Isaiah 52:13–53:12
Introduction
Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
Amen! That is what we are celebrating today! Our God—Jesus Christ—he is risen indeed. On Good Friday, Demer read us to the story of Jesus being taken from the cross to the tomb from Mark 15. Let’s finish that story this morning by going to Matthew 28:
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
(Matthew 28:1–9, ESV)
Sometimes we come to an account in Scripture that we have heard so many times that we have stopped marveling at it. The resurrection is amazing!
We can clearly see that Jesus’s disciples did not expect this. They did not expect that Jesus would go to the cross, that he would die, and that he would be placed in a tomb. And we can see from this account that they did not expect him to raise again. Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene, Salome (mentioned in another account)—these women came to prepare Jesus’s body properly for burial. They did not have time after his crucifixion to prepare the body because as Friday evening came quickly after his death, they were required by Sabbath laws to stop working in the evening and to not interact with a dead body. So, they waited. And here we see these women, on Easter morning, expecting Jesus’s body to be there, in the grave. That is also why we don’t see his disciples there—they expected there would be nothing special to see.
Yet, Matthew wants us to know that Jesus’s disciples should have been aware of God’s plan. Jesus tells his disciples again and again this is where he is heading, and they don’t understand. The angel reminds the women Jesus told them he would be raised. And Jesus himself quotes the Old Testament often to show them what he must do. This morning, we should be amazed but not surprised that Jesus is alive.
Servant Song Recap
This morning, we come to Isaiah 52 and 53. Our congregation has been going through part of Isaiah’s prophesies to Judah, the last remnant of the Kingdom of Israel, over the last several weeks. Here, through Isaiah, God is promising his people that he will send them a Servant to help them in their time of trouble.
Servant Song 1: Isaiah 42:1–9
Servant Song 2: Isaiah 49:1–13
Servant Song 3: Isaiah 50:4–11
Servant Song 4: Isaiah 52:13–53:12
These sections, in Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52 and 53 are sections that talk about this Servant and are called the Servant Songs. We see in these songs all that Jesus would accomplish as the Servant of God because he lived perfectly before God as the God-Man. We have already seen what the good Servant Jesus becomes in many ways. We have seen:
Jesus the Self-Forgetting Servant
Jesus the Long-Suffering Servant
Jesus the Servant of the Nations
Jesus the Discipled Servant
Jesus the Discipling Servant
In all these ways Jesus was God’s good and perfect Servant that Isaiah prophesied about. He is the Servant-God, and Easter exists because Jesus is THIS Servant-God. Jesus serves his people in ways we would never have dreamed of nor expected without God’s revelation. But he told us what he would do! And it is the extent of Jesus’s servanthood that we see in our Good Friday contemplations and that we marvel at on Easter morning today.
Isaiah 52:13–15
This morning, we come to the fourth Servant Song in Isaiah 52 and 53. It really is the Servant’s greatest song, and it is not a coincidence that we put this Servant Song on Easter. This song continues to further our understanding of Jesus as the perfect Servant and starts this way:
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted.
This is God speaking to his people, Israel, as encouragement for when they would be in exile. This is God speaking to his people—me and you—today for encouragement as we long to be back walking face-to-face with our God. He wants us to know that his Servant Jesus—a servant who is self-forgetting, long-suffering, discipled, discipling, even a servant for the nations—that this servant is also going to be exalted!
And why wouldn’t he be exalted? A Servant who would patiently, loving, and graciously cares for us as he draws us back to himself? Amazing!
A Servant who would empty himself of all his divine prerogatives to then be discipled by the Holy Spirit? Incredible!
A Servant that would then give us his perfect discipleship that we might walk well with him? Almost unimaginable!
A Servant who would be not just for God’s people Israel but for all of his people in every tribe, nation, and tongue? Almost unbelievable!
Here in this fourth Servant Song we see the Servant will be exalted and there is a nod towards how the exaltation of this Servant will be accomplished. The phrase he will be high and lifted up isn’t just a statement regarding Jesus’s royalty. It is a statement about how this amazing Servant serves us and why he will be exalted. That phrase is about both what will happen and what it will take for Jesus to be exalted. As Paul says in Philippians 2:8–11:
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:8–11, ESV)
Therefore, Paul says. It is because Jesus humbled himself, because he was this perfect Servant—the Servant of God to the point of death—that God then EXALTS him, putting all things under him. God exalts Jesus that all might see Jesus, this Servant, as LORD (Yahweh) and that God will be glorified. Being “lifted up” is an illusion to his time on the cross—God’s lifted-up provision for his people, just like the serpent on the staff that we saw in Numbers 21 on Good Friday.
You and I have heard this so many times that we sometimes cease to marvel at what our God has done. It shouldn’t be a surprise to us, but it should still amaze us! God coming to Serve his people—to serve us—is something unheard of in other religions. God coming to die that we might be served—that we might get something FROM God—that is not only something unheard of but something you must have faith to believe our God would do. This was an incredible statement of God’s love to his people. It is still an incredible statement to so many who have never pondered that our God might be like this—a Servant to his people. A Servant even to the point of death.
Look at the entirety of what God says here through Isaiah in chapter 52:
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.
(Isaiah 52:13–15, ESV)
God knew he would exalt his Servant Jesus—the God-Man—and he knew this exaltation would shock people.
As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
Just as many people were amazed that God’s own people would be taken into exile, so too people would be surprised by Jesus the very Servant of God.
God foretells of how unexpected the service of this Servant will be and what he will have to go through. His appearance will be marred so badly he no longer looked even like a person. His form so ruined he will no longer seem to belong to the human race. We get a glimpse here of how far this Servant will have to go to serve his people. Jesus will have to through HIS exile BECAUSE all his people should have gone through permanent exile from God. Jesus will be marred and beaten BECAUSE his people should have been permanently marred and beaten from their love of their sin.
The extent of his servanthood is expanded even more in the next statement God makes:
so shall he sprinkle many nations.
This is amazingly good news that comes through a gruesome image. Sprinkling in the Old Testament was always associated with sin sacrifices. The blood of the sacrificed lamb would be sprinkled on the altar and even items of the temple and tabernacle. This is the image of the blood of the Passover lamb sprinkled on the doors protecting the firstborns. This sprinkling of blood represents the need for death to appease the wrath of God. Make no mistake: you and I make war with God when we sin against him, and the rightful end of war is the death of the one making war or, in God’s amazing ways, a substitute.
This servant will take his own blood and sprinkle others. That means he will become the substitute in this image. This servant will sprinkle himself as a sin substitute. And he won’t sprinkle just anything—he will sprinkle PEOPLE! And not just the people of Israel, but NATIONS! All of God’s people in all places at all times will be sprinkled clean by the blood of this Servant Lamb. This servant is greater in his service to his people than any lamb ever sacrificed. As the writer to the Hebrews says:
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
(Hebrews 9:13–14, ESV)
God continues saying through Isaiah here:
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.
Even kings will hear of the good news of Jesus and all he has done for his people as their great servant, and God promises that even Kings will be astounded by what they hear about Christ. We see this begin even at Jesus’s birth with the wisemen who come and are amazed.
Application/Connection
Friends, we should see two great truths in the first part of this Servant Song this morning. First, God’s servant will save his people. Through the sprinkling of his own blood, this servant will save nations. We see here:
Jesus the Saving Servant
Jesus will save his people—all his people—by identifying with his people, being exiled like his people, and receiving the punishment of his people. That is amazing!
In many ways, this is what the people of Palm Sunday wanted. As Jesus entered Jerusalem God’s people wanted to be saved! They wanted someone to free them from the tyranny of Rome, to make them a nation again, to bring them back to prominence. They wanted him to identify with them and fight for them. They THOUGHT they saw their King on Palm Sunday and worshipped him. They forgot him and turned against him when he looked too much like a servant and not enough like a conqueror and crucified him on Good Friday. They missed their king and messiah because they missed what this Servant’s life would look like.
And they shouldn’t have missed this! Don’t miss this friends! That is the second thing we should notice in this first part of this song. What we see here in the fourth Servant Song of Isaiah is that God’s King, God Messiah, would be a Servant-King and a Servant–Messiah in ways and to extremes Israel should have noticed. We see the Servant here and we see him as:
Jesus the Sacrificial Servant
It is this image of the Servant as a SACRIFICE that Isaiah finds to be incredible. So much so, that in this fourth Servant Song when Isaiah hears what God has said he just “has to” jump in to continue the song himself. As we move from the end of chapter 52 to 53 the song continues but the voice changes from God’s direct voice to Isaiah’s voice. Isaiah sees clearly the vision of this Servant and wants to make sure that God’s people don’t miss exactly how Jesus would be this Saving Servant. He wants us to not be surprised at Easter. He wants us to not be surprised that this Servant will be the Saving Servant by being a Sacrificial Servant.
What we see here is that God was never trying to surprise his people in the life of his Servant Jesus, the God-Man. Rather, God was doing what he had promised them he would do all along.
The cross and the empty tomb are not failure nor folly, but they are the fulfillment of God’s promises in his promised ways.
Isaiah 53:1–13: Jesus the Sacrificial Servant
Look at how this fourth Servant Song continues in Isaiah’s voice:
Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he [the Servant] grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 53:1–12, ESV)
Good Friday and Easter were not meant to be a surprise. The death of the Servant was not a failure. This was not the enemy routing God and forcing him into this position. Jesus did not concede to plan B that day in Jerusalem before the Pharisees nor on the hill with three crosses. This was THE plan. This Servant of God is Jesus that Matthew sees before him in the Sermon on the Mount, and this is the Servant Jesus that all the disciples saw as he went to the cross. We have seen and can know the power of God in his service to us clearly in Jesus this Easter morning!
Who was the one who grew up in dry ground, had no form to look upon, had no beauty? That was Jesus of Nazareth, born in a small back-water town of Israel, a nothing area of the powerful nation of Rome. Son of a carpenter, as it was said.
Who was this man of sorrow, grief, one whom people despised and esteemed not? That was Jesus, the one who the Pharisees and Sadducees conspired against, the one about whom the people chanted “Crucify Him” that morning before Pilate.
Who is the servant bearing our griefs, carrying our sorrows? That was Jesus, carrying the cross we deserved through the crowds to Golgotha.
Who is the servant smitten and stricken, pierced for our transgressions? That was Jesus beaten before the guards. That was Jesus, placed upon a cross and pierced in his hands and feet—not for anything he had done, but for our sins. That was Jesus, pierced in his side, the water of a broken heart gushing out.
Crushed for our iniquities? That was Jesus, crying out in lament as the Father turned his face away. That was Jesus, giving up his Spirit to fulfill what he had been called to do as THE Servant.
And throughout this time, the sheep are scattering as God lays our iniquity on Jesus. His disciples run. His friends run. We too, have run, needing to be brought back to our God.
Who is the one who opens not his mouth as he is afflicted, silent as a lamb as he goes to the slaughter? This is Jesus, as he is shuttled from the Sanhedrin, to Pilate, to Herod, to Pilate again. Not speaking to defend himself but rather accepting THE plan he has come to live.
Who by oppression and judgement was taken away? Cut off from the land of the living? This is Jesus judged by unjust courts, placed on a cross as a sinner. This is Jesus dead as the Sabbath comes.
Who has a grave with the wicked? A grave with a rich man? Jesus, a thief on his right and left. Jesus, laid to rest in Joseph’s tomb.
And in all of this, Isaiah says:
“Yet it was the will of Yahweh to crush him; he has put him to grief.
Friends, be amazed but do not be surprised. This was THE plan. God promised this is what he would do. God purposed to do it, and God fulfilled his promise!
God did all this in the Servant-King and Servant-Messiah Jesus, the God-Man. Jesus, who came and served us by conquered sin and death and setting up his rule and reign in OUR lives before conquering his physical enemies. And that is amazing grace! You and would not be standing here if God didn’t come first to serve us. Without the grace given to you and I at the cross, none of us could ever stand before the righteous God who comes to judge and conquer his enemies. For we were all enemies of God.
We continue to see in this song who this Servant came for: he came for us. He came to serve me and you, his beloved people. We see that again and again in Isaiah and especially here in the fourth Servant Song that says:
He bore OUR griefs and carried OUR sorrows
He was pierced for OUR transgressions
Crushed for OUR iniquities
Chastisement was placed on HIM that brought US peace
By his wounds WE are healed
Jesus came, walked the road to the cross, and died that WE might be saved. The fourth servant song is the Servant’s greatest song telling us about this moment! THE Plan of God. This event that we celebrate today! It is foretelling us all about Easter!
All the servant songs were building a picture for us of Jesus the very Servant of God, but in the fourth Servant song the melody crescendos, the orchestra builds, and in the rolling away of the stone at the tombs entrance we see the extent of the Servant-nature of our God. We see at Easter:
Jesus the Saving Servant
Jesus the Sacrificial Servant
This is how he serves. This is how he saves. He saves and serves by sacrificing himself. Be amazed at the plan of God completed at Easter!
Isaiah 53:10b-13: Jesus the Sharing Servant
And it gets even better! This Servant who was sacrificed is now alive! It says here:
[W]hen his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
Jesus—out of this path to the cross and his death—he sees and is satisfied. The cross that brings death ultimately brings Jesus joy! Joy is not the language of one who is dead, it is the language of life. The agony of the moments from the cross to the tomb doesn’t leave Jesus ultimately dead—it leaves Jesus joyful and he is found alive with many more days!
[Look] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2, ESV)
Jesus succeeds in this path of suffering where we all have failed, and he succeeds to the point of NEW LIFE! For this reason he is exalted, as God says to Isaiah! And then Jesus is given the spoils of what he has earned.
[B]y his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 53:10b–13, ESV)
He is given life and brought back into relationship the father. And he then chooses—in his great mercy and power—to share that life and relationship with us. To share it with the transgressors he was numbered with. Jesus becomes more than just the sacrificial servant, he also becomes:
Jesus the Sharing Servant
We have more than just salvation in Jesus this Easter morning. We have his very discipleship, his very life, his very relationship with the father through faith in Jesus. This Jesus, this Servant-God has succeeded through his sacrifice and then shares it with all his people. This is the same God Matthew and the disciples see after he is resurrected. The Servant God who says in Matthew 28:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
(Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted.
(Isaiah 52:13)
You and I have everything because of the exalted Servant of God! This was THE plan of God from all of eternity. He was lifted up high upon the cross that he might be exalted as the very pleasing Servant Son of God. He succeeds where we failed, and he succeeds even in conquering death. In his success Jesus has joy in knowing that he has ransomed his people. And he has done all this that you and I might have that same joy given to us. That we might be pleasing sons and daughters of God as well. And that God might be glorified!
This was the plan of God. The stupendous, miraculous, amazing, but completely foretold plan of God! This is what we should have expected. This is what we see in the fourth Servant Song of Isaiah. This is what see this morning on Easter! Our God exalted because he did exactly what he promised he would do, and our God high and lifted up and because he succeeded as the very Servant of God!
Application/Conclusion
This last section of fourth Servant Song started with two questions:
Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
And these really are our two questions for this morning.
Let the Servant of God Serve You
“Who has believed what he has heard from us?”
Do you believe what you have heard this morning? This Easter, do you believe that your God came to serve you? That this was THE Plan of God to save you. That Jesus came that you might have your deepest longing of being made right before God and fit to walk with him again possible and true? This morning, let the servant of God serve you! If you are here this morning and don’t yet put your faith in Jesus Christ, the very King, Messiah, and Servant of God, let him serve you. He did it all because you can’t. He came, lovingly, to serve you. He wants you to have the salvation he bought for you on the cross and ensured in his resurrection. He wants you to have his discipleship and perfect life given to you that all you need to do is walk in it today through the power of HIS Holy Spirit. He wants you to have new life in HIS new life. This was always his plan, and he planned it that you might see his love for you in his SERVICE to you. Come, trust the servant who served you in all these ways that you might come back into relationship with God.
If that is you, please, come and find me or another leader and we would love to pray with you and rejoice that you are letting the Servant serve you.
Share as the Servant has Shared
And second:
To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Have you already had the very strength of God revealed to YOU this morning? Who, when you hear all this, stand amazed today that God would really make this plan to serve and love you? If you already walk with God today knowing his great service to you through the cross then share as he has shared you! Share liberally, share often, and share as far as you can. Take part in revealing the very strength of God by proclaiming clearly your weakness and your need for your God to serve you. Do not hold onto what you have selfishly but rather share the beauty of this Servant with everyone. Do not be ashamed, especially today, to remind those you see of the beautiful Servant God we have. He is the Servant they desperately need. He is the Servant they must let serve them.
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted.
(Isaiah 52:13, ESV)
See Jesus this Easter! God’s servant, wise, high and lifted up on the cross, and exalted as the persevering servant of God. Hear the best song of the servant in his service to you at the cross. And et him serve you. Know and treasure THE Plan of God in Jesus Christ. And proclaim and share generously your need that was met through Jesus that Easter morning.
Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
Pray
Communion
Benediction
Heb. 13:20-21 - Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
