You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin nor should you. But during his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. A Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth), and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity hurling insult, argument, and proof against it.
An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men’s faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN! (congregational response should
be: HE IS RISEN INDEED!). I am convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead
and he was buried. That I believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose
from the dead and will come again in glory.
We celebrated this event last Sunday, but as I stand here today and every Sunday, I declare to you that each and every Sunday we meet together we declare our Lord’s death and resurrection until he comes. Each Sunday we meet together should be a celebration of what he has done and what he continues to do in and through us. I stand here on this day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines who I am.
It is this event, an event that Isaiah prophesied that I will again proclaim to you this morning as we conclude our study of Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. Today we will rejoice together as we see The Successful Achievement of Yahweh’s Suffering Servant.
Follow as I read our text for this morning:
See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him-- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness--so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
As I conclude our study in this text this morning I would like us to see three things. First, that Yahweh’s Servant is our offering. Second, Yahweh’s Servant is our substitute. And finally, Yahweh’s Servant is our mediator.
I. Yahweh’s Servant: Our Offering
When we discussed the third strophe of this prophesy on Good Friday we saw that it was not God that was pleased to crush his servant but rather Isaiah uses the personal name of God, Yahweh. As you notice, here too, it is the personal name of the God of grace and mercy who crushes the Servant making him our Guilt Offering.
Here despite the innocence of the servant the LORD took pleasure in bruising him. But his death was not in the hands of wicked men but in the hands of the God of grace and mercy. It was to this personal God that our Lord Jesus Christ submitted himself. How often do we find ourselves in the throws of suffering? How often do we find life not going our way? I know we do. Those of you who have walked with the Savior know how often the cares of this life distract us from the path we think God has for us. But then we turn around and see the blessings in the path God has directed. We see in the life of Joseph, how what seemed disparaging circumstances God used to provide for his family. And oh, how the Israelites must have wavered as they approached the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s chariots biting at their heels. But God, opened the impossible allowing them to not walk through the mud, but dry land.
Here too, we find a surprising appearance, a strange attitude. For here our loving God found pleasure in crushing his servant making him weak for us. The wording implies that it was the servant who submitted himself to his God and was physically crushed by the physical and spiritual consequences. It was Yahweh who crushed him. Yahweh who made him suffer. It was Yahweh who made the servant’s life a guilt offering. The word used here in the Hebrew is mv;a; (’asham). In the King James it is translated "an offering for sin." But this is not just any old offering. It is an offering for offenses against man and God that could be estimated and covered by compensation. We dealt with this a bit when we discussed the servant being the ram of God.
Again we return to the Torah, the Law. Open your Bibles as we return to Leviticus 6 verses 1 through 7. Follow with me as I read:
The LORD said to Moses: "If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do-- when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering. And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, his guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value.
In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty."
So here we see that the ordinary guilt offering was a ram together with restitution and a penalty of one-fifth its value. But Isaiah says the servant of Yahweh will offer himself as our guilt offering. He is our payment. And he was not made to lay his life down in our stead, he volunteered it. His soul was our compensation. And Isaiah shows us that he was to be the oblation, the very act of worship. That is why we celebrate the Lord’s Table. And in some very real ways, the Catholics are right in their pomp and ceremony. Not that we would go so far as stating that we are participating in the re-crucifixion of our Lord and are partaking of his actual body and blood. But in the fact that we celebrate our Lord laying down his life in our stead. It’s ritual is more than just symbolic it is an act of worship, of submission. And in our submission to our husbands, elders, Presbytery this act of worship is renewed submission of our very lives to the hand of God.
II. Yahweh’s Servant: Our Substitute
But the servant was not just our oblation, a symbolic representation of worship. He was our substitute. In the ceremony of sacrifice, the hands of the guilty were placed on the head of the ram. And in worship, the sins of the guilty were transferred to the ram. So to Yahweh in his grace and mercy substitutes the innocence of the servant for the guilt of his people. Notice that when the head of the household offered the ram for sin, it was not the sin of all of Israel that was covered, only those of his household. So too when a grain offering was given, or an offering of turtledoves. It was for the household. When Mary and Joseph to Jesus to the temple for his circumcision. What offering did they place? Two doves or two pigeons. And for whom? To fulfill the requirements of the law. For if they could not afford a lamb, Leviticus 12:8 states they were to bring two doves or two young pigeons. And for whose sin? Why that of Mary, for in "this way the priest will make atonement for her and make her clean." It does not make everyone clean only those for whom the sacrifice was intended.
So too, the Servant does not substitute himself for the sins of mankind but only those to whom the father has given to him. Remember the words of Jesus, our substitute. Listen to what John says in his gospel:
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11)...The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-- only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."(John 10:17-18)...My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
(John 10:27-29)
and then in John 15:16.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit...
It should be noted that on the heals of Isaiah 53:6 and his repeated use of "all of us", that the Servant in his substitutionary death does not justify "all of us" in his death but rather the Hebrew here in verse 11 that : After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Notice that the servant doesn’t justify all, rather he justifies many. And those whom he justifies it is their iniquities he carries. Jesus didn’t die for the sins of the whole world. He died for those who the Father had given him. And those he died for, will be brought to him. For whom the Father calls, those can not be snatched out of the Fathers hands.
But what does that mean? Pastor doesn’t that mean when Christ died for us, he covered, atoned for all our sins - past, present, and future? Doesn’t that mean that once we ask Christ into our hearts that we are saved, and that his blood covers all our sins? Yes and no. If Christ died for you surely all our sins are covered and we certainly are saved from eternal damnation. But how do you know you are saved? How do you know that Christ died for your sins? How do you know that you are part of the elect? 2 Peter 1:10 tells us Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. How are we to make our calling and election sure? Well he spells that out in verses 3 through 9. Turn there with me.
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
But I tell you along with the author of Hebrews that :
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance...
We are told in the Shorter Catechism that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. But how do we glorify God? It is through diligence in following 1 Peter 1: 3-9.
Following God’s word to his people should be our Passion. But we can not do it on our own. We do not have the consistency of heart to glorify God in everything we do or say. We need the Spirit of God. Let us close by looking at the Yahweh’s Servant: Our Mediator
III. Yahweh’s Servant: Our Mediator
Verse 12 of this strophe begins with the adverb "therefore." I am sure you have heard this before, but one rule of hermeneutics or Bible interpretation is that when you see a "therefore" check to see what it is there for. As we have walked through the passion of Yahweh’s Servant our savior we have see what he has done for us. How he, again in the words of the Shorter Catechism, was "born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, [underwent] the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross, in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time" (WSC Q27).
But now notice the benefits to his people, those whom he has called, those for whom he died. They will become great. They will be given a portion of the spoils. Here we see the benefits of 2 Peter 1:3-9. They will persevere. Often we have heard the cliché "Once Saved Always Saved." But I tell you it is once saved always persevere. And here Isaiah tells us that those who persevere are the great and the strong. It is these who share the spoils of the Divine Warrior. It is these, the ones whose iniquities the servant bore. The servant who carried our griefs and bore our sorrows. He is the One who is call "The Faithful and True" (Rev 19:11). It is the Servant of Yahweh who is "the Lion of Judah, the root of David" (Rev 5:5). It is to "Alpha and Omega...who was, who is, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Rev 1:8), the one who conquered death and Hell, who is our Victor. The one to whom the Church cries Christus Victor, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
It is to the Victor that the spoils are given. Christ has Successfully Achieved the desire of the Father. And it is by the will and design of God, that when the victor dies at the end of the eschatological battle, that He, the servant of Yahweh, absorbs the piercing darkness of the great tribulation and suffers the wrath of God for many. Jesus Christ is our victor. And we have victory in Him as he has conquered death and hell for us. He is our offering. He is our Substitute. And finally, Isaiah declares that he is our mediator. For the Servant of Yahweh is poured out, numbered with criminals, bearing the sin of many. But he interposes, makes intercession for the transgressors and so has Successefully Achieved the plan of the Father for his people.
The words so lay to paint a picture of the servant falling over the transgressors. Here the words place the servant between the wrath of the Almighty God and sinful man. And here we see Christ mediating, interceding on our behalf to the father. I want you to see that Christ doesn’t pray for all mankind. No only for those for whom he died. And because of his prayers, his power working in and through his children they will persevere.
Are you persevering? Or are you failing in your Christian walk? Do you find that sin has dominion in your life? Are you finding it difficult to live your life to the Glory of God? What about the words that come from your lips? Do they find harmony with Peters words in 1 Peter 1? What about the movies you watch? The places you go? The food and drink that enters your lips? Are you finding that God gets the glory in your life?
God sent his son to be our redeemer. He suffered a violent death for the Grace of God so that we could live. Are you called by his name? Do you hear the voice of the Shepherd? God’s people still wait the return of their Lord and King. They still wait for the redemption of Israel and the glories that He has promised? His grace is sufficient for you. Do you hear his voice? It is not to late. Lay yourself and your desires at his feet. Repent, beg his forgiveness. Give everything to your Lord and King. The Messiah has come and offers you life. Will you obey his voice or suffer the consequences of rebellion against the King of Kings? You think about that.
