TEXT: Isaiah 52:13-54:1

SUBJECT: Christ in the Old Testament #27: Suffering Savior

Today, with God’s blessing, we’ll proceed in our study of Christ in the Old Testament. For the last few weeks, we’ve seen Him dressed in purple—as befits a King. Today, though, He’s wearing a different color. Now, He’s wearing red.

Our chapters describe a Man dying in the most appalling way you could think of. In a world where torture was normal, "His visage was marred more than any man". Kings jaded by the horrors of war, were "startled" when they saw Him and "shut their mouths" in the presence of Infinite Suffering.

Who is the Man? It is Jesus Christ. We know that because the New Testament says so. A man from Africa was sitting in his chariot one day reading the chapter. Deeply moved by it, he was still puzzled as to its subject. Was it the prophet himself—or Someone Else? Thankfully, an Evangelist was walking by at the time, and

"Beginning at this Scripture,

The Dying Man, therefore, is Jesus Christ.

The word, "dying" may be too polite and fuzzy. Here, we don’t have someone just "dying", but a Man being killed—slowly and publicly put to death.

Who killed Jesus Christ?

Up until about 60 years ago, many Christians blamed the Jews. All over the world, they were called "Christ-killers", and persecuted for their crime.

Is there any truth in that? If you read the Gospels you know there is. It was the Rulers of Israel who turned Him over to Pilate and demanded His death. And not just the Rulers; when the people had to choose between the Christ and Barabbas, they chose the latter to release, and sent our Lord to the cross. When asked if they would take the responsibility, they cried,

There is some truth in saying the Jews killed Jesus Christ. It’

Today, most Christians are more "democratic". They say "We all killed the Lord".

If you read the Gospels, you’ll find both Jew and Gentile, both the powerful and the ordinary man implicated in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And, of course, if He was "wounded for our transgressions", then He wouldn’t have died if we hadn’t sinned.

Is there any truth in this? There is.

Both answers are partly true. But neither is good enough. The answer is deeper than these—and more shocking, too!

Who killed Jesus Christ?

It was God. The tenth verse says so…twice,

"Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief…"

God planned the crucifixion (cf. Acts 2:23); He did nothing to stop it; He added to its pain (cf. Psalm 22:1).

The pagans laughed at Christianity because—they said—its god had been killed by men. But they missed the joke entirely. The punch line of our faith is not that Jesus Christ died at the hands of cruel men, but that He died at the Hands of a Just God!

God killed the Lord Jesus Christ. He did it without a drop of mercy. I won’t linger long on the words, but what else could they mean?

• "He was smitten by God and afflicted"

• "He was wounded and bruised".

• "His stripes".

• "He was oppressed and afflicted".

• "Led as a lamb to the slaughter…"

• "Taken from prison…cut off from the land of the living".

If you read the New Testament, you’ll see every one of these torments inflicted on Jesus Christ. And more.

Think of His trials. The Jews falsely accused Him, made Him testify against Himself, and punched Him in the mouth when He didn’t play along. Herod’s men dressed Him in purple, to mock His Lordship. Pilate nearly beat Him to death. The soldiers crowned Him with thorns and nailed Him to a cross. Then the gawking began and the ridicule.

Then God "piled on" forsaking His Son when He needed Him most. Paul found the right verse when he described the Lord’s last hours,

We’ve all heard of appalling deaths. The American POWs were marched to death in Bataan; the Russians were frozen to death in Siberia; Cambodians were starved to death; Christians were burned at the stake; people tortured all over the world. Yet of all the grisly deaths—of all the hideous ways to go—none compares the cross of Jesus Christ.

Lamentations 1:12 points to our Lord,

Churches have done a grave disservice to Christ. By setting shiny white crosses on their roofs and decorating their interiors with gold crosses, and so on, they have hidden the Truth and sanitized the Gospel.

We should set up crosses that stink of blood and sweat and urine and feces and rotting flesh! Then we’d have some inkling of the death Christ died.

Our Lord died. He died an excruciating death. At the hands of God. But why did He die?

Is it because He deserved to die? Most people thought He did. They

Their logic was impeccable. The friends of Job would have agreed entirely. The Rabbi of Nazareth made all kinds of extravagant claims. He said He was God, for example, and that no one could be saved without faith in Him. Most Jews took that for blasphemy and that--under the Law of God—is punishable by death. Because they were an occupied nation, they couldn’t execute a man themselves, so God did it for them!

Were they right?

The prophet says they were not! In fact, he says,

Pontius Pilate agreed. After interrogating the Lord, he came out and said, "I find no fault in this Man". King Herod couldn’t either. Not even the Hebrew Court could convict Him of anything, without tampering with the witnesses. The character and conduct of our Lord is spotless.

Yet He was condemned. By God.

Why? Because He

This means: Jesus Christ did not die because He was guilty, but because we are! Everything sinners deserve He got. Pain, loneliness, darkness, ridicule, the curse of God.

This is what the old Christians meant when they said He Descended into Hell—not that He dropped into the Lake of Fire after His death—but that He suffered all the agonies of hell on the cross!

For us.

The story of Barabbas is full of rich irony. How strange it is that he—the guiltiest man—would go free because the Holiest Man went to the cross that was built for Barabbas.

And not only Barabbas. All God’s people feel the same way. Because He died, we get off!

And who’s the "we" who get off? John 3:16 could not be clearer.

HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO CHRIST’S DEATH?

How should we respond to the Lord’s death? We’re apt to feel sorrow or pity. But we shouldn’t. He’s not sorry for what He did—and we shouldn’t be either!

What we should do is rejoice,

The imagery is that of a woman, long married, but unable to have a child. At last, though, the baby arrives, and the dear lady bursts into song! Read the songs of Hannah and Elisabeth for cross-reference.

Why should we be so happy about it? Because it means our sins are forgiven, that we belong to God now, and that we’ll go to heaven when we die. If that won’t cheer you up, I don’t know what will!

The death of Christ is enough to save sinners. Sinners who are already saved, of course, and sinners who are not yet saved. The offer of salvation is sincere and universal. You can have it. You can have it right now. But only by believing in Christ.

Why don’t you do it?

One more thing: If salvation is due to the death of Christ alone, that means I cannot be proud of myself or what I do for God—or don’t do. No, it’s all Him. Galatians 6:14.

The Love of God be with you all. For Christ’s sake. Amen.