## Who is This?

## Isaiah 52:13-53:12

(MAT 21:10) "AND WHEN HE WAS COME INTO JERUSALEM, ALL THE CITY WAS MOVED, SAYING, WHO IS THIS?"

(LUKE 5:21) "AND THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES BEGAN TO REASON, SAYING, WHO IS THIS WHICH SPEAKETH BLASPHEMIES? WHO CAN FORGIVE SINS, BUT GOD ALONE?"

(LUKE 7:49) "AND THEY THAT SAT AT MEAT WITH HIM BEGAN TO SAY WITHIN THEMSELVES, WHO IS THIS THAT FORGIVETH SINS ALSO?"

(LUKE 9:9) "AND HEROD SAID, JOHN HAVE I BEHEADED: BUT WHO IS THIS, OF WHOM I HEAR SUCH THINGS? AND HE DESIRED TO SEE HIM."

(JOHN 12:34) "THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM, WE HAVE HEARD OUT OF THE LAW THAT CHRIST ABIDETH FOR EVER: AND HOW SAYEST THOU, THE SON OF MAN MUST BE LIFTED UP? WHO IS THIS SON OF MAN?"

In spite of all that has been written and declared about Jesus Christ, even in this twentieth century world in which we live, there are still those who do not know Him. This morning I want us to look at a passage written 700 years before the birth of Christ that explains who He is. Isaiah prophesied just HOW Christ would come, and how he would DIE for our sins.

I have been to museums of art and looked at the various portraits of Jesus Christ that have been painted over the years, but in our passage this morning there are three portraits of Christ painted so beautifully here by Isaiah that helps us answer the question, Who is this?

I. He Is Pictured As A Servant. 52:13-53:4

(ISA 52:13) "BEHOLD, MY SERVANT SHALL DEAL PRUDENTLY, HE SHALL BE EXALTED AND EXTOLLED, AND BE VERY HIGH."

As a servant, he was not a big hit with the Jewish world. Why was this true?

A. Because they he been promised as a KING. v13 "...shall be exalted, extolled, and be very high."

1. They had expected a political king who could take over and over throw the Roman Government.

2. As a servant, he was unpopular... they wanted a king.

B. Because He had been presented as a lowly babe. v2 "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant...."

1. They were not looking for a child, but a conqueror.

2. He humbled himself to a servant. This is He who spoke the world into existence, flung the stars into space,

3. Verse 2 says, " he has no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him."

4. Nothing about him to draw attention. As a babe, he appeared to be just that.... a baby. But, they wanted a KING!

C. He was passed up unknowingly. V-3,4 "He was despised and rejected of men..... and we esteemed him not." V-3

1. He was beaten and rejected and they didn't even realize who he was. Some of his own family did not, then.

2. We often do the same. We wait for Him to show up like he did to someone else, but our experience will be different.

II. As A Substitute, He Was Punished. (52:14) V-14 says, "his visage was so marred more than any man."

He is saying that his form or body didn't even look human. Different than the pictures we see of the crucifixion. ·As my substitute, he was punished.

A. By a Roman Whip. V-14, 53:5

1. Beaten by a cat of nine tails. Used metal, glass, and stone on the ends of the leather thongs.

(PSA 129:3) "THE PLOWERS PLOWED UPON MY BACK: THEY MADE LONG THEIR FURROWS."

2. His back looked like a piece of raw steak.

3. He was wounded for OUR transgressions. "But he was wounded for our trans- gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

B. By a Rugged Cross. V-7-8 "He was oppressed ... afflicted, ....brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers ...so he openeth not his mouth."

1. They spit on him, plucked out his beard, crowned him with thorns, mocked him.

2. Nailed him to cross... dropped cross in ground with a thud. He did it all for me.

C. The rejection of his father. "..he made his grave with the wicked.... had done no violence ... yet it pleased the father to bruise him..... to make his soul an offering for sin." v9-10

1. The cup that DID NOT pass from him contained the sins of all the world, past, present, and future.

2. The Father turned His back, and Jesus was hanging there as a God forsaken sinner, in our place. No wonder, even the sun refused to shine.

III. As Saviour, He Made Provision.

A. For our sorrows to be carried. V-4 "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:"

1. Some folks are still trying to carry themselves, but we can't do it alone.

2. He will carry our sorrow and grief when we are broken-hearted.

3. V 7 says He was oppressed and sorrowful. He took ours for us.

4. He made provision for our sorrows to be carried.

B. For our sickness to be cured. V-5 "..and with his stripes we are healed."

1. He can heal the physical. Not always his will, but he certainly can if He chooses to do so.

2. Some misuse this passage and try to claim that all can be healed with this verse.

3. He can heal the spiritual and emotional.

a. He can close all the wounds we have upon us.

b. He can take away all our sins.

1). TRANSGRESSION: Open rebellion against God.

2). INIQUITY: the inward corruption of the heart.

3). SIN: Outward acts of wrong doing.

c. Those who are lost, are sick unto death.. But curable!

4. As a lost sinner on the way to hell, condemned as a prisoner on death row...

5. Jesus signed my pardon, and let me go free!

Who is this?

- He is a Servant who was rejected.
- He is a Substitute who was punished.
- He is a Saviour who made provision for us.

Salvation is a free gift. All you have to do is receive it by faith. Will you come to Christ this morning?

What is your need today? Come to Christ.