Sermon: Jesus the Suffering Servant
Bible Passage: Isaiah 53:1-12
I. The Servant would have an obscure, insignificant birth and upbringing (vv. 1-3)
1. Dry ground—lowly background of His parents compared to the luxury of the royals
2. No dignity or beauty
a. Compare it with Saul and David
b. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him (verse 2)
3. Misperceived and isolated by His own community (verse 3, 5b)
a. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain
b. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem
II. The LORD appointed the Servant to take care of sin and punishment of those who are mentioned in verse 1 (vicarious suffering—suffering in the place of others)
1. Substitution for human sin and guilt (vv. 4-12)
a. The Servant takes upon himself the burdens of others (verse 4b)
b. The LORD punished the (Suffering) Servant not because of His mistakes but the mistakes of others (verse 4b-6)
2. The Servant voluntarily fulfilled the LORD’s task (vv. 7-12)
a. He was treated harshly and afflicted (verse 7)
b. He was judged by unjust court (verse 8)
c. He died and was buried (verses 8-9)
3. The Servant did not remain in the grave forever, but rose from the dead (verse 10)
4. The Servant acquits the sins of many (verse 11-12)
III. Jesus Christ is the only one who fits the profile of the Servant
1. Born with a divine task (Matt 1:21)—He will save His people from their sins
2. Grew up in Nazareth, an obscure village (John 1:46; Mark 6:3)
IV. Was conscious of His mission (Mark 10:45)
1. Died for the sins of others (1 Peter 2:24)
2. Was buried in a wealthy man’s tomb (Matt 27:57-60)
3. Would not remain in the tomb forever but would come back to life (Matt 28:1-10)
V. Human predicament: Rom 3:23 “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
VI. How did the Father accomplish His mission?
1. He presented Jesus, the Servant, as a sacrifice (Rom 3:24-25a)
a. God paid the penalty of human sins through Jesus
b. Jesus took our punishment upon Himself and died in the place of you and me
2. This acquittal is available to everyone who believes in God’s work in Jesus (verse 26)
3. The Father did this so that you will enjoy a flawless relationship with Him through His Son
Take Away:
Draw near to the Father through Jesus the Suffering Servant who suffered vicariously for you