Inspiration in Isaiah: Put the Sub In

You have been held in custody outside for quite a while, and now, finally, you are ushered as a group into the courtroom. It is dazzlingly bright, and it takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the glare. Finally, you can make out the seats where the defendants are taking their places, and the imposing bar at the front of the courtroom, and behind the bar, a huge white throne. Above the throne are the words, "THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH." The bailiff calls out, “All rise!” A man in a brilliant white robe steps forward to take His seat on the throne; His name is Jesus.

Everyone is ordered to remain standing, while the bailiff reads the general charges:

“The defendants are charged with willful and knowledgeable disobedience to the Law of their Creator. This disobedience has been manifested in their actions, their words, and the thoughts and attitudes of their hearts. From the time the world was created, they have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.

They knew God was there, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols [in the form of mortal men, substitute gods such as success, fame, wealth, possessions, popularity, security.] Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. They are fully aware of God's death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” Romans 1:20-32 (NLT)

“Furthermore, may the court be reminded that the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as the person who has broken all of God's laws. “ James 2:10,11

“Moreover, it is also written if you know what you ought to do and do not do it, that, too, is sin.” James 4:17.

Everyone is ordered to sit down. Then one by one, individuals are called before the throne and specific charges are read against them. Only the accused can hear what is said to them, but they are all, uniformly, shaken and return to their seats white and trembling in fear.

Finally, it is your turn. Slowly, you rise, and with shaking knees you walk forward and stand before the bar and the Judge. A large book is opened, a book with your name on it, and the bailiff begins to read from the record of your life. There are pages and pages of specific sins and failures to substantiate each of the general charges read earlier. Your face burns hot with shame, and you wish you could sink through the floor, but you know that you cannot escape this Judge. Everything is there: the cutting remarks, the lustful thoughts, the greed, the envy, the bitterness, the anger, the unfaithfulness to your spouse, the gossip, the broken promises, the unforgiveness, the prayerlessness, the insensitivity, the guilty silence, the self-centeredness, etc. Every thought, every word, every deed is painstakingly recorded and exposed. On and on it goes. You had thought that you were a pretty good person, but this microscopic examination of your soul is devastating.

Finally, the bailiff stops reading. You become aware of how quiet it is in the courtroom. You can hear yourself breathing and your heart is pounding. With a sigh of relief you hear the bailiff say, "Next!"

Finally, all the cases have been heard. Now the Judge speaks. The Lord Jesus Christ asks if anyone has anything to say in their defense. Some do speak up.

One says, “Your Honor, this is totally unfair! I had no idea those things read in my charges were against the Law. How was I supposed to know you didn’t approve of those things?”

The Judge replies, "You had a Bible in your home: did you ever read it? You went to church occasionally: did you ever listen? You have a conscience: did you follow it? You failed even to keep your own standards, much less Mine.”

Another dares to approach the bar: “But Lord! Everyone always liked me, and said I was such a good guy. I’ve worked hard to be an upstanding, moral, law-abiding citizen. I’m certainly better than some of those guys in my office.”

The Judge says, “What’s normal among your friends and associates is not the norm. My law is the norm. That is the standard to which you are held accountable. The standard is perfection, and you have been tried and found wanting.”

Another tries, “Lord. You said we were to be all things to all people, and to do what was right in the sight of all men. Well, no one else in my church was doing the things your bailiff said I was supposed to be doing. I didn't want to look like a fanatic! I was just trying to make the faith look respectable.”

“Was it My reputation you were most concerned about or your own? You found it easy to attend to the little things, like church attendance and giving a little and being nice to those who were nice to you. But your faith was too private, and a whole generation went by without even knowing you were there as a Christian.”

Others speak up, too, but each one is answered, and finally it is silent in the court. Every excuse has been answered; every mouth stopped.

This Judge needs no witnesses to come forward to testify against us, for He Himself knows all things. He knows that the charges read against us are just. And now He raps His gavel on the bar and pronounces the verdict: "Guilty as charged. Guilty of willful disobedience to the law of God, and rebellion against His supreme authority."

Now comes the moment of truth. The Judge is going to pronounce the sentence. He opens the Bible and reads, first from the Old Covenant: "The soul that sins, it shall die" (Ezek 18:4). Then He turns to the New Covenant and reads, "The wages of sin are death" (Rom 6:23). Then He looks out at the vast crowd, and His burning eyes seem to penetrate each one individually. In a voice that reverberates in your soul, He says, "You have sinned. And justice requires that you die for your sins against a holy God. This court sentences you to death by crucifixion."

Your heart begins to sink, but before you have time to really comprehend what has just been said, someone grabs you and leads you outside. There are the crosses laid out on the ground: row after row of them, and the hooded executioners standing beside each one with hammers in their hands. You are roughly thrown to the ground, and stretched out on the cross. A spike is placed on your wrist, the hammer is raised, and---“STOP!” It is the Judge's voice! Every head turns to see Jesus standing at the door of the courtroom, now walking toward you. He reaches out His hand, pulls you to your feet, and looks you in the eye with a look you do not fully comprehend. And then the impossible happens—the Judge lies down on the cross in your place.

Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah wrote about a man called the Servant of the Lord, who would be our substitute. In this remarkable passage in chapters 52 and 53, Isaiah tells us a great deal about the Servant of the Lord that would be fulfilled in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

The point was that no one to whom the Lord does not reveal it would believe this prediction of Isaiah's—it is just too fantastic!

Isaiah 53:2 NLT, “My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.”

The poetic images of a tender plant or shoot, and the root, were used before by Isaiah to refer to the Messiah. And indeed Jesus did grow up out of dry ground, for the religious community He was born into was dry as the dust with its emphasis on keeping every jot and tittle of the law. There was dry legalism, but not much life of the Spirit.

Moreover, there was nothing about Jesus that would attract people to Him physically. He was not one of the Beautiful People. And therefore, He was despised, and rejected by His countrymen, who, on Palm Sunday hailed Him as King, and less than a week later screamed for His death.

Isaiah 52:14 NLT, “Many were amazed when they saw him—beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person.”

If you have seen the movie, The Passion of the Christ¸ you have a good idea of what Isaiah was predicting would happen to Jesus. People said that Mel Gibson had overdone it, that there was too much beating and blood, but if we read this verse in Isaiah, it was probably a very accurate portrayal of what Jesus went through.

Isaiah 53:4 NLT, “…we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins!”

Many who stood there watching him suffer figured that He must have been suffering for His own wrongdoing. They operated on the same principle that Job’s friends did: if you are suffering, it’s because God is punishing you for some sin.

Isaiah 53:7 NLT, “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.”

The religious and political leaders who interrogated Jesus were surprised by His silence in the face of the false accusations brought against Him. But He couldn't defend Himself—if He had, Pilate and Herod would never have allowed His crucifixion, and that would have thwarted His whole reason for coming to earth.

Isaiah 53:9 NLT, “He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave.”

His grave was in a cemetery with ordinary sinners, even though He never sinned, either by deed or word. And He was laid in the tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea, a very wealthy man.

As you look at that list of prophecies, doesn't it amaze you that the Lord could have predicted with such accuracy the various events surrounding the death of Jesus, 700 years before it happened? Doesn't this give you great confidence in the Bible as the inspired Word of God? What man could have foreseen all that from Isaiah’s time? What are the chances that all these statements would just happen to apply to the same person 700 years later? Or who could have read Isaiah's prophecy and managed by careful arrangement of his life to fulfill all of those particulars so as to convince people that he was the fulfillment of this prophecy? Who would want to do that? This is the hand of God.

Isaiah goes beyond the death of Christ, though, and tells us something about His victory, some of which is still to come.

Isaiah 53:10 NLT, “…Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's plan will prosper in his hands.”

The Old Testament offering for sin involved the death of an animal. When Jesus took that role, He had to die. But the prediction is that He would see his spiritual children, and live a long time. There is life after death for the Servant of the Lord, and hundreds of millions of people have come to call Him “Father”. He has a multitude of children!

And moreover, He will go on to accomplish the will of the Lord even after His death, as Jesus is doing now, through you and me, the Body of Christ. The Lord’s plan continues to prosper in us, His hands.

The New Testament says that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead and has, “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come’ (Eph 1:20,21). God has “placed all things under his feet,” (Eph 1:21,22). Angels, authorities and powers are in submission to him (1 Peter 3:22). You can’t get much more highly exalted than that!

Isaiah 53:12 NLT, “I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death.”

Jesus humbled Himself to the lowest possible level, and God raised Him up and exalted Him to the highest possible level, just as Isaiah predicted.

Then Isaiah goes beyond just telling us what would happen to the Servant of the Lord: He also tells us what His death meant.

It meant that Jesus of Nazareth will be our substitute at the Great White Throne Judgment. Here’s the description of that from Rev. 20:11-15,

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. [12] And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. [13] The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. [14] …The lake of fire is the second death. [15] If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Isaiah tells us in many different ways that Jesus can be our divine Substitute at that trial. Look at all these verses which stress the element of substitution:

· Isaiah 53:4, “ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.”

· Isaiah 53:5, “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.”

· Isaiah 53:6, “ 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.”

· Isaiah 53:8, “ From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins—that he was suffering their punishment?”

Jesus Christ took our place at the bar of God’s justice. He was our Substitute.[1]

What were the results of the death of Jesus? What did He accomplish? First was the satisfaction of God.

“After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied” (Is 53:11). After His resurrection, Jesus could look back at His suffering, and be thoroughly satisfied. He was satisfied with the perfect life He had lived; He was satisfied with the way He had borne His suffering and death. And He knew that the just and holy wrath of God against sin was satisfied. God didn’t withhold His wrath, He unleashed it in all its fury. But it was diverted from us to Jesus. So God is now satisfied that every sin ever committed by anyone throughout all history has been fully punished.

This phrase, “by His knowledge” can be interpreted two ways, and both of them make sense here.[2] It can mean that by virtue of what Jesus knew, He was able to do everything that was required to justify us in God’s sight. His understanding of the ways of God, His justice, and His mercy, led Him to lay down His life for us, and that resulted in our justification.

But this phrase can also mean that we are justified through our knowledge of Him. Jesus warned people that one day He would pronounce judgment over some with His words, “I never knew you.” The New Testament says, John 17:3, "This is eternal life, that you know God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." We can be justified—made right with God, made "just-as-if-I'd" never sinned—by entering a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, the great Substitute.

Do you know Him? Have you been justified by your faith in Christ? All of us who have will want to respond to God with praise and joy and thanksgiving that He would send His only Son as a substitute for us, to die in our place. If you don’t know Jesus Christ in this personal way, then He is not yet your Substitute, and you will have to bear the full penalty for your sins. If this is your situation, you need to come to Him in faith today, to ask Him to save you, to forgive you of your sins, to justify you in the sight of the Judge of all the Earth. Let us pray, and you respond as your situation dictates.

[1] Another point here is that Jesus is our Sacrifice. 52:15a--sprinkle; 53:10 --this is a technical term for the guilt offering-- it was to be a mature male animal, free from defects, it was to be killed and its blood sprinkled on all sides of the altar. The idea was that when God saw the blood, he would know that a life had been taken in payment for sin The book of Hebrews helps us understand what was going on here--the writer says that although there is not forgiveness without the shedding of blood, the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. But the blood of Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice, can atone for our sins, because His life was worth more than ours. Heb 10:1-4; 9:22; 9:11-14.

[2] See the discussion in Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, vol 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1972), p.357.