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Isaiah 52:13-53:12 The Tense Present
Isaiah chapter 52 verse 13 to the end of chapter 53. Here the Word of the Lord Behold My servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted as many were Astonished at you. His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.
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?
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. 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.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet. We esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his stripes.
We are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned Everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet He opened not his mouth like a lamb that has led to the slaughter and like a sheep That before it shears is silent.
So he opened not his mouth by oppression and by 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 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. 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. 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. 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. If the Lord had his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. Well, what do you have to look forward to? Graduation marriage.
Retirement a good job, maybe. Whatever it is. It drives a lot of what we are what we do and what we're willing to go through. We're willing to put ourselves through a lot of Hard work and pain if we have something to look forward to it at the end of it all.
You can train athletically maybe running hard if you believe that you can achieve a time or an award you want. You can study long hours if you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. You know the degree and the job that it opens doors for.
You can get up every day. Maybe early like go to work. You can train now. In the hopes for some future dream you may work hard every day for. To earn your pay your bills for now, but to earn a hope of a pension.
Retirement savings for the future. We're all caught between what we've given already what we're putting ourselves through and the hopes in what we have to look forward to in the popular movie Shawshank Redemption, which seems like it's all in like every day.
The main character a man in prison for a crime. He didn't commit Unknown to us do nearly the whole movie except near the end. He's been digging slowly a Tunnel with a small rock hammer about this size through concrete walls.
And that that digging that that goal is what has given him hope through the entire movie. It's what keeps him going gives him something to look forward to when the other prisoners. Just give up. What do you have to look forward to?
You look back in what's been spent. What you put your life into. What what's in front of you, you know, you're in a tension between your past and your future. You're like a tent being pulled in two different directions to keep it up.
You know, that's how tents work. Usually some not all of them, but a lot of them. Anyway, they're they're tied to a stake or to a tree or a pole or something with ropes. Maybe bungee cords or something pulling them in two different directions and it's the tension that keeps it up if you lose the tension.
Maybe in your own life you lose the hope. This is pulling you to the future. You collapse like a deflated tent. Now, you know, what do you hope for? What keeps you going? Well here we see the servant again again like the first servant song in chapter 42.
We're told to behold him. There are five stanzas in this servant song five stanzas each each of three verses. Most of them focus on what he's done. Oddly enough, even though it is written 700 years before Jesus was the servant.
That is Jesus was far in the future for Isaiah. Much of what is written is in the past tense. As though we were written in our time. It's kind of from our point of view. We read it naturally and it makes sense to us.
But it was written actually before it happened. That's because Jesus is the Lamb of God. It was slain before the foundation of the world. God in eternity past covenanted among himself the father. Covenanting with the Son to be the servant who would be upheld.
By the Holy Spirit to be a guilt offering for the people that God was going to save. That's this basic what they call covenant theology in a nutshell. And so he could speak of it here. God could speak through Isaiah speak of it as if it were done.
Even before it's done. Notice the verb tenses in the servant song. I think they're very interesting. The verb tenses and how they change most of them are past. Most of them are about the sacrifice of the servant.
Some of them are future particularly near the end about what the servant has to look forward to. Only one of them is present. About our time about what's going on now. So we're in this Tension between what's been accomplished in the past by the servant and what is coming in the future.
What what we have to look forward to first behold look at the servant. That he'll act wisely or prosper. He will act in a way that attains the goal that he wants that he wants to attain. He'll prosper in achieving what he's after if you if you want it to reach a goal, whatever it is.
You want to graduate. You want to get a good job? You want to qualify for the Boston Marathon? You want to lose weight. I kind of do but I'm not sure what how I'm gonna do it or whatever. You you need the you need the wisdom.
How to achieve that goal of the servant here will act wisely. To achieve his goal. He shall be in chapter 52 verse 13 that first verse. He will be high and lifted up. He'll be exalted. He'll achieve that goal.
That's his goal that the first verse wouldn't be so astounding by itself. I Triumph of being the champion. You know being the one who's exalted the one who's on the podium at the end with the gold medal around your neck the power and the glory.
Maybe one we maybe want the money. Well, that's what we want to. Nothing particularly unusual about that. We might say well, please tell us your secret. Mr. Servant. How we can be high and lifted up to maybe in our own private jet.
Maybe have a penthouse suite on a skyscraper, you know in some big city right there on Central Park in New York. Something like that. That's something that's something we can look forward to that's something we understand and make no mistake about it.
He will be high and lifted up. He is already seated on a throne beside the father and he is right now. Take taking all his enemies captive to obey him. He's in that process right now. The last enemy that he'll put under his feet that he'll trample down.
He's got a list of his enemies and he's going through them all the last one. That he will personally conquer it and he's already actually personally conquered and he'll conquer in the whole world is death when that last enemy is Conquered death itself will be defeated and then we'll get to taunt it.
Where is your death? Where's your sting now? Oh death and then the certain Jesus the servant will be high and lifted up. He'll be exalted as we praise him as the lamb who was slain. He'll be on the throne and will be around the throne and we know that that day is coming is something to look forward to.
Because Jesus has already been raised from the dead. So we're in the we're in that process. We're in we're after the beginning of The end for death, but before the end of the end for death, we're there in the middle.
We're in that tense present between what Jesus has already done and what will surely come to pass. Because of what he's already done. The servant will act wisely to get to that day. When he's exalted when every knee will bow and everyone confessed that he is Lord.
That's not really what's so astounding. We understand that is it's not the goal exaltation. That's astonishing. But the way he got there the plan. The wisdom because the knowledge here that got in there.
It's so astounding at the beginning of verse 53. It's like who would believe this who believes our report. Well, he got there through being marred almost beyond recognition as human by being lashed and pierced and stabbed.
So the blood flowed out. Because it was through that blood through that blood that he sprinkled people from every nation. It's so astonishing. Says Kings are left flabbergasted by it. Even the royalty can't fathom this and the first verse first stanza.
Not the first stanza for chapter 52 verses 13 to 15 all of the plan that the wisdom of salvation both the exaltation and the agony of the cross is Looked forward to as if as if this were the covenant that God Made within himself the Father with the Son the Holy Spirit enable it labeling before the foundation of the world.
That's the first stanza now in the second stanza in chapter 53 verses 1 to 3. It's as if we move into our time now. Now the focus is on the past. Looking back on the servant. It's almost it's almost all past tense verbs read through it.
Who has who has believed What he has heard from us. The plan is so astounding people find it hard to believe only those to whom it has been revealed revealed. Catch that past tense for he grew up Like a root out of dry ground past tense he he had.
Past tense no form our majesty. He was Despised and rejected past tense he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Past. We now here we are we make our entrance esteemed past Him not. Why? The third stanza continues this starting in verse 4 chapter 53 verse 4 Continues this but that now tells us why what why he did this.
Why is he he who will be exalted? The the Lord to whom every knee will bow. Why has he become? Like a tender shoot in dry ground was what appears at first to be a little bit of life and this spiritually dead arid land of sinners and Pharisees.
And he's the only thing really alive. Why did he appear like that? But but he appears first so Vulnerable and small and unimpressive. Why is he who who is who really is majestic who has? Glorious beauty who is the most desirable person in all of history?
Why is he appearing? Incognito. Why is his glory? Veil. Even more mysterious. Why is he suffering being despised and rejected sorrow and grief? Eventually so grotesque. You can't stand up to look at him.
You just want to look away. Okay. Why in order to become the one we counted as worth the most? Does he first become someone it that we think? Is worth less accounts for nothing. Well, he tells us he makes it absolutely clear actually ten times from verses 4 to 12.
The servant is our substitute. That's why he is our Substitute and he just says it in so many different ways. But all to that same point ten times let's count them in verse 4 number 1. He has borne our griefs.
Number 2 the same verse he carried our sorrows. He substituted for us taking griefs and sorrow so we wouldn't have to in verse 5. The third time he was wounded for our transgressions. Fourth he was crushed for our iniquities that is for our wickedness.
He was crushed so we wouldn't have to be crushed for them. Five upon him. Instead of upon us who deserved it, but upon him was the chastisement of the punishment. They brought us peace. Now we have peace with God we have a right relationship with him instead of him being angry at us for our sins because He took the punishment our sins deserve.
Finally in verse 5 every line in verse 5 you want one verse and all the Bible describes him as a substitute. Isaiah chapter 53 verse 5 is every line in verse 5 describes in different ways the servant.
Being our substitute the sixth time in this passage with his stripes. It's with the scourging that the beating he took that beating he gave his back to remember from the previous service on last week.
He gave his back to be beaten by that by those stripes. We are healed because the affliction he took in the past. Notice the verb tenses, but because the affliction he took in the past. We are now healed our relationship with God it is made whole and In the future one day our bodies will be perfectly healed in the resurrection in verse 6.
There's the seventh time that we're reminded of these our substitute says we all Are like strange sheep. But the Lord laid on him. Wait, we're the strange sheep shouldn't he lay it on us? But no, he laid it on him the iniquity of us all instead of laying it on us.
In verse 8 in the fourth stanza the eighth time. He was stricken for the transgression of my people. Not for his own transgression. He didn't have any. He was stricken for the transgression of his people as for us.
We had transgression and so we deserve to be struck for it, but he was stricken in our place. And the end of verse 11 and that last stanza the ninth time he bears the iniquity of His offspring as that is the people that he is making his sons and daughters of God.
He takes their iniquity away for them. He's their substitute. Finally for at least the tenth time you probably find more In the servant song, but at least the tenth time we see that he is our substitute in verse 12.
He bore The sin of many. Even though it says he did no sin. There was no no lies found in his mouth. There's no violence in his hands. He done nothing wrong, but he bore the sins of his many people. That's what he's done in the past.
That's the investment he's made. Now, what does he have to look forward to? What's in the future? Because of that investment of his life of his blood of being a wholly consumed guilt offering three products of his investment.
That he has to look forward to. All of them are found in that last stanza from verses 10 to 12. There's three goals is seeing. Satisfaction and spoil. First see in verse 10. What does he have to look forward to?
What was the the joy? Set before him that enabled him to endure the cross. We had a goal. What was it? When his soul makes an offering for guilt it says. Yeah, in other words, he's like the the Old Testament.
So he is what those Old Testament sacrifices portrayed they all were looking forward to him and he was the actual fulfillment of all he he was the The the Lamb of God upon whom our sins were put when he gives himself as a guilt offering.
When he's crushed at the Lord's will it says then he shall see His offspring. It's like a mother being willing to go through the pains of childbearing foot for the for the joy of having the child. He was willing to go through the cross for the joy of seeing many people become children of God and what he's doing.
He can look forward To seeing them. Like you might look forward to seeing your family reuniting around the holiday, you know, you look forward to that reunion he's loving the joy of having all his people together in the future of seeing them and Thus surround the throne.
The the will of the Lord in that last phrase in verse 10. Those are the unless the last phrase of verse 10 the will of the Lord literally it could mean that his good pleasure. It's it's the same word is at the beginning of the verse.
It was the will or the pleasure of the Lord. He pleased the Lord to crush him it gave him pleasure because of what it would achieve and An offering for guilt so that our guilt could be taken away. Because of what he does the desire the Lord to save his children Will be accomplished.
He'll save them and he'll see them. That's the joy set before him. He's looking forward to seeing his people, but wait, there's a problem. If you think about it, isn't there? I mean, did you notice something?
In verse 7 that the fourth stanza. He's led to the slaughter. He's led to it, you know rested in the garden get some money and all that and put up the kangaroo court trial. Beatings that's in verse 7 led to the slaughter like a lamb.
He opens not his mouth because he had a submitted will. He's cut off in there verse 8. He is actually then slaughtered. Says he's cut off from the land of the living. So he's dead in verse 9. He's buried.
He's buried with a wicked. He's buried on the woods, but the rest of us sinners because We get the wages of sin, which is death, but but he's buried in a rich man's grave. But he's definitely dead. I Said well, how does he see his offspring?
I mean if he's dead How is he gonna see them? You know, I hate that my father died before he could see his grandchildren, especially my two sons. We don't believe that the the dead. See this life. I will never indicate that if I can seem to indicate the opposite.
So how does how does the servant? See his offspring because he's not dead anymore. Oh he was. But he's not now. Indeed. Look at the middle of verse 10 says he shall prolong his days. That's after he was led to the slaughter and then in verse 7 and then slaughtered in verse 8 and then buried in verse 9.
He shall prolong his days. After he's dead. How does that work? How could he prolong his days in verse 10 after he's dead and buried in verses 8 and 9? Because he's raised from the dead the servant is resurrected and being resurrected he will see his offspring.
He has seen to look forward to. Because he's resurrected. Second he has satisfaction in verse 11 notice that he has satisfaction it's gonna be satisfied and he's invested the anguish of his soul it says that the sweating profusely like a like he was.
Like the sweat like it was flowing blood out of wounds the beatings the crucifixion the the anguish of having to cry out my god. My god, why have you forsaken me? Think of it the anguish of soul that he was expressing out and from that anguish he can now look forward to seeing his offspring and also the satisfaction of making those offspring says righteous making them counted as.
Righteous they weren't counted as righteous before but now they are because of what he did they're counted they're seen there as. If they were righteous, but now accounted they're justified. They're declared just before God.
They're put in a right relationship with God because of it because of the anguish of soul that he went through and that's satisfying for him. To have a reconciled God with his people so that he is no longer angry with at us and we're no longer alienated from him you know always wandering like Mangy sheep because we don't really love him in his word.
We don't unless he changes our hearts. It's the greatest satisfaction to have changed that to have mended the relationship. To have reconciled to have restored harmony. That's satisfaction. Well, finally the third great blessing he and and we have to look forward to is Is spoiled?
I don't mean being spoiled. I mean spoil is in loot as in reward in verse 12 that last verse. Therefore it was because he bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Because the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Because it was the good pleasure of the Lord to crush him instead of us to wash away our guilt. So that we could be his sons and daughters. Because he was numbered with the transgressors therefore. This is the result of all that the Lord says in verse 12.
The Lord will give the servant spoil. Loot what he calls here a portion with the many. We are the many and he shares the portions of his victory. With us the servant will notice now here future tense.
This is where it's key. Notice all the future tenses. He will return from his mission Like a warrior laden with spoil. He's one from the enemy and we are. We are the spoil he won us and We are as allies.
Getting to share his spoil resurrection life a new heaven and new earth. Behold, I make all things new. And now we get to share all that new all things. We share it with him. And this is this is the bounty we get to have because he won it as our conquering King and he will spread it out For us to enjoy look here.
Look what I won. Look what I earned now. Enjoy. Notice verse 12 the verb tenses. God says I will future tense divide For him a portion the loot the reward that he won with us the many he shall future.
But they look forward to divide the spoil with us the strong he strengthened us he's given us new life given us the Holy Spirit because Here's the reason he gets spoil reward because he poured out past tense.
That's what he's accomplished he is sold to death and yet He will be rewarded with spoil after dying. Because he's not dead anymore. He was raised he was Past tense numbered with the transgressors hanging between two of them the the tension between the past having poured out a soul to death numbered with the lawbreakers and the future a Bounty to be divided up a new heaven and earth to enjoy that tension that middle place.
Is where we are? We're being pulled between the crushing and the bruising and the chastisement of the past of his past and the spoil of the future our future the everything new with the resurrection. That's that's the tension of the present the tense present.
Notice that last phrase in this disturbance on He makes This is that one and only as far as I can tell one and only present tense. Everything else is what he did or what he will do. This is what he is now doing.
He makes Intercession for the transgressors, that's us. We're the transgressors. That's where we're at. We're between his cross and his resurrection. In the past and our resurrection our spoil in the future.
We're still transgressors now. We're like sheep who would go astray If he if we were left to ourselves if he were not interceding for us. But now after having born the sin of many before before getting all that spoil seeing all that offspring being fully satisfied and All those that he's made right with God now.
So that we'll make it to the new heaven in the Europe new earth, you know, so that will make it to the resurrection. So we'll be safe. So we don't Stray again like the sheep that dumb sheep that we are.
So that won't happen. He prays for us. So that we'll get that spoil the servant intercedes for us. So that we'll make it so that will prosper in this through this tense present. But who is he? This sermon.
I know I've given it away already. But still you could ask who is it that's what the Ethiopian eunuch asked remember. He asked who was the author Isaiah writing about. Was he writing about himself or someone else?
So I asked Philip and the chariot and from this passage this very passage Philip told about the suffering servant who now in the present prays for us his people. And he prays for his people from all nations even Ethiopia.
So we have we have something to look forward to. So we'll know we'll make it because he's praying for us. Who is he? Romans chapter 8 verse 34 says Christ. Jesus is the one he's the servant who died more than that He was raised who is at the right hand of God who indeed is Interceding for us.
That's where we are. We're in the tense present between him bearing our sorrows bringing us peace in the past and in the future. With that with that that spoiled these as waiting for us with everything new to look forward to that's where we are.
That's where you are. If he was wounded for your transgressions if he bore your sins. That's what you have to look back on in faith now. Now Imagine what you have to look forward to look forward to it.