ISAIAH 53 – PROCLAIMING HIS DEATH
A MESSAGE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF “THE LORD’S TABLE” or HOLY COMMUNION
· This morning I will preach the greatest message of my career, and will never preach a greater one.
· This morning I will be joined by many other pastors who will preach the greatest messages of their careers, and they will never preach a greater one.
· This morning I will be joined by most of you who will preach the greatest messages of your careers, and yes, you will never preach a greater one.
· An unusual feature of this preaching is that you, I, other preachers and other congregations will all do this preaching without saying a word.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
In verse 26 the word “shew” means to proclaim or to preach. Therefore, every time you or I or any other person who is saved receives communion, we are preaching the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are preaching or proclaiming our faith to others. We are preaching, proclaiming to others our own personal faith in the death of our Savior that we might have forgiveness and eternal life.
It only makes sense that we remind ourselves as to exactly what we are preaching about when we proclaim the death of Christ. And one of the great Scriptures which describe this death so vividly is Isaiah 53.
Remember that Isaiah is writing about 700 BC, hundreds of years before these events actually took place. What our Lord did was in fulfillment of this and other prophecies.
According to Isaiah 53 to proclaim the death of Christ is to:
PREACH HIS REJECTION
Vs. 3 – The word “despised” means to be thought little of.
Here was the very Son of God who was despised.
· He was despised enough to be betrayed by His own familiar friend.
· He was despised enough to be given a mock trial instead of a fair trial.
· He was despised enough to be mocked, spit upon, and beaten.
· He was despised enough to forced into carrying His own cross as far as He was able to carry it.
Not only was Jesus despised, but He was rejected.
Israel as a nation rejected Christ, and most of the people within the nation also rejected Him.
John 1:11 – He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Today the Lord Jesus Christ is still being rejected by people who do not want Him as their Lord and Savior.
In His day, Jesus was despised and rejected of men.
In our day, Jesus is despised and rejected of men.
Has Jesus been despised and rejected by you?
To not accept Him is to reject Him. You can’t be neutral about Jesus.
Luke 11:23 – He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.
Man of Sorrows – Our Lord knew what it was to have His friends forsake Him
Our Lord knew what is was to pour out his heart all night in prayer, knowing that in just a few short hours he would be unfairly crucified on the Cross.
Acquainted with Grief – This acquaintance with grief makes Him the ideal Savior. He did not sit up in Heaven and joyfully announce, “I’ll sit up here and save you!”
Instead He left the glories of Heaven and experienced the same sorrows as we do. And in order to save us He experienced even greater sorrows.
…and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
For all His suffering, the Israelites wanted nothing to do with Jesus. How true that is today. For all that Jesus went through to offer eternal life for all, so many people hide their faces from him, despise Him, and show no respect.
To preach the death of Christ is to:
PREACH HIS BEARING OF MY SIN
Isaiah 53:4 – Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Notice that he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…
What causes grief today? What causes sorrows?
If we had time we could trace back every grief, every sorrow, to one little three letter word, “sin”.
Before man sinned there was no sickness.
Before man sinned there were no natural calamities.
Before man sinned there was no death.
Before man sinned there was no heartache and grief.
So, in order for us to have eternal life, that is, a life of no death, no heartache, no grief, no calamities, and no sickness, someone had to bear away the sin.
Notice that when God sent someone to bear sin that He did not send an angel.
Neither did he send a common man.
Instead, God sent His own son, God Himself, to take care of the problem.
Vs. 4 gives an ironic twist. … yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
This was the attitude of the Jewish rulers who had Jesus nailed to the cross. They accused Jesus of Blasphemy when He told them that He was the Son of God. Consider some of Luke’s account of the crucifixion from Luke 23:34-37.
To preach the death of Christ is to
PREACH HIS SUBSTITUTION
Isaiah 53:5 – 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.
His wounds were for our transgressions.
His bruises were for our iniquities.
The chastisement he received was so that we could have peace with God.
His stripes healed us from our sins.
Isaiah 53:6 – 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.
Just as sheep like to wander off, so do we, into sin.
We leave the right path to do what displeases God.
No one is excluded. All we like sheep have gone astray;
…we have turned every one to his own way;
Now, isn’t this a true definition of sin? We don’t sin because a fellow with a red asbestos suit, a pointed tail, horns, and a pitchfork walks up to us and says, “Hello, I’m the devil! Let’s sin!”
Instead Satan is subtle. He makes us think that we want something, or desire something. We sin when we seek to satisfy ourselves. We turn to our own way.
The guy in the red suit we could turn down.
Yes, we’re guilty of sin, but our sins have been paid for by the Lord Jesus. and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
How important is it for you to have a substitute for your sin? If Jesus did not pay for your sins, you would be judged and forced to pay for your own sins. Matthew 13:49-50
In Mark 9:44 hell is described as a place …Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Praise God for the substitute! 2 Corinthians 5:21
If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are preaching that He is your substitute when you take the Bread and the Cup.
To preach the death of Christ is to:
PREACH HIS BURIAL
Isaiah 53:9 – 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.
In His death Jesus was assigned to die with wicked men, criminals.
A criminal’s death would have meant a criminals grave.
However, he was buried in a rich man’s tomb.
The reason – no violence, no deceit was in Him. Not only was He an innocent man, He was a sinless man.
The grave of Jesus was the tomb of Joseph of Arimethea, the one who laid the Lord Jesus in his own new grave.
I also think that it is important to remember that by being buried in a rich man’s tomb that had never been used, it would be very easy to confirm his death, burial, and especially his resurrection. No other person had been buried in this tomb. And the tomb was empty!
To preach the death of Christ is to:
PREACH HIS RESURRECTION
Vs. 10 – God was certainly satisfied with the work of Jesus on the cross.
Notice, that because God was satisfied, he shall prolong his days.
Jesus’ Days were prolonged by His resurrection from the dead.
Revelation 1:18 – I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Also notice it says that Jesus shall see his seed.
That would be his descendants.
Jesus had no physical descendants.
But Jesus has plenty of descendants.
Every person who places their faith and trust in Christ is a descendant of Jesus who has the same hope of eternal life.
Vs. 11 – May I remind you again of Romans 5:1- Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Because of what Jesus did on the cross, whoever has placed their faith in Christ has eternal life.
Jesus has justified millions of people, including most, if not all in this room.
Jesus has every reason to be satisfied with the wonderful redemption He has wrought for so many.
Vs. 12 – Jesus has a portion with the great.
He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Philippians 2:9-11
We are coming to the Lord’s Table.
We are coming to preach, to proclaim his death.
To preach the death of Christ is to:
PREACH HIS REJECTION
PREACH HIS BEARING OF MY SIN
PREACH HIS SUBSTITUTION
PREACH HIS BURIAL
PREACH HIS RESURRECTION