The Sinless Substitute Series

HoHum:

Why did Jesus die? This has been pondered for 2,000 years. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter said,“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” Acts 2:22, NIV. Later, to a group of Gentiles, Peter said, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” Acts 10:38, NIV. Such a good man so how did he end up dying on a Roman cross? What crime had he committed that would allow this seeming miscarriage of justice? When Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ became a hit movie in 2004, the question hit the headlines. For a brief time, Jesus became fashionable again. Reporters discussed the movie and then talked about what the death of Christ meant. So what does it mean? We will never understand God until we understand the cross.

WBTU:

No chapter helps us more that Isaiah 53. In this chapter somehow Isaiah has a front row seat at Golgotha and personally witnessed the terrible suffering of Jesus. This is the very heart of the gospel. And the “heart of the heart” comes in Isaiah 53:4-6. No passage more clearly expresses the “why” behind the death of Christ. As we look at these verses, notice how many times Isaiah uses “our” and “we” and “us.” Read the passage and emphasize the plural pronouns.

Nothing in this passage makes sense until we feel the full weight of this truth: Jesus died for us. What he did, he did for us. What he suffered was for us. The pain and brutality and indignity of the cross, was all for us. From our perspective, we may say that Jesus was betrayed, tried, beaten, mocked, humiliated, crowned with thorns, convicted by a kangaroo court, falsely accused, beaten until his skin was shredded, forced to carry his own cross, and then publicly crucified, the most brutal form of execution in his day. If we focus on those events, we may come to the conclusion that Jesus shouldn’t have died, that it was all a big mistake, that somehow the powers of darkness finally triumphed over the light. The Bible never denies the responsibility of those who put Jesus to death. “You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” Acts 2:23, NIV. Yes, Jesus was murdered by his enemies. But that is not the end of the story. The Bible says that Jesus laid down his life, that no one took it from him. Clovis, the leader of the Franks, was told about the crucifixion of Christ. He was so moved that he leaped to his feet, drew his sword, and exclaimed, “If I had only been there with my army, the Franks!” No, Jesus could have called 10,000 angels (more but) but he never did because he did this willingly (John 10:18). That brings us to the real message of Isaiah 53:4-6. Jesus died on purpose, not by accident, so that sinners like you and me could be saved. Our Lord’s suffering was not his fault, it was ours. He died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

Thesis: The more personally we read this passage, the more the death of Christ will mean to us

For instances:

I. He took our pain- Isaiah 53:4

When Isaiah speaks of what Christ has done for us, he does not start with our sin and our guilt. That comes later. He begins with our infirmities. More literally the text says that Christ has “borne” our griefs. This is a Hebrew word that means to lift up and carry away a heavy load. It was used in Leviticus 16 for the scapegoat who carried away the sins of the nation. That’s the idea here. Jesus came to lift the heavy burden of sadness caused by our sin and the pain of living in a sinful world. A famous gospel song puts it this way: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.” We have many griefs because we live in a fallen world. We have many sorrows because we ourselves are fallen people. We need someone who can bear our grief when the burden is too heavy for us. Grief is our reaction to loss, that might include division in our family, the loss of our job, the death of a beloved family member, and the pain of our past. In Christ we do not have some far off God, but in him we find a God who drew near to us, who came to us, who entered our world and became one of us, that he might carry our sorrows for us. Os Guinness tells the following story in No God but God: In one of the efforts to eradicate religious beliefs in the Soviet Union, the Communist Party sent KGB agents to the nation’s churches on a Sunday morning. One agent was struck by the deep devotion of an elderly woman who was kissing the feet of a life size carving of Christ on the cross. “Babushka (Grandmother)”, he said. “Are you also prepared to kiss the feet of the beloved general secretary of our great Communist Party?” “Why, of course,” came the woman’s reply. “But only if you crucify him first.” The last part of vs. 4 corresponds to vs. 3. We see this literally being fulfilled here: “The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”” Luke 23:35, NIV. Sneering, scoffing- Smitten, stricken and afflicted by God (true when consider the atonement)