| WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS Isaiah 53:1-9 Dr. Doyle Sager, First Baptist Church, Jefferson City, Missouri Good Friday, April 2, 2010 Henri Nouwen once wrote that “no one can help anyone without becoming involved, without entering with [the] whole person into the painful situation, without taking the risk of becoming hurt, wounded or even destroyed…” [The Wounded Healer, p. 72]. Think about a friendship that has been painful. Think about a romantic relationship in which you have been wounded. Think about parenting, or grandparenting. Think about the Cross. Now listen to the quote again. “…no one can help anyone without becoming involved, without entering with [the] whole person into the painful situation, without taking the risk of becoming hurt, wounded or even destroyed…” Most scholars believe that this passage of scripture describes God’s original intention for Israel, the twin vocation of suffering and witness. But as Israel failed, Jesus came to earth to embody that twin mission and to fulfill it. In Jesus, God’s goal was achieved—God’s judgment on sin and then God’s mercy on the sinner. And in what Walter Brueggemann calls “new waves of interpretation”, the New Testament writers knew that this text describes Jesus. When Philip shared the Gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:32-33), he quoted this as reference to Jesus. When Peter talked of the healing that we experience from Christ’s suffering, he quoted this (1 Peter 2:21-25). There are three natural divisions to our text: FIRST, THE SUFFERING SERVANT IS UNLIKELY LOOKING AND UNATTRACTIVE (vv. 1-3). He is unimpressive by the world’s standards…he has “loser” written on his forehead! As Westermann has written, he is “a man without a blessing.” SECOND, THE SUFFERING SERVANT OFFERS VICARIOUS SUFFERING (vv. 4-6). You know the ancient mindset (ours, too!): “Wow…look at all the trouble he is having; he must be out of God’s will. Wow…look at all the heartache she is going through…must be sin in her life.” But what a surprise! Surely he has borne –not his own, but OUR infirmities (v. 4). He was wounded—not for his own, but for our transgressions (v. 5). We have gone astray and Yahweh has laid on him OUR iniquity! Not his own (v. 6)! THIRD, THE SUFFERING SERVANT OFFERS SACRIFICIAL DEATH (vv. 7-9). Remember Nouwen’s quote…there is no way to help someone without entering in to that person’s pain. Think about the costliness of forgiving someone else a financial debt. Suppose you loaned someone $1000 and it later became apparent that the person was not willing or able to repay you. You have choices. But because you value the relationship as more important than the debt, you forgive the debt. And it hurts. You take the debt into your self. You bear the cost. So God in Christ does for us. Listen to vv. 7-9 slowly and reflectively as I read them aloud. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
9They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb* with the rich,*
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth. The Dutch painter Rembrandt painted himself as one in the crowd, in his famous work, “The Raising of the Cross.” He is there, wearing the painter’s beret, helping in the cruel work of putting Jesus on the Cross. How about you? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? I was. |