Grow With Pastor Joe

In the third stanza of Isaac Watts’ famous hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” we sing “See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?” Can you survey the wondrous cross and be unmoved? As a pastor I preach each week and much of the time it seems as though God’s own redeemed flock, the Body of Christ, His dear Bride, is unmoved by the cross. The cross is old hat for many believers whose hearts are lukewarm and stagnant. Yet, nothing heats up the heart and stirs its mirky waters like the cross. Nothing is comparable to the preaching of the cross and Christ crucified, buried, risen, ascended, and reigning!

As we behold the Lord Jesus Christ through His word, what should our response be? I believe that a response that should be at the top of the list but is normally left off of the list is the response of trembling. Trembling is the natural response of sinful man in the presence of a holy God. There at the cross we see the infinite depth of God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness. There are an eternal depth and intensity when we consider the person and work of Christ seen perhaps most clearly at the cross of Calvary. I believe that the reason that many believers know little triumph over sin is because we know little of trembling over our sin or trembling before our Savior. Sin should trouble us and cause us to tremble for each sin is an intentional spitting in the face of a holy loving God. Considering what our Savior went through because of our sin should cause us to tremble because we are faced with the horrors of our sinfulness and the holiness of our Savior.

Approaching Isa. 52:13-53:12, we should tremble. This is indeed holy ground. Last week, we began our study of Isaiah’s fourth “Servant Song” which describes the promised Messiah-King. Here, we wee that the Lord Jesus Christ is predicted, proclaimed, and praised for who He is and what His sufficient work has accomplished. Isaiah is writing this to a people who had deserted their God and began to play the harlot. They had outward ceremonies, but there was no heart of worship. There is observance of rituals, but there was no obedience to the law of God. Judah and Israel both would face judgment for their idolatry and immorality; however, God in His grace and mercy proclaims through the prophetic ministry of Isaiah that there is a Messiah-King who is both the Sovereign God and God’s Servant. He is the God-Man, the man Christ Jesus. He is predicted to come and not merely reverse their captivity but put an end to their captivity to sin which is mankind’s greatest need. Furthermore, this same Servant of God will bring about not just a greater earthly kingdom than ever known before, but He will make a new heavens and new earth for the redeemed to enjoy eternally with Him. In our first message of this series, we described the importance of this section of Isaiah. Isaiah is a Bible in miniature, and this section declares the gospel with incredible clarity, especially as we remember that this is being written centuries prior to the birth of Jesus. The details of His person and work are written so clearly because this is being written in the past tense after Israel has been restored under His kingship in the coming Millennial Kingdom after His second coming. Isa. 52:13-15 act as an overview of the section which covers the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel declares and demonstrates the eternal grace and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in this chapter, we see the gospel magnified in our eyes. This introductory section also demands that we behold our Savior. He deserves, desires, and demands our attention, admiration, and affection. We should tremble at these truths. We must behold His revelation, His exaltation, His humiliation, and His expiation. Today we will cover Isa. 52:14-15, but to remind us of the bigger picture, let’s see what the whole section of Isa. 52:13-53:12 says.

“¹³ Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. ¹⁴ As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: ¹⁵ So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. ¹Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? ² For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. ³ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. ⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. ⁹ And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. ¹¹ He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

            First, we must behold His humiliation in Isa. 52:14. Have you ever been embarrassed? Humiliated? Mocked? Ridiculed? It is a very human experience, yet could you imagine that the King of Glory would be humiliated? Who could imagine that the Holy One of God would be humiliated by mankind created by Him from dust and would then despise and reject Him? We must see His humiliation to see the horror of our sin and to fully understand the horrors of the cross. To our shame, we have made the cross a decoration. We have made it less than it is. We don’t like to think too hard about the horrors of Christ’s humiliation upon the cross because then we would have to be humiliated ourselves because of our horrible sin that was placed on Him there. There are two things that we must consider as we behold His humiliation in this verse.

One, we must consider His astonishing humiliation. This astonishing humiliation will be described in greater detail in Isa. 53:1-9 which we will cover as we continue this study. We see the phrase “as many were astonied at thee.” Notice that the language is now being directed to the Lord Himself. It is a declaration to Him of the astonishment that His people experienced at His first and will experience at His second coming. The word “astonied” is the Hebrew word “shamen” which is a word that gives the idea of desolation cause by some great disaster. It is also used in the sense of being appalled, horrified, and shocked. This word is used throughout the Old Testament and is never used to describe a positive reaction. Just as sinners are horrified by the holiness of God (ask Isaiah about his experience), believers should be horrified by unholiness. Here, Isaiah is describing that the Jewish people are horrified, shocked, and laid to waste over the humiliation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews could not imagine a Messiah-King who would be a servant and suffer such horrifying cruelty. They are desolated by His desolation and are distressed by His distress. All the world is astonished by Jesus. All of creation is astonished at His person and work. Think about His entrance into the world. He is the virgin born baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger who is an outcast of His own people. Astonishing. He lives a sinless, perfect, and blameless life. Astonishing. He teaches with authority for He possesses all authority. Astonishing. He willingly gives Himself into the hands of sinners to lay down His life to offer eternal life to all who believe. Astonishing. He goes into a grave and is resurrected on the third day. Astonishing. All that He is and does is astonishing, but when we think about His humiliation, we should experience the same shock and shame that Isaiah is writing about. In Acts 9, Paul sees Christ and trembles and is astonished at Him. What a picture!

Two, we must consider His agonizing humiliation. You and I know little of agony. Even the most agonizing pain that you have ever experienced pails in comparison to the sufferings of Christ. He is the suffering Servant of God! He is the Man of Sorrows! Isa. 52:14 goes on to say, “his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” The face (visage) and form (body) of Jesus was marred. He was beaten, battered, bruised, and bloodied. The word “marred” is the word “mishat” which means distorted or disfigured. The Messianic Psalm 22 describes this saying, “¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. ¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. ¹⁶ For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. ¹⁷ I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. ¹⁸ They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” The idea of this marring is that the humiliation of Jesus’ death for sinners was so agonizing that he looked less than human. Truly, He looked like the slaughtered Lamb of God that He was. We don’t like to speak of the horror and grotesqueness of the cross because we’d like to think that our sin is not horrible and grotesque. The humiliation of Christ should humiliate every sinner and humble us ever time that we sin again against the Holy One of God. Our disgusting disobedience was the reason for His disfigurement of agony and anguish. I was marred by my sin, but then Jesus was marred by and for my sin. He was disfigured for my disobedience. This agonizing humiliation goes beyond just the horrors of the cross. Jesus was born into agony and lived as one who was despised and rejected. Furthermore, we mustn’t forget Gethsemane, the garden and place of pressing. There, hours before His physical torture began, His agonizing torment for our sins began. Luke 22:41-44 describe this agony in the garden saying, “⁴¹ And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, ⁴² Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. ⁴³ And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. ⁴⁴ And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” The agony of Gethsemane prepared Jesus for the agony of Golgotha. The agonies of the death and work of Christ on the cross is much more than the three nails that we often think of. The gospels describe Jesus being beaten and flogged. The Roman scourging often killed the victim before they ever made it to the cross because of the intensity of pain and blood loss. However, the lictors was so skilled that he could rip open the flesh of the victim repeatedly without killing him as in the case of Jesus. Each lash from the whip would bring ball bearings, bone, and metal into the skin of the back and sides of the victim. Jesus was exposed to dozens of these strikes. Isaiah 50:6 predicted all of this suffering in Isaiah’s third Servant Song saying, “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” We can’t imagine spitting in Jesus’ face and yet we are without trembling over our sin which is nothing else but a glob of spit in His holy eye or a punch to His already marred face. His agony went from Gethsemane to Golgotha where He then faced the cup of which He dreaded. This cup of infinite wrath against sin and sinners was sipped by the Savior for hours in the darkness and loneliness of the cross. We’ll discover the depths of this agony and horror as we continue our study into Isaiah 53. I encourage you to go read the gospel accounts of His humiliation or read Phil. 2:5-8. Read each of those passages slowly. Behold the Man! Behold the Lamb! Behold the Servant of God. Behold the Savior! Is there still no trembling in your heart?

            Second, we must behold His expiation in Isa. 52:15. Expiation is the act of making atonement or reparation. The work of Christ on the cross is the full atoning work that alone is able to cleanse the stain of our sin. As Isaiah described it in Isa. 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Nothing can atone for your sins but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing but His blood will do. Jesus faced humiliation for the expiation of the infinite guilt and shame of sinful man. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Now, notice the phrase, “so shall he sprinkle many nations.” The word “sprinkle” is the Hebrew word “nāzâ” which means to sprinkle, spurt, or to startle by causing to leap up. I believe that there is a two-fold meaning and application.

One, we see the sprinkling deals with the redeeming work of Christ as both the Great High Priest and the very Lamb of God. Jesus’ crucifixion was during the Passover. He Himself is the Passover Lamb which points us back to Exodus 12. The children of Israel were given specific instructions on how to choose and slaughter a lamb whose blood would be applied upon the door posts in faithful obedience to God’s command while avoiding His judgment. Interesting, isn’t it? God says you are under my judgment but there is a way to avoid it. That little lamb would face the judgment so that the family would be safe inside as God judged the people throughout Egypt in Exodus. Jesus, the Lamb of God, died so that we could live and faced judgment so that we could be cleansed, forgiven, and pronounced pardoned. Furthermore, we see the idea of this redeeming sprinkling in the priestly work. Read through the description of the Day of Atonement found in Lev. 16. This was the one day of the year where the High Priest would represent the people to God in the Holy of Holies by entering in through the veil and sprinkle blood upon the Mercy Seat. However, that priest had to make sacrifice for his own sin first before he could offer sacrifice for the sins of the people. Furthermore, on that day, there would be one animal slaughtered whose blood would be sprinkled, but another would have the sins of the people “transferred” on it and it would be led out into the wilderness away from the people as a scapegoat. Jesus Christ is both and He is better. Now, go read Heb. 9 and see that Jesus, the Holy Lamb of God and scapegoat has sprinkled and offered His own sinless blood for the salvation of sinners who repent and believe. I believe that this redeeming sprinkling is first in the meaning and application in Isa. 52:15. Notice that it is the sprinkling of “many nations” for Jesus has redeemed people from every tribe and tongue all to the praise of His glory and grace.

Two, we see the sprinkling as well does a reigning work in the sense that Jesus will reign over these nations that are sprinkled. Remember, the word “sprinkle” gives the idea of being startled and jolted. This too makes perfect sense based upon the context of the previous verse and following passage that deals with the astonishment that the world and the Jews have when they see the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will indeed startle the nations upon His return in Rev. 19:11-21. Rev. 1:4-8 as well describes Jesus upon His return to rule and reign over the nations. Every eye will see Him and will be absolutely startled and shocked at Him as He comes in glory with His eyes as a flame of fire and out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword. The nations will be so startled that “the kings shall shut their mouths at him.: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” Psalm 2 describes those very same kings of nations scheming and speaking rebellious things against the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I like how Habakkuk 2:20 puts it, saying, “But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” On the day that all the world sees Christ return with His redeemed Bride, there will not be one who will not tremble and will not fall silent before Him.

If all the world trembles at His might and majesty, how much more should we as we behold Him in this passage? He is the reigning redeemer who has sprinkled us with His blood to cleanse us and who startles the nations who have rebelled against Him. As we behold the person and work of Christ, the response that should spring from our heart should be an eternal “Hallelujah, what a Savior!” There is none like Him! There is no other Savior! No other Servant-King! To behold Him is to give all of your attention, admiration, and affection. When is that last time that you beheld Him? If you can behold Him and remain the same, then there is a terrible issue within your soul. When is the last time that you trembled at the deep things of God? Do you tremble over the horrors of the cross? Will you tremble over your sin and before your Savior who was humiliated and desolated for you? Read these words of the old Negro Spiritual hymn, “Were You There?” “Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Were you there when God raised him from the tomb? Were you there when God raised him from the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?” Behold your sin and your Savior and tremble, tremble, tremble. God give us trembling!