Sermon

Click here to print this Sermon

November 5, 2006
Pentecost 22b
Isaiah 53:10-12
Pastor Ben Berger

The LORD Exalts His Suffering Servant

Suffering is all around us. In just the last week I've heard about the deaths of three young men under the age of 30. Some of our own members lost a 24 year old son to a fire. An 18 year old from Grace in Waupun died of a heart condition while coming home from the Friday night football game. And a coach from Martin Luther College lost a 28 year old son in a car accident. In the four short years I've been serving at Mount Olive 3 different families with girls still in high school have lost mothers. Many other families have lost loved ones to cancer or other diseases. Suffering is all around us. Today, through the prophet Isaiah, the Holy Spirit will show us how God uses suffering for his will. He will especially point to the suffering of Jesus. Isaiah proclaims, The LORD Exalts His Suffering Servant. First, he crushes his servant. Then he rewards his servant.

It is the LORD's will to crush his servant, but we don't think we should suffer. We all suffer in some way and some time. If we haven't lost a loved one yet, we will. Many of our loved ones will themselves suffer with sickness or disease before they die. Many of us may suffer with sickness or disease before we die. Most of us have had to deal with the effects of divorce, our own or our parents or someone we know. Many of us will suffer loneliness or job loss or money worries or relationship problems.

We all suffer, but we don't think we should. At almost every turn we complain, "It's not fair. Parents shouldn't lose their children. Children shouldn't lose their parents. We don't deserve to lose our health or our money or our friends. In fact, we don't deserve any suffering. We're good people. We go to church, give offerings, care for our families, do our jobs and too many other good things to mention. Why is God letting this happen?"

It's the LORD's will to crush his servant and we all deserve to suffer. How dare we question God! Suffering is the result of sin. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Not one of us has kept even one of God's commandments perfectly. Start with the first one to fear, love and trust God above all things. If we kept it perfectly, we wouldn't question God's will to allow us to suffer. Because we have broken one law, we're guilty of breaking all of it. We should expect pain in childbearing, work to be hard, trouble in our relationships and death. In fact, the suffering we endure here on earth is just a small taste of the suffering we deserve in hell.

But Isaiah wasn't talking about us. It was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer (10). Isaiah was looking ahead to the promised Savior, Jesus. The LORD doesn't want us to suffer the ultimate punishment of sin in hell. Instead, the LORD chose to send his own Son to suffer in our place. Jesus didn't want to suffer either, but he was willing to suffer for us.

The LORD made Jesus' life a guilt-offering (10). The LORD demands suffering for sin; even more he demands death. Every sinner owes God the debt of eternal suffering and death in hell. But Jesus wasn't a sinner. He was tempted in every way that we are, but was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). That's what made Jesus the perfect guilt-offering. In the Old Testament the high priests regularly offered "perfect" animals for the sins of the people. Now the LORD offered the perfect sacrifice as a guilt-offering for the sin of all people. That guilt-offering included the suffering of Jesus' soul in hell and his death. His perfect sacrifice, the shedding of his precious blood and his innocent death paid in full the debt for our sin.

Because Jesus suffered, we won't. Isaiah said, he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors; he bore the sin of many (12). Because Jesus died, because Jesus became a sinner in our place, and because Jesus took our sin to the cross, we won't suffer. We won't suffer in hell. We will still deal with suffering here on earth. It's a good reminder of the suffering we deserve in hell. But, it's not worth comparing with the glory we'll receive in heaven - glory we don't deserve.

After the LORD crushes his servant, the LORD exalts his suffering servant by rewarding him.

The LORD exalts and rewards his suffering servant because the servant carried out his will. The will of the LORD prospered in the servant's hand. Jesus did absolutely everything his Father asked. He perfectly obeyed every commandment of the Law. He endured unjust suffering and punishment without complaint. He willingly offered his life as a guilt-offering for sin he didn't commit. Jesus did what none of us could do; he earned salvation.

Therefore, the LORD said, I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong (12). What portion or reward did the LORD give him? First, the LORD rewarded his suffering servant with life. Isaiah wrote, he will see his offspring and prolong his days…he will see the light of life and be satisfied (10,11). Three days after Jesus suffered and died for our sins, the Spirit restored his life and the Father raised him from the dead. Jesus went to the grave knowing that neither death nor the grave could defeat him. Jesus trusted his Father to give him life after death.

The LORD also rewarded his servant with offspring or descendants. The Father did more than give life to his Son. He also promised life to many others through his Son. Because Jesus suffered and died to pay the debt for sin, the LORD granted him the right to offer life to others. Whoever would receive life from Jesus would be his offspring or descendants.

Jesus chose to offer life to us. He chose to share his reward with us. The LORD declared, by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many (11). To justify means to declare not guilty. By all evidence the Judge should declare each and every one of us guilty of sin and condemn us to eternity in hell. The evidence of our sin should convict us beyond a reasonable doubt. Our dirty thoughts, our filthy words, our hurtful actions - our complaining, our lack of trust, our "we don't deserve this" attitude all convict us and declare our guilt. But Jesus steps in to present counter evidence. He presents the evidence of his life. He presents pure thoughts, encouraging words, compassionate acts of kindness, perfect trust, and a humble attitude. He asks the Judge (himself) to accept the evidence of his life in place of ours. The Judge (Jesus) agrees to enter into evidence only his perfect life. He sounds the gavel and declares us Not Guilty! Jesus presented this justification to you at your baptism.

Jesus continues to share his reward with us as he intercedes for us every day. Even after our baptisms we continue to sin. Every day we find ourselves questioning God or doubting his will for our lives. Satan is so sneaky the way he causes doubt in our minds. But every day, as Jesus sits now exalted at the right hand of the LORD, he intercedes for us. Even before we ask, he turns to his Father and says, Father, forgive them; they don't know what they are doing. He asks his Father to remember the guilt-offering that he already made for our sins. The Father remembers the suffering soul of his Son, his separation in hell and his death. The Father agrees once again to forgive all our sins.

Finally, Jesus shares his reward of life with us. One day our suffering here on earth will come to an end. What a blessing for young men ages 24 or 18 or 28 to leave this world of suffering after only a short time and enter into life everlasting. What a blessing for mothers to join the Savior and help prepare a room for their children. What a blessing for all of us as we face death to know that finally our time of suffering on earth will turn to days of everlasting joy. Just as the Father raised his Son and received him into heaven, so also the Son promises to raise us, body and soul, and receive us into heaven.

The LORD exalts his suffering servant. The LORD does not exalt or reward us because we deserve it. We certainly do not deserve any reward. We deserve only the wages of suffering and death for our sin. But not Jesus. Jesus came as the LORD's servant to carry out his will by suffering and dying in our place. The LORD chose to crush him and cause him to suffer so he wouldn't have to crush us and cause us to suffer. Because Jesus offered a perfect guilt-offering by being numbered with sinners and taking the sin of the world to the cross, his Father rewarded and exalted him with life and offspring. Jesus chose to share his reward with us. He now justifies us and declares us not guilty. He intercedes, asking his Father for forgive our sins for his sake. And he promises us life eternal when our time in this world comes to an end.

Until that time we will continue to suffer as the result of sin in our world. We will accept whatever suffering comes our way as the will of the LORD. We will thank him that we will never suffer as our sins deserve. We will thank him that he instead chose to crush his servant Jesus. And we will thank Jesus for sharing his reward with us. The LORD exalts his suffering servant.