Tag: vicarious

Isaiah: The Holy One Who Rules The World (XLVII)

“The Suffering Servant” (53:1-12)

Neal Pollard

Walvoord and Zuck observe, “This is perhaps the best-known section in the Book of Isaiah. Several parts of this passage are quoted in the New Testament: Isaiah 52:15 in Romans 15:21; Isaiah 53:1 in John 12:38 and Romans 10:16; Isaiah 53:4 in Matthew 8:17; Isaiah 53:7–8 in Acts 8:32–33; Isaiah 53:9 in 1 Peter 2:22; and Isaiah 53:12 in Luke 22:37” (BKC, 1106).  This chapter is the most recognizably Messianic of the entire book of Isaiah. It is the completion of the fourth Servant Poem, in which the prophet reveals three crucial facts about Him.

The suffering servant would be overlooked (1-2). Why? Given the prelude of this Servant (52:13-15), this is a surprising fact. This exalted and glorified One is described now as a tender shoot, a root out of dry ground, with no stately form or majesty, and without an attractive appearance. The message about Him and from Him is deemed unbelievable (1). He grows up among the people, who cannot but see Him only as a carpenter, Mary’s son, with younger brothers and sisters, and, thus, a cause of offense (Mark 6:3). He is “this man” (Luke 7:39). The root out of dry ground takes our minds back to Isaiah 11:1, the tender shoot of Jesse. Physically unremarkable, financially modest, and without any sort of commending pedigree, He was an average, ordinary-looking Man among men. 

The suffering servant would be oppressed (3-10a). Beyond His humble circumstances, His contemptible appearance, combined with His relentless effort to spread His unconventional message backed by undeniable miracles, led to His opponents doing all within their power to punish and silence Him. Graphically, Isaiah foretells what those among whom He dwelled dispatched of Him (or so they thought). His oppression was vicious. It led Him to experience despising, forsaking, grieving, sorrowing, and condescending (3,7). His oppression was vicarious. It led Him to experience things for us, things we deserved to experience but that He went through on our behalf (4-6,8). James Smith gives us a concise chart of this:

OUR EXPERIENCEHIS EXPERIENCE
GriefsBore
SorrowsCarried
TransgressionPierced Through
IniquitiesCrushed
PeaceChastening
HealedScourging

 Smith, James E. The Major Prophets. Joplin, MO: College Press, 1992. Print. Old Testament Survey Series, 149. 

His oppression was voluntary (7). Reading the fulfillment of this in the gospels as Jesus stands before Pilate and His many accusers, He chose not to speak to defend Himself. He knew that as a sacrificial Lamb, He had to submit to their torture and injustice. His oppression was violent, as we see from the many words associated with the death He would die (9). His oppression was victorious (9-10). It accomplished the Divine purpose, in which He played a part as God the Word. He successfully became the blood offering for our sins (10). But that last fact points us to the last major point of the chapter (10b-12). 

The suffering servant would be an overcomer (10b-12). As this was the premeditated plan of heaven, the Godhead knew that death could not keep Him down and the grave could not hold Him (1 Cor. 15:54-57). That’s why the Lord was “pleased” to allow such cruelty to occur. After being made a guilt offering for our sins, “the Lord would prolong His days” (10). Notice how the vicarious nature of the suffering Servant’s sacrifice would satisfy divine justice and solve humanity’s spiritual debt problem. 

The Power Of The Resurrection (Part 3)

Carl Pollard

 Previously we have discussed the importance of knowing for certain that Jesus lived on this earth. The power of His resurrection begins with the hope of His birth. We are all in need of a Savior. Thankfully, 2,000 years ago God sent His Son to take on flesh. He willingly came and left an example for us to imitate. Secular historians all agree that Jesus of Nazareth really did exist. But there’s more to this that we need to study. He lived, oh yes, He LIVED. But we also need to understand that He Died. 

Scripture says that, in John 19:18, “There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.” Mark 15:39 adds, “When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Scripture tells us that not only did Jesus live on earth, He was also put to death. John tells us that Jesus hung on a cross between two criminals. Mark records the response of a Roman centurion who saw the way Jesus died and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” 

God in flesh and blood hung on a cross for my sins, for the sins of the world. For me, having several biblical authors record the death of Jesus is more than enough proof. But let’s see what secular history has to say about His death. 

The Roman historian Tacitus said this in AD 117, “Their originator, Christ, has been executed in Tiberius’ reign, by Pontius Pilate.” Even Jesus’ worst enemies record His death. The Jewish Rabbis and Religious leaders wrote this in the Talmud, “Jesus of Nazareth was a transgressor in Israel who practiced magic, scorned the words of the wise, led the people astray, and said that he had not come to destroy the law but to add to it. He was hanged on Passover Eve for heresy and misleading the people.” 

The truth is, Jesus surely died for you and me. Scripture clearly teaches this, and so do many secular historians. For us to fully grasp the power of what comes next, we’ve got to believe that Jesus lived and that He died on a cross for you and me. 

A Pre-Written Obituary

Neal Pollard

On July 18, 1969, as the world waited for Apollo 11 to land on the moon, presidential speechwriter William Safire had an unpleasant task. He had to write a contingency speech for Richard Nixon to read in the event the astronauts became stranded on the moon. It began, “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.” Can you imagine anyone being willing to go on a mission so dangerous that they write your obituary before you leave?

But it happened 2700 years earlier when Isaiah wrote the obituary of Jesus of Nazareth. “Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:1-3). 

You have to think that a prophecy so important to Jewish hope and expectation would have been read frequently in the temple and the synagogues, so how many times did Jesus hear it read? The theme of Isaiah 53 often seems to be on His mind, though He doesn’t directly quote it in the gospels. In Matthew 9:15, He tells His disciples that He would be taken away from them and Isaiah 53:8 says, “He was taken and cut off.” In Matthew 17:12, the disciples bring up Elijah and Jesus connects him to His own suffering. Repeatedly in the gospels, when Jesus connects His coming suffering and death, He is appealing to an aspect of Messianic Prophecy highlighted by Isaiah that was unmistakeable if unpopular. 

Isaiah describes His suffering, but the crux of His story is salvation. But just as that word crux means “cross,” it’s difficult to separate the victory from the viciousness. Yet, because Jesus was willing to accept His deadly mission, we can have eternal life! 

Facts About Jesus From John One That Many Deny

Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

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Neal Pollard

Perhaps it is inevitable that someone as well-known as Jesus Christ would be subject to so much misinformation. Think about how things are said about Jesus that are not true. John’s gospel begins in a different way. His audience was wider than just Jews, just Romans, or just Greeks. His was truly a universal gospel, so he was writing to the whole world. In just the first several verses of his gospel, he affirms several things people subsequently denied about Him.

  • He is eternal (1-2)–“In the beginning was the Word” (see also 1:15,30).
  • He is deity (1)–“The Word was God” 
  • He created everything (3,10)
  • He became flesh (14)
  • He came to show us God, the Father (18)
  • His coming was to take away the sins of the world (29)
  • He is the Son of God (34)

There are those even in religion that say Jesus was a created being rather than being co-eternal as God. There are those who would reject the idea of the worship of Jesus being acceptable, though He is expressly called God. There are those who say that everything came into being by the process of evolution rather than Moses’ record (Gen. 1-2) being carried out by the Word (Col. 1:16-17). There are those who say God could not become flesh, since flesh is evil. There are those who deny the inspiration of Scripture, and thus would deny the New Testament actually records Jesus showing us the Father or otherwise communicating His will. 

It is incorrect to say that we can accept the biblical record of Jesus without faith. He existed eternally before becoming flesh. He was born of a virgin. He lived a totally sinless life. He died a death that satisfied God’s justice as a substitute for our sins. He was buried in a tomb, but was raised from the dead to live forevermore. He appeared to many of His disciples over forty days before ascending to heaven from which He will some day come again to judge the entire world. How can we say it takes no faith to follow Jesus? Instead, we should say that it takes more faith to embrace any competing explanation. The leading candidate to rival the biblical account is godless evolution. Try examining that with any level of care without discovering the infinitely greater amount of faith to explain how random chance and mindless, amoral matter produces the meticulously orderly, complex universe filled with intelligent life. 

Sometimes we are benefited by going back to basics. John one is written so simply and straightforwardly, yet it contains some of the biggest, broadest truths which so many reject. May we reflect carefully on the power of those truths so that it causes us to live better and differently! 

Another Heroic Sacrifice

Neal Pollard

Heather Christensen, a 33 year old music teacher from Spanish Fork, Utah, contributed the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of dozens of band students on October 10, 2009. The bus driver, bringing back the band competition winners from Idaho State University, slumped over in his seat and Christensen left her seat and grabbed the steering wheel in an attempt to keep the bus from crashing. While there were still several injuries, there was only one fatality. The 44 students on board were treated but released from the hospital. The 50 year old driver also survived. Only Christensen, partially ejected in the bus’ rollover, died.

It melted the hearts of an entire community that Heather was willing to lose her life in an attempt to save and rescue everyone on the bus. A gymnasium full of people at American Fork High School honored her at a Sunday night vigil. She was hailed as a true heroine.

The future of 45 people was dramatically changed by Heather’s decision to act. The obvious reaction of these students’ friends and family was to honor her sacrifice. It would be shameful to ignore it!

Jesus Christ deliberately decided, from eternity, to die on a cross in an attempt to save all mankind. His was a completely selfless act, requiring Him to take the place not of one but of all. Tragically, the majority of humanity for whom He offered Himself ignore His sacrifice. It does not move or touch them, and it certainly does not motivate them to do what they should do. Yet, for those of us who have obeyed the gospel and are Christians, we come together–not once–but once every week to commemorate His sacrifice. Each day we live, we live mindful of what He did in our place and for our sins. May our hearts stay soft to this supreme act of heroism!

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The Suffering Of Jesus And Commitment

Neal Pollard

Jesus died an awful death. Ruthless assassins, terrorists, sadistic and serial killers, savage and perverted criminals have all received much more humane treatment than He received that day. What Jesus endured at the cross can only be described as vicious. Consider the violent aspects of His crucifixion.

There was physical torture. He was scourged, beaten with a jagged whip (Mat. 27:27). He was fitted with a crown of thorns (Mat. 27:29). He was hit on the head repeatedly with a staff (Mat. 27:30). The soldiers struck Him with their hands (John 19:3). He carried His heavy cross until it fell on Him (John 19:17). He was nailed to that cross (John 20:25).

There was mental anguish. His countrymen hatefully yelled for His death (Mat. 27:25). Soldiers mocked Him and pretended to worship Him (Mat. 27:29). People hurled abuse at Him (Mat. 27:39,40). Religious leaders mocked Him (Mat. 27:44). The Heavenly Father left Him alone (Mat. 27:46). His disciples followed Him, mourning and wailing (Luke 23:37). Earlier, all His disciples forsook Him and fled (Mark 14:50).

There was social embarrassment. They stripped Him (Mat. 27:25). He was spit upon (Mat. 27:30). The soldiers gambled for His clothes (Mat. 27:35). He was watched like a sideshow (Mat. 27:36). They jokingly put an elegant, purple robe on Him (Luke 23:11). He endured great shame (Heb. 12:2).

The sheer brutality of the crucifixion tells one how serious sin is! The proposal from heaven is, “Stop sinning and serve the Savior!” In the light of the cross, examine Heaven’s every demand, command, and reprimand. What expectation from the Father or requirement from the Son is too great? Before answering, look back at the cross!

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