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Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 
chapter 52. Isaiah chapter 52 for our meditation 
this evening prior to participating in the Lord's Supper. Isaiah 
52 beginning in verse 13 is what's called the fourth servant song 
of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah sets forth four servant 
songs. Songs centered in focusing upon 
the servant of the Lord, the servant of Yahweh. Those are 
in Isaiah 42, Isaiah 49, Isaiah 50, and here specifically Isaiah 
52, verse 13, all the way through the end of chapter 53. So I'll 
just pick up reading in chapter 52 at verse 13. Behold, my servant 
shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled 
and be very high. Just as many were astonished 
at you, so his appearance was marred more than any man, and 
his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many 
nations. Kings shall shut their mouths 
at him. For what had not been told them, they shall see. And 
what they had not heard, they shall consider. Who has believed 
our report? And to whom has the arm of the 
Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him 
as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no 
form or majesty, 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. 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 for 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. 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 its 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. Yet it pleased 
the Lord to crush 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 
he was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many and made 
intercession for the transgressors. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank you for this passage of Holy Scripture. We 
just praise you for the suffering servant of the Lord. How we thank 
You that He is in fact our Lord Jesus Christ, that You made Him 
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the 
righteousness of God in Him. Help us to see in this passage 
the doctrine of penal substitution, the fact that our blessed Redeemer 
took the penalty the payment due for our sin. Help us to see 
in this passage the fact that we are justified freely by your 
grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. And it's 
in his name that we pray. Amen. Well, as I alluded to this 
morning, chapter 52 verses 13 to 15 sort of summarize the entire 
thrust of chapter 53. Sometimes you'll find that in 
the Old Testament. There'll be summary statements 
that that foreshadow all that will follow in a subsequent chapter. 
And here in chapter 52, verses 13 to 15, we see two concepts 
set forth, the exaltation of Jesus Christ, and we also see 
his humiliation. Now, those two terms refer to 
the states of Christ. Theologians refer to the states 
of Christ. Very often that means his pre-incarnate 
state, where he was prior to his coming in flesh. Prior to 
coming into this world, Jesus resided in pre-incarnate glory. Theologians speak of the state 
of humiliation when Christ came into this world, when he took 
on the likeness of sinful flesh, when he lived a life under the 
obedience or under the law of God. And then the final state 
is the state of exaltation when Christ was enthroned to the right 
hand of God most high. Well, Chapter 53 expands on those 
particular themes. Chapter 53 highlights several 
aspects of Christ's work. Some have wondered who Isaiah 
was speaking about here in chapter 53. If you remember, the Ethiopian 
unit was reading this portion of scripture, according to Acts 
chapter 8, and when Philip came upon him, The man, the Ethiopian 
eunuch, said, who is Isaiah writing about? Is he writing about himself 
or some other man? The history of interpretation, 
some have taken Isaiah 53 as a description of the nation of 
Israel. Well, that simply will not do. 
If you look specifically at verse 8 in chapter 53, it says, for 
the transgressions of my people, that's Israel. He, the Lord Jesus, 
was stricken. We know this is a reference to 
Christ. We know Isaiah 53 speaks of Jesus. As we read on, when 
Philip speaks to the Ethiopian unit, it says that he preached 
Jesus from this particular passage. The rest of the New Testament 
highlights and cites this passage as well. So we know it refers 
to Jesus, who is the suffering servant on behalf of his people. We'll notice Isaiah 53 by way 
of meditation prior to the Lord's Supper under a couple of considerations. First, we'll notice his humiliation 
in verses one to three. Secondly, his suffering, which 
is a part of or an extension of his humiliation in verses 
four to six, verses seven to nine, take up his death. very 
specifically, and then verses 10 to 12 deal with his exaltation 
or his triumph after having offered himself up unto God for the sins 
of his people. Now, the Westminster Shorter 
Catechism asks, Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist? Does Christ's 
humiliation consisted? It is being born and that in 
a low condition. made under the law, undergoing 
the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed 
death of the cross, in being buried and continuing under the 
power of death for a time. And so this particular chapter 
demonstrates that very clearly. We see throughout the emphasis, 
He did not suffer for Himself, or He did not suffer as a result 
of His sin, but rather He suffered as a result of our particular 
sin. Now notice first His humiliation. Isaiah 53, verses 1 to 3. Now here the prophet is including 
Himself with Israel. And it's as if they are acknowledging 
the fact that they had missed how glorious this particular 
servant of the Lord, who has believed our report and to whom 
is the arm of the Lord been revealed. For he shall grow up before him 
as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He doesn't 
come blasting forth from heaven. He doesn't come riding on a chariot. He doesn't come with, you know, 
a gun, bullets wrapped around him and M-16s and assault weapons 
and come into human history to destroy unrighteousness and to 
destroy the bad guy. But rather he is born, born in 
a lowly condition, born of a woman, born in a manger. He has no pomp 
and no majesty attending to him. The prophet goes on and says 
he has no form or majesty. And when we see him, there is 
no beauty that we should desire him. He was a very common man 
among men. It was nothing that stood out. 
Very often you see pictures of Jesus and he's got sort of this 
halo around his head. Well, that's not the way it was. 
Isaiah doesn't say we saw a halo around his head and that identified 
for us that he was indeed the servant of the Lord. That's exactly 
the opposite. He had no form. He had no appearance. He had no majesty. There was 
nothing about him that looked unique. He was made like us in 
all respects. He was tempted like us in all 
respects, yet without sin. Notice in verse 3, He is despised 
and rejected by man. Remember when that one man wants 
to follow the Lord Jesus in Luke chapter 9, and Jesus says, the 
foxes have their holes and the birds of the air have their nests, 
but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. He was rejected. He was despised. He was not looked 
upon with any sort of favor by the rank and file of Israel at 
the time of his appearance. Notice it says he's a man of 
sorrows and he is acquainted with grief. He is familiar with 
suffering. He is familiar with agony. He knows what it's like. That's 
why the author in the book of Hebrews so often encourages us 
with that particular view of Jesus. We have such a high priest. You cannot say my suffering, 
my trial, my grief is so hard that nobody can understand. Well, 
your God can understand. Your high priest can understand. 
He lived a life of rejection. He lived a life of being despised. He was, as we see here, characterized 
as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The prophet goes 
on and says, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not 
esteem him. As I mentioned this morning, 
this we did not esteem him has more of the idea of we just didn't 
pay any attention to it. Several years ago, or just a 
few years ago, it must have been, John Van Oort and Josh and Micah 
and I went out and did some camping in East Harrison. And while we 
were driving around one day, we met up with a Sasquatch research 
team. Sasquatch, or you might refer 
to him as the Bigfoot, or the Yeti, whatever you choose. He's the big ape-like creature, 
big, all that sort of thing. Well, as this man, who was totally 
into this, There's actually people that are very much into this. The Sasquatch research team was 
on their little rhino vehicle. And we talked, and they showed 
us some pictures, and it was quite interesting. And the one 
man said this. He said that various reports 
of persons who have spotted Bigfoot identify it sort of like this. 
They were looking at the forest, and they didn't really focus 
in on something. They sort of glanced by, and 
then, what was that? And then they looked back, and 
they saw Bigfoot, and then off he went. It wasn't like he had 
a sign that said, hey, I'm the Bigfoot. I'm the Sasquatch. I'm 
the big thing that you're looking for. We could just easily pass 
by him without giving him a second thought or a second notice. That's 
more in line with what the prophet is saying here. It's more along 
the line of when Jesus said, I am the bread sent by God. I am the bread of life. And in 
John 6, 42, the people said, is this not the carpenter's son? 
Is this not the son of Mary? What's he talking about? He's 
the bread of life. He grew up with our kids. He is nothing special. There's 
nothing about him that would endear himself as a Savior to 
any of us. And so what the prophet is doing 
here in verses one to three is sort of making a corporate repentant 
confession. We've missed it. We misunderstood. We didn't realize what God was 
doing. We would have preferred the heavens 
opening up and a chariot blasting and guns blazing to destroy the 
Romans and to put them down. But we missed it. We weren't 
thinking about the fact that God would send one like us and 
yet different. One like us and yet different 
in order to save us from our sins. It's interesting. He's 
described here completely as man. If you look back for just 
a moment in Isaiah 52 at verse 13, it says, Behold, my servant 
shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled 
and be very high. Well, that language has already 
come up in the prophet Isaiah. It was in Isaiah chapter 6, when 
the prophet is rehearsing his call to the prophetic ministry. 
He sees Jehovah. He sees the Lord. What? He sees 
Him high. and exalted. He sees Him lofty. He sees Him above everything. So what we find here in Isaiah 
53 is that this human servant of the Lord bears the characteristic 
or bears the essence of deity Himself. Now let's move on to 
His suffering in verses 4 to 6. Notice that His suffering 
was solitary. It was solitary. That means it 
was all alone. It was nobody who could participate 
with him in this. Misery loves company, doesn't 
it? When we're suffering, or when we're tried, or when there's 
difficulty, it's good to know somebody else has had that too. 
Not so we can revel in their misfortune, but so that we can 
identify with them. When we are suffering, it's good 
for brethren to come alongside of us and to help us out, to 
encourage us, to read with us, to pray with us, to just be in 
our presence. But notice, surely, He, and it's 
emphatic, He alone has bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. There was no one fit to accompany 
Him. There was no one equipped to 
help Him. He alone, as the suffering servant 
of Jehovah, was the one who could do what God had called him to. 
Notice that his suffering was substitutionary in nature. This is one of the most blessed 
doctrines in all of the Bible, the substitutionary suffering 
and the death of our Lord Jesus. Children, you know what a substitute 
is. If I would have got hit by a 
truck on the way here tonight, Pastor Cam would have preached. 
He would have been a substitute. He would have stood in my place. 
He would have preached the word. When you go to school, maybe 
your teacher got the flu and you have a substitute. Somebody 
stands in for your particular teacher. Well, Jesus was our 
substitute. Remember that He did not suffer 
for His own sake. He did not die because He was, 
in fact, a lawbreaker. But rather, look at what the 
text says. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Notice in verse 5, He was wounded 
for what? For our transgressions. That's 
why Christ went to the cross. That's why Jesus did what He 
did. It was because we're transgressors. It's because we're rebels. It's 
because all we light sheep have gone astray. It's because we 
have sought out many devices. It's because we busy ourselves 
in rejecting the law of God and in seeking to cast it off. So 
Christ was our substitute. He was wounded for our transgressions. Verse 5, He was bruised for our 
iniquities. The chastisement for our peace 
was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Drop down to the 
end of verse 6, And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity 
of us all. Verse 8, we already read this, 
For the transgressions of my people He was stricken. We mustn't 
ever, you know, shave that off. Our presentation of the gospel 
and our discussion of who and what Jesus did and the significance 
of Christ in history. We're not just pointing to him 
as a good religious model. We're not just pointing to him 
as a good example. We're not just looking to him 
as the way men look to philosophers, but we're looking to him as the 
substitutionary curse bearer. The one who took the wrath of 
God on our behalf. So his suffering was solitary. It was substitutionary in nature. 
And notice it was comprehensive. It was comprehensive. He has 
borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace 
was upon Him. By His stripes we are healed. 
Every need of man is answered in this passage. Every particular 
need that sin has created in our lives is answered by the 
suffering Savior. on our behalf. He was wounded 
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace 
was upon him." We all want peace, don't we? I have yet to meet 
somebody who says, I thrive in chaos. I just love turmoil. It just makes me so happy when 
my life feels like it's unraveling. Nothing pleases me than when 
there's everything undone and my life is a big mess. No, we 
want peace. But the peace that is being addressed 
here isn't first and foremost, you've got a tidy house, you 
have well-behaved children, you have a good social standing in 
your community. The peace that is addressed by 
the suffering servant is peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ. It is that justified by faith 
peace that Paul speaks of in Romans chapter 5. He says, therefore, 
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. There's 
nothing better than peace with God. Jesus said in the upper 
room, my peace I give you, my peace I leave to you. Not as 
the world gives. The world offers a form of peace. 
You can get it in a bottle. You can get it in a pill. You 
can get it in a crack pipe. You can get it in sex. You can get 
it in power. There's a form of peace that the world offers. 
But Jesus says not as the world offers. The peace that Christ 
delivers answers to man's most desperate need. Standing with 
God. The ability to be able to pillow 
your head at night realizing that God is for you. that should 
you die before you wake, you'll stand in the presence of God 
Most High and not be cast off into eternal suffering. So Jesus' 
suffering was solitary, substitutionary, comprehensive, and it displayed 
His submission to the Father. Isaiah 53 tells us this. 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. Now notice in verse 7, 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 its shearers 
is silent, so He opened not His mouth." Why? Because He couldn't 
answer them? No, because He was submitting 
to His Father. Read the Gospel according to John sometime with 
an emphasis upon Jesus doing the will of Him who sent Him. 
Jesus says, My meat is to do the will of Him who sent Me. 
I always do, He says, what pleases the Father. He was a submissive, 
willing sufferer. He didn't go grudgingly. He didn't 
go rebelliously. He didn't go kicking and screaming. 
But rather, he laid his life down of his own accord, according 
to a statement in John chapter 10. And that displays something 
of his love, yes, for the Father, but for us as well. He is going 
to submit himself to the Father and go to such lengths and such 
an extent to save us from our sins. Absolutely amazing. Well, let's look thirdly at his 
death. Again, the idea of willingness we've already touched on. Verse 
seven. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter 
and as a sheep before its 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. Now, from all 
accounts that I've read, that's a tough verse to translate. Verse 
eight. One man has translated or he's 
gone with the NIV margin. The margin of the NIV says, yet 
who of his generation considered that he was cut off from the 
land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the blow 
was due. In other words, he says it's 
the idea that this is almost a challenge or it's almost a, 
it's incredulous. Nobody's really considering what's 
happening here. A righteous, just, holy man is 
being arrested. He's being led into a criminal 
courtroom. He's being tried as an offender. 
He's ultimately being executed and punished. Has anybody noticed 
this? Does anybody understand this? 
Is anybody conscious of this? He was taken from prison and 
from judgment. Yet who of his generation considered 
that he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression 
of my people, to whom the blow was due? He is not being led 
away. He is not going to the slaughter 
because of his crimes. He's going because of our crimes. He's going because of our sins. 
That's the thrust of the passage. Remember, Isaiah 53 envisions 
Israel in a better time of repentant confession and repentant extolling 
of God. He was taken. He was led away. He was slaughtered, ultimately, 
not again for his sins and crimes, but for ours. Notice in verse 
9, And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich 
at his death. Remember, Joseph of Arimathea. 
Remember that man who offered up his tomb so that the Lord 
Jesus would be buried there. All of this programmatic, everything 
here 700 years prior to the actual fulfillment is being specified 
to the very detail of where Jesus would ultimately rest after he 
died. 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. Interestingly, 
Peter appeals to this particular passage in verse nine in his 
first epistle when he's highlighting the sinlessness of Christ and 
he's calling us to follow Christ's example. He says this of Jesus. He had done no violence, nor 
was any deceit in his mouth. Peter said that of Jesus. Think 
about that for a moment. Peter knew Jesus, didn't he? 
I mean, we know Jesus to be sure. We have the written revelation 
of God, propositional truth. We can read and understand and 
know who Jesus is. That verse has always intrigued 
me that Peter would quote that and cite that. I reflect upon 
Peter and his relationship with Jesus. The longer you know me, the more 
you'll see me sin. I guarantee it. I guarantee it. I'm sorry, please forgive me. And who do we generally send 
the most against? It's not the guy at the corner 
store. It's not our mechanic, even though he might make us 
mad, sorry to any mechanics in here. It's usually the people we're 
closest to, isn't it? How many times you have to confess 
in your wives or husbands? I'm not trying to poison the 
well for any potential married candidates here. Marriage candidates, 
get married, enjoy it, it's blissful, it's wonderful. But realize, 
the more you get to know each other, the more you realize He's 
not perfect. For three years, Peter was one 
of the closest earthly associates of our Lord Jesus. John is the 
beloved disciple. John laid his head upon Jesus 
bosom in the upper room. I know there's an argument, not 
an argument, an intramural in-house debate. Who was closest to Jesus? 
Why we'd even argue such things is crazy. But you've got the 
12 disciples, the 12 apostles. But amidst that 12, there were 
three. You know whose name always comes 
up first among the three? It's Peter, James, and John. 
Peter knew him. as well as anybody else. Three years he spent with this 
man. Three years he moved around with 
him. And this is what he was able 
to cite from Isaiah 53.9. Nor was any deceit in his mouth. 
It's obvious in the text, isn't it? His death was not due his 
sin. It was not due his crime. It 
was due to us. He was our substitute. He took 
our place. He got in our stead and he took 
the very wrath of God Almighty upon his own head for our sin. And then notice finally his triumph 
or his exaltation. The Westminster Shorter Catechism 
goes on to say, Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again 
from the dead on the third day. In ascending up into heaven, 
in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming 
to judge the world at the last day. Notice, with reference to 
his triumph, the first statement in verse 10. Yet it pleased Yahweh, 
it pleased Jehovah, to crush him. It's one of the more perplexing 
statements in the entire chapter. When we read through this, we 
see Him taking our suffering, taking our punishment, taking 
all things for our peace. And we see who is behind this. It is God the Lord. This did 
not happen happenstance. It wasn't a lucky arrangement. 
It wasn't as if, oh, wow, Jesus just thought he would do this. 
It was orchestrated. It was decreed. It was in the 
mind of God. Reverend, I believe here we find 
great joy and great comfort. Some people shrink back and they 
say, well, that sounds like predestination. That sounds like God is in control 
of all things. Absolutely. Praise God. Praise Him that He's in absolute 
control. Praise Him that this isn't a 
happenstance universe. Praise Him that we didn't have 
to sort of rub our thumbs and hopefully get lucky with a surety 
and a Savior that would take our spot at Calvary. The Lord 
was pleased to bruise Him. Peter, the apostle, in preaching 
in Acts chapter 2, makes essentially the same statement. You can look 
there at Acts chapter 2, verse 22. He says, Men of Israel, hear 
these words. Jesus of Nazareth, the man attested 
by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs which God did through 
him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered 
by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have 
taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death." 
It was a sin for them to murder Christ. It was evil. It was wicked. It was despicable. But it happened according to 
the predetermined plan. and for knowledge of God so that 
we could have deliverance from our sin. Paul says essentially 
the same thing in Romans chapter three. I highlight this to make 
sure you understand your salvation was orchestrated at the divine 
level. You didn't fall into this. You 
were predestined by the grace of an almighty God who operates 
according to an eternal decree. Notice in Romans chapter three, 
verse twenty one. But now the righteousness of 
God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and 
the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus 
Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference 
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being 
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is 
in Christ Jesus. Now notice whom God set forth 
as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate 
his righteousness because it is forbearance. God had passed 
over the sins that were previously committed. You see that God set 
him forth as a propitiation. Propitiation speaks of God's 
wrath. Propitiation is what we desperately 
need. God's wrath is targeted upon 
the sinner. Jesus steps in our place. He 
takes the wrath in himself so that it doesn't come upon us. 
It was God who set him forth. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, God 
made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might 
become the righteousness of God in Him. Brethren, I think this 
helps us to understand that we are part of a much bigger plan. 
Our salvation was orchestrated by the Father, the Son and the 
Holy Spirit. So in Jesus triumph, we see behind 
it the divine pleasure goes on in verse 10. He has put him to 
grief. When you make his soul an offering, he shall see his 
seed. He shall prolong his days and 
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. It doesn't 
sound like a hypothetical salvation. It doesn't sound like he might 
possibly win some seed. It sounds like definite atonement. 
When Jesus comes, when He is delivered up, when the Father 
is pleased to crush Him, there is a very specific reason in 
it. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the 
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. Notice the servant 
is satisfied. Verse 11, He shall see the labor 
of his soul and be satisfied. That's a beautiful statement. It reminds us of Hebrews 12, 
where it tells us that Jesus went to great lengths on our 
behalf. Who for the joy that was set 
before Him. There was joy set before Him. 
There was satisfaction. There was the securing of a seed. 
There was the salvation of a people. Who for the joy that was set 
before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has 
sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. That is precisely 
what the prophet is saying here. Says, by his knowledge, my righteous 
servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. 
It's that beautiful doctrine of justification. Jesus gives 
us a righteousness. How does He secure it? He bears 
our iniquities. And then verse 12 comes to a 
crescendo. 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 
he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many and 
made intercession for the transgressors. Great, wonderful statement. A beautiful emphasis in this 
particular passage. We see, as E.J. Young says, in 
chapter 53, the work of redemption is described as spiritual. In 
this present chapter, the prophet turns to the redeemed ones, the 
church, and speaks of its glorious exaltation. He speaks of this 
as happening in the lives of God's people. It's not just to 
be delivered from our temporal problems. That's what Israel 
was looking for in the first century. They wanted relief from 
Rome. That wasn't it. That's why they 
rejected him. That's why they despised him. He came to save 
His people from their sins. We need to understand that, get 
our minds wrapped around it and appreciate it. One man says Isaiah 
53 anticipates something that will become explicit in the New 
Testament. The animal sacrifices of Leviticus 
are ultimately fulfilled in the sacrificial death of a person, 
even our Lord Jesus Christ. So in conclusion, we see his 
humiliation, we see his suffering, we see his death, we see his 
exaltation. And in this, we learn that the 
servant suffers for others. The servant suffering brings 
benefit to others. This is why Paul can say he has 
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places 
in Christ. The servant suffered willingly 
and deliberately. The servant was delivered up 
ultimately by his father. The servant is himself sinless 
and righteous. The servant suffered for the 
sins of others. And the servant was an offering 
for sin. This picks up the whole Levitical 
sacrificial system when he says that in verse 10. When you make 
His soul an offering for sin. This is why John, in John 1.29, 
John the Baptist says, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away 
the sin of the world. Well, let us praise God for His 
mercy and His grace and the sending of His Son. And we'll ask that 
He will bless our time of remembrance of the death of the Savior. Well, 
let us pray. Father, we thank You for Your 
Word. We thank You for this picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. We 
thank You for His state of humiliation. We thank You that He came into 
this world and that He went through such suffering, not for His own 
sin, but for our sin. We thank You for His death as 
a sacrifice and as a substitute. We thank You that it availed 
with You, the Father. And we thank You, God, for the 
exaltation of Christ to Your right hand, where He ever lives 
and reigns and rules over His enemies, and He lives to make 
intercession for His people. May these things encourage our 
hearts. May You bless us now, and may You cause us to reflect 
on the death of our Lord Jesus. And we pray in His most blessed 
name, Amen.