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The Harvester Podcast is brought to you by the Florida School of Preaching. Listen weekly to take a dive into biblical topics and thoughtful studies on things that matter to our eternal souls.
Brian Kenyon (00:03)
Welcome, welcome to the Harvester Podcast. We are happy you have joined us today.
As we continue our sixth season, Minoring in the Majors, the Major Prophets, that is. And so with this seventh episode, seventh episode, we are going to consider in Isaiah the suffering servant, the suffering servant of Isaiah chapters 52 and 53. And ⁓ I am your host, Brian Kenyon. Usually Steven and Forest are with me, but due to us being very busy,
It's hard to get us three together at the same time, and that continues to be the case, but we do look forward to the next time that we can be together. But in this sixth season, my ma minoring in the majors, major prophets that is, we are just taking select lessons from the major prophets. It would be impossible, of course, to exhaust these books as it would be with any book of the Bible, but we have ⁓ touched on some major themes in Isaiah.
And so we will close out our discussion of Isaiah with this episode 7, The Suffering Servant. But before we get into that, of course, Isaiah 53, the main suffering servant passage, is one of the most pivotal ⁓ passages in the Old Testament concerning Christ. If you remember, it was this passage that the eunuch was reading in Acts chapter 8, 26 through 35, when Philip asked him, Do you understand what you read?
And the eunuch said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And if you remember, he invited Philip to join him in the chariot, and they went on their way. And of course, the place where the eunuch read was Isaiah, what we know anyway, is Isaiah 53, verses 4 and 5. And ⁓ remember it was at that place that Philip preached unto from that scripture, Philip preached to him Jesus Christ.
And then the very next verse we find out that there's water, and the eunuch says, Here's water. What does hinder me from being baptized? And of course we know he was. But again, Isaiah 53 is a major passage in the Old Testament in reference to the suffering servant and the work of Christ. And so this theme of the suffering servant we'll get to in just a moment, but there are some other servant passages in Isaiah that are worthy of mentioning as we lead up.
to the suffering servant. In Isaiah forty-two, verses one through nine, the servant here will bring justice from God. This reads, Behold, forty two one, my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will bring justice for truth, he will not fail nor be discouraged.
Till he has established justice in the earth, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. And so again this servant will bring justice. Again, in Isaiah forty-nine, one through six, the servant here will have a worldwide mission of redemption. Notice
It reads Listen O coast lands to me, and take heed you peoples from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he has hidden me, and made me a polished shaft, in his quiver he has hidden me, and he said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
And now the Lord says, Who formed me from the womb to be his servant? To bring back Jacob to him, so that Israel is gathered to him, for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. Indeed he says, It is too small a thing that you should be my servant, to rise up to the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles.
That you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. And so in this passage, Isaiah 49, 1 through 6, notice he calls upon the coastlands and the peoples from afar, and he ends that little section, My salvation to the ends of the earth. This indeed is inclusive of the Gentiles in this worldwide mission of redemption. And then in Isaiah 50, verses four through nine, the servant will obey God's word.
No matter the expense to himself. We pick up in Isaiah fifty verse four The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak, a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to hear as the learned. The Lord my God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious.
Nor did I turn away. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord will help me, the Lord God will help me, therefore I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. He is near who justifies me, who will contend with me.
Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near me. Surely the Lord God will help me. Who is he who will condemn me? Indeed they will all grow old like a garment, the moth will eat them up. And that's also repeated in Hebrews chapter one. But this servant will obey God no matter what happens to him. He will be struck, his beard will be plucked, as it were to
And he will be subject to shame and spitting. And of course, that is fulfilled in the Christ. And so those servant passages kind of lead up to the suffering servant passage. Now, in these passages, the main idea in Isaiah 52 and 53, the concerning the Messiah, two things emerge. He would come to be king, and then also he would come to be the suffering servant.
Who would die for the sins of the world. And so as we examine this, we will turn our Bibles to Isaiah 52, verses 13 through 15, will be the first point of this lesson, this episode, the servant exalted through humiliation. Now, of course, if you're driving down the road, please do not look at your Bible, but look on the road. But I'll be reading from Isaiah 52, 13 through 15. Note it reads, Behold,
My servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. fourteen just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations, kings shall shut up their mouths at him, for what had not been told them they shall see.
And what they had not heard, they shall consider. And so here it shows the major theme of the next chapter, verse 53. He will deal prudently and wisely, and notice this servant will be exalted through humiliation. Now you have three what we'll call progressive terms here in verse 13. He will be exalted, extolled, and then be very high. And while these things are
These show different levels of the same type of thing, exalted, extolled, and be very high. Some commentators would connect these, being exalted to the resurrection of Jesus, extolled to the ascension of Jesus, and the word extolled means to be lifted up, and then very high would compare with sitting at the right hand of God. Now, of course, this was written about 700 years before Jesus would come to the earth.
And I've always wondered, you know, what ⁓ Israelites would think about this passage or what anyone would if we had no knowledge at all about the New Testament. But needless to say, the New Testament does reveal what the Old Testament once concealed, and so this suffering servant through humiliation will be exalted, extolled, and very high. Now the servant exalted as a sufferer, not as a warrior is clear.
Notice before he is exalted, he will have to suffer. It talks about his many were astonished at him, his visage or his appearance was marred more than any other, and his form more than the sons of men. And so he would have to suffer, and that would be part of his humiliation.
Now Paul would speak about this in Philippians two verses six through nine, speaking of Christ, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross.
Therefore God has also highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the mouth of Jesus every knee should bow of those things in heaven and of those things on the earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. Now notice it begins that many were astonished at him.
Now why would they be astonished at him? Well he tells us, number one, his visage or his countenance was marred, but also they were astonished because they were not looking for a suffering servant. They expected a physically mighty kingdom, and thus the king would be once you know, one riding, for example, maybe on a white horse, ripped with muscles and guns to either side, by which I mean muscles, of course.
Had a conquering sword in one hand and a finger on the political system on the other hand. They were expecting someone who would deliver them physically, but not spiritually. But yet the suffering servant is not, his physical features are not emphasized, but rather his humiliation, his suffering, his shame.
Now the result of this astonishment is that kings shall shut their mouths. They shall see and understand things which were previously inconceivable. And Paul refers back to this passage in Romans chapter fifteen, twenty and twenty one. And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, says Paul, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation.
But as it is written, to whom he was not announced, they shall see, and those who have not heard shall understand. And so this servant would be exalted through humiliation.
And again, those two terms seem contradictory, even paradoxical. That is, exaltation and humiliation do not usually go together. But in the case of the suffering servant, they do. And so Jesus, of course, is a fulfillment of this, as we see in the New Testament. All right, so not only would that suffering servant be exalted through humiliation, but he would also be a
be acquainted with grief. Now in Isaiah fifty three one three, the prophet writes Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness, and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men.
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. And so notice the suffering servant is to be disfigured, despised, and ignored by men. Notice his career is not highly regarded as far as human expectations are concerned.
Again, they were expecting somebody different. And so the question who has believed our report? And of course, it's so astonishing that no one would. And we read in John chapter 1, verses 10 through 11, that he was, that is, the Word, Jesus, the Word that became flesh, he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him.
He came into his own, but his own did not receive him. Again, who hath believed our report? And then John twelve, thirty-seven through thirty-eight is more explicit. It reads, But although he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord?
been revealed. And so the servant would be acquainted with grief. The servant should shall grow up, Isaiah says, he would see no more important, seem no more important than a plant in the wilderness struggling for life. He would be under God's care and protection. As Jesus said in John 8 29, He who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone, for I always do the things that please him.
But he shall be as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. Now I remember Homer Haley's commentary in Isaiah, the one with the blue cover on it, had a picture of a stump that had just been cut, and so it was like a flat tree stump, but it had a little tender plant growing out of the middle of it. And that of course represents the remnant that would again flourish in the future and eventually.
Make way for the Messianic kingdom. But the point is, is that that tree was cut down. Israel was taken into captivity. But God did not forget about them. He remembered that remnant, and that remnant is what brought the Christ into the world. He also describes does Isaiah a root out of dry ground. Now Jesus came into a corrupt society, and society had given up to the powers of the world.
And so it was barren and a wasteland, if you will. And I remember a few years ago I took a picture of a a concrete slab with a crack in it, and there's a beautiful flower growing up out of the crack, a purple and pink flower. And I took a picture of it intending to use it for a PowerPoint slide, never have yet, but I will one day, hopefully. But it depicted a barren, barren, wore out concrete, weathered concrete.
With that big old crack, but yet from that came a root out of dry ground, a beautiful plant. And so that's how Jesus, the suffering servant here, would eventually be. And so no beauty is there that we should desire him, unlike physically striking heroes of the past, he will be a meek and humble servant. And then, of course, this text said that he was despised and rejected.
A man of sorrow acquainted with grief. So he will be, you know, dealing and dying on behalf of sin sick people. And the fruit of their sin is all around society when Jesus comes on the scene, people will not be able to look at him. They can't stand his face to look at him. They will hide their faces from him, and they will not esteem him. Even among those who once zealously followed him,
Once they learned of what following him would cost, when Jesus gave in John chapter six that teaching about eating his blood and or eating his flesh and drinking his blood, he certainly was not talking about cannibalism, but he was saying that if you're going to follow me, you are going to have to take me in like you would food, that I may permeate through every, not just some, but every aspect of your being.
But they did not like that, it was a hard saying, the text says, and of course in John six sixty six, the text reads, From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. And then in Matthew twenty six fifty six, at the crucifixion, it said all his disciples forsook him and fled.
And then Matthew does state, but all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. And there he's talking about not just one prophet, but the prophets collectively talked about this sacrifice and the reaction people would have to it. But the suffering servant, not only would he be exalted through humiliation, but he would also be acquainted with grief. And the grief that he was acquainted with was because of our sins.
He died for our sins, to make us whole, to heal us not from physical ailments like broken legs and such, but to heal us from the consequences of sin, and that of course he did. And so the third thing that we want to mention here about the suffering servant is found in Isaiah fifty three, four through six, and that is that he died vicariously, that is he died on behalf of the
of other people. The text reads beginning in verse four, 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 bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. 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. Now notice in these passages the word our He bore our griefs, he carried our sorrows, he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised or crushed for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him.
And of course, chastisement there means punishment. But notice he did this for us, not for his own self. He had no transgressions, he had no iniquities, he did not need to be punished, but he did this for us. He died for us. And with his stripes we are healed. Now, again, there are many denominations that we use this passage to.
justify or whatever that their claims that they can heal people. And when they say heal people, they're talking about fixing broken legs and upset stomachs and all that kind of stuff. But he's not talking about physical healing here. He's talking about sin sick healing. And yes, sometimes healing accompanied miracles, but yet that healing was to prove that the speaker was or the message was from God.
And so he does heal us, but he heals us from the effects of sin. In Ephesians chapter two, verses fourteen through eighteen, Paul writes, For he that is Jesus, Jesus Himself is our peace, who is made both one. Now the both are the Jew and the Gentile, he is made both one and has broken down the middle wall of s of separation.
having abolished in his flesh the enity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace. And again the one new man, he he took Jew and Gentile, brought them together into one, one man or one body as it is, verse sixteen, that he might reconcile them both to God by one body through the cross
Thereby putting to death the enity. And he came and preached peace to you who are far off, the Gentiles, and to those who are near, the Jews. For through him we both, Jew and Gentile, have access by one spirit to the Father. And so through Jesus' death he broke down that middle wall of partition. And in Colossians two, fourteen, he would call that he nailed it to the cross.
That which separated Jew and Gentile, which was the law, was nailed to the cross, it died with Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 5 21, Paul said, For he made him that is Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin or a sin offering for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And so this suffering servant.
Died on behalf of us. His death was vicarious. He became sin, the sin offering for us, even though he did not deserve it, and he did not know sin. You see, sin separates us from God. Again, Isaiah 59, one and two, the Lord Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that he cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, your sins have hid his face from you. And so sin separates us from God. And the wages of sin therefore is death, and all have sin and come short of the glory of God, Romans six twenty three and Romans three twenty three. And so we all individually we stray from God. We reject God's ways for our own way or for the ways of the world.
And so, but we must not forget the sacrifice the suffering servant of Isaiah made for us vicariously. And so this servant was exalted through humiliation. He was acquainted with grief and sorrow. He died on our behalf vicariously. And then notice the fourth aspect of this suffering servant is that he was totally and would be totally submissive to God.
No matter the price to himself. In Isaiah fifty three seven through nine we read He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare his generation?
For he was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgressions of my people he was stricken. And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Notice he is innocent, yet he accepts this vicarious death. Now it says of him that he did not retaliate.
He was like a lamb who waits the same way, whether that lamb is going to the shearer or whether he's going to the slaughter. He waits the same. Now Jesus was accused, of course, throughout his mockery of a trial. He was accused by the chief priests, he was questioned by Pilate, Matthew twenty seven, one through fourteen. He was even questioned by Herod in Luke twenty three verse nine.
It says there that Herod questioned him with many words, but Jesus answered him nothing. And if you remember this, Herod just wanted to see Jesus for entertainment. He wanted to be entertained by some miracles or something. But yet Jesus would not answer him. As a matter of fact, whenever false accusations were leveled against him, he would not answer. But when true things were said about him, he did answer.
For example, when Pilate said, Are you a king? He said, Thou sayest, To this end was I born, and to this end came I into the world. John chapter 18. And so Jesus was you know totally submissive to God. Remember when John the Baptist saw him, John 121, he said, Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. That was the mission, that was the job of Jesus to come.
And to die for our sins. Now he faced, of course, unfair judicial treatment, but yet he was submissive to God. Pilate three times. John 18, 38, John 19, 4 and 6, Pilate said, I find no fault in him. But yet Pilate would not have the backbone to release Jesus, but rather he
Sacrifice Jesus to Pilate. Jesus was the scapegoat. Remember, Pilate, when they first brought Jesus to him, didn't want anything to do with it because that wasn't his jurisdiction. He doesn't rule over matters of Jewish law. But when somebody said, Hey, if you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. And of course, that's what struck Pilate, and it made him think he had to act.
And then he did everything he could to try to get the people to want Jesus released. But their answer, time and time again, was crucify him, crucify him. And so Pilate eventually delivered Jesus to the Jews to be crucified. John 19 16. Then Pilate delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away.
Now the text would say that he was cut off from the land of the living. That is, he died. He was put to death. In the prime, we might say, of his physical life, he was taken down, slaughtered, as a lamb is for sacrifice. And so who can speak of his generation? It was said, who will declare his generation? His generation would not understand the significance of his death.
And he was not able to leave any physical children prosperity or posterity posterity because he had no no children, which of course is probably a good thing. He's got a bunch of spiritual children, but no blood, earthly ⁓ children. Jesus was not married, though he does have the bride, the church. But who can speak of his generation? He was receiv he did receive an honorable berry.
Burial, he was buried with the rich at his death, even though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And he was buried in that tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, who seemed to be a wealthy person, and it was very important that that tomb was brand new. Nobody had laid in that tomb, because the way the ancients would do this is the person would die, and then they would put his his body in that tomb.
In that tomb, in that stone ⁓ tomb, and sealed with a rock, and he would lay there until the next person passed away. And then when that person passed away, they would remove the remains and put the new remains there until the next person died, so forth and so on. And of course, the Old Testament expression, ⁓ he slept with his father's, has that imagery ⁓ behind it. And so he was a suffering servant.
he was exalted through humiliation. He was acquainted with grief.
He suffered on vicariously on our behalf, and he was totally submissive to his father. And then the final point that Isaiah reveals about this suffering servant in Isaiah fifty three, ten through twelve is his victory and reward. The text reads verse ten yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he has put him to grief. When you 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 the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death and
And he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Through verse twelve. And so here it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Now the suffering was not pleasant, of course. When Jesus hung on the cross in Matthew twenty seven, forty six, he said, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now much has been said about that phrase.
And we'll have to save it for another time, the full details of it. But it seems this is his human nature, the human side of him, is saying this because he's suffering so bad, it feels as if, think, it seems as if God has forsaken him. But yet would God would not would God literally forsake him? Now this goes back to Psalm twenty two, and David wrote that Psalm, and he felt that God had forsaken him, but the truth of the matter is God had not forsaken him.
And the Psalm goes on to say that. And so if David could cry out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, even though the Lord did not forsake him in a literal way, why could not Jesus cry the same thing? And besides all that, when Jesus says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? the Jews there would automatically go to Matthew, or excuse me, go to Psalm twenty two, and they would realize that he is claiming that that Psalm, and rightly so,
He is claiming that Psalm is being fulfilled right there at that very moment. But again, we'll have to talk more about that on another episode some other time. But it pleased the Lord that he could provide an adequate sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. In Acts 2 23, Peter and his sermon, the first sermon following the resurrection of Jesus.
Said him that is Jesus being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. And so notice that phrase by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. The sacrifice of Jesus was no afterthought, it was not a plan B, it was not an audible that.
was called at the line of scrimmage when the defense was seen arranged differently than what was expected, no not at all. This was the very determined purpose that Jesus would come, to provide a sacrifice, an adequate sacrifice for the sins of mankind. The Hebrews writer put it this way in Hebrews nine, eleven through fourteen, but Christ came as a high priest of good things to come.
With the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, or bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh,
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And so Jesus came purposely by the will of God to be a sacrifice for our sins. Now that sacrifice of Jesus resulted in three things for him. And of course this is all prophetic, but fulfilled in Jesus.
Number one, he shall see his seed. Isaiah fifty three here, well, Isaiah fifty three fifty-four and verse three, the very next chapter ⁓ talks about that. But in Romans chapter two, verse twenty eight, Paul says, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly.
And circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. And so the seed that would that he would see would be, of course, ultimately the Messianic kingdom or the church. For Galatians five, fifteen through sixteen, Paul wrote, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. And so the Israel of God is the church, and of course in Galatians three, verse sixteen, the seed is one seed, and that seed is Christ. And through Christ we are a new creation, and when we walk according to that rule or according to that pattern,
We are the Israel of God, the chosen people of God. So the first result of the Lord's sacrifice of the suffering servant would be he shall see his seed. The second result is that he shall prolong his days. Now of course the Lord would be crucified, but up from the grave he would arise. And so in Revelation one, seventeen and eighteen, after John sees that awesomely magnificent.
Magnificent Vision of Jesus. The text says, When I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen. And I have the keys of Hades and
and of death. And so even though they crucified this suffering servant, they crucified the Lord, he rose again from the dead, never to die again. And so his days were indeed prolonged even into eternity. And then a third result of this beautiful sacrifice of the suffering servant is that the pleasure of God will prosper in his hands. That is God's will, God's pleasure
will be through this suffering servant. In fact, Paul would say in Colossians one nineteen and twenty that all fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily. Chapter two verse nine as well. Revelation nineteen sixteen, among other places, says that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. In Ephesians one twenty two, the Lord has put all things under his feet and
And gave Jesus to be the head over all things to the church. And then in Revelation 12, 11, those who overcome, all of us can overcome. And that verse says, And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they love not their lives unto the death. And so through Christ we can, through Christ the blood of the Lamb, we can.
and will overcome if we stick with him. And so it pleased the Lord to bruise him. But yet also, the lat in verse thirteen, by his knowledge we shall be justified. Well actually, I'm referring to ⁓ not verse thirteen of Isaiah fifty three, but in Isaiah fifty four, verse thirteen, the text there says, All your children shall be taught by the Lord
And great shall be the peace of your children. And so by his knowledge many will be justified. And again, if you remember, in the old covenant, they were born, and then the men were circumcised, the males were circumcised on the eighth day, and then as they grew they learned about God. But in the new covenant, they'll have to know about God first, and then they'll continue to grow once they enter into the covenant.
John reminded them of this in John six forty four and forty five No one can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws him, and I will raise him at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught by God. Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. And so we must again learn about Jesus first before we come to him and become a Christian.
For remember, Paul said in Romans 10 17 that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So we cannot have biblical faith unless it's based on the truth of God's word. And so it's very important that we study and learn about God's Word. And so also the reward of his victory is stated in Isaiah 53, 10-12. We know that Christ is stronger than Satan.
And Jesus brought this point out in Luke eleven, twenty one through twenty two, when he said, How can one enter into a strong man's house unless he's stronger? And of course by implication Jesus was teaching there that he was stronger than Satan, and this was proven because he cast out demons, and Satan surely wouldn't cast out demons, because a house divided against itself cannot stand. Now the servant will be will deliver many from Satan.
John twelve thirty one, the record says Now is the judgment of this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out, and he'll be cast out through obedience to the gospel, of course, because Jesus, you know, he died to save or to release us from the fear of death. Hebrews two, fourteen and fifteen. Insomuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself, that is Jesus, likewise shared in the same.
That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. And so the death of Christ, the death of that suffering servant, freed us from the fear of death. And the foundation of this suffering servant and his deliverance is the victory that he gained.
over sin. Now again that that victory, that foundation is deliberate. In John 10, 17 through 18, therefore my father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down fr of my of myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received
From my Father. And so he was victorious. He deliberately laid his life down. And of course he can raise it again. And incidentally, you know, the Father is said to raise up the Son, Romans six, verse four. The Holy Spirit is said to raise up the Son, Romans eight, eleven and twelve. And here Jesus says in John ten eighteen that I lay it down and I have the power to take it up again.
So all three members of the Godhead are involved in the resurrection of Jesus. Well, the foundation of this victory again is is its deliberateness. Also, he was numbered with the human race, with the transgressors. He was numbered with the human race. He joined them. And he represented them and he saved them. He shed his blood. You know, he truly
Showed that he was made in the image and likeness of God. And so Jesus was numbered with the human race. In fact, ⁓ some have said that when ⁓ Jesus demanded to be baptized by John the Baptist rule, remember in Matthew chapter 3 and Luke 3, in parallels to that, remember, John did not want to baptize him. If anything, John needed to be baptized by him.
But the synoptic gospels say that John went ahead and baptized Jesus to fulfill all righteousness. And some have suggested that perhaps the part of that righteousness that was fulfilled is that he was numbered with the human race. Humans were being baptized by John, and so Jesus would identify with that and be baptized with them. Of course, we realize that.
Jesus was not baptized for the same reason in the sense that John or Jesus had no sin. He did not have to repent, whereas the others did, but he was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Now of course John chapter 1, verse 31, particularly in verse 34, well that whole context, 31 through 34, says that John baptized Jesus so that Jesus would be made known not just to John the Baptist, but also to Israel. So he baptized him.
To make that manifest, and of course, when Jesus came up out of the water, the dove descended, or the spirit descended like a dove upon him. Jesus came up out of the water, and the voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son. And so we do see all three members of the Godhead. And then finally, the foundation of this victory, not only is it deliberate numbered with the human race, but he maketh intercession for us. Again, as the verse states.
He made at the end of verse twelve, he made intercession for the transgressors. And so Hebrews seven twenty five does confirm, therefore he that is Jesus is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives and makes intercession for them. And so we serve a wonderful practice.
Wonderful servant, a suffering servant, and this servant was exalted through humiliation, Isaiah fifty two, thirteen through fifteen. He was acquainted with grief, this suffering servant, Isaiah fifty three, one through three. He was totally submissive, this suffering servant, fifty three through or fifty three seven through nine.
He was vicariously suffering for us, Isaiah fifty three, four through six, and he has a victory and reward Isaiah fifty three, ten through twelve. And so what a tremendous God we serve who gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And so let us live, let us interact with others, let us teach others.
about this suffering servant, and let us live for him, for he died for us. Well, we appreciate you joining us today and we'll begin with Jeremiah in our next episodes as we continue the sixth season of Minoring in the Majors, the major prophets that is. We look forward to being with you soon.