Hemet Valley Christian Church

Isaiah 55:1-3 Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the water; and you without silver,come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without cost! 2 Why do you spend silver on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. 3 Pay attention and come to me; listen, so that you will live. I will make a permanent covenant with you on the basis of the faithful ki...Continue reading

Isaiah 53:10-12 Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted t...o death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels. These verses describe the Servant’s success. He was crushed, but victorious. The death of Jesus Christ was more than a human plot; it was a divine strategy. At the cross Jesus achieved the ancient purpose of God with victorious love. The expression prolong his days refers to the Messiah’s resurrection. The words, he will see his seed refers to his children. Who are they? All of us who benefit from his death when he justifies us. Isaiah states, he will receive the mighty as spoil. This is a military metaphor; Jesus divides the spoils of his victory with us as his strong partners in God’s saving plan. The world perceives his followers as little more than a band of fugitives and losers, but through Christ’s justifying work on the cross, we are enriched beyond measure; we possess all things worth possessing. Isaiah furthers writes, After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. How does Jesus feel about it? His final emotion wasn’t anguish, but satisfaction. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. This is the essential work of the cross, the crucial mission of Jesus. Your only Son no sin to hide, but You have sent Him from Your sideTo walk upon this guilty sod and to become the Lamb of God Your gift of love they crucified; they laughed and scorned Him as he diedThe humble King they named a fraud and sacrificed the Lamb of God I was so lost I should have died but You have brought me to Your sideTo be led by Your staff and rod and to be called a lamb of God Oh Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God; I love the Holy Lamb of GodOh wash me in His precious Blood; My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God Lamb of God, by Twila Paris

Isaiah 53:7-9 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and... had not spoken deceitfully. The Servant died in innocence. The death of Jesus was a miscarriage of human justice, but it was also our Lord’s clearheaded choice. He wasn’t caught in a web of events beyond his control. He willingly laid his life down. He was like a lamb led to the slaughter. His death was an exercise of deliberate control. He willingly endured horrible death by crucifixion. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment. This is lamentation of how thoughtlessly Jesus was gotten rid of. He was just another execution to those responsible for it. He had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully. In both actions and words, Jesus died in entire innocence. He was assigned a grave with the wicked. He was not buried alongside martyrs and saints but with the wicked rich. Over 300 years ago, Isaac Watts penned the words to his great hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. His lyrics should reflect our thoughts and feelings about the death of Jesus: When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died,My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God!All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down!Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown? Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small;Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaiah 53:4-6 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. The Servant was significant because he was our sin-bear...er. Isaiah writes as if we were there at the cross; our guilt required the death of Jesus. When Rembrandt created The Raising of the Cross, he painted himself into the picture, representing every person who has ever lived. The Suffering Servant carried our pains. He bore our sorrows. Jesus is a man of sorrows, but they weren’t his own. He didn’t deserve them. They were our sorrows, our pains. Jesus substituted for us on the cross. God has shifted the blame to Jesus Christ as he died for guilty people. If you’re involved in a fender bender, someone has to be responsible for the damage and pay the cost. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus’ blood flows out to the guilty person, takes their guilt and shame, and flows back to Jesus where he suffers for it. Punishment for our peace was on him We are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep. I pray that, if you haven’t already, you will find your way back to Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53:1-3 Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. The nations res...pond to the Servant with an awed silence as the gospel reveals his true worth. But the believing remnant of Israel laments how few in that nation have believed their witness. We need God’s help to believe, because the truth is, we’re more superficial than we realize. We judge by appearances. We look on the surface of things. Jesus didn’t even try to be impressive at that level. He was like a root out of dry ground an unpromising person appearing in a failed nation. His miracles did not make the impact they should have. His own family misjudged him. He didn’t have a glow about him. The woman at the well didn’t know who he was. Even John the Baptist had his doubts. He was like someone people turned away from. He became hideous in his sufferings, so that people shunned him. If we were there, we would have rejected him also. He had to become like us for us to become like him. Don’t turn away from Him now!