Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is a part of the Old Testament Lesson just read, Is. 53:10-12. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- When thinking about and reflecting upon the crucifixion of Jesus, we generally tend to think of it as a grotesque injustice, something “passively suffered” by Jesus. We think of the Father as kind of sadly and passively observing the events, and then blessing us through them.
- This is wrong thinking! According to our text, all of this occurred as “THE WILL OF THE LORD,” and the Lord had much to do with Christ’s sufferings and death.
- The reason for this is the repugnant nature of sin. Because we are born with sin, even as Christians our “auto-pilot” and impulses seem somewhat natural to us, even though this is the influence of our sinful nature. Therefore we tend not to see just how damnable and horrible our sin truly is.
- God, however, views it as it truly is. Sin is something that God cannot abide. It angers Him greatly! We see this in our text for this evening, and we do well to consider it carefully. For according to our text:
I. The Will Of The Lord Is Christ Suffering For Our Sin
Text: “It was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief. . . . He makes His soul an offering for sin. . . . He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Text: “Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the Righteous One, My servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities.”
Statement: Note that “the Lord” crushed Jesus, in His suffering and death on the cross. Note that “the Lord” put Christ to grief – when He forsook Christ, and made Christ to be sin for us, and poured out the full fury and wrath that our sins caused. This was the will of the Lord!
Application: Yes, Jesus was victimized. Yes, His suffering and death were unjust. The only alternative, however, would be for each human being to suffer Christ’s fate – eternally in the fire and torment of hell. But God could not abide this. God is love, and He loves His dear human children very much! He chose to redeem us, to pay for our sins, so that He might also justly “account” us to be righteous in His sight!
Jesus said, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.” So, it was also Jesus’ will to lay down His life, to be an offering for sin.
Transition: But “THE WILL OF THE LORD” in this matter of our redemption and salvation was not completely dismal. In fact, the suffering made possible the greatest joy and blessedness. For:
II. The Will Of The Lord Is To Prolong His Days, To Prosper His Will
A. To Provide Him With “Offspring,” The Church
Text: “When His soul makes an offering for sin, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.”
B. What Happened, According To The Will Of The Lord, Satisfied God – It Was Worth It To Him
Text: “Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied.”
Statement: It is hard to believe that we are of such value to God that He would do such a thing – send His Son into the world incarnate, with human flesh and soul, to suffer and die in unfathomable suffering and agony under God’s just wrath and punishment. But this is His character, His true love for us! Likewise, His work of redemption was not without fruit. We are the fruit of His act of redemption – and this is pleasing and satisfying enough for God, and for His beloved Son, Jesus!
Application: So let us grasp and appreciate the great love that God has for us! Let us appreciate the great value that He places upon us, each of us. Then we will have proper “self-esteem,” and we will also properly esteem our fellow children of God. This is the “offspring” of the Lord Jesus, what really matters to Him! How blessed we truly are in Christ!
Transition: But there is more good news for God and for us, for:
III. The Will Of The Lord Includes Conquest For Jesus, And He Gets The Spoils, The Reward Of His Suffering And Death
Text: “Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul to death.”
Statement: We are these “spoils” of Jesus’ conflict and conquest! We are the ones He redeemed; He has purchased us “not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.” This, so that we could be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.”
Application: So what begins as a strange and sorrowful cosmic injustice, actually brings about the greatest good for both God and man! Through Jesus’ work of redemption our sins are taken away, God becomes reconciled to us, we have peace with God, and an eternal bond of fellowship, friendship, and love. This is precisely God’s greatest desire for us!
Conclusion: So as we think of the crucifixion of Jesus, let us see how proactive God was in all of this! Let us also remember what Jesus said: “No one takes My life from me; I lay it down of My own accord.” He commended His spirit up at the moment of death!
Yes, it was horribly grim – such is the very nature of our sin. But it ended in our great blessedness, the Father’s joy and satisfaction, and eternal life for all who are willing to simply receive the Lord’s gifts by faith! May God grant it richly to each of us here this evening! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.