Drew Boswell

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Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part One Isaiah 53

The Signs of Christmas

 Sermon Series

Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part One

Isaiah 53

 Introduction

On January 13, 1982, the Boeing 737-200 registered as N62AF crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River just after take off from Washington National Airport. The Washington Postpublished a story about the then-unidentified survivor of the crash, Arland D. Williams Jr.:

“He was about 50 years old, one of half a dozen survivors clinging to twisted wreckage bobbing in the icy Potomac when the first helicopter arrived. To the copter’s two-man Park Police crew, he seemed the most alert. Life vests were dropped, then a flotation ball.

The man passed them to the others. On two occasions, the crew recalled last night, he handed away a lifeline from the hovering machine that could have dragged him to safety. The helicopter crew who rescued five people, the only persons who survived from the jetliner, lifted a woman to the riverbank, then dragged three more persons across the ice to safety. Then, the lifeline saved a woman who was trying to swim away from the sinking wreckage, and the helicopter pilot, Donald W. Usher, returned to the scene, but the man was gone.”

Arland D. Williams Jr. passed away the lifesaving line five times so that others in the icy waters of the Potomac could be saved. The repaired 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River at the crash site, which had been officially named the “Rochambeau Bridge”, was renamed the “Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge” in his honor by the city government of the District of Columbia in March 1985. On June 6, 1983, Williams was posthumously awarded the United States Coast Guard’s Gold Lifesaving Medal in a White House Oval Office presentation to his family by President Ronald Reagan. Arland Williams passed the lifesaving line away to other five times.

Romans 5:7 “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We will see today that Jesus (who was without sin) gave his life for the world (who are sinners). And Christians are called to give their lives up so that others may hear the gospel.

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The book of Isaiah was written 800 years before Jesus Christ would be born into the world, but its’ prophetic descriptions of Christ are extremely precise. Isaiah 53 lists the most remarkable and specific prophecies of the atonement of the Messiah.

When the Ethiopian eunuch read Isaiah 53 in Acts 8:34-35 “And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” Isaiah 53 is a promise. A promise to send a Savior and it was a promise of good news. The Israelites were eagerly waiting until the day when they could see what is described in this passage.

God allowed Isaiah, as if looking through a time telescope to see what Jesus would be like and then to tell others of his day – this is what the Promised One will be like. Today we know that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy and is exactly as he was described.

Prayer

The Promised King Would Be Rejected (vv. 1-2)

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.[1]

The prophet Isaiah begins the chapter is not referencing how many people have believed as a result of his preaching, but “the astonishing factors that would be hard for anyone to believe. Belief and trust are always at the heart of every person’s relationship to God, but sometimes God reveals things that are hard for a person to accept.”[2] He asks “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” – as though he is looking around and not seeing anyone.

“Romans 10:16-17 “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Jesus’ birth, his appearance, his challenge to the religious leaders – all of his life would stand counter to all the world knew, and when he “turns the world upside down,” (turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, turns the money changer’s tables over, etc.) With this difficult message, it is God has to reveal Him to the hearts of men.

“to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed” God is omnipotent (all powerful), and all that He desires to happen will happen. So this revelation of the arm of God – is God’s omnipotent power displayed in the form of a suffering Savior. But this all-powerful God will show His power in a way not expected by the world.

It is my hope this morning that if you have never believed the Christmas story before that you will accept the good news of the promise of God and discover the true meaning of Christmas – not toys, not trees, or the terror of family coming over – but of a promise by God to send a Savior (a Messiah) to save mankind from his sin – and He is different than the Savior they were expecting.

The promised king is rejected because He enters the world in a quiet way.

“he grew up before him like a young plant” – This Promised One would not come into the world with pomp and circumstance, men would not watch him grow up, there would be no paparazzi.  He would not be in the public eye.  Only God would have His eye upon him. A shoot that grows out of the ground makes no noise – so the Promised One would make no loud noise about His arrival.

Many rejected Christ because of his humble background.  Jesus is called the Son of David – to be from David’s family lineage meant that there was a degree of honor.  But the king’s lineage had dried up and was not and grand as it had once been. A tender shoot would grow and the stump of a once great kingdom.

The Promised One’s family would be nothing great. Galilee especially was a looked down upon region.  People would even say, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matt. 13:55). “and like a root out of dry ground”, nothing green, nothing great, was expected, in a country of such bad reputation that it was thought no good thing could come out of it.

John 1:45-46 “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  Can this Jesus really be omnipotent God?

The promised king is rejected because of how he looked.

“he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” Many of the Jews would reject Christ simply because of the way He looked. Isaiah tells God’s people what the Christ would look like – he would be a man who would not stand out in a crowd, average in appearance but extraordinary in purpose.

Our world is so focused on image, name brands, trends, and fashion that we exchange our purpose for popularity. We swap the sacred for the secular – but the Promised One never would.

Philippians 2:8 talking about Jesus “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross!” Jesus was obedient to His Father His whole life, all the way until he said “It is finished.”  It was not His face that people would be drawn to, it would be His love. His face would be beaten beyond recognition, but there is no question of recognizing His love.

Christ’s face would be painted thousands of times by thousands of artists – but it is the story of his love told millions of times over that continues even today to turn the world upside down.

But why would the world reject such love? He was so lowly and unimpressive that our aspirations for power and reputation felt evil. His happy poverty made our wanting more and more feel foolish. His willingness to suffer for others made our craving for comforts feel selfish.  When we stand next to Jesus all of our flaws are shown as a light in the darkness. So, when we look at him, and our sin is exposed we despise him.

Are these feet ugly or beautiful?

Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?3 And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”” Whether you see Jesus and being beautiful, or someone to be despised and rejected all depends on if you understand His purpose.

This revealing of our flaws is not for condemnation but to show us that we need a Savior.  John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”[3]

The promised king is rejected because He takes on himself the pain and “suffering” of the world.

 “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

In Luke 2:52 in describing Jesus as a young man, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Jesus had men’s favor but eventually these same people would grow to resent him, to reject him, and to despise him.  It was when he went out and began his ministry and to call out sin, to expose hypocrisy, and he showed where the world had turned from God.

“esteem” is an accounting term, so when mankind observes this suffering savior, they would add up where he came from, how he looked, all of it – and as a result of their addition it would result in zero; they “esteemed him not.”[4] In fact when they observed him, they would grow to despise him and reject Him from their lives.

(v. 3) Luke 23:18-19 “But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— 19 a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder!” (v. 3) John 1:11 “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

Isaiah tells us that his will be “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” – The language indicates that this man would be known because of his suffering. It is not that he experienced suffering, “others connected his life and reputation to a time of great suffering. Suffering was not something that he was peripherally acquainted with on the rare occasion; it was a pivotal factor in his life.”[5]

Because of Christ’s humanity, He would completely understand what it would be like to be rejected, to be despised, He would know the humiliation in suffering, He would know what it is like to be looked down upon. This Messiah would know how you feel and will be able to help you through your heartache and despair because He has been through it Himself. There is one who knows; there is one who can empathize with your pain.

There is one who can carry you through.  There is one who is very acquainted with what you are going through. In Isaiah’s day they did not know His name – but they knew He would come.  Their Messiah would understand.  Today we know the name of the God who became man.  We know the name of the one who understands and can comfort us. His name is Jesus.

“He was despised and rejected by men, and as one from whom men hide their faces” – this is depicting a scene where people hide their faces because they do not want to see him or be reminded of this person. They would see a man suffering all this pain but they did not understand why. There are so many people who wear a cross of gold around their necks, but have no idea what it means. When we look on Jesus on the cross – what do you see? Like the feet of those who bring good news,” it all depends of what you do with the good news of the gospel.

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[1] Isaiah 53 is mentioned three times in the NT and each time is reference to Jesus; Matthew 8:17, Acts 8:32-25, 1 Peter 2:21-35.

[2] Gary Smith, The New American Commentary, Volume 15B, Isaiah 40-66 (Nashville, Tennessee; B& H Publishing, 2009) 444.

[3] “The first-person plural pronoun occurs ten times as Isaiah describes Christ’s suffering for us.” Herbert M. Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, The Suffering and Glory of the Messiah (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1985) 216.

[4] J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, An Introduction & Commentary (Downers Grove, Illinois; IVP Academic, 1993) 429.

[5] Smith, 447.

“Sign #3: God’s Love For Humanity Displayed” Luke 2:8-20

The Signs of Christmas

 Sermon Series

“Sign #3: God’s Love For Humanity Displayed”

Luke 2:8-20

Introduction

In his 2014 Wall Street Journal bestseller, Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo discusses why Ted Talks are so popular, and why some in particular go viral and others do not. And if I were to give you the cliff notes version, it essentially says, when you present information to an audience tell stories, and how presenters should “master the art of storytelling.” Jesus was a master story teller, and he told stories often (the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, The Sower, etc.)

Today the Shepherds will tell us their story from Luke 2, and how God did something amazing in their presence, and used them for something wonderful. We are also going to discover, that like the shepherds and their story, God desires to show you something amazing today and use you and your story to change the world.

Prayer

God’s Favor Given to Shepherds (vv. 8-14)

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The word “And” signifies for us that there was something that came before this passage.  In the preceding verses we see that a census was issued by the Roman emperor, so Mary and Joseph have to travel to their ancestral home, Bethlehem.  And upon arriving can find no place to stay except a barn, Jesus was born and laid in a manger.

While Christ’s birth is drawing to a close, angels are dispatched to tell a group of people about this very special child’s birth.  This is the most important event that had ever or will ever take place on this planet.  The very first people to hear of Christ’s birth were shepherds.

Shepherds did not live in luxurious homes, they did not carry many possessions, and as we find them here often have the few things they can carry and devote themselves to the care of their sheep.  On this night, they are awake, and are living outside, and watching their sheep at night against predators, they were “keeping watch over their flock by night.”[1]

What was it about these shepherds that made them worthy of such honor?  The answer is found in verse 14, there will be “peace among those with whom he is pleased” God did some awesome things that night just because he wanted to favor some shepherds who were sleeping in a field, watching their sheep.  God had it in His heart to favor these men.

There is nothing that indicates they were super-shepherds, or that they had in any way earned or deserved this outpouring of God’s favor – but let’s look at how God favored them.

(Favor is shown by how) God Sends A Heavenly Messenger

First God sends them a heavenly messenger, and when they see this messenger Luke tells us that they were very afraid.  It says an “an angel of the Lord appeared to them.” In just about every instance where an angel appears before a person, they are struck with fear.

(Favor is shown by how) God Gives A Heavenly Appearing

“and the glory of the Lord shone around them” We see the glory of the Lord in Exodus 16:7,10 where in a cloud the people could look upon His glory and God  provided manna and quail for the Israelites to eat after they had complained.

In Exodus 24:17 God fills the top of Mt. Sinai with smoke and blasts of thunder.  It appeared “as a devouring fire.”  In Exodus 40:34 the Israelites had completed the Tabernacle and God’s presence entered it and appeared as a cloud, and as pillars of smoke and fire.

If you combine an angel and God’s glory shining around them, what you get is some very scared shepherds – why are they afraid?  Because when sinful mankind comes into the presence of a holy God or even His messengers, our sinfulness stands in stark contrast to God’s holiness.

All of our misgivings, flaws, evil deeds – everything is exposed, all of who we truly are is seen by God’s eye, and man’s natural response is to try and hide as best they can, we fall to our face before a consuming fire and close our eyes to try and shut out God’s glory.  But there is no place to go.

The shepherds are scared because they know that they are sinful the fear of a holy God causes them to shutter.   At this moment, when they are scared to death, the messenger speaks.

(Favor is shown by how) God Gives A Heavenly Message (vv. 10b-12)

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

He begins by saying don’t be afraid – I bring you some good news.  The good news of the gospel, a way is given to them for them to be forgiven of their sin and a way for them to be able to stand before God, not in fear, but in worship and love. The messenger was giving these shepherds the most important news that has ever been told.  Not only was this good news for them, the good news is “for all the people.”

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior” – In the book of 2 Samuel when the prophet Samuel went to anoint a new king for his people God told him to go to Jesse’s house, and it was his youngest son David whose head would be anointed.

David had to be brought in from watching the sheep.  Later when appealing to king Saul to allow him to fight Goliath, David gives examples where he had defended his sheep from bear and lion. Not only does Jesus being born in Bethlehem fulfill prophecy, but it also describes to his people what this Christ will be like.  John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

The Savior would be just like them, except without sin. They were sleeping out in field, Jesus was lying in manger.  They were shepherds of sheep, Jesus was the Good Shepherd.  They had a humble lifestyle, Jesus emptied himself of glory and became a man, a suffering savior, and was described as having “no place to lay his head.”

Bethlehem was a tiny town, the Savior’s lineage would come through a little shepherd boy named David, and the eventual good news would be given first to a group of unknown shepherds. God delights in pouring His favor on the young, the little, the weak, and the unknown.

“a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” What is a Savior? What are they being saved from?  Jesus who would grow in wisdom and stature, would teach as one who had authority, he would perform miracles to prove what He said was true.  He would die on a Roman cross and He would rise again three days later – he did all these things as a Savior.

The law shows us that all of us have sinned and fall short of God’s requirement to go to heaven.  We have all lied, stolen, dishonored our parents, thought lustful thoughts, been angry with someone – any one of these eternally separates us from God – He is holy and we are sinful.  And we stand before God guilty of committing sin, and we have no way of getting rid of it.

Isaiah 53:6 “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.”  Jesus by dying on the cross saved us by taking the punishment that we deserved.

God tells the shepherds in His grace and mercy how to find this child – who is the Savior of the world.  “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  This same grace and mercy is held out to us as well, He tells us clearly that this good news is for us as well today – we, like the shepherds, are given clear instructions as to how we can be saved from our sins.

(Favor is shown by the appearing of) A Heavenly Host (vv. 13-14)

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

“In heaven God’s glory, on earth God’s peace.”[2] God favors these shepherds by sending a heavenly messenger, shining His glory upon them, giving them the most important message ever given, and then to top it off, a vast number of angels sing a praise and worship song and they have a worship service – right there in the pasture. Good news leads them to praise God.

Mary and Joseph had an angel appear to them on separate occasions, God spoke to Joseph in a dream. But for this unknown group of shepherds, God gives them favor, upon favor, upon favor, upon favor. Blessing, upon blessing.  What do you do when God offers such grace, forgiveness, mercy and love?

They knew that they were a sinful bunch, but they had received the good news of God. This morning you too can meet the Savior of the world, he no longer can be found in a manger, because having defeated death, hell, and the Enemy – he sits at the right hand of the Father and is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

How Should Someone Respond to God’s Favor? (vv. 15-20)

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

(We Respond to God’s favor by) Going and Seeing (v. 15b-16)

Many times we try to define faith and we make too complicated.  Faith is simply taking God at His Word. The shepherds had just been given a message – There is a Savior, you can meet Him, Here’s how you will recognize Him. The step of faith for the shepherds was to go to Bethlehem.  “And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.”

The step of faith that God requires us to take is not to run to a nearby barn, but Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God offers us forgiveness and salvation as a gift – the step we take is to receive or reject this good news as a gift.  (Christmas gift around the tree)

(We Respond to God’s favor by) Going and Telling (v. 17-18)

There was something within this group of shepherds that told them that they simply could not go back to the pasture to watch the sheep. They knew they had to tell others the good news – they had a story to tell.  The town was amazed – but what the Bible doesn’t say is how the town responded.  Did they go and see the Christ child?  Did anyone who went offer them a place to stay?

(We Respond to God’s favor by) Treasuring and Pondering (v. 19)

Mary had just given birth in a very difficult place to deliver a child.  A barn is filthy.  Was there clean water? Did they have blankets? Mary would have been exhausted from labor, pushing and the pain of delivery.  She would have looked a mess.

Sometimes God takes us through things were all we can is just sit there and take it all in.   She had just delivered the Savior of the world.  He was healthy and there weren’t any complications. Animals were nearby, shepherds were arriving, soon townspeople would be getting there. Later magi from the east would be arriving.

But you know what? People weren’t coming to see her or Joseph – they were coming to see Jesus. You cannot dress up the gospel – it is what it is.  Life is messy, the way God dealt with our sin was messy, ministry often times is messy, life many times is messy.  But if we point people to Christ – it really doesn’t matter what we look like.

What if Mary had turned people away – “no you can’t come in right now, Mary is resting.”  “no one come into the barn right now, Mary is putting on her makeup.”  When people came to the door she only had to point to the manger.  Jesus was the main attraction.

Many times we as Christians think it’s all about us, and how we look to the world – as though we must be perfect and put together before the lost, and lonely, and seeking can come in – all we have to do is point to Christ.

Conclusion

It’s been about ten years since Talk Like Ted was published, and “TED, which launched in 2006, is still alive, with 27 million subscribers on its YouTube page. But somewhere along the line, it lost what made it special.[3] Now, it’s a chore to find the mind-altering presentation among the 4,700 videos. With all the regional offshoots with TEDx, topics and speakers seem ordinary, sometimes even tedious.

And curious people have new options. Podcasts, offer sharper points through intense conversation. You can tell these people care about what they’re doing. They go deep on compelling topics.

But the problem is more fundamental: The TED formula got flat and predictable. As obscure speakers marched to the big red dot, armed with their tales of exploration and challenge, they seemed to follow a script rather than sharing their passions

TED succeeded, at first, because its presentations with carefully curated, with strict time limits, an understanding of narrative, an effective interplay of words and images. Plus, presenters practiced their talks endlessly. When they got on stage, they were ready to rock. More important, the speakers had a passion and an urgency.”[4]

This morning I want to invite you to think about your story – he invites all people to enter into a relationship with him.  The Bible says that “He wants none to perish.”  If you would like to meet the Savior of the world, today, you can say a prayer and invite Him into your life – you can say something like this,

“Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins.  I want to turn from my sins, I now invite You to come into my heart and life.  I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior.”  In Jesus’ Name.

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[1] Protecting them from the lion and the bear, 1 Samuel 17:34-35.

[2] Herschel Hobbs, An Exposition of The Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Books, 1972) 53.

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

[4] https://theelementsofwriting.com/ted/

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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