Sermon Tone Analysis

When we think about the fact that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice does it really change the way we live?

Everything Jesus did, all His suffering was for you and I. Every victory Jesus accomplished by his suffering was accomplished so that you and I can now live in victory.

Growing up I had some really bad (nasty) jobs.

I had to wash dirty dishes at a few different restaurants.

I also had to empty out the dirty grease from the fried foods which was really gross.

Then there were the jobs in college where I had to work the grave yard shift cleaning dirty carpets, and scrubbing the dirty floors.

My first church I worked at as an intern I had to crawl under the building and pull out a dog that had died under the building.

I will never forget that.

But the thing that made those jobs tolerable was knowing that I wouldn’t being doing them forever.

They were hard, uncomfortable, unattractive, and physically exhausting, but I knew they were temporary.

Have you ever noticed someone doing a really dirty job and felt bad for them?

Have you ever noticed or witnessed someone suffering?

A homeless person or someone who is down and out?

I naturally have a tendency to feel bad for people who struggle in this life, people who have tough jobs.

I want to help them out.

I have a deep appreciation for people who work at nursing homes or folks who do things to make our lives better because of what they do.

I also think about one other person, a perfect person who lived his whole life to eventually die for my sin.

Think about that for a moment.

What if you knew that you would not just do dirty uncomfortable work for a season or have a hard labor job for your whole life, but that the ultimate purpose for your existence was to die a cruel and unjust death?

Yeah that was Christ!

That’s why He came, to suffer and die for us.

We see a lot of suffering in our world today.

We see people in Ukraine suffer, we have seen down through history Christians persecuted for their faith.

Over the past several years people have suffered from sickness, we see people suffer from depression and worry and fear.

Not all of us suffer, but there are many who do.

So, why is there suffering in the world today?

Paul David Tripp says, “God intends suffering to pry open our hands so we let go of the things of this earth and hold more tightly to Jesus.”

Are you holding tightly to Jesus?

In other words suffering often comes so that we will lean unto Christ more and more and lean less and less on the things of this world.

Let me ask you today, Is there anything you need to give up in your life that has become more important to you than your relationship with Christ?

How often do we search for happiness, satisfaction, and identity?

Let’s be honest we all search for physical things, even good things that can take the place of our Creator.

Is it possible today that something or someone else has the affections of our heart?

Is there something today that has comforted you too much?

Good things can become bad things when they become ruling things.

So, let’s check our hearts to see if there is something we need to leave at the foot of the cross so that we may fall in love with the Lord and live for Him until He calls us home.

There are several passages in Scripture that address the suffering of Christ.

In most of the gospel accounts we see what the Lord went through for us.

However, I want to take us back to Isaiah and look at what the prophet foresaw before Christ showed up.

This is a picture of the Suffering Servant.

Eventually this prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus came, suffered, and died for mankind.

Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 53.

Let’s start in verse 1.

The first thing I want us to see here is that in spite of the prophecies and the prophets only a few would actually recognize the Servant (Jesus) when he appeared.

When Christ appeared his own people didn’t recognize him and welcome him.

Here is how John explains it.

Here in verse 1 we see mention of the “arm of the Lord.”

In other words, at the first coming of Christ the nation of Israel (His own People) did not recognize the mighty incarnate power of God in the person of Christ.

What power?

The power to heal and do wonderful miracles, the power to transform lives, the power to deliver his people from their sin.

They missed it all together!!!

So my point is this.

Let’s take a look here from Isaiah 53 to see just how and why Jesus suffered.

1. Jesus was despised and rejected.

Has there ever been a time in your life where you have been rejected?

If so, then you understand that this is not a funny matter.

It’s not a place that any of us want to be in.

Rejection flat out stinks!!!

Here in verse 2 we see the author mentions that the Servant had no form or majesty.

He had no beauty that we should desire him.

This doesn’t mean Jesus was and ugly man.

What this does lead us to see is that Jesus was unrecognized by the world.

The Servant would be born in a lowly manger.

He would hang out with sinners and tax collectors.

He would choose to hang out with the not so lovely of the world.

He would generally not associate with those of royalty.

All of this leads us to see that His true identity was only visible to those who had faith in him.

There were many people who thought the coming Messiah would be a Noble figure, a majestic warrior who would save Israel from Roman oppression.

So, there were many who missed the Messiah, but Jesus was not the man they were looking for.

He came humbly to earth, despised and rejected.

Isaiah the prophet foresees and writes about the hatred and rejection by mankind toward the Messiah/Servant in verse 3. Jesus suffered outward abuse but he also suffered internal grief over the lack of faith from those whom he came to save.

Over and over again we see that there was a lack of respect for the incarnate Son of God.

The people did not believe that Jesus was who he said he was.

How sad this was.

Many people witnessed the miracles and power of Christ and yet they hardened their hearts and choose not to believe.

Eventually they asked him who He really was because didn’t see him, they had already rejected him.. Jesus tells them plainly I am the Son of God and because of this they nail him to a cross.

My prayer for us today is that we don’t miss Christ.

That we recognize who He is and what He has done for us.

2. Jesus willingly suffered and stood as our substitute.

Isaiah is telling us here that the Messiah would bear the consequences of the sins of men, namely our griefs and sorrows of this life.

In typical ancient Near Eastern understanding the main reason or source for suffering, or if a person is suffering, is because he or she had done something to deserve it.

(The book of Job is a classic example of this.)

So, if a person is suffering than it is because they are a sinner.

But here we see that Jesus the Servant is stricken or smitten because we are sinners.

I want you to know this today, because we clearly see how Christ suffered on our behalf.

Sadly, as the Jews watched Christ die they thought he was being punished by God for his own sins.

They missed the fact that Jesus loved them and wanted them to know Him.

In verse 5 here we see that Jesus was wounded or pierced for our transgressions.

This verse is filled with language about substitution.

I know the term substitute today sometimes implies inadequacy.

But the substitutionary function of everything Jesus did is one of the chief glories of his work here on earth.

We think of substitutes as being inadequate when compared to the one they are standing in for (like in sports or even a substitute teacher) but the opposite is true in the case of the second Adam, Jesus.

In this case, the substitute was greater than anything or anyone.

Jesus suffered not for his own sin because he was sinless, (Heb.

4:15) but for our sin.

Christ took on himself, God the Father’s wrath, in order for us as believers to have peace with God.

We see this here in verse 5.

Verse 6 helps us to see that sheep are known to be single-minded and unaware of their circumstances.

Their minds are only thinking about the grass right in front of them.

When they get frightened they have the tendency to wonder off in any direction.