Man of Sorrows - The Risen Man
- Paul Downie
- 17 minutes ago
- 16 min read
Isaiah 53:10-12 NIVUK
[10] Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. [11] After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
As I travel by train, I sometimes see people in rain coats, standing on or close to rail platforms with a notebook and a camera in hand. They are trainspotters. They often go to big railway stations, especially when new or vintage trains are timetabled, so they can photograph them and write about them on the internet.
Yet in the 19th century, such was the anxiety and paranoia about trains, that people actually thought that their internal organs would be displaced if they rode them.
Nowadays, there is a real fear of artificial intelligence – as there is of any new technology. However, even Bible translation agencies are starting to use it to speed up their work and improve accuracy.
Artificial intelligence definitely has its uses. One of those uses is summarising large articles.
Here Isaiah has given us a brilliant summary of the Gospel – not written by AI, but by a God-inspired prophet.
And yet it was just as shocking and divisive as AI – if not more. This summary highlights the three stages of the Christian festival of Easter, and explains why it is so significant.
But, at the same time, we can also clearly see why it is challenging to those who do not share the Christian faith, and for some, may well even be seen as offensive.
However, there is simply no escaping it: this is what the Easter story is all about.
Let’s look firstly at the first phase of Easter, which is that He Suffered.
He Suffered
Isaiah 53:10-11 NIV
[10] Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer... [11] After he has suffered...
This was, and still us, a critical concept for Christian.
The fact that Jesus suffered might make us a little queasy. After all, who likes the idea of someone they love suffering?
But the reality is that He did. And the Bible does not flinch from this. The Hebrew word for ‘to suffer’ that is used here means ‘to be or become weak, sick, wounded, to grieve’. It encompasses negative physical and emotional states.
It’s therefore the perfect word to describe the agonies Jesus endured at His trial, torture and execution. Because, and make no mistake about this, Jesus felt them and endured them.
As Hebrews tells us:
Hebrews 12:2-3 NIV
[2] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus endured the cross. You don’t endure something that is easy. You don’t endure something that is simple. You don’t endure something that is nice.
What happened to Jesus was anything but.
He endured because it was hard. Ridiculously hard. That’s why His forehead sweated blood at Gethsemane (Luke 22:44).
It's because He suffered.
And Isaiah 53 goes through that suffering in striking detail:
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
[5] But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
But here’s the thing. Here’s the thing that stops us in our tracks that makes us gasp with horror. Here’s the thing that even today makes hardened theologians rub their head hard trying to figure it out.
It says in this verse that it was the Lord’s will that He suffered.
God the Father wanted Jesus to suffer!
How?
This concept has been hugely misrepresented by squeamish, modern-day Christians – even more so theologians. You see, there are situations when loving parents deliberately put their children in positions where they will feel pain. And they do it for the good of their children. Not necessarily their short team good – but absolutely their long term good.
Let me give you some examples:
When they take their children to be inoculated
When they teach them to cross the road – they expose them to the risk of serious physical harm and death
When they teach them how to cook – they expose them to the danger of being burned
When they take them for dental treatment
When they require operations or other risky medical interventions
When they allow their children to sit educational tests and examinations
In every one of those situations, we parents expose our children to stress and strain and risk and potential pain. But we love them. We want the best for them. If we don’t put them through these difficult things, they will not be able to care for themselves when they are older.
Those risks are temporary. They are short-lived. And, provided they follow our instructions (or those of the medical staff looking after them) the end result will be good.
We aren’t bad parents for doing this. We are actually bad parents if we don’t, because we aren’t preparing our children for life as independent adults.
Why am I using these examples?
Because God the Father was exposing His Son to a level of risk and pain (albeit at levels we will never know) for a short time for the greater good – both our good and His.
For our good, because God made Him an offering for our sin (Isaiah 53:10-12).
For His good, because His short period of suffering on earth led to an eternal reward in eternity:
Philippians 2:9-11 NIV
[9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
He received that reward because He let go of Heaven and grasped frail humanity.
And that is something God continued to do with the Early Church and still does now. He still exposes His people to risk of harm for the purposes of a greater good, as we see in His Word:
Hebrews 12:7-13 NIV
[7] Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? [8] If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. [9] Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! [10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. [12] Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. [13] “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV
[16] Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. [17] For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [18] So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Now, I am fully aware that our troubles right now might not seem light and momentary. They might instead seem heavy and permanent. Yet in the context of eternity and of eternal torture and suffering in hell, they are.
In all this, we must remember what Paul taught the persecuted Roman church:
Romans 8:28 NIV
[28] And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
‘In all things...’ includes our darkest days of pain, anxiety, turmoil and regret. In all that, God is still working for our good, even if we can’t see it.
The reality of Jesus’ suffering is a very painful one. No-one ever likes to see someone they love suffering to any extent, let alone beaten to a pulp until He was barely recognisable as human, dangling from a cross to which He is nailed, crowned by desert thorns and gasping for every last breath in His lungs, in unimaginable pain. Suffering is always bad news. There is no doubt about that.
But Jesus’ suffering brought about a number of benefits for us that cannot be ignored:
A purpose in suffering – we see that God’s hand was still at work in these darkest of days, and stil working out His purposes
A path through suffering – we see that Jesus was able to pass through His suffering, and this gives us hope that if we follow Him, we will make it too
A presence with us in suffering- we now have a God who doesn’t just ‘get’ us or ‘feel’ us, but was us, and is able to sympathise with our every weakness
And end to suffering – Jesus suffered so that our suffering might end, and His death and resurrection proves that one day it will.
These aren’t just abstract theological constructs. That are foundations on which our life can be constructed. Believing them changes everything.
But Jesus didn’t just suffer – He Died.
He Died
Isaiah 53:12 NIV
[12] Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Coping with death is something none of us wants to do, but all of us will have to do at some point. It isn’t at all pleasant. Yet the Bible teaches us that there is an upside:
Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 NIV
[2] It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. [3] Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. [4] The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
Death reminds us of our own mortality. That is not even for one moment a comforting thought. However, it is a good teacher. It teaches us to live wisely, circumspectively, and not frivously.
The death of Jesus, however, has a much stronger message, for four reasons.
Firstly, He knew about it. Jesus knew the very time and place and way in which He would die. Matthew in particular records three distinct times when Jesus specifically told His disciples that He was about to die and how it would happen (Matthew 16:21, 17:22, 20:18). Mark also records three (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33). Luke records four (Luke 9:22, 44, 18:31, 24:7).
Jesus knew about it. There is no escaping that fact.
But also, He chose it. Jesus chose to die. He could have stopped the process towards His own execution but chose not to intervene:
Matthew 26:53-54 NIV
[53] Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? [54] But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
He made the conscious decision to lay down His own life;
John 10:17-18 NIV
[17] The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. [18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
He chose to die.
And the reason why He chose to die is just amazing:
John 10:10-11 NIV
[10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. [11] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He chose to die to give us life!
But Jesus didn’t just know about it and choose it. You can do both of these things unwillingly. He embraced it.
We see that in one of the darkest moments He faced:
Luke 22:41-42 NIV
[41] He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, [42] “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
This was not at all easy. It was anything but easy. But, knowing how and where and when He would die, and knowing it was about to happen, Jesus embraced that painful reality. He didn’t flinch from it. He was not dragged to it kicking and screaming.
He embraced it.
But lastly, and most impressively of all, He defeated it, as we will see more of later.
The Bible tells us:
Hosea 13:14 NIV
[14] “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?
Acts 2:23-24 NIV
[23] This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. [24] But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Romans 6:9-10 NIV
[9] For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. [10] The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
The fact of Jesus’ death is indisputable (see John 19:31-37 for a medically accurate description of the declaration of His death). The means of His death is abominable.
But the result of His death is incredible.
It is life for us.
I often like to walk in woodland near our house. I find that it clears my mind. But I don’t walk on untrodden pathways. I walk where people have been walking for many years, so much that the soil has been impacted and a natural path has been made.
When we walk the path towards our death, we do not walk the path that no-one else has trodden. Jesus Christ has gone there before us.
So there is nothing to fear.
I don’t know if you have ever had to pass an angry dog to get to where you need to go. You hear it barking. You hear it growling. You hear it snarling. You see the saliva dripping from it’s mouth. You see the contempt and hatred in its eyes.
But if that dog is chained, it cannot hurt you. If it is muzzled, it cannot bite you.
Without Christ, death is an angry, vicious, rapid, bloodthirsty dog, and we have no option but to run the gauntlet of passing it.
In Christ, that dog is on a chain.
In Christ, that dog is muzzled.
In Christ, that dog is pacified by a giant bone.
In Christ, that dog cannot and will not hurt you.
How do we know?
Because Jesus died first.
We see, then, that Jesus suffered and died. But there is, of course, one last joyous part to the Easter story: He rose.
He Rose
Isaiah 53:10-12 NIV
[10] Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. [11] After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
There are aspects of this last part of the prophecy that might seem a little puzzling and out of place.
It says that, after being an offering for sin, the Messiah will ‘see His offspring’. How is that possible if He died?
It says that He will ‘prolong His days’. How is that possible if He died?
It says that He will ‘see the light of life and be satisfied’. How is that possible if He died?
It says that He ‘will be given a portion among the great and divide spoils with the strong?’ How is that possible if He died?
Only one way:
1 Corinthians 15:20 NIV
[20] But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The word translated as ‘offspring’ literally means ‘seed’. Its Greek equivalent is used here, to refer to non-Jews:
Galatians 3:27-29 NIV
[27] for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
It was used to describe those who inherited the Messianic promise of salvation by faith through Jesus Christ – who therefore could also be seen as His seed.
Galatians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” [7] So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
So two thousand, seven hundred year old promise is fulfilled through Jesus Christ in us.
It also talks of Jesus prolonging His days. This is also true:
Luke 1:32-33 NIV
[32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Jesus’ days are prolonged forever because He died, rose and was taken up into Heaven.
It says that He would see the light of life. Also true:
Philippians 2:9-11 NIV
[9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
How much more satisfied is that!
Could there be a brighter light?
Could there be a better life?
It also says that He would be given a portion among the great and divide the spoils with the strong.
Jesus ascended to the right hand of God in Heaven (Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33, 5:31, 7:55; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 1:3, 2:9, 8:1, 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22).
Without a doubt, He could not be in a better or a stronger place.
Isaiah, then, is clearly prophesying Jesus’ bodily resurrection.
But there’s more: he tells us why Jesus was resurrected:
Isaiah 53:12 NIV
[12] ...because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
For four reasons:
He poured out His life unto death (on the cross)
He was numbered with the transgressors (He was found guilty even though He was not)
He bore the sins of many (including us)
He made intercession for the transgressors (us)
Now, there is an aspect of Christian teaching that are in dispute nowadays that I believe these verses explain entirely. That is: how can we believe that Jesus is the only Saviour, that only Jesus can get us into Heaven, and that all other roads lead to hell?
The answer to that is as simple as it is profound: who else did this for you?
Jesus Christ endured horrific suffering for you. He died for you. He was raised to life for you.
Tell me one other leader of any kind who could, or would, do that for you?
There is no-one!
So tell me: who else will you believe in?
Conclusion
Isaiah 53:4-6 NIV
[4] Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. [5] But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. [6] We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
I do not belong to the Eastern Orthodox church. However, one Good Friday, while I was in Romania, I was curious to see what their Good Friday mass was like, so I snuck out to take a look.
I could hardly even get near St George’s church. There was a huge crowd around it, some with candles lit, all waiting for the priest to come out and give them his blessing. The atmosphere was mostly calm, and a little sombre. They were, after all, commemorating Jesus’ death.
Towards the back of the crowd, where I was, there were some young women, not much older than I was at the time (early twenties), wearing heavy fur coats. I was quite curious about that. It wasn’t so cold out. It was spring time, not winter.
Then one of the coats flapped open a little and the woman’s clothing caught my eye. I think it was designed to do that.
She was wearing nightclubbing gear under her coat. The obvious plan was to go to the church, obtain a blessing on the night commemorating the death of Jesus Christ, and then go out and party hearty.
She reminded me of this verse:
Exodus 32:6 NIV
[6] So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
In other words, they did the ‘God bit’. They did their duty. They paid Him lip service. They checked the Bible box.
And then they lived their lives as if He didn’t even exist.
On the very night when they were commemorating His violent death for them.
There is something deeply, deeply inappropriate about that.
Yet it happens every Easter.
Our churches have lots of visitors. Our online services have more hits.
Which is great.
But the point of Easter is not that we ‘do the God bit’ and then move on.
How can we?
Jesus suffered for us – because of us.
He died for us – to lead us through death.
He rose from the dead – to take us to be with Him forever.
How can anything just be the same as it was before?
Easter is a clear symbol that we are sinners – desperate sinners in need of a Saviour. It reminds us of our sin.
It also reminds us of our mortality. One day we will also die.
And it reminds us that we will one day rise from the dead and either go to heaven or hell.
Most of all, it reminds us that Jesus went through all that violence and pain for us, because of us, to save us.
So we should commit our lives to follow Him.
Because how can anything still be the same?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I am moved by Your love for me, that You would endure the cross for someone such as me, bearing all my sin and sickness and shame. I am overjoyed that You conquered death for me. I will do the only logical thing possible – I will follow You for the rest of my life. Amen.
Questions
What does Easter mean for you? Why is it the most important Christian festival?
What did Jesus do for you?
How will you react to this?
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