quiet phone call to encourage a friend – those are the times I felt most Christlike, most in the center of God’s will, most like I was following the example of my King. Service – ministry – as a servant is invigorating and exciting. And it is obedient. 3. The Suffering of the Servant:
The portrait in Isaiah is more than simply that of a servant, however: it is of a servant who suffers. And the picture of the suffering is severe: (read 53:3ff). Once again this description of suffering finds its most complete fulfillment in Jesus’ suffering on the cross. I’ve included in your notes a chart indicating the specific prophecies in these chapters and where they are fulfilled in the NT; I’m not going to take the time to go through them here but it would be a good study for you to look them up sometime this week.
A. Jesus Suffered for you and I:
Almost always, whenever we confront suffering the first question is “why?” That is always a hard question, often one for which there is no good answer. Isaiah 53 is really clear, though, about the “why” of Jesus’ suffering. He did it for us. 53:4-6: “he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows… he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities… and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” This is nothing new to us, yet we can never allow ourselves to become casual about it. Jesus suffered on the cross for you and I – He took the punishment we deserve, He stood in our place. All of the suffering Jesus went through He did so that you and I could be saved.
I love to be reminded of this fact, because I need to live my daily life in the shadow of the cross. I need to weigh every decision in the light of Christ’s suffering for me. When we choose to sin, I think often it is partly because we have forgotten how great the sacrifice, how great the cost, Jesus paid to free us from sin. For me keeping the cross in the forefront motivates me to pursue holiness. I want to challenge you with this: the next time you are tempted to sin, pause and imagine Jesus suffering on the cross. Look in His eyes. Then make your decision.
B. Jesus Suffered Quietly:
Our text also tells us how Jesus faced suffering. Isaiah 42:2-3 reveals Jesus’ character in the midst of suffering – it’s a picture of meekness and tenderness. Isaiah uses wonderful images – of a bruised reed and a smoldering candle wick – and claims that the servant will treat these tenderly and gently. It says He would not cry out, or basically make a big public fuss. Chapter 53:7 tells us the same thing – that He faced His suffering silently. Is there a model here for us?
4. Our Suffering:
That is the picture Isaiah paints for us of Jesus: The Suffering Servant. What does this mean to you and I? Does this picture tell us anything that will enable us to live better? I believe the answer is yes.
One of the reasons we long for heaven is that we know there will be no suffering there. No more tears, no more sickness, no more pain – that is how Revelations describes heaven. But until that time, suffering is part of our world. It is part of our experience.
I think we sometimes send mixed messages about suffering as Christians. On the one hand, we say we should be like Jesus and just accept it quietly as from God and just patiently endure it. On the other hand, we say we should be like Jesus and fight suffering around us – healing the sick and freeing the captives and giving sight back to the blind. So which is it?
I believe the answer to how we respond depends at least in part on why we are suffering. Let me tell you two stories:
1. When I was in grade 5 me and a group of friends had a little lunch time war going on with a group of girls. One particular lunch time I had run up behind one of them and given her a good swift kick, and had taken off again. I was feeling pretty good about this “victory,” until after lunch. We went to music class. Now, you need to understand that my elementary music teacher was the Most Feared Woman in the Universe. She was the meanest teacher in the school. Harshest. Scariest. And she had been on lunch time supervision. Our class arrived and were all sitting on the floor ready to start. And she told me to stand up – in front of all my classmates. And then she let it fly. All I really remember is being so scared that if I had a weaker bladder I likely would have been even more humiliated. I know it was a very serious dressing down, because when she was finished with me she sent me to the principal’s office and instead of being more afraid by this “escalation” I was relieved that she was done. There is a story of grace here also though: the girl I kicked was sent with me, so that she could present the facts and ensure my suffering continued. On the way to the office, she suggested an “alternative interpretation of events” – ok, a lie – because she felt like I had already received enough punishment. And that is what we told the principal.
2. When I was 3 years old my parents divorced, and so I grew up with just my mom and my brother and I. Finances were always tight – until I went to school my mom was on welfare. So we never had much. I remember one spring break in junior high when a bunch of us wanted to play road hockey but all we had were broken hockey sticks; so my brother turned a coat hanger, a bunch of old socks, and some tape into a ringette ring and we all played ringette instead of hockey. I never thought that we “suffered” until later in high school when my friends would have a family vehicle they could drive; or I would see how they had benefitted from music lessons, or they would talk about vacations they had taken to nice places, or I would get to know their dads and start to see how much I had missed out on by not having that relationship.
In the first story, I suffered as a direct result of something wrong that I had done. 1 Peter 2:20 says “How is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?” So how should I have responded – “Lord, please deliver me from this suffering?” Or should I have recognized that these were the consequences of my actions and accept those. In the second story, I suffered but not because of any sin of my own, but because of the sin of others. In that case I could/should pray for deliverance, and in fact I believe God did that not by changing the circumstances but by changing me (but that is a much longer story…).
There is a third type of suffering – one which I have never known. And that is suffering because of my faith in Christ. This is most often the type of suffering that the NT writers were talking about, as it was the reality for them like it is for many, many persecuted Christians in our world today. This is where others inflict pain and suffering on us simply because we believe that Jesus is the resurrected Son of God and live in obedience to Him. This is righteous suffering – this is what the second half of 1 Peter 2:20 is talking about: “But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.” This is where Jesus’ example of how to endure suffering from our text in Isaiah is most applicable to us – if we are suffering for doing good or for choosing to follow Christ, we should do so with the goal of enduring it, entrusting ourselves to God who sees and hears and delivers.
The problem isn’t generally when we suffer as a result of our sin – we can generally recognize that and understand why. And often, in the reports I read of Christians persecuted for their faith, there is a strength that comes with that type of suffering – even though it is horrid and unthinkable and beyond my imagination – there is often a corresponding supernatural strength and grace and ability to endure. I think the toughest is either when we don’t know why or when the suffering is unjust because it is the result of someone else’s sin. I think of people being killed by a drunk driver, for example, or of the innocent victims of other crimes. It is those times that we cry out “why?” and have the hardest time knowing how to respond.
I don’t have an answer to that “why” question. But I do have a few ideas of how to respond.
1. Ask God for His Presence.
I learned this last week from Psalm 22 – we first need to seek to see God working in our lives, in the good and in what we perceive as the bad. We need to ask Him to come near, and to hear our prayer.
2. Ask God for the Miracle.
This is what God has told us to do. When Jesus encountered suffering, He did something about it. He healed, He set free, He did miracles so that people would be set free from suffering. So our response is to go to prayer and ask God to help. We know that God hates suffering – by the simple fact that there is none in heaven – and so we can ask with confidence knowing that God hurts along with us and often wants things to be different.
3. Accept God’s Answer.
Sometimes we try to jump to this place before we have done the first two, especially number 2. We feel like this is the “correct” thing to do, the “Christian” thing to do. But that is wrong – it is more Christlike to fight most types of suffering than to simply accept them. However, there comes a time when, for whatever reason, God answers no. The suffering continues. And in these cases, after we go through all the feelings that naturally come, we eventually come to a point of acceptance.
I know many of you are far more qualified to talk about this than I am. You have endured far more suffering than me, and have fought and struggled and wept and yelled, and maybe still are. But I also know that you would say the same thing – that eventually we come to a place of acceptance.
4. Minister to Others out of your Suffering.
Once you have come through a time of suffering, and have seen the other side, you are powerfully equiped to reach out to others going through similar things. I don’t want you to jump too far ahead and get to this point too soon, but you have a powerful ability to understand what others are feeling when you have felt it too. Henri Nouwen wrote a wonderful little book called The Wounded Healer where he shows us exactly how to take the pain we have experienced in the past and use that in reaching out to others.
Suffering is one of the main themes of the Bible, and I know I haven’t done it justice in these few moments this morning. I also know that for some of you here today this is a very real need – there is much suffering in your life. And although there are lots of things that are unclear, there are two things I can state with complete confidence, regardless of the cause of our suffering. And I want to close with these this morning: 1. God knows. He sees, He feels the pain, He hates suffering even more than you and I. Those nights you cry yourself to sleep you do not do so alone – God is right there, whether you feel Him or not. Reach out to Him for strength. 2. and finally: God made us to need each other. Even as the Suffering Servant, on the cross, Jesus’ mom was there, some of her close friends were with her, and so was Jesus’ disciple John. We need each other. Please, reach out. Allow others to come beside you in your suffering and support, encourage, and walk with you. One of the best practical ways I know to do this is in a small group – if you aren’t part of one I encourage you to find one and get involved in both sharing your own suffering and in helping others with theirs.
Conclusion:
A young boy was sent to the corner store by his mother to buy a loaf of bread. He was gone much longer than it should have taken him. When he finally returned, his mother asked, “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick about you.”
“Well,” he answered, “there was a little boy with a broken bike who was crying. So I stopped to help him.”
“I didn’t know you knew anything about fixing bikes,” his mother said.
“I don’t,” he replied. “I just stayed there and cried with him.”
Sometimes God fixes the bike, sometimes He just sits and cries with us. But always, He is there.
