Transcript

In February 1941 in Auschwitz, Poland, Maximilian Kolbe was put in the infamous death camp for helping Jews escape Nazi terrorism. Not long after he was there, an escape attempt took place by the Jews. The camp rule was then enforced.

Ten people would be rounded up randomly and herded into a cell where they would die of starvation and exposure as a lesson against future escape attempts. Names were called. A Polish Jew Frandiskek Gasovnachek was called.

He cried out, “Wait, I have a wife and children!” And Kolbe stepped forward and said, “I will take his place.” Kolbe was marched into the cell with nine others where he managed to live until August 14.

The Nazis then injected him with carbolic acid and his body was cremated in the camp ovens. This story was chronicled on a television special years ago.

Gasovnachek, by this time 82, was shown telling this story while tears streamed down his cheeks. A camera followed him around his little white house to a marble monument carefully tended with flowers.

The inscription read: “In memory of Maximilian Kolbe. He died in my place.” Nearly every year since on August 14, Gasovnachek has made a journey to Auschwitz to just walk around the death camp in memory of Kolbe.

And every day since 1941, Gasovnachek has lived with the knowledge, as he put it, “I live because someone died for me.”

We who have trusted the gospel live with that knowledge as well. Someone took our place. Christ died in our place, and we live because He died for us.

Our Savior took our sins upon Himself. He suffered and died, not for His sins, because He was sinless, He suffered and died for our sins.

And having trusted Christ’s all-sufficient payment for our sins on the Cross, that He died for our sins and rose again the third day, we live, and we have eternal life in Christ.

The 53rd chapter of Isaiah speaks of the glorious truth of Substitution, and our Savior taking our place and dying for our sins.

Isaiah 53:1-3: “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

Isaiah 53 is a very special chapter in God’s Word. Paul writes of the gospel that saves us from all our sins in I Corinthians 15:3 and says that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

When he says “according to the Scriptures,” he’s referring to passages such as Isaiah 53.

We see the Cross here. And unmistakably chapter 53 speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every detail of the prophet’s words corresponds to the Person and work of the Lord Jesus.

It’s exciting for us as believers today to look at a prophecy like this 700 years before the Cross and realize that God had the Cross in mind all the while.

But it is important as we rightly divide God’s Word to note when looking at this passage that the pronouns “our,” “we,” “us,” in their proper interpretation and context, in light of who this book was written to, is the nation Israel.

And we are not Israel. We are the Body of Christ. So when we think of ourselves, people living in the current dispensation of grace, the original interpretation of this passage did not apply to us, it applied to Israel under the law.

And thus the “ALL we” and “us ALL” used in the passage does not present Christ bearing the sins of all mankind. It’s literally “all we” in Israel, and “us all” in Israel. So to be consistent with the Cross in prophecy, we need to interpret this passage in that light.

Yet the substitutionary work of Christ at the Cross is just as true of us the Body of Christ as it was for Israel, and is consistent with the further revelation given about the Cross to the Apostle Paul. As we also learn through Paul that Christ died for all.

“Who hath believed our report?” verse 1 says. The prophecy points forward to the days of the Messiah’s ministry on earth in Israel. And the question is, Who has believed on Him?! Where are they all? There should be more! Haven’t more believed?

The prophet in the prophecy is deeply moved and incredulous here to see how few believed on Him, because of the report in prophecy about Him. They should have known!

“And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” The Lord’s arm speaks of strength, might, and power. And so the question is, How many have experienced the Lord’s saving power?

In other words, not many. The arm of the Lord was not revealed to very many because not many believed in Him.

And our hearts should break as well at how many today have reject the Savior and His love and at how many need to hear and believe His report from His Word.

Two reasons are given why all OUGHT to have believed: first, the Scripture and the “report” of the prophets, who prophesied of Him.

Jesus Christ fulfilled all Messianic prophecies, showing that He truly was the long-promised and prophesied Messiah and more in Israel should have believed the report.

The other reason is that the “arm of the Lord” was revealed in Him so clearly. The “arm of the Lord” speaks of the power of God and the power of God was seen and exhibited in Christ’s life, ministry, His many miracles and His cross and resurrection.

All in Israel were left without excuse. The fulfilled Scripture and Christ’s words and works and death and resurrection all clearly revealed who He was as their Messiah.

Though unrecognized by the world, Christ was carefully observed by the Father from the beginning of His earthly life.

And He grew up before the Father verse 2 says “as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground,” as He sprung from the root of Jesse and the Davidic line.

And Israel was not a paradise when Christ was born. Politically and spiritually it was “dry ground.” And the Savior grew up as a tender plant before the Father in poverty in a humble carpenter’s home in the hills of Galilee in Nazareth.

And verse 2 remarks that in how He looked in His physical appearance He had “no form” or stately form, “nor comeliness” or splendor, and when Israel saw him there was “no beauty” or countenance that they should delight in Him.

In other words, there was nothing about His physical appearance that made Him different from any other Jewish man.

Mankind tends to put a lot of importance on physical appearance. But when God “put on flesh” and came to earth as a man, He chose to come in appearance as a humble, common, ordinary person. He bore the appearance of an everyday Jewish male. His true royal and divine and glorious identity was visible though to the discerning eye of faith.

Verse 3 points out that in His life and ministry, He was “despised and rejected of men.” He was despised because He did not represent the things that were and are important to mankind: wealth, social prestige, political power, reputation, being served by others, etc.

And so Israel hid their faces from Him or turned from Him, and they esteemed Him not and did not respect Him, but rather disdained Him and looked on Him with contempt.

From this kind or response toward Him and His ministry, He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The Savior experienced sorrow and truly knew what grief was.

He suffered external abuse and rejection and this caused Him inward grief and sorrow over the lack of response from those He came to save in Israel.

We have a Savior who is sympathetic toward us in our sorrows, grief, and rejection. He experienced all these same things in His life. He knows what grief is, what sorrow is, He knows what it means to be rejected and despised and not respected.

Isaiah 53:4-6: “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Even though the verbs are past tense, they predict happenings way future to Isaiah’s time. This occurs in prophecy, because when God says something is going to happen, it’s going to happen. So it can be put past tense as if it already happened.

Verse 4 is a prophecy of the Cross. Isaiah was prophesying that the Messiah would bear the consequences of the sins of Israel, namely their griefs and their sorrows of life.

But verse 4 also prophesies that when those in Israel saw Christ on the Cross and as they watched Him die, they thought He was being punished by God for His own sins.

They understood His severe suffering and agonizing death to mean He was stricken, struck down and afflicted by God for something He had done wrong.

When in truth, it was as verse 5 says, “He was wounded for OUR transgressions, He was bruised for OUR iniquities.”

The emphasis in verses 4-6 is on the plural pronouns: our griefs, our sorrows, our iniquities, our transgressions. We have gone astray, we have turned to our own way.

In other words, He did not die because of anything He had done, but because of what others had done. He died as a Substitute for sinners. He took their place.

Again, Isaiah is written to the nation Israel, and the our’s and we’s are referring to the nation Israel. But we know thru Paul’s gospel, that Christ died for all, He gave Himself a ransom for all. He died for us, for our sins and iniquities, for our transgressions as well.

The word “wounded” means literally “pierced through.” Christ’s hands and feet were pierced through by nails. His side was pierced through by a spear.

The reason He was pierced through and crucified was “for our transgressions,” as the just payment for the transgressions of sinners.

Christ was “bruised” which literally means “crushed under the weight of a heavy burden.”

The heavy burden was sin and verse 6 says that “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

And on the cross, Christ was crushed under the weight of sin and the judgment and wrath and fury of God that fell on Him in paying the sin debt for Israel and the world.

In selfless love, He received “chastisement” or punishment for Israel’s transgressions and iniquities to procure their peace, so that they might have peace with God.

We too learn that having been justified by faith in trusting what Christ did for us at the Cross, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

He was given many “stripes” in His scourging. In the scourging He received that whip with stone, glass, metal embedded in its lashes went across His back over and over, again and again and again, ripping His back raw, and yet those stripes brought spiritual healing to those who believed in Him in Israel.

The “healing” here in Isaiah 53:5 refers to the forgiveness of sins not the healing of the body. As Peter wrote to Israel in his epistles: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

If we are ever tempted to underrate the ugliness of sin, we should remember the horrific suffering by our Savior that was necessary to pay for our sins and save us from their eternal consequences.

We should remember how He had that crown of thorns pressed down on His head, and how those soldiers then took a staff and hit him across the head with it.

We should remember that scourging and that whip going across His back over and over. We should remember the crack of that hammer against those nails being driven forcefully through His hands and then His feet.

Notice the terms of suffering Christ faced that are packed together in these verses in this chapter: griefs, sorrows, stricken, smitten, afflicted, wounded, bruised, chastised, stripes, oppressed, slaughter, cut off, poured out.

Sin is serious. Isaiah calls it transgression which means rebellion against God, daring to cross the line that God has made (v. 5,8). He calls it iniquity, which refers to the evil and crookedness of our sinful deeds.

The severity of punishment on the Savior measures how seriously God takes our rebellion and sinfulness. We typically want to make light of what we call our “shortcomings,” and try to explain away our “mistakes,” or innocent “weaknesses” or “faults.”

But sin is not a light thing to God. Sin is the stuff of death and separation and judgment and condemnation, and unless our sins are paid for, sin will see us condemned forever to lake of fire, where those there will suffer for their sins forever and ever and ever.

The Cross is much more than just an example of sympathy and compassion; it is the actual bearing by Christ of the full punishment and judgment of sin.

“All we like sheep have gone astray.” Again this is “all we” in Israel. Jeremiah 50:6 says, “My people hath been lost sheep.” While this speaks specifically of Israel, it is true that all have gone astray, that all without exception are sinners.

Romans teaches that we are all born with a sin nature and we all sin in word, thought, and deed, and we go astray and our own way and walk in self-will. We all fall short of the glory, perfection, righteousness, goodness of God.

But Christ went God’s way and walked in God’s will perfectly. And in accord with the Father’s will, He went to the Cross to save Israel and all the world from their sins.

And so He willingly was pierced through as a result of mankind’s rebellion; He voluntarily was crushed on account of our sins. He willingly took those stripes. And that’s incredible love, mercy, and grace.

Isaiah 53:7-12: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

“He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

“And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

“He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

“Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

In willingly giving Himself as a sacrifice for sin, “He opened not His mouth.” Christ was silent before those who accused Him as well as those who afflicted Him.

He did not speak when the soldiers mocked Him and beat Him. He was silent before Caiaphas, the chief priests and elders, Pilate, Herod Antipas. And it amazed them how He would not speak on His behalf.

In Acts 8, this is the part that impressed the Ethiopian as he read this passage in Isaiah.

Christ was the sacrificial Lamb of God, and in being led to the slaughter He made no resistance. He uttered no complaint, no protest, no defense. He allowed Himself to be led to His death for us.

In His limitless power as God, no human hand could have come close to arresting and taking Christ had He not allowed it. His death was wholly voluntary. He laid down His life. He was not a helpless victim.

In being “taken from prison and from judgment,” it speaks of being taken prisoner to the unlawful trials to which Christ was subjected, leading up to His crucifixion.

And then verse 8 says that He was “cut off out of the land of living.” “Cut off” speaks of a violent, vicious death, which His crucifixion truly was. But the prophet says again that the reason for the Savior’s suffering and death was for the transgressions of others.

The prophet adds “And who shall declare His generation?” or who can set forth the wickedness of His generation? that is, of His contemporaries.

Isaiah 53 describes the life and ministry of Christ in vv. 1-3, His death in vv. 4-8, burial in v. 9, and resurrection and exaltation in vv. 10-12.

Christ died at the moment He desired to die and He dismissed His spirit. The soldiers who were experts in knowing when one was dead, knew He died. Speaking of the Roman soldiers, John 19:33 reads, “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs.”

Christ died on the cross and He was buried. And Isaiah 53:9 says that “He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.”

Making His grave with the rich in His death was fulfilled in Christ’s burial. Matthew 27:57-60 says “a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph… went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus…And laid it in His own new tomb.”

Verse 9 also reminds us of the absolute perfection and sinlessness of this One who died: “He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.” He hadn’t died for any sins He had done, He died for the sins of others.

Though He did not deserve to die, “yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him,” or God the Father saw fit and it was His will to bruise or crush Him under the weight of a heavy burden as the payment for sin at the Cross.

He was God’s perfect sacrifice for sin. And Christ accomplished God’s perfect plan redemption to secure the salvation of sinners. And the Father was well-pleased.

And as we know, Christ, God’s Son, did not remain dead! “He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days” (v. 10) is a prophecy that the Messiah would be resurrected.

Demonstrating His complete victory over sin and death, He rose again. And in His resurrection He triumphed over every enemy.

And to the Father, verse 11 teaches that “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” Christ’s “offering for sin” and travail of His soul, at the cross satisfied the Father (I John 2:2; Rom. 3:25).

If God the Father was satisfied with Christ’s finished work, then that teaches us where we need to look and who we need to trust to be saved from our sins and have the hope of heaven. We need to look to Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection.

The perfect work of Christ at the Cross completely satisfied the justice of God, and met His just demands against sin. God cannot ignore sin or compromise with it, because that would be contrary to His own nature and Law.

But through the Cross, and Christ’s substitutionary payment for sin, God’s justice was fully satisfied. And God now graciously redeems and freely justifies all who believe in what Christ did for us at the Cross in dying for our sins and rising again.

It’s been rightly put that an empty cross plus an empty tomb equals a full salvation. We hope that you have made the personal decision to trust in God’s full salvation found through His Son and His death and resurrection.

Just believing that Christ died for your sins personally and rose again, you are saved and have a home in heaven. Make this decision right now.