Passion Week Communion

2021/03/27 // Tsurumakicho Small Church // Isaiah 52-53

(English Transcript)

Good evening, everyone.

Next week is Easter, the day on the Christian calendar when we will celebrate the glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus. But this week is Passion Week, a time to remember the Passion of the Cross, which Jesus went through before the resurrection. Tonight we will look at Isaiah 52:13-53:6 together and consider the suffering that Jesus went through for us and its meaning, and then we will have a time of communion together.

This image is from the movie The Passion of the Christ released in 2004. Jesus is hanging on the middle of three crosses on Golgotha - or Calvary as it is called in Latin - outside of Jerusalem. Surrounding him are the Roman soldiers who carried out his execution, as well as the Jewish religious leaders who condemned him to death.

To them and many others who were here at the time, what kind of person was this Jesus who hung on the cross? What did it mean that he was hanging on the cross? They did not understand who Jesus was, what it meant for Him to be on the cross, or what exactly was happening there. Therefore, many of them despised Jesus, who was going through terrible suffering.

The book of Isaiah that we are going to look at tonight was written 700 years before the Passion of Jesus, which from our point of view happened about 2000 years ago. The prophet Isaiah tells us in detail about the suffering that Jesus would go through and its meaning. And that message transcends time and space to speak directly to us today, to ask us questions, and to compel us.

There is one part of tonight's passage that I would like you to keep in mind. It is in chapter 53 verse 1. I would like to read it both at the beginning, and also after the explanation of this passage.

"Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"

As we have just seen, many people did not understand Jesus, the servant that God sent for the forgiveness of our sins, and the terrible suffering that He went through for us. But for those who believe in this news, they can experience the saving power of God through this suffering Savior. As you listen to the explanation that I am about to give, I hope you will ask yourself if you are a believer in this.

Let's start from the beginning (from Isaiah 52:13).

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.

The phrase "my servant" refers to Jesus, the Son sent by God the Father to accomplish His mission of redeeming us. After accomplishing the work of salvation for us, Jesus will be raised and glorified at the right hand of God as the Lord of Lords. But in order to accomplish this, He had to go down a path that no human being could have imagined. In order to bear the sins and iniquities of mankind, the Savior Himself would take upon Himself a punishment so terrible that no ordinary person could face it.

14 As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

Crucifixion generally began with whipping the prisoner on the back to make him suffer. The Romans used a whip called a flagellum, which consisted of small bones and pieces of iron attached to leather. There is no record of the number of whippings inflicted on Jesus. According to Jewish tradition, it is likely that he was whipped about 39 times. Whipping caused the skin of the back to be torn off and the flesh and bones to be exposed. Many who were whipped died from massive blood loss or fainted at this point. In addition to the whipping, Jesus was severely beaten and tormented by Roman soldiers, his beard was pulled out, and a crown of thorns pierced his forehead.

After the flogging, the prisoners were asked to carry the crossbeams, which weighed 50 kilograms, to the place of execution themselves. Once at the execution site, the wooden cross was placed on the ground and the prisoner was forced to lie on it. A long, thick nail, about 17 centimeters long and 1 centimeter in diameter, was then driven into both wrists on the crossbeam. The same type of nails were used to attach the feet to the cross. The person's wrists, arms, and shoulders were put under tremendous strain, and their joints were dislocated. The ribs of the victim were thus pulled up, making it very difficult to breathe. Ultimately, crucifixion killed the prisoner by means of suffocation.

The Bible says that Jesus' face and figure were damaged to the point that he was no longer recognizable as a man. However, by being tortured and executed so horribly, something was done. He sprinkled His own blood to remove the filth of the people before God.

15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,

for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

The Old Testament law required that before an object or person could be used in the service of a holy God, it had to be sanctified by the sprinkling of the blood of animal sacrifices on it. Jesus shed His precious blood by going through terrible suffering so that we, who are guilty of sin, could be cleansed and accepted before a holy God. However, even when told this, most people could not believe it.

Chapter 53, Verse 1: Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

In fact, this Jesus did not come as such a person that the world would find attractive or popular.

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Unlike a magnificent oak or cedar tree, a "young plant" - a root from the desert land - is not at all something that people would take notice of. People don't usually find them attractive or valuable. Jesus was from Galilee, a remote region of Israel, and nothing about him impressed people outwardly.

Therefore, Jesus was despised. He was ostracized by the people.

The world was completely blind to the value of this man who was sent by God with a mission for the salvation of mankind. The people of the world did not know who He was or what was happening in His suffering. Therefore, they looked down on this person, and this person who was in the midst of extreme suffering. I can't help but think of the vast difference between the truth shown to us by God and what the world recognizes as important.

Also, Jesus was a man of sorrows, and He knew sickness. Jesus knew sorrow and pain, not only in the Passion, but throughout his life. Jesus knew what it meant to live in sorrow and pain, having experienced it Himself in His life as a human being.

In response to the ignorance and blindness of those people who didn't understand at all what was happening before their eyes, chapter 53, verses 4 to 6 explain what was actually happening.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

What was happening to Jesus when He was going through this terrible suffering? First of all, he was bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows. Our bodily sickness, our emotional pain, and our sadness. Sickness, pain, sorrow, grief, and death. These, the Bible says, are the destruction and devastation that man's sin against God has brought upon the world. These are the things that Jesus took upon Himself and carried for us.

And yet, we completely misunderstood and thought that Jesus was being punished, beaten, and tormented by God for some sin that he himself had done. But no - he was stabbed for our disobedience, it says. Not just for the original sin that comes from Adam. We have also erred. It's not that we didn't know what we were doing and made a mistake, but that we knew what we were doing and still knowingly stepped outside His will.

For our transgressions, Jesus' body was pierced in the side with a nail and finally with a spear. And again, because of our iniquity, he was crushed. While the word "transgression" implies a deliberate act of rebellion, the word "iniquity" refers to our sinfulness and crookedness that is clearly visible in God's eyes. That iniquity of ours is why Jesus was crushed. And the word "crushed" means "wrecked." It's not just a bruise. Jesus' body was crushed, destroyed. He was beaten, tormented, stabbed, chastised...Through Isaiah's words, God emphasizes how severely He punished and rejected this servant on behalf of us sinners.

This was what was necessary for our peace and healing. A holy God, because of His righteousness, is compelled to judge our sin in His wrath. Unless this righteous anger of God is removed from us sinners, there can be no real peace. True peace comes only when God no longer looks at us with His righteous anger because of our sin, iniquity, and disobedience. It is only when we know that God's wrath is completely gone from over our heads that we can safely surrender our lives to God's love, mercy, and ever-present presence with us. And the only thing that can bring that peace is the substitutive suffering of this servant that God himself has given us.

Coming back to verse 5, why is it called "chastisement"? To chastise means to punish someone who has done something wrong, to make them feel that they will not do it again. (Daijirin). The word "chastise" has several meanings, but of course the servant himself did not commit any sin that had to be punished. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." God the Father made his Son Jesus to be sin, whom he severely punished and chastised on the cross, in order to make us righteous before his holy presence.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

"Like sheep" is the picture of a foolish and helpless sinner. "To go astray" means "to wander about aimlessly or without a destination," "to lose one's way," "to be lost in one's mind or thoughts." God the Father has taken full responsibility for us, for our foolishness and sinfulness. He has given all that responsibility to his only Son, Jesus Christ.

So what is his message to us? "Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" These are the words I mentioned at the beginning of this message for us to keep in mind. If we believe in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the Servant of the Lord, who sacrificed Himself for the forgiveness of our sins, we can be those who receive the sprinkling of His blood, and thereby be cleansed and accepted before God.

God's message to us is, first, to know the weight of our sins that have brought about this devastation. Next, it is to acknowledge the fact that we have wandered like sheep in our own selfish ways. Lastly, above all else, he is asking us to believe in Jesus Christ, whom God has provided for us.

The Lord has laid on Him our iniquities. That wayward heart that lies beneath our words and actions--a crooked heart. It is a heart tainted with sin that has caused all kinds of pain, sorrow, and devastation, removing all the focus from God and placing it on ourselves. I want to worship Jesus as our Savior, our only hope, who took all that sin and responsibility for us.

Now I would like to have a short time of quietly opening our hearts and confessing before our holy and merciful God. Let's close our eyes and pray silently to God.

If you would like to, please join me in praying this prayer together.

God, I am a sinner before you, a person of iniquity before You. But you have held me accountable for my sins and iniquities. You gave your Son to bear the responsibility for my sins and iniquities on that cross. I believe that the sacrifice of your Son was made even for me. And I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart.

Please prepare the bread and juice. I would like to read from the book of 1st Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 11:23-28

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Jesus gave His body as a sacrifice, out of love, so that your sins could be forgiven.

In your heart, say, "Thank you, Jesus, I believe in you," and eat.

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

This is the blood of the covenant that Jesus shed for the forgiveness of our sins and for our salvation. And in the same way, let us take it in our hearts, saying, Jesus, thank you, I believe in you.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Thank you.