Pastor Ted Whitaker, PhD, CLP
Sunday March 29, 2009
Sermon Delivered to Annapolis and Hopedale Presbyterian Churches
“Jesus Death on the Cross Foretold"
Today is the fifth Sunday in lent and we are going again to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross and what it means for us.
This is the fifth sermon in the series “Jesus Death on the Cross Foretold”.
We have seen very explicit references to Jesus death in the Old Testament scriptures in the previous sermons in lent.
The best of all is Psalm 22 that has 7 major verses that describe a crucifixion scene including piercing of hands and feet written by the prophet David 1000 year before crucifixion was invented by the evil Roman Empire.
If you missed that sermon it is publish on the “Thy Word Is Truth” Hopedale Annapolis blog spot.
The second week of lent’s sermon was from the prophet Zachariah on the ‘Thirty Pieces of Silver”.
Last Sunday’s sermon was on the substitutionary sacrifice Isaac on the rock on Mt. Mariah better known as Calvary in the city of Jerusalem.
I will be posting these on the hopedaleannapolis blog spot.For today’s message we will consider a passage from the Messianic prophet of the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah.
And those of you who heard the series of Advent sermons that I gave may remember why I call Isaiah the Messianic prophet.
I used quote after quote from this prophet as Scripture readings for the season of advent and let me give your just a small sampling of the references to the long awaited Messiah that were given just before the birth of Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem.
Briefly, here are the nativity prophecies of Isaiah.
“For a child will be born to us and a son will be given to us and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace and There will be no end to the increase of His government…
(That is chapter 7) and then later in chapter 11 we hear, “Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him.”
And then in chapter 35 we hear about the Messiah’s miracles, “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, then the lame will leap like the deer and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy…
Then the word of John the Baptist are really from the mouth of Isaiah, “Clear away for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God… then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together…
And later again in chapter 42 Isaiah’s voice speaks of Messiah, “Behold, My servant whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My Soul delights, I have put My Spirit upon Him; He brings justice to the nations.
But Isaiah is not done until the book is complete and his Messianic voice is finial silenced in his death in 681 BC.
Isaiah lived in the time of King Hezekiah of Judah. The kingdom Israel was destroyed by King Shalmeneser of Assyria in 722 BC in Isaiah life time.
So late in the book of Isaiah in Chapter 60, the voice of Isaiah is revealing the Messiah with these words,” Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Isaiah speaks of the light of the world and the dawn of the glory of Christ.
And in the next chapter 61 we have the last direct reference to the Messiah which Jesus of Nazareth himself quotes when he was asked to read the scriptures in a synagogue in Galilee.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, and to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;
and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.
So from beginning to end the book of Isaiah has one strong Messianic voice and it is proof positive that Isaiah was written by one man and one man alone.
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. For the evidence of scripture support only one author.
But today we will focus on the description from Isaiah of the suffering and death of the Messiah on the cross and that is chapter 53.
(Isaiah’s prophesy in this short chapter 53 is so vivid a description of Jesus of Nazareth’s passion in Holy Week that it is unmistakably as direct reference to Jesus).
So much so that it is a forbidden chapter and is never read in Jewish synagogues and temple today.
We hear today in the Old Testament s reading Isaiah’s words about the suffering servant of the Lord Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah. “He was despised and forsaken of men, A Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we esteem Him not.
And later we have these words as if like King David in Psalm 22 Isaiah was stand at the cross of Jesus as a witness of Jesus death on the cross, “But he was pierced through our transgressions, and He crushed for our inequities…
How could Isaiah you was dead 681 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem know that the Messiah would be pierced?
The answer is that God put those words in Isaiah’s mouth and they are not Isaiah’s word but God’s words.
But then Isaiah speaks of Christ’s beatings or scourging by the Roman guards before he is crucified with these words in verse 5 and 6 of chapter 53, “The chastening for our well being fell upon him, and by His scourging we are healed.
I would like to point out that some of the words of scripture are pout of date here. We no longer call a beating with a whip a scourging.
The brutal evil Romans Empire had brought beating into an “art form” the details of which we would not like to witness or even discuss today in polite company especially in the presence of children.
But these are strange words here in another important way.
The prophet Isaiah is telling us here what the beatings of Jesus mean. What the beating of a man half to death means.
We are healed by his lashes. The King James says it best, “By His Stripes we are healed.”
But some may not understand that either. What have stripes have to do with healing?
This really is very good question?
The stripes referred to here are the marks on the back made by the whips but again that only describes the effect of the punishment delivered.
How does that heal us?
To find the answer, we need to remember what last Sunday’s sermon was about.
Abraham’s intended sacrifice of his only son was stopped by God and a ram (a male sheep) was substituted for Isaac’s and sacrificed in Isaac’s place.
The ram took the punishment for God had provided the lamb. God’s lamb took Isaac’s place on the alter of sacrifice.
Isaiah is saying that we are healed by Messiah’s stripes because Messiah was beaten as a punishment for our sins.
So we are relieved from the punishment for all that we have done that is bad in our lives because Jesus took our punishment and then took our death also.
How could Isaiah know this 683 years before this happened? (Only if God told him what to say).
But Isaiah is not done yet.
He describes Jesus trial before Pilot with these words.
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 her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Did Jesus remain silent before Pontius Pilot?
We learn this in the gospel of John last Sunday.
Pilot takes Jesus back away from the crowd who were yelling crucify him and asks Jesus, “Where do you come form?”
But Jesus does not answer him and Pilot angrily says, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have the power to free you or to crucify you?
But then Isaiah describes what will happen next in verse 8, “By oppression and judgment he was taken away…
For he was cut off from the land of the living.”
Isaiah speaks of the death of the Messiah as if he were standing in the crowd that day when they cried “crucify Him”
And look at the words that “Isaiah uses. Isaiah used the words “Cut Off”.
The Messiah will be cut off from the land of the living.
Does that not ring a bell in our minds? Should it?
It should for those of the words of the prophet Daniel that I gave you in the first Sunday in Lent.
Remember Daniel predicted to the very day the time of the death of the Messiah in AD 30. And what words did Daniel use in foretelling Messiahs death?
Let me give them to you again and see if you recall them. Daniel chapter 9 verse 26, “After sixty-two sevens, the Anointed One will be what?
CUT OFF and have nothing.
There are those words again “cut off”.
Daniel uses the words “cut off” just like Isaiah is using today in the Messiah chapter 53 in the Old Testament reading.
How could this be?
The words are the same because they are neither the words of Isaiah or the words of Daniel the words are from God.
(And may I add they are proof that God exists and are proof that God is the author of the events of the history of His people Israel and even further it is proof that God is the author of all the events of the history of mankind).
The fact that the prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah, the suffering servant would be pierced and the he would be cut off from the living 700 years before Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross is emough evidence for anyone to believe!
Amen
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