Word of Salvation – Vol. 31 No. 10 – March 1986
God Honours His Faithful Servant
Sermon by Rev. W. Wiersma on Isaiah 53:12
Reading: Matthew 20:17-28, Luke 23:1-4, 23-25, 32-42
Singing: 204, 352, 255, 381, 368
Dear Brothers and Sisters, young and older.
Good Friday is a time to admire and praise our Lord Jesus Christ. As we recall what happened on that fateful day in Jerusalem, let us be amazed. Let us say to each other: Look at what Jesus did for us. Look how Jesus loved us. No, on Good Friday we don’t have to pretend that we are back in Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. We do not have to pretend that we know nothing about the outcome of the great battle which Jesus fought and won when he was captured, bound and crucified. We are people of the 20th Century. And as we look back on that first Good Friday, the reaction of faith is not, “Poor Jesus.”
No, when we look back to that first Good Friday in the light of the resurrection; of Jesus’ own explanation of what happened and of Pentecost and the history of the Christian church, we must not feel sorry for Jesus. Instead we shall admire Him. Look at what He accomplished. Look at what He achieved.
Let me give you a little illustration:-
How would you feel about the man who runs into a burning house to save the children trapped inside? What do you remember him for when he gets badly burned in the process? Is it not so that the worse he is burned the greater our admiration for his courage and self-sacrifice? Even if he should die in the process we would not remember him for his pain and death but for saving the children. We would remember him for his love for greater love has no man than that he lays down his life for his friends.
Now I don’t mean that we should not think or talk about the suffering of Jesus. We should most definitely realise the terrible sacrifice that Jesus had to make to set us free from the flames of sin and hell. But if we have only eyes for the dreadful things Jesus suffered; if our way of celebrating Good Friday would be like looking at a Passion Play in which the terrible scenes are all re-enacted, we might well miss the point that Jesus was not just a victim. Jesus is the Hero.
Our Lord was involved in the greatest and most decisive battle ever fought on this earth. But very few, if any, of the people Jerusalem realised the significance of what was going on before their very eyes.
They did not see warships, tanks or bombers. They saw no armies, horses or weapons. O yes, there was a gang with sticks and clubs, but that was at night. And there were soldiers, but they were more like policemen for crowd control. No, Jerusalem and Golgotha did not look like major battle fields. And still it was there that the decisive battle for the control of the world took place.
God’s King had come.
Jesus Christ the King had arrived to free men from the dark and destructive forces of sin and death. King Jesus had come to Jerusalem for the decisive battle with the devil. Yes, Jesus came as the King. Read the Gospels and you’ll find that point repeated again and again, just to mention the words of Gabriel to Mary (the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David) and the songs of the crowds as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that donkey.
Even the inscription on his cross, explaining his crime, was: Jesus the King. But He did not look like a king. And where was His army? He came in the form of a servant. His weapon was not a sword defend himself and destroy his enemies. His weapon was Love.
Jesus the King came not to be served but to serve. To serve God and men, sinners! And in that serving love, he poured out his soul, his life, into death. He emptied Himself!
He laid aside His glory and power which He had with the Father even before the world was brought into existence. He became a man – a man not powerful in physical strength but powerful in love. He allowed nothing to dim or defeat His love. He kept on loving and serving no matter what men or demons did to Him.
So great was His love was His love that he was willing, for the sake of saving the damned, to be reckoned with transgressors. He did not defend His life or His honour in His battle for the hearts and lives of men.
Isaiah 53 gives us a most telling and moving description of what Jesus did and suffered for the safety of the human race. Because He was willing to offer up himself for wretched sinners, he did not want to draw attention to himself. When He stopped people from mentioning that He was the Christ, he was, as it were saying, I don’t want the praise of men, I’m not looking for popularity. Ι am looking and working for sinners that they may be reconciled to God. That’s my aim.
So He was despised and rejected by people who look for proud heroes. He was treated as an outcast who is not worth protecting by the rules of the church or state. He did not get a fair hearing from Caiaphas or Pilate.
Why? Because Jesus came as the Servant of the Lord. As the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. The Lord had laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He bore the sin of many. He made His life a guilt-offering. He came to make satisfaction for our sin. He took our sins upon Himself and He received their wages. He received hatred, rejection, oppression, affliction and DEATH. He was cut off from the land of the living – for the transgression of God’s people He was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked. That’s where you belong. He was crucified between two criminals after losing the ballot to Barabbas. And nobody understood! Of all people, the chief priests, who were supposed to know about sacrifices and their meaning, mocked the one and only true sacrifice for sin. They jeered Jesus and said, “Come down from the cross and we’ll believe you that you are the Son of God.” But Jesus kept His heart of love. He continued the battle by God’s rule. For it pleased the Lord to crush Him and cause Him to suffer. It was God’s will that His Son Jesus should take our place. So, even in His suffering, when the very people he came to save ridiculed Him, Jesus prayed for the transgressors. Jesus prayed for His tormentors. Father forgive them for they do not realise, they don’t know what they are doing. And God looked on and was pleased. Pleased, no not with the transgressors, not with the liars and murderers. But God was pleased with His Son. God was pleased with Jesus. With Him who so loved men that while the blood and life were pouring out of His veins, He continued to look for their forgiveness, their release from sin and death. While He was dying Jesus looked for their life.
Therefore said God, I will give Him a portion among the great and He will divide the spoils with the strong. How these words of Isaiah must have encouraged Jesus in that bitter and lonely struggle. As He battled, Jesus looked for the final outcome. Jesus kept the purpose of His mission firmly before His eyes. In the words of verse 10, He will see His offspring and prolong His days and the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
How wonderfully God has honoured His Word. How wonderfully too, God has honoured His faithful and loving Servant. We read about that in the New Testament. The apostle Paul sums that up unforgettably his letter to the Philippians: Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him a name that is above every name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow! And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And what is Jesus’ greatest trophy? What are the precious spoils? What is the greatest prize of victory? Men; the saints; the countless hosts which no man can number. The crown of Christ’s victory is the church of all places times. The ransomed and all redeemed for whom he poured out his life. His prize is the world and all that is in it!
Jesus has conquered by His love. A love so great that He was prepared to lose everything to gain us freedom and life. Surely that calls for admiration and praise rather than pity. Surely the greatest way of celebrating Good Friday is to celebrate the Hero who did what He set out to do. The greatest way to honour Jesus is to love and in His Spirit to start praying for transgressors. To pray for sinners, even those who make our life miserable, and ask that for Christ’s sake, they might be forgiven and live. But we shall only be able to do that when we see the wonderful power and outcome of Christ’s love on the cross. We shall dare to follow Christ only as we learn to understand and sing the song found in the Book of Revelation:-
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise, for He has redeemed us by His blood!
AMEN