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The Suffering Servant
On this program, the hosts will begin a new series that seeks to explore the Bible’s amazing prophecy from Isaiah 52 and 53. In this text, written over half a millennium before the time of Christ, Israel’s Messiah is not described as a life coach, or social transformer, but as a sacrificial lamb whose role it is to bear our sins and to credit us with his righteousness. In this new four-part series, the hosts will take a deep-dive into this remarkable prophecy and point to its fulfillment in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 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.
12 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
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 52:13-15, 53:1-12)
Host Quote:
“So he’s not talking about circumcision and uncircumcision in the way that Israel had normally thought about that. They should have thought about it this way all along because even in Deuteronomy 30, God says you’re going to blow it. You’re not going to be able to circumcise your own hearts but in that day, I will circumcise your hearts. They should have known that already that it’s not just a physical circumcision. It’s regeneration. It’s a new heart. But they didn’t. But that’s what he’s talking about here then when he says no uncircumcised will enter. This is a kingdom where all who are in it will no longer pollute. They will be cleansed.” – Michael Horton
Term to Learn:
“Covenant” (Biblical)
There are three key points to define Biblical covenants:
The covenants we are concerned with in Scripture are God’s covenants with his people or mankind in general.
God is the author and initiator of them.
They are divine commitments bound by oath—God’s promises or oaths to humans with seals and/or signs.
…It is worth mentioning the role that divine covenants play in Scripture. God’s purpose in history is to govern his kingdom of creation and bring forth his holy kingdom. His covenants, therefore, are the way that God administers his kingdom. …God’s covenants embody that relationship: what God has done for us, as well as our obligations to him. Hence, covenant is not a means to an end, but it is the end itself—the communion between God and his people.
(Adapted from Keele and Brown, Sacred Bond, pp. 17-18)
(This podcast is by White Horse Inn. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central, and audio is streamed directly from their servers.)