Word of Salvation – Vol.41 No.18 – May 1996

 

The Resurrection In Isaiah

 

Sermon by Rev. D. Van Garderen on Isaiah 53:11a

Scripture Readings: Luke 24:36-49, Isaiah 53:10-12

 

Dear congregation,

Jesus himself knew and openly taught that he would eventually suffer many things, be rejected by the authorities, be killed, and on the third day be raised to life (Mat.16:21, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22).  However, about the only people who took some notice of these predictions were the enemies of Jesus.  Matthew records:

“The next day, the one after Preparation Day (Saturday, therefore), the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.  ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise again.”  So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.  Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead.  This last deception will be worse than the first’.” (Mat.27:62-64)

Even if the disciples remembered these words, the possibility of it actually happening seemed totally non-existent.  The disciples had seen how mutilated the body was.  The disciples had seen Jesus crucified – hanging on an accursed tree.  How could one under God’s curse be raised again?

But the impossible was exactly what happened.  Each of the four Gospels goes to great lengths to say that the physically dead and buried Jesus came back to real, physical body life again.  It was not just the spirit, the ideals, the deeds of Jesus that continued to live after his burial.  Jesus came back to life in a physical, bodily sense.  He was flesh and blood – as physically alive and real as you and me!

Recently I heard a speaker on radio state that Jesus lived on after his death.  He experienced a resurrection of sorts – at least in the minds of his followers.  But, she said, it would be crude and naive to see it as a physical, bodily resurrection.

Yet the Bible itself insists that Jesus experienced a real, physical, bodily resurrection.  Luke’s record is consistent with what the New Testament teaches throughout:

“While they [the two on the road to Emmaus who had seen, talked and eaten with Jesus] were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’  They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your minds?  Look at my hands and feet.  It is I myself!  Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.  And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’  They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.” (Luke 24:36-43)

Jesus expected to experience a real, physical resurrection.  He taught it before it happened.  How come?  How did Jesus know this?  Did he receive a direct communication from heaven?  Did God the Father himself reveal this to his Son in one of the many night-long prayer vigils which Jesus frequently had?  Possibly!  However, what IS certain is that Jesus knew about his resurrection from another source – from the plain teaching of the Old Testament.

Jesus IS the Christ.  He knew that the WHOLE LIFE of the Christ his life from beginning to end, from the beginning of his humiliation right through to his eternal exaltation – was foretold and described in the Old Testament Scriptures.

Reading on in Luke 24:

“He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’  Then he opened their minds so that could understand the Scriptures.  He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’….” (44-47).

One of the Scriptures Jesus would have appealed to is Isaiah 53.  The Christ IS the same person who is described as the Suffering Servant of the Lord in this passage.  The nature and extent of the SUFFERING of the Servant describes JESUS perfectly.  Jesus IS the Suffering Servant.

Isaiah 53 describes the how and, above all, the why of Jesus, the Servant’s suffering.  But does it also predict and describe his resurrection?

Go back to it for just a moment:

1. Recall how the previous verses describe the DEATH of the servant. See verses 8-9:

“…he was taken away….. cut off from the land of the living…. assigned a grave with the wicked…!”

His life was made into a GUILT OFFERING.  The guilt offering demanded the death of a female lamb or goat.  The life of the sacrificed animal was the payment – made atonement – for the sin and guilt of the confessing sinner.

2. AFTER his atoning death, the Servant will “…see his offspring, prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.” The DEAD cannot see.  The DEAD have no days to prolong.  The DEAD have no hands with which to cause God’s will to prosper.

See it?  After the suffering and humiliation comes EXALTATION.  The Servant will be exalted and raised up!  But does Isaiah 53 really expect a physical, bodily resurrection of the Servant after his death?

For an answer I draw your attention to the first half of Isaiah 53:11 – “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied.”

A CLOSER LOOK AT THESE WORDS

A closer look at the original language helps.

“After – as a result or consequence of – the suffering of his SOUL.”  Recall the ENORMITY of the Servant’s suffering:  It was physical – recall how he was PIERCED.  It was also spiritual – recall how he was CRUSHED (in spirit).  Therefore he suffered in the TOTALITY of his being – what the Jews called the SOUL (Nephesh).  Recall the reality of HELL ITSELF on the cross.  We still confess in the Apostles’ Creed: “He descended into HELL”.

“He will see the light [of life] and be satisfied.”  Is this REALLY a reference to the resurrection of the Servant?  What does it mean?  The two odd looking brackets around the words ‘of life’ immediately raise a few questions.  Moreover, the footnotes show that there are some variations in the Hebrew text, too.

Does ‘of life’ fit?  Strictly speaking the Hebrew says only that he sees LIGHT.  How do we understand that?  The simplest explanation I can think of is an experience I once had in hospital.  An ear operation demanded an anaesthetic.  After some comments by some apprentice doctors about how much and where of the stuff, I remember nothing until, with my eyes still tightly closed, I began to regain consciousness.  My eyelids weighed as heavy as a ten-ton truck.  There was darkness.  Was I alive?  Gradually, with superhuman effort, I got my eyelids to work – I saw LIGHT and I knew I was ALIVE!  Seeing LIGHT was the sign of being ALIVE!  After the suffering of his soul, he will see the LIGHT.

Another illustration: In the Old Testament, death is a matter of going down into the underworld – a gloomy twilight world – darkness reigns.  One of Job’s friends, Elihu, speaks about this:

“He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.  God does all these things to a man – twice, even three times – to turn back his soul from the pit, that the LIGHT OF LIFE may shine on him.” (Job 33:28-30)

Light is life!  How then can these words be translated and understood?  Several possibilities emerge:

1. As a result of, because of the suffering of his soul – his atoning death as he makes his life a guilt offering – he will see LIGHT – the positive outcome of his work – with abundant satisfaction. In other words, with a well-satisfied cry he can look back and cry, “It is finished (accomplished).”  It is a lot like the LORD God looking over the completed creation – everything that he had made – and explaining: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
2. It can also mean that the Servant looks at the result and consequence of his suffering – the guilt offering he made – and sees how it becomes LIGHT (the word ‘light’ being a metaphor meaning LIFE) or LIFE for the many who believe and call on his name. The NEW LIFE of his people shall SATISFY him.  Heaven itself will say, “Well done, good and faithful Servant!”
3. Yet another meaning is possible. The LIGHT which the servant sees IS HIS OWN!  After his death he is raised and, through his own eyes, he SEES THE LIGHT OF LIFE and is satisfied!  He is risen!  He LIVES!

Brothers and sisters, which interpretation is correct?  I personally cannot make a choice here and believe that EACH ONE MUST BE MAINTAINED – but especially the third!

1. This verse announces the SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME, the COMPLETION of the Servant’s work! He HAS DONE IT.  There is LIGHT!
2. This verse announces LIFE for all who are justified by the atoning sacrifice of the Servant. Christ secured NEW LIFE for us through his saving work.
3. This verse announces the LIFE of the Servant – the victorious, prolonged and prosperous life – his reigning for ever and ever after the suffering has been completed.

The LIFE of the Servant after death – the RESURRECTION LIFE – is clearly taught in this passage.

APPLICATIONS

All along Jesus had maintained that he would be raised on the third day.  He got this from the Scriptures (see Luke 24) and certainly interpreted them to refer to his BODILY, PHYSICAL RESURRECTION.  That is exactly what the disciples understood, too.

Important?  Indeed!

1. It demonstrates THAT Jesus is the Servant – not only in his vicarious suffering, but also in his glorious exaltation. He REIGNS!
2. It is God’s divine seal of approval – Here is my son whom I love; I raised him from the dead just as he said.
3. It is a guarantee that we, the offspring, share in his exaltation. We are HIS seed and in, with him, see the light of life.  OUR future is both described and guaranteed.

Amen.