Isaiah 53

Introduction

Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to those who are visiting in our audience today. Being a holiday weekend, we expected some of our own folk to be away, and certainly glad to see those from other places visiting and worshiping with us this morning. I hope you have a Bible with you that you’ll be opening me to the reading found in Isaiah chapter 53. In Isaiah 53, beginning in verses 3 through 5, the scripture speaking about the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Said 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. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes, we are healed. Perhaps this reading is more often read than any other when talking about the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and the precious atoning blood that was shed that we might have forgiveness of sins.

All of the verses in this chapter 53. Well, these are maybe very familiar verses. I would say also that Isaiah chapter 53, out of the 66 chapters of Isaiah, this one is better known than in the other 65. Indeed, it talks about the Savior and what he did that we might be saved. When we read the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and actually read what occurred at the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord, and then read from Isaiah 53, one may wonder as if Isaiah were standing beneath the cross as he wrote. And yet Isaiah 53 would have been written something like at least 750 years prior to this. How could this man of God have known exactly what would have occurred as it did at the cross?

Well, obviously, that is one of the strongest proofs that the Bible is not the word of Isaiah as a man, but the word of Isaiah as inspired of God. Only by the inspiration of God could these things have been known over 700 years before they occurred. Indeed, I’ve often said fulfilled prophecy is one of the strongest proofs that the Bible is not the word of men, but is in fact the word of God itself. Isaiah is a great prophecy. But as it talks about the suffering of Jesus Christ, Isaiah in these few verses speaks, I believe, of three different aspects about his suffering. There was the suffering in his body, there was the suffering in his heart, and there’s the suffering in his soul. Let’s read first of all in chapter 52, uh chapter 62, where there the scripture speaks of him being marred more than any man.

1. The Suffering in His Body

In Isaiah chapter 52, verses uh uh verses uh thirteen through 15. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. We know that to be true, that we honor him as the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, he is extolled. He is indeed honored, as we have even worshiped him this morning. And yet in the following verses, verse 14, just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at him, for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they have not heard they shall consider. Indeed, when the prophet speaks about this sacrifice of Christ, he’s not the only one.

For you know, perhaps even a thousand years before the coming of Christ David in the Psalms, in Psalm 22, for example, spoke about the crucifixion itself. The very words that Jesus indeed quoted on the cross, first of all, are recorded in Psalm 22 and verse 1. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning? Also in verse 14, I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted within me. In verses 16 through 18, even a further description of his crucifixion when he says, For dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierce my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones. They look at and stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Certainly we know the truth even of this, though written a thousand years before he was crucified. Did you notice, though, in this passage where in chapter 52, where he spoke of how the many were astonished. There is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, but as one considers the treatment that our Savior received, the Son of God Himself, indeed they were astonished. In fact, kings shall be speechless. Those that what had not had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard, they shall consider. Actually, when you talk about the sacrifice of Christ, we might even begin on this evening that he was uh that he was betrayed by Judas.

Beginning at the Passover Supper itself, you may recall how that Jesus, and knowing that his hour had come, that he would be crucified, he took a basin of water and washed the disciples’ feet. And then in John chapters 14 through 16, he spoke to his disciples, his apostles, that the time was coming that they would soon be without him. For he was going to depart to be with his Father. But he would not leave them without a helper.

But as Jesus spoke about his departure, the scripture says in chapter 16, how that they said, Because I have said these things unto you, sorrow has filled your heart. And yet Jesus had begun this whole discourse with them, as we read in John chapter 14, when he said, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house or many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, that where I am ye may be also. And yet, even with these words, knowing even that same Passover supper, that Judas would betray him. In fact, when Jesus made it known to Judas that he knew, yet Judah still went out.

And therefore, after going into the garden of Gethsemane and praying, the scripture repeats at least three different times, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. And the scripture speaks how that sweat fell from his brow as though it were great drops of blood. And soon as he heard them coming, led no doubt by Judas, who had promised. He covenanted for thirty pieces of silver, that he would indeed point out who Jesus is, and therefore, with that kind of a hypocritical kiss, he identified the Lord. There arrested in the garden, just outside the garden of Gethsemane, taken now that night as darkness, of course, had come over them, to Annas, and then Caiaphas, the high priest, and then before the whole Sanhedrin council, and all night vigil, you may say, being accused by them, falsely so, looking for witnesses, but certainly not finding any, who really could say that he had committed any crime or done any wrong.

Then from the Sanhedrin, the next morning as daylight came, they took him, turned him over to the Roman soldiers who took him to Pilate. And therefore, before Pilate, indeed, Pilate could find no fault in him. What has he done that is worthy of crucifixion? He had done nothing. And hearing that Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee, was in Jerusalem at the time, Pilate said, Whoa, I’ll just send him to Herod. But what did he do? When he got to Herod, Herod asked for some miracle that he would work. He at least heard about this man Jesus and some of the things that he had done. But Jesus would not would not make a play in front of this wicked man, Herod. Herod therefore sent him back to Pilate.

And again, Pilate finding no cause to crucify him. He had done no wrong. And yet, because they accused Jesus of saying he was a king. And in their minds, would he be in some kind of opposition to Caesar as king and some political pressure, you may say, Pilate yielded, lest the words get back to Caesar that he had allowed a king to live. And so Pilate turned him over to the Roman soldiers. Now, really, can you imagine the Roman soldiers delighted, taking a despised Jew and marring his body more than any man? They beat him with Roman rods. Roman rods was a whip, nine knotted cords attached to a handle. And it said that often the felon who was beaten before the crucifixion would die from that beating in and of itself.

What we do know is that our Lord so scourged, so much blood had fallen from his back that when they placed the cross on him, to bear it to the place of crucifixion, that he staggered and he fell beneath the weight of the cross. And at that time they compelled a passer by Simon of Cyrene to bear the cross of Christ. Finally, they came to the hill of the skull. In Latin it’s called Calvary. In Hebrew it’s called Golgotha. And there the Roman soldiers crucified him. Now, crucifixion was the most horrible way of death that the Romans could conceive of. It was prepared for those who had indeed broken the law. In studying Roman crucifixion, it is said that often they would die through the fierceness of the flagellation itself.

He was scourged by these soldiers. And then as he got to the place of Calvary or Golgotha there, they nailed his hands to the cross. And can you imagine? As his hands are stretched out, the wood is lifted up and slammed into a hole. Must have torn the tendons in his arms and his hands itself. Must have added even to the pain already that our Lord was feeling. So disfigured and marred was the Son of God that when the Roman soldiers came and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his bones, as would be customary. In fact, they broke the bones of the thieves on either side of Jesus. The reason the Romans often would break the bones is because it would hasten death.

You see, as the arms were stretched out in crucifixion, it would press against the lungs, and unable to get breath, the best one could get breath is maybe to push up somewhat. But you break the bones in the legs, and you could not push up. And therefore the thieves died later or very more rapidly because of that. But seeing that our Lord was already crucified, the Roman soldier took a spear and thrust it into his side, and from that wound, when that spear was withdrawn, flowed both blood and water. What an unthinkable and unbelievable trauma that the Son of God should be so marred and disfigured. You stop and think about all of this, and you may ask, well, where were the angels? You thought about that.

There were angels at the birth of our Lord. There were angels that ministered to him when he was baptized by John the Baptist and in the time of his temptation. There were angels present in Gethsemane when he prayed, and they ministered unto him. They were present at his tomb when Mary and the other women came. But they were not present at his crucifixion. Why? The only answer we might give is that because the hand of the Father held them back. Oh, he could have called twelve legions of angels, the scripture said. Had he refused to go through this crucifixion, he could have stopped it. But his prayer was, Thy will be done, not mine. And therefore there were no angels there to stop the crucifixion of our Lord.

This is the Christ we preach. Indeed, men were astonished, and the kings of the earth were speechless, but our Savior willingly died. And really, when we read even this aspect of the suffering of his body and the attitude that surrounded this crucifixion, one may stop and think, you know, it’s not at all like what the way we would expect if we were honoring, say, some general or some conqueror who’s returned, having defeated an enemy. Oh, much praise is given. But what do we point when we think of Jesus at the time of his death? What we see is a gentle, yielded, humble, suffering Lord Jesus. As in Matthew 12 and verse 20, the scripture says, He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

2. The Suffering in His Heart

A bruised reed he shall not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He is our Savior. But not only did he suffer in his body, Isaiah continued in chapter 53, but speaking about the suffering in his heart. Who would have thought that the Son of God would come like this? That the one who would be the Savior of the world and whom we worship even on this day, yet he was born and placed in a feeding trough for animals. Indeed, he was born not with a great fanfare and people of the world lifting him up. In fact, in chapter 53, verses 1 and 2, who has believed our report. Who could believe this? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He has no former comeliness. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. The prospect of a glorious king arising from this background just seems almost unbelievable. In fact, when Isaiah speaks about how that he would be like a tender plant, he’s speaking of the same prophecy that he had actually mentioned earlier. Back in chapter 11 and in verse 1, the prophet had foretold that there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. What the prophet is describing really at that point in time is the stump of the house of David.

If you know your Old Testament history, you realize that actually, nearly 600 years prior to this, we usually date it around 586 BC, that when Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonians overran Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, that they took the last king that was of the lineage of David. This king named Zedekiah, after he had been blinded, had been taken in chains in captivity. And from that time, 586 BC, there had not been a king over the family or the nation of Jews. There had not been a king, that is, of the lineage of David, as the prophets had foretold. Indeed, what had happened was that they had been in captivity. And even though after 70 years they were brought back, the temple was rebuilt, they still were not a nation in charge with the king of the lineage of David.

You see, the prophecy had been that indeed there would be one of the tribe of Judah who would be the king. Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, in fact, when blessing his sons before his death, and he came to Judah, the fourth son, and there he said, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. The prophecy was that there would be a lawgiver, but the Shiloh referring to the Prince of Peace, to Jesus Christ, to the Messiah. And he would be of the tribe of Judah. How could that be? How could it be fulfilled when by the time even that we’re reading about in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Jews, the nation of God’s people, did not have a king from the tribe of Judah.

Oh, they were Herod’s. They were not even Jews. They were from the lineage of Esau. They were Edumians. And so how could there be this king that would come and sit on the throne of David? In 2 Samuel chapter 7, in fact, also God had promised to David that of his lineage of his seed, he would set up his kingdom, an everlasting kingdom. And so you might say the root will grow out of a stump. Meaning, that timing was such that Israel could only be fulfilling prophecy. Christ would grow.

And this Jesus. Born in Bethlehem, grew up in a despised town called Nazareth, a town of such a reputation that even one godly man in Israel said, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? That was the timing in which Jesus was born. Indeed, it was unattractive. Jesus was raised in Nazareth, the son of a carpenter. In fact, uh, it was so unattractive, Isaiah said, verse 2, he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground, and he has no form or comeliness. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Now we don’t really know physically what he looked like. The Bible doesn’t tell us how tall he was. Doesn’t tell us really anything about his physical characteristics, and that’s not what he’s talking about here.

But when you think about him, how did he come? Raised as a carpenter’s son, there was no personal grandeur that we should desire him. He was a he was a peasant in that time. He was dressed like a peasant, he lived like a peasant, he walked like a peasant. In fact, we referred earlier when he was brought to Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee. There was no admiration on the part of this king. In fact, in contempt and disgust when Jesus would not perform a miracle in his presence, Herod sent him back to Pilate. Can you imagine standing in the presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and looking upon him with contempt and disgust, as Herod did? When Pilate, in fact, exam, uh, when Pilate exact uh found had him back before him, and they were saying, Oh, he says he’s the king, he’s the king of the Jews.

Pilate raised the question, Are you a king? And when Jesus answered, Well, my kingdom is not of this world, if it were, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. And then he continued, everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Pilate answered, What is truth? And Povin stopped and wondered how to really express that question. When Pilate was asking, was he really sincere? What is truth? I’d like to know. Or was he saying, what’s truth? Nobody knows. Which way was it? I’ve often wondered how Pilate, the inflection of his voice. Are you a king? In disbelief, in fact, asking that question, what is truth? You and I today have opportunity to understand and to know truth. But Pilate was not really that interested in it.

For he allowed Jesus to be crucified. He was indeed a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Chapter 53 and verse 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. Of his own people, he was a man of sorrows. John chapter 1 and verse 11 said he came to his own, and his own did not receive him. We know the story, his own, of course, he was born a Jew. For God had blessed this family of Abraham. He made of his promised son Isaac, and then of his lineage through Jacob, the twelve sons, the twelve families or tribes of Israel.

And he had promised this to be the family out of which God would raise up one through whom he would bless all families of the earth. God chose the family out of which the Christ would come, that he might provide the means of salvation for all. And yet the very people that God had blessed through all these years rejected him. The very ones that should have loved him, the very ones who should have indeed treasured his presence and adored all that he said, but they were the very ones who hated him the most bitterly. You see, the Pharisees, religious leaders. Oh, they hated the Herodians. You see, there was a political party called the Herodians, and even the Pharisees joined with the Herodians to raise the question, thinking that they could put Jesus in disfavor, if not with the Jews, then with the Romans, because they raised the question, is it right or lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?

And thinking that either way Jesus answered, if he answered on the one hand, yes, we ought to pay, the Jews would despise him, and on the other hand, if he said, No, we must not pay, then the Romans would arrest him. But Jesus, of course, avoided and evaded, rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and the God the things that are God’s. Oh, yes, the Pharisees hated the Herodians, but you know they hated Jesus more. The nation of Jews hated the Romans. They couldn’t wait, hoping that one day this rule over them would be thrown away. But they hated Jesus more. The Sadducees, the elders, the Pharisees, the Herodians. They hated unwashed sinners. But they hated Jesus more because he ate with them and preached the gospel to them.

Yes, they all hated Jesus more. It’s almost unthinkable how the tender, loving, mild, and gentle Jesus should have been so hated, despised, and cruelly treated by these he called his own. Isaiah 53 continues, though, in verses 4 and 5. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 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. Our Lord didn’t deserve the stripes, not any of them. He had done no wrong. He had not broken the law of the Romans. He had not broken the law of God. In fact, he was one who did not deserve the punishment.

We deserve the stripes. And yet, when we view Jesus at trial, first of all, at the Sanhedrin trial, the Jewish trial. He was mocked and ridiculed. One came up to him, smote him on the face. You who are prophet, tell me who smote you on the face. Another came up, spit into his face. Again, you who are a prophet, tell me who spit into your face. They ridiculed, mocked him, spoke blasphemy against him. But that wasn’t all. When he was taken before Pilate and Pilate, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. The Roman soldiers, indeed, rude soldiers were really glad to have this despised Jew at their disposal. And so they said, Oh, you say you’re a king. Well, a king needs to have a crown.

And so they made a crown of thorns and placed it on his head. Oh, you are your king. Well, a king needs to have a robe. And so they found a discarded cast off piece of purple cloth and shrouded his shoulders with him. A king must have a scepter. And so they found some kind of stick or reed and placed it in his hand. Ridiculing, they said a king must have adulation. And so they bowed in mockery before him and said, Hell, king of the Jews. That’s the kind of ridicule our Lord suffered. Finally taking him to a garbage dump. That’s really what Golgotha was. A place of a skull where other felons had died, and a place where dead animals were thrown. And there they nailed him to a tree.

As though his sufferings were not enough in his being nailed to the cross, they gambled for his garments. Five pieces of clothing. And then sitting down in contempt, they watched him die. Zechariah chapter 13, verse 7, the prophet said that God will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. Interesting, both Matthew and Mark record the fact that at his arrest the disciples forsook him and fled. How? The hurt in his heart must have been. Perhaps the hardest to bear. His own did not receive him. He was mocked and ridiculed by those who should have loved him. And his own forsook him and fled.

3. The Suffering in His Soul

Oh, we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. I believe the prophet here mentions a mystery that no man can enter into. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The sins of the whole world were heaped upon his soul in a way that is known only to God. The Lord saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied, verse 11 says. For his sake, God forgives us.

God is gracious to us and forgives us for his sake. In fact, our Savior’s attitude is described in verse 7. He’s led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. How did Jesus bear it? When he was cursed, when he was spat upon, when he was reviled and finally nailed to a tree. Did he answer with bitter resentment? He opened not his mouth, the scripture said.

First of all, he stood before the Sanhedrin. The high priest said, I put you under oath, a living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus Christ replied, It is as you said. Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven. That’s in Matthew 26 and verse 64. The only other time that we have him saying anything was when he was standing before Pilate, and Pilate asks him officially, Are you a king? And he answered in the affirmative, My kingdom is not of this world. But even Pilate marveled. The recording is found in Mark 15, verses 3 to 5. Pilate marveled, didn’t you hear what they’re saying about you?

Don’t you have a reply in essence? Jesus spoke not a word. Other than these two occasions, he never spoke. When he was nailed to the tree, the only sound that was heard was the sound of the ringing hammers, the driving and the nails through his hands and feet. First Peter summarizes it best. When Peter wrote, For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.

For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Indeed, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. The Lord himself suffered for us. This phrase in the New King James Version sounds contrary to the love that we might think of God for his son, that it pleased the Lord to bruise him. The scripture indeed speaks about this suffering. A suffering in his soul.

It did not make sense. For 750 years, those who would come and read Isaiah could not explain. You mean the Savior would be cut off from the land of the why? Isn’t he to be the king? And of course, they, not understanding, they were thinking of a king who would, in a physical way overthrow the Roman Empire. And how could it be that he would be cut off? No one in his generation could understand that. And I would say to you today that if you ever get into conversation with a Jew who still looks for the Messiah to come, you need to refer to Isaiah 53 and ask him, what does it mean? The modern Jew does not know how to explain Isaiah 53. Indeed, Isaiah could forecast it, but not fully comprehend it either.

And there were others who knew the prophecy. But it was not known until indeed when the Lord was raised from the dead.

That remission of sin should be preached in his name. The prophet in verse 9 writes words that are enigmatic and seemingly meaningless until we understand them in their fulfillment. They made his grave with the wicked. But with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. What does that mean? Indeed, the body of most in that day and time, the Romans would leave hanging on the cross until that body would rot and eventually fall off. Romans thought that would be kind of a message to others, you know, to prevent crime, that they would not suffer this kind of death, too. Well, the Jews, at least, would not leave a body hanging on the cross. And though, you know the story, of course, how that there was this rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, and this affluent, also member of the Sanhedrin named Nicodemus, carefully and tenderly took the body of Jesus off the cross, wrapped it in a winding sheet with a hundred pounds of aloes and myrrh, and lovingly and prayerfully laid his body in a tomb.

The rich man’s tomb never before had been used. But who would have thought that such a detail could have been written by the prophet 750 years earlier? Yes, Jesus suffered. He suffered in his body, he suffered in his heart, and he suffered in his soul.

Actually, the scripture, the NIV, reads it this way it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer. That’s what it means when it pleased the Lord. In fact, even you may recall in Acts chapter 2 when Peter is preaching that first sermon, this side of the cross, he spoke in Acts 2 and in verse 23 that it was by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God that they had taken, and by wicked hands they crucified. It’s God’s plan. You and I sit here today with hope, with a promise of forgiveness, because God planned it. So in that sense, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He’s put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, we shall see his seed.

He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. Interesting again, the way that is put together, the New King’s Days, New King James Version. He shall see the labor of his soul. Indeed, the word for travail, the King James Version says, God shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. The word travail, and used in the King James Version is to describe the pain. Probably the most it said the most horrible pain that as a woman without any sedation gives birth to a child. Travail. So the Lord saw the travail or the labor that Jesus suffered and was satisfied. Out of the anguish, the English Standard Version says of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.

Again, that word satisfied is kind of like the word it pleased the Lord, but the word satisfied theologically really is equal to the word propitiation, which means that it was to render favorable, to be acceptable. We know this from New Testament passages like Romans chapter 3 and verse 26 when speaking about the crucifixion of Christ, that God might be just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. Just and the justifier. The penalty for sin is paid, God is just. But he’s also the justifier of those who would come in simple faith and trust in him. As we’ve gone through this this morning, perhaps you may feel like I do. Somewhat I think I can understand the suffering in his body. I can comprehend pain, at least.

Maybe not as severe, but at least as we read, as the nails are driven through his hands and his feet, I can somewhat comprehend. Even prior to that, the beating with the rods of the Roman soldiers.

Conclusion

That those who should have loved him hated him. Even when those who should have stood by him forsook him and fled. There had to be pain and disappointment somewhat. But to talk about the hurt of his soul, that he died in our place. That God required his soul. And yet, when we come to the last three verses of Isaiah 53, we find some light at the end of this when it says he came to die that there might be a gospel to preach. I say 53 says, By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many. For he shall bear their iniquities. What was the purpose for all of this? That he might make clean, might make whole, might provide forgiveness. He shall justify many, because he bears their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death. And he was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. This is the work of Jesus. Someone has said he never came so much to preach the gospel as he came to die that there might be a gospel to preach. You and I today can rejoice that he was raised from the grave. We rejoice, for when we were enemies, Romans 5 and verse 10 says we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Indeed, there’s a closing triumph in this.

Jesus now is sovereign. He is King of kings, and he is Lord of Lords, and He is in charge. And when the clouds may govern our sky, yet we can lift our hearts with joy and with hope. For God is in charge. Jesus Christ is the Lord.

Ate flesh, ate food with them, and said, You know, only flesh can do that. Here you can feel my wounds and my hands and my feet. He made himself known. They became witnesses of his resurrection. But in that scripture, verse 45, he opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the scriptures. At least some five times we read before the crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples that when he got to Jerusalem, he would be arrested, that he would be put to death, but that he would be raised the third day. They didn’t comprehend, not once. But after it was done, he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scripture. Then he said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.

And that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Did they understand? They went forth from that place. And you know, they even died for the testimony. They knew it was so. They went and preached the gospel. Today you and I have that privilege of preaching the gospel. Today you and I have the opportunity, maybe first of all, we should say, to obey the gospel. If you’re not a Christian, I want to encourage you to obey the gospel. If you believe Jesus to be the Son of God who died for you, then repenting of your sins, with that faith, confessing your faith in him, be buried by baptism into his death. We’re going to sing in a moment, number 314, and if you’ll put that up on the Lord for me.

Go ahead to the first verse. The first verse says, There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel’s veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. The third verse continues, Ere since by faith I saw the stream, thy flowing wound supply, redeeming love has been my thing and shall be till I die. I hope that is indeed a song you can sing with conviction that you know Christ died for you. Are you faithful to him? May we go forth from this building shouting with sincere faith, I am a servant of the Lord who died for me. If you’re subject to the invitation, Lord, we bid you come, even now, while together we may stand while we sing.