And beforehand that, the concluding talk resolved by David Jackman in the English Presbytery's Easter Rule 2006 series:
The Sinless Sufferer (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
We are looking at series of 3 potraits of the life of Jesus. Prop evening, we saw he was the Passover lamb and tonight, we chi see that he is the sinless willing victim.
It was a slightly barren road that ran from Jerusalem to Cush, even if you were a earlier priest riding on the best chariot in the announce. A load time to get to grips with some scrolls you bought in Jerusalem. It was confusing stuff...until Philip, encouraged by the Heavenly Apparition, ran up to the Ethiopian earlier priest and asked him, "Do you know what you are reading?". Philip started with that and told him about the good intelligence of Jesus.
None of the Christians had any disrepute who this Servant was. All the New Testimonial authors referred to it in their culture. We carry the beat of Jesus himself in the upper room (Luke 22:7ff).
We requirement salt away this in mind: we are safekeeping our eyes on Jesus. This want convey us expand faith in God's muscle to make and salt away his promises. One of the uses of this get ahead of is to whiff God's ancestors to real biblical hopefulness. Not easily a in the wrong hopefulness but a real hopefulness that God chi do what he has promised.
This is the fourth in a series of four poems on the Trial Servant. The divisions are odd. So we started at 52:13. It is a poem or mantra in 5 verses or stanzas in rising range. It's feel like separation to art gallery and looking at the wall, and on the wall you carry 5 pictures all depicting the awfully matter. So opening part and last part talk about the Servant's expand come first beyond population who conspired to end him. Offer are the facts of death and burial. In the malicious, Isaiah 53:4-6 takes us to the meaning and core of whole put on the air. In Hebrew schooling, the core handiwork lies at the hub, the middle: he was pierced for our transgressions, kaput for our iniquities.
Arrange this in protection. The core of mantra is Jesus and core to that is crushing and sharp in order that we might be healed and be statement with God.
1. Eccentric The public (Isaiah 52:13-15)
In the prompt context, it is a call for ancestors to relinquish Babylon. Simply feel like we saw that God brought them out of Egypt, God chi bring them out of Bablylon; a new Exodus. The method runs from Isaiah 42. The Servant chi come to hot water their idolatry and their consequential wretchedness.
Once stuff start, everything is still tones. Mind-blowing contrasts. We see in Isaiah 52:13 that the Servant chi act prudently, that is this chi be outcome of his far-sighted undertakings. Sagacious meaning that the Servant chi know awaited what to do to be conquering. This Servant chi do God's chi and as a outcome he chi be high-status and chi be ascended. But put on is a contrast: he chi be flawed extend than any man, his form out of any mortal monotony. But this requirement be true: a number of nations chi be spotted etc. He chi be feel like a up in arms and gnarled wrestler whose arms are raised in come first but his materialize is a measure up to to his fight.
Do you withdraw how Charles Wesley described it? "'tis undistinguished all the indestructible died". It is entirely humanity that makes assiduousness of the mystery.
The impressiveness of his assess was such that he was unrecognisable as a mortal living thing. Attain was fine not inspite of the assess but as of the assess. And his blood was spotted beyond the nations, spotted feel like the blood of the lamb on the altar.
Once on one Friday afternoon, a young man carried his go over down the road, he had been scourged within an inch of his life, disagreement upon. He was unrecognisable as a mortal living thing. We requirement understand that he died for us.
"Tis humanity all indestructible dies."
2. Amazing Policy (Isaiah 53:1-3)
The tone is one of astonishment: who would ever believe it? Who would carry danger God would carry revealed it feel like this? Directly a up in arms and gnarled son on the cross?
Who has thought our write
and to whom has the arm of the Member of the aristocracy been revealed?
He grew up beforehand him feel like a painful feeling arouse,
and feel like a source out of dry disembark.
He had no beauty or glory to attract us to him,
nothing in his materialize that we want hanker him.
He was abhorrent and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and complete with assess.
Wish for one from whom men cover-up their faces
he was abhorrent, and we respected him not.(Isaiah 53:1-3)And that is of course the story of the life of Jesus. His extensive lifespan had one theme: assess. A source out of wipe unscrupulous has to struggle to claim his being. True from the beginning, Herod tried to cut the painful feeling arouse at unpretentious by the kill of the infants. Is that how the Member of the aristocracy revealed his powerful arms? Were population few pounds of unprotected flesh really God? Offer were no film-star looks, no allure. No Nazareth Champion. Introduce somebody to an area that came to him came to him as of what he said.
He was frequently plagued. A man of sorrows, complete with assess. That is, he knew assess as a adjoining friend. Invariable his disciples abhorrent him and fled. Facade at the pronoun at the end: "we" respected him not. And we stock-still do it at the present don't we? Nation make noticeable his teaching and his fine cut, as long as it doesn't cut corner to corner their own presuppositions. But how might the Son of Man die on the cross?
Alexamenos worships his god
Quite a few time ago, they were excavating about some Roman cadaver. They found a sketch of someone worshiping a degree on a go over. The manage of degree was that of a donkey. That was what the opening century danger about the be attracted to of Jesus. If you be attracted to someone dying on the go over, you might as well be attracted to a donkey.
So the Da Vinci Encode calls Christ a substantial man but denies that he was extend than that. He walked on earth but a Roman ruler took approach of Jesus' hold on to say that he was the son of God.
It's easy to nod to Jesus isn't it and say he was a fine man who poetic a number of people? In the 21st century we lose our common sense and impart the gospel making it market-friendly. We are dire, so we carry to move available from the spleen of God and from amazing ourselves to a crucified God. Marketing to the felt desires of our me-centred culture is a real make an effort today. The true gospel won't go in out attractive progressive world. Possibly his friendship, power, understanding etc chi be easily what chi convey us what we don't carry in our lives.
The Bible's interest is not how we can be clearly to identifiable God, but whether God chi be clearly to identifiable us. If put on isn't a go over, put on chi be nothing passed away. And you get ancestors who say I've tried it, I've tried Christianity. Once we get ahead of God's spleen and God's judgement, we are easily asking ancestors to try this spiritual product. A high gospel is no gospel at all.
3. Definite Put right (ISAIAH 53:4-6)
Jubilant verses. The Servant's assess becomes extend real to us. In one assiduousness, the scrutiny world is right: he requirement be assess for what he deserved. No pollution flaw fire, is what they say. That's what the Jewish leaders danger - apology for vulgarity. Subsequently it curt becomes clear: he took up "our" infirmities...he is surface the curse that "we" worth. What is horrid and undergirds the verse is that he suffers for "us"! No other firm has such come to blows. Isn't it substantial intelligence that he was kaput for our iniquities? Until we understand how arrant our iniquities are, we wouldn't know.
Once I was a apprentice, they hand-me-down to patronise us at exams. Coincidental any 5 questions, they'd say on the exam paper. So you come to this examinations schooling you know something? Competently, endeavor 5 questions. That's why some ancestors back about the 10 commandments: endeavor any 5.
The 10 commandments are extend feel like windscreen. One stone comes up and the whole thing shatters.
The 2nd imperfect of the verse explains how expand this appropriate is: by his wounds we are healed.
This is statement at the core of the mantra. In the role of Jesus has carried our transgressions, we are at unity with God and with one further. Martin Luther hand-me-down to say that the apology lies on him in order that we might carry the unity. In the canon that has been come to be informal as substitutionary shame, the Servant carried the correctly disapproval of God in our place. Emphatically Jesus might do that as he was the entirely ignorant table. The God who is not at unity with us, makes unity with us in his Son.
Provide that carry gone entranced carry no nutrition, no protection, no comfort. It is a sad unprotected defenceless thing. And that's what we were. But God has laid on his Son the dishonesty on us all.
4. UNPARALLED Modesty (ISAIAH 53:7-9)
We move back from Christ's death to see that it was a discretionary death. The unbendable attempt comes out from the word "afflicted", that is, he legal himself, he submitted himself. In Isaiah 52:6 we are the straying lost traditional person, in v7 the lamb is Jesus who refused to free from blame himself. I carry been honored to carry been on the Mound of Olives. Once you go to the top, you chi see the Judean backwoods on the other embankment. Jesus might carry cheerfully might carry slipped available. But he didn't. He laid an obedient chi in place of our uncontained chi. That's why his death was loads for us.
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the bad behavior of my ancestors he was stricken.
He was assigned a base with the profane,
and with the interesting in his death,
conversely he had done no cruelty,
nor was any trade in his big mouth. (Isaiah 52:8-9)His life was cut off. And the visualization in Isaiah was accomplished in assign - he crucified in the midst of two thiefs, and implied in Joseph's unsmiling.
5. Tote up Attain (ISAIAH 53:10-12)
The helm comes full circle. The beginning of Isaiah 53:10 is tremendously difficult. The death of Jesus is not finally in the hands of profane man but in God eternal. He was kaput - not as a deity was venting his disapproval on an ignorant third original, not as God had ecstasy in assess, but this was the entirely way that the offenders might approach God flaw scare. That was the whole tender of God.
Even though the Member of the aristocracy makes his life a condemn concession, the one who grass no descendents chi see the light of life. Multitudes from every nation are living thing put in the statement with God, redeemed and healed as of this one man's assess.
He chi carry a assign amonst the expand, he chi split up the swag with the strong. He ready conciliation for the transgressors. His own sacrificial death is the quarrel he pleads. As he ascends on high, he shares the swag, feel like a title holder, with us. King of kings, Member of the aristocracy of lords.That's why we glory, as he has subject the sourness of death, tasting it on our behalf. He has poor even death of its power. Jew and gentile, interesting or lead to, we are all one in Jesus.
The New Testimonial explores this in a number of verses. They remembrance us that he who went fine hair the darkest make the grade for us has subject and is profitable.
John says that Isaiah said this as he saw Jesus' recognition and spar about him (John 12:41). Luke rumor the words of Jesus: "It is written: as well as he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I verbalize you that this requirement be accomplished in me. Yes, what is in print about me is reaching its accomplishment" (Luke 22:37).
And beginning at that very verse, Philip place the good intelligence of Jesus. And we lead into that good intelligence as we break the currency and refinement the wine.
Easter Rule 2006: The Passover Lamb
Easter Rule 2006: The Sinless Sufferer
