For You
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
March 29, 2024 anno Domini
Why are you here today?
Is this a funeral for Jesus? Should we mourn like those who have lost a loved one or close friend?
Is this a celebration of life? Should we recount all the good that Jesus has done?
Or is it the anniversary of a tragic event – like Pearl Harbor or 9-11, where we remember the victim and the villains – Jesus suffered at the hand of that betrayer Judas, those jealous Jews, and that cowardly Pilate?
Two words provide you the reason to be here today “for you.” If you don’t believe that Jesus suffers and dies “for you” then it won’t be Good Friday, then it might well be a funeral or a celebration of life or a tragedy.
The Prophet Isaiah penned the Old Testament reading 700 years before Jesus of Nazareth was born. It is as if the Holy Spirit carried Isaiah forward to glimpse the cross through dim glasses. Isaiah didn’t see it perfectly, but he saw the chief thing. He saw Jesus there for us, for you.
Isaiah preaches a weird sermon, a sermon of paradoxes and mystery. His sermon only makes sense if you see Jesus on the cross and then by faith grasp the wonder that He hangs there, suffers there, and dies there for you.
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. Isaiah seems to be describing a success story. A servant who acts wisely gets promoted, exalted, lifted up. Jesus wise? He presented no defense before Pilate and the Jews. If He had hired Meshbesher and Spence He probably would have gone free. Three times Pilate pronounces Him not guilty. Any attorney would have raised an objection. “Your honor, you’ve said, ‘not guilty’ again and again. How can you hand Him over to be crucified?”
Jesus, high and exalted? No one on that dark Friday would have beheld Jesus and declared it glorious and or thought Him honored or exalted. Isaiah tells us “his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind”.
You would not have wanted to watch the crucifixion. You would have told your children and grandchildren, “Don’t look.” If you don’t want to see an athlete blow out a knee or a injured person on the sidewalk after an accident, you would never want to witness the gore of a crucifixion. That’s why they wanted to give Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ an X-rating.
And yet, look around Redeemer. Two crucifixes in our sanctuary and innumerable crosses. What sign are we instructed to make 7 times during the Divine Service? The cross. We preach the folly of Christ and Him crucified for this is the wisdom of God. This is the sum and center of our worship — Jesus is the most glorious exalted man in the history of the world as He dies on the cross. The reason is this. He is there for you.
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.
When you believe that Jesus is there for you you ought to cry and be angry and get mad. Not at Judas. Not at Pilate. Don’t blame the Jews. Blame yourself. He’s there for you because that is what your sin does. As Jesus is being marched to the cross He rebukes the women for weeping for Him. He urged them to weep for themselves. It was their sins for which He willingly went to the cross. Jesus doesn’t want or need your sympathy. He didn’t have to go to the cross. He wasn’t the victim of injustice. He was the victim of His Father’s mercy. Your sin earns God’s eternal judgment. How angry is God at sin? Look at Jesus. How bad is the judgment you deserve? Look at Jesus. How great is your sin? God has to die for it. Repent, weep, fear the judgment, hate sin, resist the devil. Why? Because Jesus is there for you.
At the same time rejoice, be glad, and sing “alleluia” but not until Easter. Isaiah is sometimes called the Fifth Evangelist – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Isaiah. Why? Because Isaiah preaches beautiful Gospel. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. Yes, we all went astray. We’re chips of the old block Adam and the old blockess Eve. We follow our bellies and passions into sin. The sheep deserve to die, but the Lord lays on His only begotten Lamb the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah tells us what happened on the cross. The Son of God was cut off from the land of the living and He was stricken for your transgression. What does that mean? It means that in those three hours on the cross Jesus didn’t just suffer from the nails in His hands and thorns on His head. His greatest suffering wasn’t His lungs filling with water as He suffocated. His greatest suffering was that His Father cut Him off. His Father turned His back on Him because that’s the judgment for sin. That’s what hell literally is – it’s the place where God is not present, at all. And Jesus is there. His suffering is incomprehensible. In a matter of hours He suffers an eternity of being cut off from God. At the end He declares, “It is finished.” Hell is finished. Judgment is finished. Suffering is finished. And then He dies, willingly, His exalted, glorious work being over. Whatever you do, don’t forget this is “for you.” Your hell is finished. Your judgment is finished. Your suffering is finished.
That’s why this day is neither a funeral nor a memorial nor a celebration of life. The suffering of Jesus isn’t merely an historical fact it is the life of the Christian. It is your life.
So don’t resurrect your forgiven sins from His grave. You’re forgiven. Don’t gladly and willingly continue in sin. You’re forgiven. Make the sign of the cross, not because you’re afraid of a fastball or you just hit a home run, but to exalt and glorify the One who was lifted up on that cross. Don’t be afraid to suffer. Whatever you suffer is nothing compared to His suffering. And what He suffered means your suffering is only for a moment. When your last hour comes, learn from Him to die willingly because you know what’s coming. In case you haven’t heard Jesus rose from the dead and promised the same for all who believe. I’ll get to that on Sunday, but for now repent, believe, and live because Jesus was on that cross and suffered “for you.” In His Name. Amen.