Good Friday
Preaching
Preaching And Reading The Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
We might call this reading from Second Isaiah "The Great Reversal," because that is what it is about, God's reversal of seemingly unchangeable circumstances. The passage makes up the fourth of the Servant Songs in Second Isaiah's prophecy, delivered to the exiles in Babylonia sometime between 550 and 538 B.C. It is the best known and most frequently quoted of the four, and it is called the Song of the Suffering Servant.
The singular figure of the Servant, as in the other Servant Songs, is intended originally as the people Israel. They are exiles in Bab--ylonia, as good as dead (v. 9; cf. Ezekiel 37:1--11). In the eyes of the rest of the world, they have been cursed and rejected by their God and so also by other peoples (v. 3), and they therefore have suffered under the oppression and affliction visited upon captive and homeless, helpless people (v. 8). To all intents and purposes, the people of Israel can just be ignored and forgotten in the history of humankind. They have no national life, no status, no rights, no future.
But a surprise is in for the nations of the world. This unimportant exiled people will, in God's future, be exalted in the purpose of God (v. 52:13) and be used to bring God's forgiveness and justification to all the families of humankind (53:11--12). Through the suffering, the affliction, the scorn, the death borne by the Suffering Servant, the Lord God will prosper and further his will for the salvation of all peoples (v. 10).
In other words, it was the will of the Lord that the Servant suffer and die (v. 10). The Servant's suffering was not just a secular defeat and exile at the hand of the armies of the Babylonia Empire. It was first of all, as all the prophets acknowledge, God's punishment for Israel's unfaithfulness toward him and his covenant. But God used even that punishment for a greater purpose. Israel received from the Lord's hand "double for all her sins" (Isaiah 40:2). And that "double," that seemingly senseless suffering, was for the sake of others. The Servant "was wounded for our transgressions," the nations confess. "He was bruised for our iniquities; and upon him was the chastisement that made us whole" (v. 5). God sacrificed his beloved people Israel for the sake of all peoples whom he loves, in order that all peoples would come to confess that the Lord is their God also. Israel didn't deserve that extra punishment. It was for the sake of others.
That's very much like what the Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans when he says that God rejected Israel for a little while in order to give all us Gentiles time to come in (Romans 11:25). Israel suffered for our sake, for all of us who were without God in the world, in order that we too might know God and his saving forgiveness of us.
That is the ideal to which Second Isaiah called his exiled compatriots in the sixth century B.C. The prophet wanted them to view their captivity not simply as punishment for their sin, but also as their sacrifice for the sake of the world. In the very beginning of Israel's history, God had that sacrifice in mind. He called Abraham centuries before to leave all behind, because God loved all people and wanted to bring his blessing on all. So now, in Second Isaiah's time, Israel is still asked by the prophet to be the instrument of that blessing. The figure of the Suffering Servant here in our text is intended as a picture of Israel as God wanted her to be, Israel as the instrument for the future salvation of the world. And like all figures of speech, we should not try to push the imagery too far. But if Israel would fulfill that role, God promised, she would in the end "be exalted and lifted up" and "very high" (52:13).
We know only one historical figure who fulfills all that imagery, however - our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is no accident that this text for the morning is applied throughout the New Testament to the figure of Jesus (Romans 4:25; 15:21; John 12:38; Matthew 8:17; 26:63; 27:14; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24--25; Mark 14:61, et al - see the many center--column cross references in your Bible). Indeed, throughout the New Testament, our Lord takes over the role of Israel and becomes what Israel was supposed to be in the purpose of God. Israel was the adopted son of God, according to the prophets. Christ is the only begotten Son of God. Israel was the disobedient son in the garden and in the desert; Jesus is the obedient one, resisting all temptations and praying, "Not my will but thine be done." Israel's King David was a murderer and an adulterer; Jesus was the wholly righteous davidic heir. Israel's priests corrupted their office; our high priest was without sinning. God took all that Israel was supposed to be and concentrated it in the one figure of his incarnate Son. And so too, he showed us in the flesh the true Suffering Servant.
To be sure, Jesus did not suffer partly for his own sin as did Israel in exile. He was "in every respect ... tempted as we are, yet without sinning" (Hebrews 4:15). Instead, he took upon himself our sin and the sin of the world and suffered the cross for them. But he was despised and rejected on that cross, scorned and unesteemed. Before his crucifixion, he was afflicted with stripes and abused, but he said no word in his own defense. His grave was borrowed from a rich man and he died without any offspring - all those things that had been said of Second Isaiah's Suffering Servant.
But our Lord Christ was also lifted very high, as the prophet had foretold. How do you want to interpret that? As a reference to the crucifixion, with Christ lifted up on the cross. The Fourth Gospel considers Christ's elevation on the cross to be his glorification and exaltation, that which draws all people to him (John 12:27--32). But contrarily, we can also consider it a reference to the resurrection, when our Lord is raised and exalted to the right hand of the Father. Surely it is finally the resurrection of our Lord which has convinced us that Christ's work was all the will of the Father to forgive us and to cause us to be counted righteous in the eyes of our God. With his stripes we were healed.
In whatever manner we view the fulfillment of our text in Jesus Christ, God has worked his great reversal, hasn't he? He has taken his Suffering Servant, despised and rejected, and raised him up as the Lord of the world. It has all been in the purpose of God who loves us and wants to save us. Over the centuries, through the words of an ancient prophet and their fulfillment in his Son, God has unceasingly worked in his love for you and for me and for all people. That very first black Friday has become Good Friday. We have only to receive in faith its incredible good news.
The singular figure of the Servant, as in the other Servant Songs, is intended originally as the people Israel. They are exiles in Bab--ylonia, as good as dead (v. 9; cf. Ezekiel 37:1--11). In the eyes of the rest of the world, they have been cursed and rejected by their God and so also by other peoples (v. 3), and they therefore have suffered under the oppression and affliction visited upon captive and homeless, helpless people (v. 8). To all intents and purposes, the people of Israel can just be ignored and forgotten in the history of humankind. They have no national life, no status, no rights, no future.
But a surprise is in for the nations of the world. This unimportant exiled people will, in God's future, be exalted in the purpose of God (v. 52:13) and be used to bring God's forgiveness and justification to all the families of humankind (53:11--12). Through the suffering, the affliction, the scorn, the death borne by the Suffering Servant, the Lord God will prosper and further his will for the salvation of all peoples (v. 10).
In other words, it was the will of the Lord that the Servant suffer and die (v. 10). The Servant's suffering was not just a secular defeat and exile at the hand of the armies of the Babylonia Empire. It was first of all, as all the prophets acknowledge, God's punishment for Israel's unfaithfulness toward him and his covenant. But God used even that punishment for a greater purpose. Israel received from the Lord's hand "double for all her sins" (Isaiah 40:2). And that "double," that seemingly senseless suffering, was for the sake of others. The Servant "was wounded for our transgressions," the nations confess. "He was bruised for our iniquities; and upon him was the chastisement that made us whole" (v. 5). God sacrificed his beloved people Israel for the sake of all peoples whom he loves, in order that all peoples would come to confess that the Lord is their God also. Israel didn't deserve that extra punishment. It was for the sake of others.
That's very much like what the Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans when he says that God rejected Israel for a little while in order to give all us Gentiles time to come in (Romans 11:25). Israel suffered for our sake, for all of us who were without God in the world, in order that we too might know God and his saving forgiveness of us.
That is the ideal to which Second Isaiah called his exiled compatriots in the sixth century B.C. The prophet wanted them to view their captivity not simply as punishment for their sin, but also as their sacrifice for the sake of the world. In the very beginning of Israel's history, God had that sacrifice in mind. He called Abraham centuries before to leave all behind, because God loved all people and wanted to bring his blessing on all. So now, in Second Isaiah's time, Israel is still asked by the prophet to be the instrument of that blessing. The figure of the Suffering Servant here in our text is intended as a picture of Israel as God wanted her to be, Israel as the instrument for the future salvation of the world. And like all figures of speech, we should not try to push the imagery too far. But if Israel would fulfill that role, God promised, she would in the end "be exalted and lifted up" and "very high" (52:13).
We know only one historical figure who fulfills all that imagery, however - our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is no accident that this text for the morning is applied throughout the New Testament to the figure of Jesus (Romans 4:25; 15:21; John 12:38; Matthew 8:17; 26:63; 27:14; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24--25; Mark 14:61, et al - see the many center--column cross references in your Bible). Indeed, throughout the New Testament, our Lord takes over the role of Israel and becomes what Israel was supposed to be in the purpose of God. Israel was the adopted son of God, according to the prophets. Christ is the only begotten Son of God. Israel was the disobedient son in the garden and in the desert; Jesus is the obedient one, resisting all temptations and praying, "Not my will but thine be done." Israel's King David was a murderer and an adulterer; Jesus was the wholly righteous davidic heir. Israel's priests corrupted their office; our high priest was without sinning. God took all that Israel was supposed to be and concentrated it in the one figure of his incarnate Son. And so too, he showed us in the flesh the true Suffering Servant.
To be sure, Jesus did not suffer partly for his own sin as did Israel in exile. He was "in every respect ... tempted as we are, yet without sinning" (Hebrews 4:15). Instead, he took upon himself our sin and the sin of the world and suffered the cross for them. But he was despised and rejected on that cross, scorned and unesteemed. Before his crucifixion, he was afflicted with stripes and abused, but he said no word in his own defense. His grave was borrowed from a rich man and he died without any offspring - all those things that had been said of Second Isaiah's Suffering Servant.
But our Lord Christ was also lifted very high, as the prophet had foretold. How do you want to interpret that? As a reference to the crucifixion, with Christ lifted up on the cross. The Fourth Gospel considers Christ's elevation on the cross to be his glorification and exaltation, that which draws all people to him (John 12:27--32). But contrarily, we can also consider it a reference to the resurrection, when our Lord is raised and exalted to the right hand of the Father. Surely it is finally the resurrection of our Lord which has convinced us that Christ's work was all the will of the Father to forgive us and to cause us to be counted righteous in the eyes of our God. With his stripes we were healed.
In whatever manner we view the fulfillment of our text in Jesus Christ, God has worked his great reversal, hasn't he? He has taken his Suffering Servant, despised and rejected, and raised him up as the Lord of the world. It has all been in the purpose of God who loves us and wants to save us. Over the centuries, through the words of an ancient prophet and their fulfillment in his Son, God has unceasingly worked in his love for you and for me and for all people. That very first black Friday has become Good Friday. We have only to receive in faith its incredible good news.
