The Servant
Use these materials to go deeper into this message on your own, or with your small group.
Series Overview
Scripture Passage Handout
Sermon Questions
Good morning Chapel family. It’s been a heavy weekend grieving the loss of Dennis. He was a quiet, faithful man. And he’s going to be missed dearly. So throughout this week, I just invite you to join me in praying for Dennis’ family, and also for the young woman who was driving the car—she needs our prayers too. This is one of those times in life when the promise of Easter becomes so precious, doesn’t it? Death no longer has the final word. Thank God.
So…welcome to the sixth and final Sunday of Lent. For Christians all over the world, this week we’re entering into is considered the most sacred week of the year—it’s often called Holy Week. And today we commemorate the start of that week, when Jesus entered into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. We call it “Palm Sunday,” because as he entered the city, people were waving palm branches in the air to celebrate his arrival. Little did they know what would take place over the next seven days. So—really important week; I hope it’s deeply meaningful to you in your own spiritual life.
The name of our Lent sermon series is “Lead Me to the Cross,” because we that believe every part of the Bible is ultimately about Christ—especially his crucifixion and resurrection. So each week we’ve been looking at a familiar passage from the Old Testament, and we’re asking the question: what does this tell me about what Christ has done for me on the cross, and what difference does that make in my life?
So today we come to one of the richest chapters in the entire Bible—Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah can be a pretty intimidating book, because it’s huge—66 chapters long. But it divides into two parts: the first 39 chapters are basically about God’s judgment, and then chapters 40 through 66 are about God’s comfort and blessing that are coming after the judgment. So roughly speaking, the first half is bad news and the second half is good news. So in that second part—the happy part—we get introduced to this mysterious character called “The Servant.” Isaiah never says who that is, but he talks about him a lot.
The first mention of this servant is in Isaiah 42, verse 1—here’s what God says about him:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.”
So obviously a really important character in God’s plan. In fact, there are four extended passages in Isaiah that are known as the “Servant Songs” of Isaiah, because they’re very poetic descriptions of this coming servant. In case you want to dive into this deeper, I’m just going to put those four passages up on the screen. Of those four, the last one is the longest and the most famous. So the passage we’re looking at today—Isaiah 53—is part of that last Servant Song. For a lot of people, this is the chapter in the Bible that led them to faith in Christ—including a lot of ethnically Jewish people. Today we’re going to talk about a non-Jewish person who came to faith in Christ through this chapter. It’s an incredibly important passage!
So let’s read it together—Isaiah chapter 53. I invite you to receive the Word of God.
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 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. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 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 its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 9 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.
10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, 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. 12 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. This is the Word of the Lord.
So let’s talk first about The Servant’s Description. What do these verses tell us about the Servant, and how can that provide clues to it this might be? I see three main things.
First, His rejection. Whoever this person is, he would experience a lot of rejection. Part of that is because he would be so outwardly unimpressive. Verse two says he would be like a root coming out of dry ground. If you were walking across dry ground and you saw a little root, would you pull out your phone and take a picture of it? No. It’s not a flower; it’s not a majestic oak tree; it’s a little root. You would walk right by. God seems to have a preference for using outwardly unimpressive people. Have you ever noticed that? He doesn’t normally choose the best-educated, most wealthy, people from the healthiest families—many times, he uses just the opposite. Like the prophet Samuel had said when he came to anoint David as the next king of Israel, “The Lord doesn’t look at the things people look at; people look at the outward appearance; the Lord looks at the heart.” So this mysterious Servant would be rejected partially because there would be nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Like a little root growing out of dry ground.
But also, he’d be rejected because of his suffering. See, people like leaders who are strong. Alpha dogs. But it seems like this servant wouldn’t be like that at all: verse 3 says he’d be a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Not just some occasional bumps and bruises; he’d be highly familiar with pain. It would characterize his life. And to most people, that just looks weak. Who wants to follow a weak leader? So it says he’ll be despised and held in low esteem.
So whoever this Servant is, the overall response people would have to him is: “No thanks. Not interested.” If they even notice him at all. Rejection.
Secondly, it talks about His sacrifice. Verses 4 through 7 describe this servant willingly sacrificing himself for the good of others. Most of us like to think we would do that, if we had the opportunity. Right? But the reality is, when the opportunity comes, the majority of us don’t. Back in January, there was a TV meteorologist named Adam Klotz who watched the Giants-Eagles playoff game at a New York bar, and he was headed back home on the subway at around 1:30 AM. Right across from him there was an elderly man being harassed by a group of teenagers. At one point they lit the old man’s beard on fire, and Adam Klotz said, “You can’t do that to him.” So the kids turned on him, and they started punching him. He got off and switched to another train, and they followed him and kept beating him till he was almost unconscious, before they finally moved on. Thank God he survived. But he said he couldn’t help noticing there were dozens of people who saw this happening, and no one stepped in to help. Why not? Because sacrificing yourself for someone else is risky, and sometimes deadly. So we usually don’t do it.
But this Servant of the Lord will. In fact, he won’t just suffer for an innocent person, like the guy on the subway. He’ll step in and suffer for a guilty person! Look at verse 4—Surely he took up…what does it say? …our pain. And bore…what? …our suffering. Verse 5—He was pierced for…our transgressions, he was crushed for…our iniquities. So this person will willingly be punished for someone else’s crimes—someone else’s sins. In other words, he’ll step in as a substitute for the people who actually deserve it. And by the way, when he does that, he won’t demand his rights; he won’t organize a protest; Verse 7 says he’ll be as quiet as a lamb being led to slaughter. What a strange thing, right? But as a result of him doing that, look at the second part of verse 5: the
punishment that brought us…what? …peace was on him, and by his wounds we are…healed. So because of this person’s sacrifice in place of the people who deserve it, those people will receive peace and healing. All because of this suffering servant. Who is this person?
So it talks about his rejection; it talks about his sacrifice. One more thing: His triumph. Verse 11 says After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. So after this Servant goes through this period of intense suffering, somehow his situation is going to turn around. “He will see the light of life.” Verse 10 says …he will see his offspring and prolong his days. Remember, he starts out being rejected by people—everyone is hiding their face from him—nobody wants anything to do with him. But in the end, he will have offspring—in some way there will be descendants that come from this person. So this final Servant Song of Isaiah starts out rough, but it ends in victory.
So: this mysterious Servant of the Lord will be rejected, he’ll sacrifice himself for others, and ultimately he will triumph. Now: it’s worth noting that when you look at the Hebrew poetry here, the Hebrews would often put the most important thing right at the middle of the poem. We would usually put the most important thing at the end, right? The Hebrews would put it right in the middle. And when you look at this final Servant Song, the verse at the very middle is Isaiah 53:5—
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
So in the Holy Spirit-inspired mind of Isaiah, the single most important thing about the Servant was the fact that he would step in and take the place of guilty people, and be pierced and wounded and crushed so they could have peace.
And the obvious question is: who is this talking about?
Point number two: The Servant’s Identity. If you talk to a Jewish rabbi today, they will say the Suffering Servant of Isaiah is not a person; it’s actually the nation of Israel. They point to all the suffering the Jewish people have gone through over the years, and they say, “That’s what this is describing. It’s symbolic language describing the suffering of Israel.” And it’s true that the nation of Israel has been through horrendous suffering, but it’s hard to make sense out of that interpretation. Because you have the nation suffering in place of the nation—I’m not even sure what that would mean.
I genuinely believe that when you read Isaiah 53 with an open mind, you have to work really hard to avoid the obvious.
In the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 8, there’s a story of an African man, from Ethiopia. He’s actually a royal official, and he’s traveled all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem, because he’s spiritually seeking. So on the way back from Jerusalem, he’s riding in his chariot, and one of the early Christian leaders, named Philip, sees him, and it’s kind of funny—he starts running alongside the chariot, and he notices the guy is reading from the book of Isaiah. And he says, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” The guy says, “How can I, if nobody explains it to me?” So he invites Philip up into his chariot. And it says this is the passage the guy was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
And they guy says, “Tell me—who’s the prophet talking about? Himself, or someone else?” And Acts 8:35 says Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. It’s Jesus! He’s the missing piece that solves the whole puzzle! Doesn’t that just leap from the page when you read Isaiah 53? Keep in mind, this was written about 700 years before the birth of Jesus, but the details of this prophecy are staggering.
It says he grew up like a root from dry ground—nothing impressive in his appearance. Jesus was born to a poor family and raised in backwoods town called Nazareth. No education; no money; there was nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
It says he was a man of sorrow, and familiar with pain; Jesus was betrayed by his good friend; denied by one of his best friends; slandered; misunderstood, rejected, and tortured.
Isaiah said people would hide their faces from the Servant, and after the beating he took from the Roman guards, Jesus’ face was so disfigured that people must have turned away in horror.
It says he would be pierced, which is such a specific word, isn’t it? It’s a Hebrew word that means to break the surface and come out on the other side. And on the cross, the hands and feet of Jesus were pierced through by iron nails.
Isaiah said the Servant would be oppressed, which means treated unfairly, and at every one of Jesus’ trials—before Pilate and Herod and Annas and Caiaphas—he was denied the due process of the law and unjustly condemned.
Through all that, Jesus didn’t cry out or complain, which amazed his captors. At one point, Pontius Pilate was so frustrated, he said, “Do you refuse to answer me? Don’t you realize I have the power to free you or crucify you?” And Jesus simply said, “You would have no power at all if God didn’t grant it to you.” Like a sheep before his shearers is silent, Jesus kept amazingly quiet.
And just like the Servant of Isaiah, after he suffered, would see the light of life, on the third day Jesus walked out of his grave, alive. Amen? And we’re going to celebrate that exuberantly next Sunday.
From beginning to end, Isaiah 53 specifically points to the rejection and the sacrifice and the triumph of Jesus Christ. It just couldn’t be any more clear!
And that leads to the final point: The Servant’s Life-Changing Power. For the Ethiopian guy in the chariot, his eyes are opened. This is a painting by the Dutch painter Aelbert Cuyp, depicting the scene. So he realizes the spiritual hunger that drove him to the Jewish temple looking for answers had led him unmistakably to Jesus. And he believes. So as they’re going along in the chariot, he sees a little pond and he says, “Look—there’s some water—is there any reason I can’t be baptized?” Philip says, “No reason at all.” So they pull over by the side of the road, and they walk into the water together, and Philip baptizes him in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and he goes back to Ethiopia a changed man.
And since that time, countless other people have followed in his footsteps—because Isaiah chapter 53 has led them to the cross. It’s really an amazing passage. And the most amazing part about it—the most life-changing part—is that very center part: 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. When you let that be personal, it will melt your heart and change your life, and it will enable you to get through anything in life.
In Charles Dickens’ great novel, A Tale of Two Cities, there are two guys—Charles and Sidney—who are in love with the same woman, and the woman chooses Charles. So they get married and have
children together. But this is during the French Revolution, and Charles gets arrested by the French government; he’s taken away from his family and sentenced to death by the guillotine. So on the night before his execution, the other guy—Sidney, who looks a lot like Charles—gets access to his prison cell. He says, “You have a wife and a child—let’s switch places.” Charles says, “No—that’s crazy!” So Sidney drugs him, knocks him out, switches clothing with him, and has someone carry him out to where his family is waiting.
So the following day, on the way to his execution, he’s approached by a little seamstress woman, who’s also been sentenced to death. And of course she thinks it’s Charles, and she knew Charles, so she starts asking him questions, and he’s trying to dodge the questions. And then all of a sudden, she realizes it’s not him. And she says, “Are you dying for him?” He says, “Shhh-yes. And for his wife and children.” And she says, “I don’t know if I’m going to handle this well, but if someone as brave and generous as you holds my hand, I think I’ll be okay.” And he says yes. “Okay.” And she takes his hand, and they continue walking together.
You know, there’s a reason this is one of the most beloved novels ever written—because it taps into something deep in the human spirit. When we face the hardest things in life, we don’t want to be alone. We draw strength from the strong people around us, don’t we. So here was this man, who was sacrificing his life in the place of another, and just being close to him and holding his hand filled her with strength and calmness and courage, like nothing she had ever known.
And Sidney wasn’t even dying for her! Can you imagine how much more powerful it would have been if he were dying in her place? But you don’t have to imagine! Because the Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ, died in your place. He was pierced for your transgressions, he was crushed for your iniquities. And if you will hold his hand—if you allow this to become personal—you will be changed. If you get close to him and walk with him and trust him, you’ll be filled with a strength and a calmness and a courage, like nothing you’ve ever known. And you’ll be able to face anything.
Because Isaiah 53, just like all of Scripture, leads us to the cross of Christ.
When you’ve broken God’s commands like Adam and Eve, and your guilt makes you want to hide from God, he is the covering that God provides to cover your shame. It’s Jesus.
When you realize your sin makes you worthy of death, like Isaac, he is the ram provided by Jehovah-Jireh, who dies in your place. It’s Jesus.
When you’ve been mistreated like Joseph was, and it feels like there are so many rocks in your backpack you can hardly walk, he is the greater Joseph, who rose from the pit and now he takes all the things done to you that were meant for evil, and he turns them for good. It’s Jesus.
When you’ve become a slave to a substance or a habit or any kind of sin, he’s the Passover Lamb, whose blood is over the door to your heart, and sets you free. It’s Jesus.
When you’re feeling the painful consequences of your sin, like venom through your body, he is the bronze serpent raised up on the pole—just look to him in faith, and you’ll be healed. It’s Jesus.
And when you’re facing the hardest things in life, he’s the Suffering Servant who was pierced and crushed for you, so you could live. It’s Jesus.
The whole Bible leads us to the cross of Christ!
And I hope and pray that as you head into this holy week, you will see him more clearly than you’ve ever seen him before. He’s the hero of the story. He’s the lover of your soul. Trust him. Follow him. Worship him. Because he is worthy.