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The Greatest Easter Prophecy (Isaiah 52:13–53:12)

Sometimes in history certain people distinguish themselves by accurately predicting an historical event and they gain notoriety from it. One such person is investor Michael Burry who accurately predicted the collapse of the US housing bubble before the 2008 financial crisis. When many others kept investing freely, Burry was right in acting conservatively and he managed to net 100 million dollars for himself and 700 million for his investors, while others lost their fortunes. How did he do it? It wasn’t miraculous. He saw the signs that were there beforehand that others chose to ignore.

One of the great proofs of the truth of Scripture is prophecy. God knows the future and at various points chooses to reveal it to us so that we might be encouraged to believe in him. God says, “I make known the end from the very beginning.” All through the Bible, He used certain people to do this work for him. They were the prophets. One of the great prophets of the Old Testament was Isaiah. In this beautifully written book are some of the most amazing prophecies concerning the coming of the Saviour and his life and death and resurrection. Michael Burry had the vision to see a few years in advance of the stock market trends, but Isaiah predicted events concerning Jesus that would not happen for another 700 years. This is truly miraculous! God was revealing the future.

SERMON MANUSCRIPT

Back before Christmas Josiah and I presented a mini-series of sermons on the prophesies in Isaiah concerning the birth of Christ. Surely you remember them! Remember that great verse in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Is.9:6

Today, on this Palm Sunday I will show you what many believe is the greatest Easter Prophecy found in all Scripture: Isaiah 53.

So first we will look at the prophetic aspect of this passage , then we will consider the plan of God in the prophecy and lastly, the purpose of it all. That will be our agenda.

PROPHECY

Actually the prophecy starts in Isaiah 52:13 where it introduces the servant of the Lord who is none other than Jesus. That is where the song of the servant starts. Then, moving on into Isaiah 53 we have 4 more stanzas, each consisting of three verses. We will find that each stanza highlights an amazing prophecy concerning Christ and his death and resurrection. Let’s consider the first stanza.

See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him—–his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness—-so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths at him, for what they were not told, they will see. and what they have not heard they will understand.

Who are these many people who highly exalt the Saviour and are appalled or in mourning over him? The answer is in verse 15 where it says he will sprinkle many nations. He is talking about the Gentiles coming to appreciate and care for the Messiah as they hear and understand the message. The idea of sprinkling in Scripture connotes blessing. It says kings will shut their mouths at him, in wonder. Three centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection, Constantine, the Roman Caesar himself bowed the knee and became a believer in Jesus. The prophecy is this: this Jewish servant of the Lord, the Messiah of Israel, will come to be accepted and loved and exalted by the Gentiles and their leaders. Remember, this prophecy was given when Israel was but a small nation among many others. So, this is an amazing prophecy. Has it come true? Of course. Today, Christianity still registers as the leading faith community of the world with over two billion adherents. Not all are true believers but many are, who wholeheartedly exalt the name of Jesus. God’s people are found in every country and in every culture worldwide. It is wonderful to meet Christians from other nations who love and serve the same Lord Jesus. In my time in Africa it was wonderful to meet Zambian believers who loved Jesus. In fact though, we don’t have to travel the world to experience this. We have our own united nations right here at Oakridge Bible Chapel. This is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy long ago.

The next stanza gives us another prophecy. Let’s look at it.

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Is. 53:1-3

Who has believed our report? He just prophesied that the Gentiles would, in 52:15 But what about the Jews? In this stanza the writer changes the pronouns from ‘they’ to ‘us’ and ‘we’. (verse 2,3) We take from this that he is referring primarily to the Jewish nation. And as surely as the Gentiles eventually receive Jesus and exalt him, so do the Jews despise him and reject him. Here is the shocking prophecy: they will despise and reject their own Messiah. It says they looked for some beauty or majesty in Jesus but found none. That is because Jesus did not come the first time to be king. They wanted a conquering Messiah who would overthrow the Romans and establish the monarchy once again. That would be majestic. But Jesus did not fit the bill, he did not meet their expectations, because in his own words, “I came not to be ministered to(as a king), but to minister and to give my life as a ransom for many”. So they rejected him. John says it this way, “He came to his own and his own received him not.” At his trial the Jews said, “We will not have this man to rule over us,” And again, “We have no king but Caesar.”

Other prophesies tell us that in the end times, before Jesus returns as king, the Jews will repent and turn to Jesus and trust him as their messiah. We see the beginnings of this already. Today, Christian groups are witnessing to Jews in Israel and are being so successful that the Israeli parliament is considering banning any attempt to evangelize Jewish adults in Israel, making it a crime punishable with jail time. They already have a law in place banning the evangelization of children and youth. They still despise and reject their Messiah. The prophecy is true.

The third stanza reveals another prophecy. More then just rejection of Messiah, it is all about the suffering of Jesus. Let’s read it.

Surely he took our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Is.53:4-6

But just look at all the words that indicate deep physical suffering: Stricken, smitten, afflicted, pierced, crushed, punished, wounded.We have already seen this in 52:14. He was so beaten up and whipped to shreds that it was not just unrecognizable as a person, he was no longer looking like a human being. Every part of him from his face to his body was torn to shreds.

Other prophesies in Scripture indicate this suffering of the Messiah, as in Ps. 22, where it says “they pierced my hands and my feet”, so Isaiah is not alone in prophesying this. But the point is it all came true. It all happened in this darkest day of history when the Son of God was beaten, bruised and hung upon a cross. The savage violence of Jewish leaders and Gentile soldiers superheated by the wickedness of demons, was vented upon our Saviour. All of this was prophesied. God knew every step beforehand.

The next stanza adds yet another prophecy, the death of the Messiah.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living: for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, not was any deceit in his mouth. Is.53:7-9

Look at the expressions in this text: led to the slaughter, by oppression and judgment he was taken away, he was cut off from the land of the living, he was stricken, was assigned a grave with the wicked, then with the rich in his death.

Words could not be clearer. The suffering of the Messiah would end in death. This is the great prophecy of this passage. Jesus would after all the brutality against him, die and be put in the grave. Even the assignment of the grave is so amazingly true to the prophecy. The civil authorities had a place of burial for convicts, a field of mass graves, and that was where the body of Jesus would have ended up. But Joseph of Arimathea, a man of means, who was a Jewish leader and a silent believer in Jesus, came to Pilate, the Roman governor and pleaded for the body of Jesus after he had died on the cross. Then he buried him in his own tomb. Prophecy fulfilled! And such a key event, because if he had been buried in the mass grave where the authorities intended to put him, there would be no evidence of an empty tomb. And that brings us to the next prophecy in the next stanza. It is the resurrection of Jesus Let’s read it.

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and to cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by hi knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Is.53:10-12

In the normal course of life, it comes to an end at death. That final event, death, waits for us all. So how mind-blowing is this prophecy? The Messiah will not meet his end at death. He will rise again from the dead. Let’s look at these verses to see what they say.

He will see his offspring. This is not poetic language to describe a grief stricken family visiting the tomb of a loved one and the dead person seeing them from the grave. This is a real life event. His loved ones, his spiritual children, will see him live and in the flesh. After Mary Magdalene had had her encounter with the risen Lord, she exclaimed to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” And then he appeared to his disciples for the next 40 days.

Next it says, he will prolong his days. That can only mean a return to life.

The will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. This could never be said of a dead person. Nobody prospers in the grave.

He will see the light of life. In the grave it is pitch darkness. No light and no life. Not for Jesus. He will see the light of life.

And be satisfied. No satisfaction in the grave, no joy there, only desolation. Not so with Jesus. He will have joy because he is risen from the dead.

It also says he will enter great reward in verse 12. No such blessing for dead people.

It all speaks of resurrection. And that is what happened. Isaiah predicted it and it came true. Jesus rose from the dead.

Five great prophesies, all in this song. The Gentiles come to Christ. The Jews reject him, Jesus suffers greatly, he dies and is buried, but then—BOOM, he is raised to life. The tomb of Joseph is empty. We have a risen Saviour!

Prophecy is one of the great proofs of the truth of scripture and an awesome all-knowing God who wrote it. Do you doubt God today? Do you doubt his word? It is time to see the truth and repent.

PLAN

But this song of the Servant has more for us.

There is evidence in this chapter that the death and resurrection of Christ was planned by God. Our investor Michael Burry prophesied the stock market collapse but he surely didn’t plan it. He did not have that power. Big difference between foreknowing something and planning something. Did God plan the death and resurrection of Jesus? The answer is yes.

Look at verse 10. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him.

There it is. It was the Lord’s will. He wrote the script. He produced the whole drama. And Jesus, far from being a helpless victim, was completely involved in the planning of it. In eternity past, God knew this would all happen, before man sinned, before man was even created, even before the creation of the world.

It says in Revelation 13:8, He was the lamb slain before the creation of the world.

In the King James version and in the New American Standard Version, this statement is even more astounding. It says, But the Lord was pleased to crush him.

How could this be? How could a loving God be pleased with the suffering of his son and even have planed it? Is this a loving God, one might ask? And yet there it is in scripture. However, lest we get the wrong answer and think our God is a sadistic God, we must look at the broader picture to get a satisfactory answer to this dilemma. There was a plan in place for the redemption of the world, a plan agreed to by all members of the Godhead, a costly plan for the Son to die in order to rescue millions. That was in the heart of God when he gave his son. For God so loved the world he gave his son.

How did he do it? It says in this verse (10) that the Lord makes his life(Jesus’ life) a guilt offering.

What was the guilt offering? It was an offering instituted by God that the Jews carried out daily in their temple. In it a lamb was slain on the altar as a payment for the sins of the people. Instead of their death, the lamb was offered. Jesus took the position of the sacrificial lamb to pay for the sins of the world. As it says in verse 11, He was the lamb led to the slaughter. He took our place and paid the debt for our sin.

This plan of God for Jesus to pay our sin debt is recorded no less than 10 times in this chapter. Look at them all.

He was pierced for our transgressions (4)
He was crushed for our iniquities(4)
The punishment that brought us peace was upon him(5)
By his wounds we are healed(5)
The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all(6)
For the transgression of my people he was stricken(8)
He will justify many(11)
He will bear their iniquities(11)
He bore the sin of many(12)
He made intercession for the transgressors(12)

It is clear from all these verses that Jesus died as our substitute. Ten verses tell us this. The number 10 speaks of testing. Jesus was tested to the max and he endured. When Jesus cried out on the cross “It is finished”, He was referring to this sin debt that was paid in full. Now forgiveness of sins is available to all who will admit their need and come humbly and trust in the Saviour. I know many in this room and online have already done that. We stand forgiven, not because we are good in ourselves but because our Saviour is that good and he has done it on our behalf. Perhaps you yourself have never asked him to save you from your sins. Today can be the day when you claim for yourself the value of the work of Jesus on the cross and invite him to be your own Saviour. This is the plan for our forgiveness.

PURPOSE

But we are left to speak of the purpose of that forgiveness. Forgiveness itself is indeed wonderful, but in God’s eyes it is only a means to a greater purpose. What could that purpose be? We see the answer in verses 11 and 12.

A company of people is referred to here in association with the risen Saviour, a company that by the grace and kindness of God enters into the reward of Christ’s great work. And the wonder is this: Christ has forgiven us for our sins for the ultimate purpose of sharing his life and his blessings with us for all eternity.

There are 3 phrases that refer to this company of the forgiven.

In verse 11. They are simply referred to as many. One man dies and many are brought into living and eternal relationship with the Lord.

The apostle Paul in his book of Romans puts it this way.

For if the many died by the trespass of the one man (that is Adam), how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. Rom.5:15

There will many millions of souls in heaven as a result of Jesus’ work on the cross. I personally believe that there will be more souls in heaven than in hell because Jesus gets all the children. Consider the death of millions in the womb and also as infants and young children. All with Jesus. Many!

Next, this company is identified again in verse 12

I will give him (Jesus) a portion among the great.

The many and now the great. Jesus deserves all glory and all reward for his work of salvation, He is the great and glorious one. But here God says others will share in his portion. This is the redeemed in heaven, but how are they great?

I suggest to you they are great because God has perfected their character. They now bear the image of the man from heaven. It says in I John 3:3 that we will be like him for we shall see him as he is. We began as members of a corrupt and fallen humanity; we now end up as the great image bearers of God’s Son.

Lastly, it says in the same verse 11,

He will divide the spoils with the strong. God’s redeemed people in heaven are referred to as the strong. Do you feel strong today? Probably not. But there is in every believer the strength of God because God lives in us by his Holy Spirit. Sometimes we rely on that strength and God enables us to do wonderful things by his grace. Many times we rely on self and we fail in our weakness. But this current state of affairs of weak/strong/ weak again will end when we get to glory. There will be no more old sinful nature, only the new, no more reliance on self, only the power of the Spirit flowing through us and we will be strong forever.

This is the purpose of God to bring many sons to glory who are great because they shine with the character of Christ and are strong because they walk in the constant power of the Holy Spirit. And that is how we will spend eternity. Just as the purpose of God in creation was to populate earth with the sons of Adam, the purpose of God in salvation is to populate heaven with those who are the sons of God. And they will walk the paths of glory with their Saviour forever and worship God forever. What a purpose!