Isaiah 53: The Servant's Atoning Love for Us

There is someone who accepts all of the debt, all of the cost, all the pain, all of the suffering while other people get the blessing. This is what's being described at the nucleus of this section verses four and five. Isaiah says, surely, he took up our pain. He bore our suffering. Yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. Uh-uh. He was being pierced for our transgressions. He was being crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that gave us the peace was leveled upon him. And by his wounds, we are healed. [00:58:17] (48 seconds)  #ByHisWoundsWeHeal

Here's what you have to see from Isaiah 53. Sometimes, God allows suffering to happen in the lives of people who do not deserve it. Therefore, the whole karma thing, the input, output kind of thing collapses within a Christian worldview. Oftentimes, God does allow horrible things to happen to people who are doing what's right. He permits pain in the lives of people who are doing their best to live according to his word and to his will. [00:59:35] (46 seconds)  #SufferingIsNotKarma

And in this mysteriously interconnected world, there remains the possibility that as in an Agatha Christie story, other people might be suffering because of what I've done, Often unknowingly, my transgressions might be piercing you. My sin might be ruining your day. My mistakes might be impacting your family life. It's not just about what's wrong with them. It's about how I am playing a part in what's wrong with the world that's impacting them. The Bible says, we are all contributors. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. [01:03:56] (52 seconds)  #MySinAffectsOthers

Now, I'm not here to judge people who love those kinds of items. But what I do want to say is that the measure of love, the depth of love, the quality of love is always in how much you are willing to give up for the things that you love. What are you willing to lay down for the sake of that love? What are you willing to sacrifice for the good of your cheesecake? Here's what Christian doctrine says about love. Love is a function of cost multiplied by willingness. Cost times willingness. [00:38:29] (42 seconds)  #LoveIsSacrifice

But the blessing of the connectedness that Isaiah describes is that that same principle can actually work in reverse. Pay close attention to this church. It's not only that my sin can impact other people, it's that if there's someone righteous who loves me and is willing to bear the cost, then that love and redemption can work its way from the outside into me as well. I thought about him. The Bible's word for this is atonement, to be made right with God. And in the original language, the Hebrew word for atonement is connected to the word for covering. [01:05:26] (55 seconds)  #AtonementIsCovering

But the problem is that Isaiah clearly says, as in verse eight, for the transgression of my people, he was punished. The servant is punished for the nation. So the servant can't be the nation if the servant is being punished for the nation. It doesn't add up. Now the Christian view and the view that for me carries today is that this is a prophecy about one person who is prefigured in the past but comes fully and finally in the future. That this is a prophecy about Jesus Christ, about he who was and is and is to come. [00:51:10] (50 seconds)  #IsaiahPointsToJesus

Because if you don't recognize how much you are loved just as you are right where you are by God, then you're gonna kinda spend your life trying to get love from other people. You're gonna look for it in the wrong places. And ultimately, you're doing it so you feel love, so it's not even love at all. It's not even giving. It's actually a quest to satisfy something in yourself. It's all about you. But scripture says that in a way that both makes perfect sense and that makes absolutely no sense at all, God loved us first. [00:35:22] (41 seconds)  #GodLovedUsFirst

and you have nice long hair, you might say to her, hey. I will get mine cut short so that you can have a wig made. Be a nice thing to do. Right? But what if she says to you, I have kidney issues, and I need a transplant? Well, that's gonna cost more. Lots of prep time, surgery, so on. But you might consider it because you have two kidneys and you actually only need one. But now imagine she says, I need a heart transplant. Will you give me yours? That's love asking the ultimate price. [00:40:18] (46 seconds)  #LovePaysTheUltimatePrice