Isaiah: Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the Suffering Servant
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Preaching Christ Through the Bible |
Isaiah: Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the Suffering Servant
First of all, I would like to Praise and Thank God once again for giving me this privilege to stand here in front of you, my church family, to share God’s word. Whether you are here in person or worshipping with us via livestream, I want to say Good morning, and I’m so blessed to be worshipping God with you all!
Isaiah 9:6 ESV
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder, and his name shall be called[e]
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 53:3-6 ESV
He was despised and rejected[a] by men, a man of sorrows[b] and acquainted with[c] grief;[d] and as one from whom men hide their faces[e] he was despised, and we esteemed him not.4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 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. 6 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.
Have you ever been to a place or a scenery wherein you found yourself in deep marvel and amazement? Isaiah 52:13 starts with the word “Behold.” The word ‘behold” was mentioned many times in the entire book of Isaiah. To “behold” is not to look, observe or view something merely. The word “behold” in Scripture can be translated as “WOW!” It’s almost as if we have been around so much beauty that we have become desensitized to it. Certain things are so beautiful and unforgettable that they burn into your mind's eye forever. I know some of our brethren here love hiking, and they can attest that once you get to the mountaintop where you can see the grandeur and magnificent creation, sometimes the only word you can say is WOW! Right? For me, one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen was on April 15, 2005, a Friday afternoon when the two doors of our BCI church in Garfield swung open, and I saw my Bride in her white dress walking down the aisle towards me on our wedding day. That was one of my best WOW moments!
Sometimes, however, the “wow” portion of beholding is not because of beauty and grandeur, but a shocking reality of something that captures our attention where we can’t look away. Many people remember that kind of wow and awe on 9/11 when the twin towers were crumbling down. That’s exactly how God introduces the passage in front of us today in Isaiah chapters 52-53. If there was ever a portion of Scripture that would cause us to stop in awe and to behold the magnificence of God, I believe it would be this passage. God used Isaiah to prophesy about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with crystal clear preciseness.
As we study this book, we will not be merely looking, observing, or viewing, but I hope and pray today we will “Behold” the most beautiful, yet heart-wrenching words written in Scripture as it details Jesus as the Suffering Servant and yet gives us peace at the same time.
Before we dive into the book of Isaiah with a topic that was assigned to me entitled Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the Suffering Servant, I would like to give you a brief background:
After King David's reign, the promise came in 2nd Samuel chapter 7 that God's kingdom will be established through David’s son forever. Hopes were immediately placed onto King Solomon. But it turned out that King Solomon had turned his heart away from God as well. During King Solomon’s time, the nation was divided into two kingdoms, the Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) kingdoms. There were a few noble kings in the south, as we know, but no human king seemed to be capable of fulfilling this anticipated promise.
The Prophet Isaiah actively prophesied during the reign of the four kings of Judah. King Uzziah, then King Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. But it was not until King Manasseh came in when he wrote this prophecy of hope, grace, and salvation right before God called him home.
So here was the astonishing news, a prophecy says this promised Savior would not only be a reigning King, but he will be a suffering Servant, and His glory will not come until after He had suffered. Furthermore, He would not suffer for any evil that He had done because He would be righteous. Jesus would rather suffer for the sin that everyone else has done. He would suffer vicariously. This is a new revelation from God through the Prophet Isaiah.
Jesus Christ came and was obedient unto death, according to God’s promised plan.
I would like to give you some groundwork and foundations of this section of the Scripture, Isaiah 53. This story started from Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. I must admit that Isaiah’s book is a little bit complicated, but this Scripture right here is so beautiful and so rich!
Isaiah 53 has been called by some scholars in the past “The Fifth Gospel.” In addition to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John because it so accurately portrays the events that occurred in Jesus’ life.
Augustine said way back in the fifth century, “It is not a prophecy, it is a gospel.”
Martin Luther himself said, “Every Christian ought to be able to repeat it by heart.”
Charles Ryrie commenting on Isaiah 52:13-53:12, writes that "This is one of the most treasured and important passages in the OT.”
Charles Spurgeon called it "the Bible in miniature, the Gospel at its essence."
Isaiah has been called the ”messianic prophet” because of the number of prophecies about the coming Messiah. Of all the Old Testament writings that prophesy about Christ, Isaiah 52 and 53 are the pinnacle, the heart of the Old Testament. In the New Testament, we have thirty clear citations of this Scripture and over 80 different allusions to it.
Isaiah 52 and 53 capture the person and the work of Christ and the atoning sacrifice with precision and clarity. Almost 700 years before Jesus was born, His death was announced and detailed. Here Isaiah calls us to look on this servant and be astonished.
Sections of Isaiah:
There are sixty-six chapters in the book of Isaiah, with two distinct sections:
1. Chapters 1-39: God's judgment of the southern kingdom of Judah
2. Chapters 40-66: grace and salvation, which come through the Messiah
There are also sixty-six books in the Bible
1. There are 39 books in the Old Testament
2. There are 27 books in the New Testament
3. The emphasis in the Old Testament is God's judgment
4. The emphasis in the New Testament is God's salvation and grace
Now, let’s dive into the truths about Jesus Christ in these scriptures. Please allow me to share with you some pointers & truths that we have for today.
I. JESUS IS THE PRINCE OF PEACE
We just read the verse for this in Isaiah 9:6… His name shall be called the Prince of Peace.
We can also see this truth in Isaiah 53:5 - upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
The punishment that was given to Jesus brought us all peace.
And there are three truths that I would like to share with you. Half of Isaiah (40-66) has three sections and each has nine chapters. I will explain those in our three truths as we go along.
A. The Promise of Peace (Chapters 40-48) 1st section –Salvation from the Babylonian captivity.
Isaiah was called to proclaim the judgment of Israel and Judah. But in this section, Isaiah also shares a sense of comfort because of how their Almighty God will come to gather His people and rule the earth like a shepherd who takes care of his sheep.
Isaiah 40:11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young.
Isaiah announced that there are prophecies that would play a key role in Israel’s restoration and renewal. First, the Lord will raise the Persian ruler named Cyrus as His “anointed one” to secure Israel’s release from the exile. Persia would conquer Babylon and issue the decree that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland.
Isaiah 44:28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
But beyond Israel’s exile from the Babylonians, the more significant issue impending their restoration was the problem of Israel’s sin and separation from the Lord.
This leads me to the 2nd truth
B. The Provision of Peace - (Chapters 49-57) 2nd section –the Salvation from sin.
While Israel suffered for its sins, the Servant of the Lord would suffer for the sins of others. We can see that from Chapter 53:4-6. And I will talk about more of this later on, my last point – talking about the Suffering Servant. Who is this servant that Isaiah was referring to?
What else can we see here? The servant is crushed for Israel’s sins and that His punishment would bring healing and restoration for God’s sinful people. He would be like an innocent lamb led to the slaughter, and he would be cut off from the land of the living.
I also would like to mention other significant passages:
John 1:29 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Which John recalls from Isaiah 53:7.
Romans 5:8 8 , but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
C. The Program of Peace (Isaiah 58-66) 3rd section – Salvation from the cursed Earth. Deliverance of the Earth from the curse and the glorious coming Kingdom of the Messiah.
The prophet Isaiah called the people of Israel for true repentance and commitment to righteousness. And the only cure for Israel’s sin was that the Lord would have to arm Himself as an Anointed Warrior and deliver them.
The Lord would exact revenge on Israel’s enemies but the real enemy to be destroyed was sin itself. The Lord’s mighty arm would destroy evil, and the gift of the Spirit as part of His new covenant with Israel would enable His people to live in righteousness and obedience.
Isaiah 59:20-21
20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord. 21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
In Isaiah 60-62, the focus is the future glories of Zion (meaning the “highest point”-“holy place,” and today it’s known as the Promised Land) as the center of the Lord’s earthly kingdom. The nations will be drawn to Jerusalem, and the light of God’s salvation, and nations will bring tribute to Zion in honor of the Lord.
The fulfillment of Isaiah 61 in the ministry of Jesus demonstrates that the final restoration of Israel points to the kingdom blessings that will be consummated or will happen at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the future kingdom established at Christ’s second coming, Jesus will rule overall, and all will bow before Him in recognition of His sovereignty (we can see that in Philippians 2:10-11)
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In the millennial kingdom, the nations will come to Zion to worship and serve the Lord (Isaiah 2:1-4; 60:1-9 and Revelation 20:1-10) to anticipate the new heavens, new earth, and new Jerusalem where the righteous will dwell with God forever. And we can see that in Isaiah 66:22-23 and Revelation 21-22.
So, after seeing these three truths, what additional lessons are there?
That there is also a warning here, in every last verse of the 1st two sections - Isaiah 48:22 & Isaiah 57:12
22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” Isaiah 48:22
22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” Isaiah 57:12
According to the bible, true peace is only available through Jesus Christ. Peace is the most significant daily benefit of knowing Jesus Christ. Not success, not money, fame, or power. It is in knowing HIM that brings Peace!
This time, I would like to share a personal testimony. In 2005, my dad was brought to the ER and was told that he needed a triple heart bypass operation asap. To be honest, that brought us a lot of worries, anxiety, and fear. I was worried not only about the financial aspect of it, knowing that the surgery & hospitalization bills in the Philippines can go sky high, but most of all is the risk involved in being on the operation table to have open-heart surgery. So one day, as I was by myself in our apartment in Belleville. I went to our living room and went on my knees and started praying, crying out to the Lord, asking for God’s intervention and for Him to spare my dad. And do you know what happened during that prayer? In His mighty works, the Holy Spirit instantly replaced worries, anxieties, and fear with joy and assurance. Suddenly I felt His comfort, and I started remembering God's faithfulness to our family in the way that God is providing for all our needs and that He never failed us. The Holy Spirit began to remind me of how God is using my dad in His ministry and that His will for him will continue to prevail no matter what. Then I found myself crying, but this time with joy that I ended up crying while laughing (I know it’s weird), but I couldn’t explain. I'm not sure if that ever happened to you before you were crying because of the worries and uncertainties then suddenly replaced with joy, because of the assurance of what God has promised to you?
I will never forget that moment because that was the unexplainable peace that I have experienced from the Holy Spirit. And another one just happened the last year, 2020, in April, when our family got infected with the Covid-19 virus, and as some of you may know, my grandmother, Inay Linda, went to be with her Savior. We all Praise and Thank God for the peace that He has given to all of us. We know that Covid-19 did not take our Inay Linda, but our Savior and Creator called her home. And I’m sure that Jesus, together with thousands and thousands of Angels in heaven, welcomed her with these words “well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master”. So last month, April 11th, we celebrated her homecoming anniversary in heaven. Not a death anniversary but homecoming because she is now home with her Savior and Creator!
Peace is what the world desperately needs today.
A great bible verse also that talks about peace is in John 14:27:
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
This is what the Prince of Peace offered to his followers and what he offers to everyone. It is not just the pie-in-the-sky peace, but it’s the kind of peace that is steady in storms. This is the kind of peace that sustains us, the peace we long to have every time our lives take a turn for the worse. This is the kind of peace that Christians have always known in hard times. The peace that only comes from Jesus Christ!
And perhaps it’s worth pointing out that the peace we enjoy through Christ is not necessarily circumstantial. It is not that the Prince of Peace will fix everything in your life or my life. There will certainly be difficulties and hardships that we will have to face. There are conflicts we have to endure, broken relationships we have to navigate or need to be mended or just learn to live with. But what Jesus promises is a deep, personal and spiritual peace despite life's circumstances. And where do we see that? Here is one of my favorite verses.
John 16:33 NIV
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
II. JESUS AS THE ASTONISHING SERVANT
A. The Suffering Servant (v. 3-4)
We can see that there are two contrasting servants:
1. The unfaithful servant: Israel, who repeatedly failed to be all that God wanted them to be as a light to the world
Isaiah 41:8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend.
2. The perfect, ultimate servant of the Lord: the Messiah, who perfectly fulfilled the will of God (Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12).
Have you ever thought about what if the promised Messiah, the Savior, came as a mighty man of war? People would most likely be inclined to follow him or his might, right? But with Jesus’ lowly appearance, this was not an option. The only explanation for the effectiveness of Jesus’ ministry would be His total dependency on God and His commitment to carry out God’s plan, even in the face of suffering. Far from being applauded by men, Isaiah says He will be “despised and rejected.” His suffering is not just a momentary part of His experience, but rather, it would be the characterizing feature of it. The Bible says Jesus would be a “man of sorrows” and acquainted with grief.”
Being an enemy of God is our natural condition apart from the Saving Grace of God. And that’s why the cross of Christ is not optional, but it is essential.
One of the things I’ve learned from Pastor Jerry’s classes on How to preach the Bible and currently the Systematic Theology is the word
“Total Depravity,” which means, in a more straightforward way, “the inability of man to change his position from being unsaved to saved.” We really can’t save ourselves on our own, and that’s why God has to intervene.
When the suffering servant came, He experienced the suffering and shame that was part of sin’s penalty, though the sin He suffered was not His own. He willingly endured this suffering, not because He deserved it, but because it was required for Him to walk in complete obedience to His Father's will and because of His extravagant love for all of us.
God put an end to the hostility between Himself and sinful humanity by sending His beloved Son to suffer and die for us to reconcile with Him and have eternal life, for those who believe and will put his faith on Him.
John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Have you ever heard someone telling you that you know there’s only one God, and we all pray to the same God regardless of what religion you belong to? We all pray in different ways & we’re doing our best to come to him, but there’s only one God. Here’s what I’ve learned there. What they are saying is like this:
Imagine a mountain, and on top of it is God, and at the bottom, you will find all kinds of religions on earth represented, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, even some Christians who are trying to climb and reach the top to be with God. Everyone is trying their best on their ways to get to the top by doing good works, giving to the poor, etc.. Still, real Christianity that the Bible teaches is that Jesus Himself came down to us, left heaven to reach out to us, and was willing to suffer so we can have a relationship with Him. That is what authentic Christianity meant.
B. The Substituted Servant (v. 5-6)
Matthew 8:17 NASB
17 This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: “He Himself took our illnesses and [u]carried away our diseases.”
1 Peter 2:24 ESV
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Vicarious atonement also called as substitutionary atonement – means God substituted Jesus so that He got our punishment instead
Let’s take a look at these substitutions:
A. The innocent is substituted for the guilty
B. The perfect is substituted for the imperfect
C. The sinless one is substituted for the one with the iniquity
You might ask, why would this Servant sacrifice himself to be pierced, crushed and chastised? His motivation was simple: His Love For us!
He went to the cross for us! His death was substitutionary. He stood in our place and died on the cross for us.
“God treated Jesus Christ the way we deserve to be treated so that He could treat us the way Jesus Christ deserves to be treated”
As a result, those to whom His blood are applied received His healing and peace. What rightly belonged to man (sin, suffering and death) was placed upon Him. What rightly belonged to Him (righteousness and life) was given to man, through repentance and faith in Him.
One of my favorite verses. I love when the bible puts everything together in 1 verse.
1 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Illustration: Dark stone and a white napkin
**The stone represents us, and the napkin is the righteousness of Jesus Christ
**Cover the stone with a white napkin. Do you see the flaws on the stone which represents us, no right? The same thing applies when God looks at us, He does not see us for who we are but instead, He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we received from His work of salvation.
Conclusion:
The sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ, was the fulfillment of God's promise to send a Savior. He was the suffering servant and our substitute. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, as proclaimed by John the Baptist. He suffered in our place. He died for our sin. He took the punishment we deserved. He did all of this to obey the will and plan of His Father fully, walking in perfect obedience and surrender to Him. Because of His perfect obedience, we can be counted free even to the death on a cross.
Behold, the cross that brought our Lord Jesus Christ to die brings us to live. Not only did He die on the cross as our substitute, but He also rose from the dead three days later. And in Him, we have life.
And my hope and prayer are that this message would be a constant reminder to all of us about what our Lord Jesus Christ had been through as the Suffering Servant. It is for our sake and yet able to give us peace at the same time. And if we treasure that, it would also be an excellent motivation for us all to share to others about that Extravagant Love that Jesus is offering to everyone!
-Bro. Jhun Ona