A Truly Human and Righteous Mediator and Deliverer
Heidelberg Catechism • Sermon • Submitted
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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.
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he 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.
Scripture: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Sermon Title: A Truly Human and Righteous Mediator and Deliverer
Last week we turned to Psalm 7 as we completed the Catechism’s opening section dedicated to knowing how great our sin and misery are. Lord’s Day 4 reminded us that God is most certainly merciful, but he is also just. As we have been looking at the dark reality that the existence of sin puts in our world, we have done so with the desire to keep hope in front of us. This is how things are unless God intervenes; this is the road we are all on unless we look to a Savior.
Tonight we have already looked briefly at several of the key questions and answers that open up this next section that teaches how we are set free from all our sins and misery. Our lengthy sermon title tries to summarize what we are looking at here. There is a way out for us from sin and from eternal punishment—the way out, our hope, is in a truly human and righteous mediator and deliverer—that is, Jesus Christ. As we read the prophecy from Isaiah 52 and 53 we are going to find a foundation for what this mediator and deliver has accomplished—and I invite you to keep your Bibles open following our reading.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have seen already this year in the book of Ezekiel—the calling of prophets to deliver God’s messages to his people is not always desirable. Being God’s prophet may have required a drastic change in lifestyle—a commitment to laying on one’s side for over a year or shaving their head and doing all sorts of different things with the hair to represent different messages. Other times it meant communicating a message of what was ahead for God’s people. Delivering the message was not always pleasant because the content was not all that upbeat in regards to how the audience ended up being perceived.
It is the second of those two scenarios that we find in Isaiah this evening. God has been speaking to how deep the sin of his people goes, how filled they were with wickedness. While it is good news in the sense that God’s people are not the ones who have to pay the ultimate price for their sins, it is tough that someone has to take care of them. Not just anyone but the chosen one of God—one who would be despised and rejected though he had done nothing wrong. What we find God telling his people is that his servant, that is Jesus, needed to go through all of this for each of us and for all of us. Jesus suffered in fulfilling the mission that he was given on the cross; there is no way around that. He did so for the sins that had already been committed and for those still ahead. Our freedom, our salvation comes because he suffered.
It works out well that we come through this section focused on the substitution of the Son of God for fallen sinners on this week when we are approaching the cross. As we look at our passage, I think we find three sections that are very clear in regards to what Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplishes. This is where we will focus together; digging deeper into understanding God’s word.
The first section that sticks out is Isaiah 53:3-4. God tells the prophet Isaiah, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from who 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.”
The Deliverer and Savior of humanity was someone who was pushed to the margins of the society he lived in. Those who lived at the same time he was living did not show him respect; they did not think much of him, in fact, they figured that God was looking down on him. The view of God’s people toward Jesus is that God was striking him down, causing hurt and disgrace because he deserved it. “We esteemed him not.”
When we see images that have been produced of Jesus during his ministry or when we see shows or movies depicting his life, they so often choose a decent looking male actor to play Jesus. In capturing his life, they focus almost solely on the good he did, on the attractive stories of him helping children and women, sick and suffering. With the exception of a few, most of our films and much of the thinking of Christians does not include the suffering that he endured. But what we read in chapter 52 verse 14 is that people were appalled by what they saw when they looked at him. They hid their faces; they turned away in disgust and humiliation. He was suffering, and no one showed compassion. Jesus was not the royal, attractive socialite that everyone wanted to hang out; he was not the life of the party. He experienced deep pain because of what went on around him—pain that was emotional and that affected his soul.
When the prophet Isaiah recorded God’s words or memorized what he was to present to the people, the words “our” and “we” were to apply throughout all of time. We are included among his despisers and rejecters; we do not esteem him. Jesus took upon himself our weaknesses and corruptions, he carried our burdens and tears—yet we think God has condemned him for what he has done. We, the unrighteous and sinful, are being helped by this man—yet so often we push him to the outsides of our lives. We would rather live in suffering and anger, then give our burdens to Jesus.
While that remains the case, he continues to take up our infirmities. Despite our unwillingness to look to him, respect him, and praise him, he continues to carry our sorrows. We are so guilty of sin, so hopeless on our own—and yet it is in that condition that Jesus came to save us. Before we chose him and while we were guilty, he came with his great love and gave value to us. The one who we have despised, rejected, and looked down on has delivered us!
The next section that really speaks to our theme this evening is the next couple of verses—verses 5 and 6, “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.”
The section illustrates that pain that Christ endured by way of the cross—the pain of taking care of our debt. He endured the flogging of the soldiers and the crown of thorns; he carried his cross, was nailed to it, and suffered until he finally could breathe no longer. The word crushed describes how he was broken; the experience of being our mediator came at the cost of such injury to his physical body as well as his soul. He was punished for what we have done; the sentence that is rightly charged to us, he endured those consequences.
Jesus had done nothing wrong, he was truly righteous. On Thursday in Corsica, we are going to be looking at the events from the last supper to the crucifixion—and during his trial Jesus told the authorities, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong.” Jesus was silent for the most part—but when he did speak, he proved his innocence. Because he took the punishment that we rightfully deserve, we can have peace. The Hebrew word there is “shalom.” The punishment that brought us well-being and benefit was upon him, that made us complete, that reconciled us to God—this justifying work of Jesus restores the broken relationship that sin has caused.
By his wounds we are healed. Remember last week, we really focused on the punishment. We need the punishment for sin taken away, but we also need a cure from sin. Sin is a sickness; it is something that debilitates us and makes us too feeble to live as we ought. Who can provide that cure? No one other than our mediator and deliverer. Because Jesus stepped in and took death for us, we are healed. We are able again, in his power, to live as whole to seek God’s favor.
There is a skit I came across recently, it is about a young person who goes into a bank, and shares with the teller that he or she just found out they had a huge debt. They want to know how to take care of that. The bank teller goes into their computer, pulls up this young person’s account information, and finds a never ending list of debts that need to be paid off. When that young person sees the total, they know that they do not have the money to pay it; in fact, even if he or she dedicated every minute of their life to working, they still would not be able to. The teller says, “There is no way that you can take care of it—no amount of small payments, no amount of commitment, no agreement to never incur any debt ever again.” The young person responds, “So, you’re telling me I owe this debt, I can’t pay for it, and there’s nothing I can do to pay my debt.” The teller says, “Correct, there’s no way that you could ever pay it because your debt has already been paid in full.”
We go our own way in life over and over again, yet for those who believe in Jesus and repent of their sins, we have a mediator who takes care of the payment in full, and he delivers us from having to endure the debt. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The sum of the debt is completely taken care of—that is the freedom that Jesus makes us able to live in.
Let’s jump down to the end of the passage for our third section, verses 10 through 12. “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…For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
God’s desire immediately following the fall of our first parents was to redeem his creation. Jesus was given this mission that he would go and live a life, being a light to the world. He did not fall into temptation, he did not lack love for God or neighbor. As the Son of God, he knew what it would take to deliver us from sin. He knew what it would take to redeem our lives from the brokenness and wickedness that had entered into this world. There was only one way.
The one way was for holy God to become a perfect man, and take our place. He put on human nature except for sin, and he was submissive to what his Father called him to do. He was the sacrificial payment for our having sinned against the Lord, because no animal, no human sinner, nothing else in all of creation could ever atone for us.
The righteous servant justified many in his death, and he has made intercession for the transgressors. To use the helpful explanation that a Sunday School taught me long ago—he makes it just as if I’d never sinned. He took the place for us, sinners! He willingly gave himself, knowing what it took—he died not for people who do good or who are righteous, but for people that have forsaken the one true God over and over again. What he accomplished in interceding is removing the sin but also restoring us to favor with God. He enables us to be saints!
We have been delivered, we have been given freedom, we are enabled to live as saints! This is the wonderful hope that we as believers can hold onto—we are no longer chained to misery but rather we have been restored to life with God. While we are responsible for despising, rejecting, and condemning Jesus to the cross and grave—we know the story did not end 6 feet in the ground or in a tomb. He came back to life and continues to live! Brothers and sisters, live not in fear controlled by sin, but live in the freedom of knowing that through Christ we can once again have favor with God! Amen.