Text: Isaiah 52:14; 53:3, 10, 11
Subject: The Sufferings Of Our Redeemer
Date: Sunday Evening - December 12, 1993
Tape #
Introduction:
In our study of Isaiah we have come
to the Holy of Holies, in so far as the prophetic scriptures of the Old
Testament are concerned. Isaiah 53 is quoted more often in the New
Testament than any other portion of the Old Testament. Here the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God is set forth as the sinner’s Substitute, making
atonement for sin by the sacrifice of himself.
As I open this Book and attempt to
preach from it, I realize that I am dealing with holy things. I am here talking
to you about the very glory of God. Let us tread softly, speak deliberately,
listen reverently, and kneel in our hearts worship fully. The Lord is in this
place! I am going to try to talk to you tonight about the most mysterious, most
profound, and most practical thing in all the world. I want to preach to you
tonight about the sufferings of Christ.
It is hard to believe that this
incomparable prophecy was written by a man who lived 750 years before Christ
came into this world. Nothing can explain the existence of this prophecy except
the words of Peter - "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost." I defy those infidels who deny the inspiration of Holy Scripture,
who deny that this Book is the Word of God to explain the existence of Isaiah
53. As you read the words of this chapter you almost think you are reading the
report of a man who was standing by when the Son of God died upon the cursed
tree. But these are the words of a man who lived almost a millennium
beforehand! Isaiah, the prophet of God, wrote of the sin-atoning sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ and did so with precise detail and accuracy, because God
the Holy Spirit inspired, breathed out, the words as he wrote. Nothing else can
explain this prophecy!
Proposition: In order to redeem and save his people the
Son of God had to suffer all the consequences of our sins to the full satisfaction
of Divine Justice as our Substitute.
In the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox
Church there is a reference to the sufferings of Christ that reads, "Thy
unknown sufferings." As you might imagine, I have no sympathy for the
theology of that church. But those words well describe my subject tonight. So I
have taken them for the title of this message - "Thy Unknown
Sufferings."
Divisions: In the verses that we will look at tonight
Isaiah describes the sin-atoning sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ in three
ways.
1. · The
Sufferings Of His Body - (52:14).
I. THE SUFFERINGS OF HIS BODY (Isa. 52:14).
No man can read the sufferings of
Christ and not be astonished that any man could inflict such agony upon
another, or that any man could suffer such agony. And when a person realizes
that the one who suffered on that day was and is the holy, immaculate Son of
God in human flesh, he is all the more astonished!
Ever remember that the Sufferer Isaiah here describes is
both God and man. Our Savior had to be a man. Otherwise his sufferings
would be of no redemptive value to men. He must also be God. Else his
sufferings would have been of no satisfaction to the infinite Justice of the Holy
Lord God.
Without question, many place too
much emphasis upon the physical, bodily sufferings of Christ; but it is quite
possible for us to place far too little importance upon them. The Word of God
records the physical, bodily sufferings of Christ in detail, in all four gospel
narratives, in Psalm 22, in Isaiah 53, and in numerous other passages in the
Old Testament and the New, because it is important for us to know what Christ
suffered for us.
On the night of the Passover supper,
when our Lord instituted what we call "The Lord’s Supper," breaking
bread and drinking wine, singing and praying with his disciples, an all night
vigil began.
· The Supper was followed by our Lord’s Last
Discourse (John 14, 15, 16).
· Then came His great High-Priestly Prayer
(John 17).
Our Lord said to his disciples,
"Because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your
heart" (John 16:6). "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in
God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not
so I would have told you. I go prepare a place for you." (John 14:1-2).
Then the story continues. We piece
it together from the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
· The Arrest in Gethsemane.
· The Arraignment before Annas, then before
Caiaphas, then the Sanhedrin.
· Then Jesus was taken by the Roman soldiers
to Pontius Pilate.
· Pilate sent him to Herod, the ruler of
Galilee.
· Herod sent him back to Pilate, the governor
of Judea.
· At last, Pilate condemned the Son of God to
be crucified, and gave him into the hands of the cruel, barbaric Roman
soldiers.
· The Mockery!
· The Beatings!
· The Infamous Parade!
· The Crucifixion at Calvary - The Place of
the Skull - Jerusalem’s Garbage Dump!
The scene was so horribly
ignominious and painful that as he hung upon the cross, our Lord said to John,
"Take my mother away!" His suffering and death were hidden from his
mother. The Sun refused to shine, hiding the infamy from the Earth. God the
Father refused to look upon the horrid scene!
·
"I thirst!"
·
The Vinegar and Myrrh!
·
The Burning Fever!
·
The Excruciating Pain!
Let us never speak lightly of the
sufferings of our Savior in his body! But there is much more. Isaiah also talks
about -
III.
THE SUFFERINGS OF HIS HEART (Isa. 53:3).
Our Lord was outcast by men,
betrayed by his friend, denied by his disciple, forsaken by his companions,
tortured and nailed to the cursed tree; but he cried "reproach hath broken
my heart," and that heart was broken for me. I want to know something
about that too. I want to know my Savior "in the fellowship of his
sufferings!"
A.
"He was despised and
rejected of men" (John 1:11).
· His own countrymen!
· His own brethren!
B.
"A man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief."
· His Trials and Temptations.
· The Slanders of Men.
· The Unbelief of His Disciples.
· The Souls of Men - "Moved with Compassion."
· The Sorrows of His Friends - "Jesus wept!"
C. The anticipation, the heart breaking anticipation of Gethsemane.
"If it be possible, let this
cup pass from me."
D. The mockery of the
soldiers -
· The Crown of Thorns.
· The Purple Robe.
· The Reed Scepter.
· The Jeering Taunts.
E. The songs of the drunkards and harlots - The Spit!
Don’t ever imagine that words do not
hurt. If they hurt the Son of God, they hurt us for lesser men!
F.
The
denial by Peter and the forsaking disciples!
·
“We hid, as it
were, our faces from him!”
·
The margin reads, "He hid as it were his face from
us!"
G. "He was despised, and we esteemed him
not!"
The Son of God suffered all this for
us. Yet, we who now believe once esteemed him not. "We esteemed him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted!" Had he not himself given us
faith, we would forever have esteemed him not!
Illus: The Vietnam Soldier - "I have a friend
with me, can I bring him home?"
All these things tormented our
Savior’s heart. Yet, even when his heart broke with reproach and shame for us,
his heart was upon us (Ps. 69:6-9, 11-12, 14-20). Yet, there is more. Isaiah
also speaks of -
III. THE SUFFERINGS OF HIS SOUL (Isa. 53:10-11).
I
understand the biblical doctrine of the atonement -
G.
The sin offering.
H.
The paschal lamb.
I.
The prepared body (Heb. 10:1-14).
J.
I understand the agony of our
Savior’s tormented body.
K.
I can even understand the torments of
his broken heart to some degree.
L.
But here, we have come to something I
simply cannot comprehend - The Sufferings of our Savior’s Holy Soul - (Isa.
53:10-11).
"Much
we talk of Jesus’ blood,
But how
little ‘s understood!
Of His
sufferings so intense
Angels have
no perfect sense.
Who can
rightly comprehend
Their
beginning or their end?
‘Tis to God
and God alone
That their
weight is fully known.
See the
sufferings Son of God -
Panting,
groaning, seating blood!
Boundless
depths of love divine!
Jesus, what
a love was thine!"
M.
The Son of God was made to
be sin for us! - Imputation!
N.
When he was made to be sin
for us, the Lord God made His Soul an offering for sin! - Substitution!
O.
When our Savior was most
perfectly obedient to God as our representative, His Father forsook Him!
"God
forsaken of God, no man can understand that!"
Martin
Luther
P.
"He (God the Father)
shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied!"
The
Father’s justice is satisfied by the Son’s suffering unto death for the
salvation of his people.
Q.
"He (the Lord Jesus
Christ) shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" - The cross of Christ shall
never be discovered a miscarriage.
Application:
R.
Why
did the Son of God suffer all this agony of body, of heart, and of soul?
S.
To
Satisfy Divine Justice!
T.
To
Put Away our Sins!
U.
Because
he Loved Us!
V.
Will
you yet hide your face from him, despise him, and esteem him not? - If you now
look to him and trust him, Jesus Christ suffered all this for you! God help you
to trust his darling Son!
W. In the light of these
things, I have some questions for you and me, my brothers and sisters in Christ
-
X.
Is
anything too much for us to suffer for Christ?
Y.
Is
any sacrifice too great for us to make for him?
Z.
Is
any devotion to the Son of God extreme?