FOR THESE LAST TWO WEEKS BEFORE EASTER SUNDAY
WE WILL BE STANDING ON HOLY GROUND.
IN A CHURCH I USED TO FREQUENT IN KANSAS CITY,
THEY HAD COMMUNION EACH WEEK,
AND MANY OF THE YOUNG FERVENT BELIEVERS
TOOK OFF THEIR SHOES BEFORE WALKING UP TO THE ALTAR
TO RECEIVE COMMUNION.
I LIKED THAT.
AND FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS I’D LIKE US TO DO THE EQUIVALENT
IN OUR MINDS.
FOR IN THIS ULTIMATE SERVANT SONG,
FOR WE ARE, INDEED, STANDING ON HOLY GROUND.
SO OFTEN WE DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD IS DOING.
OUR OWN PRECIOUS MARY E HAS A TERMINAL DIAGNOSIS.
OUR OWN CHRIS HAD A GODLY SON MURDERED.
HOW DO WE RECONCILE THESE THINGS WITH A LOVING GOD?
HOW DO WE GO ON WHEN WE ARE IN GREAT PAIN
AND GOD SEEMS SILENT?
ONLY BY LOOKING AT THE MAN OF SORROWS,
ACQUAINTED WITH GRIEF.
TO PREPARE YOUR HEARTS, LISTEN TO THIS FROM
ANDREW PETERSON AND AUDREY ASSAD.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O1bNzlv7tg&list=RD2O1bNzlv7tg#t=11
PETERSON REFERENCES A STATUE IN HIS SONG —
HERE ARE TWO FROM THIS MONASTERY IN KENTUCKY
DEPICTING HOW GOD SEEMED SILENT TO THE SON AS WELL.
ISAIAH 53 IS THE HEIGHT OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
AND IS THE ANSWER TO OUR OWN PAIN WHEN GOD SEEMS SILENT.
LET US TAKE OFF OUR SHOES, FOR WE ARE ON HOLY GROUND.
SUNDAY:
1. What stands out to you from the above, and why?
2. Has the fact that we have a suffering Savior helped you with your own pain?
if you can share an illustration of why it has, do.
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY: Isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53:5
I know it is hard to read about how He suffered, yet it good for our souls.
3. Read Isaiah 52:13-53:5 and share anything that quickens you and why.
4. Comment on Isaiah 52:14 and Isaiah 53:2. Why was he so disfigured?
5. How do you see the truth of Isaiah 53:3 borne out in the life and death of Jesus? Give examples from the New Testament.
6. Why do you think men hide their faces from one who suffers so? How did Job experience the same thing? (See Job 19:17-19)
7. Many Jews feel that this is talking about Israel as a nation. What is incongruent about that interpretation? (Bock’s article will help you if you haven’t a clue! 🙂 )
8. According to Isaiah 53:4 and Isaiah 53:10, who willed that Jesus be smitten and
crushed? And why did Jesus comply according to Isaiah 53:5?
Last week my friend Twila and I and a new young friend went to see the controversial movie The Shack. There was much that I liked — much better than the book, but I also could see how an unbeliever could walk away from the movie putting it through his own filter and thinking that because God is love (which He is) that everyone will go to heaven. I don’t think that was what the movie taught, but because the crucifixion was not emphasized, you could walk away thinking that all are saved. It is vital for us to see not only the love of God but the holiness of God, and why a price had to be paid. (If you take an unbeliever, be sure to plan conversation afterwards!) Surely Isaiah 53 shows us the holiness of God and the great price that was paid for redemption to be possible.
9. What are some ways you can gaze on the cross and the holiness of God and also help anyone you are mentoring to do so these next few weeks?
THURSDAY-FRIDAY: Read a short article by Darrell Bock
Darrell Bock, leading Professor at DTS is one of my favorite commentators. As a man, he models godliness and a servant spirit. I wanted him to read through my studyguide on Luke since he had written a two volume commentary on Luke that received Christianity Today’s Book of the Year. I remember my publisher telling me they could not afford Bock — and I decided to write him, and he was willing to do it without charge. That tells you something of the man. He has also co-edited a book on Isaiah 53, and this is an interview with him published on the Gospel Coalition site. Read it and share your thoughts.
10. What were some of the main points Bock made? (You may need to read it several times.)
11. What comments or questions do you have?
SATURDAY
12. What is your take-a-way and why?
102 comments
4. Comment on Isaiah 52:14 and Isaiah 53:2. Why was he so disfigured?
He had to bear our sins completely. I recently heard of a young girl, who was abused by her father who went into a rage and beat her so that huge welts came out on her body. It makes me shudder. Sadly, too, she blamed herself. What must that do to her tender spirit? Yet what she bore physically is so little, compared to others, and especially compared to our Lord. He suffered in every way like us (like any who have been badly bruised and mistreated). He knows our pain. Jesus knows every sorrow ever borne. I need to sit in that. Even the revulsion of the chemical attack in Syria this week! It humbles me and also comforts me.
Good Diane. We all need to sit in that!
7. Many Jews feel this is talking about Israel as a nation. What is incongruent about that interpretation?
The passage is clearly talking about a man because a nation could not be cut off from itself and the nation of Israel was certainly not righteous.
I found it interesting that Mitch Glaser from Chosen People Ministries has written a little book himself on Isaiah 53 specifically to the Jewish people as an evangelistic tool. He himself is a Jewish believer but he is a Jew writing to Jews. He points out that Isaiah 53 is consistently left out of the regular readings in the Jewish Synagogue. They actually jump from chapter 52 to 54. Most have never heard 53. It has been consistently ignored by the religious leaders. So it make sense some of their scholars have had to come up with a way to try and explain it away because it is clear to any seeker Who the passage is talking about. The young Jewish woman who spoke at our church a few weeks ago and serves with Chosen People Ministries gives a strong testimony that it was Isaiah 53 that convinced her of who Jesus was. She actually accused the believer who was quoting it to her that it was from the New Testament because it so clearly spoke of Jesus and she wasn’t about to listen to anything from the New Testament About Him. The Jewish believer witnessing to her had agreed not to quote or read anything from the New Testament. God powerfully used Isaiah 53 to bring her to himself.
According to Isaiah 53:4 and Isaiah 53:10, who willed that Jesus be smitten and crushed?
It clearly states it was God. Our sin is condemned by God and must be punished and Jesus took on our sin which brought God’s wrath onto Him and he suffered that horrible death the penalty for our sin.
And why did Jesus comply according to Isaiah 53:5
His crushing brought about our peace and healing. I think of Hebrews 12:2 “…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
9. What are some ways you can gaze on the cross and the holiness of God and also help anyone you are mentoring to do so theses next few weeks?
For me it is spending time alone in the Word and meditating the scriptures that draw me to see Jesus more clearly. Also Good Friday services are a special time to consider the Cross.
10. What were some of the main points Bock made? (You may need to read it several times.)
Bock makes the point that Isaiah clearly is speaking of an individual person in the “Servant of God” in Isaiah 53 and the last chapters of Isaiah. A Messianic figure who is a righteous person who suffers for the people but provides peace and healing. And through coordinating scriptures from the Old & New Testament it is clearly Jesus. Jesus himself identified as the One spen of in Isaiah.
Bock also make a point of the injustice surrounding Jesus death and that he was truly innocent.
Comments or Questions:
I find it good to be reminded of the power of God’s Word and how it is it’s own best commentary seeing how these passages of scripture coordinate to show us Jesus in both the Old & New Testaments. And to be challenged to meditate and look at the Cross.
Take away:
I am brought back again to the power of the Cross upon my own life. The Cross provided my salvation from my sin. That in and of itself is amazing and humbling. That Jesus the perfectly righteous and innocent One would die for me and give me a completely new life is beyond my comprehension. But it doesn’t stop there because to live this life I must keep gazing on the Cross. Keep going back there and bringing everything in my life to the foot of the Cross where I learn to love and forgive as Christ loved and forgave. It affects how I see myself and how I see others. All others whether they know Him or not. I make peace at the cross with myself and with others. The life I live is all because of Jesus and the Cross. I can’t praise Him enough.
What is your take-away and why?
I don’t think that I have ever truly appreciated what Jesus did for me. Yes, I have the head knowledge, and at times, I have the heart knowledge as well. However, Jesus’ love for me is far greater than I can possibly comprehend. As I have been going through this study, I have been humbled over and over again to think that Jesus would take on my sins and cleanse me. I know that my thoughts and actions typically take this amazing gift for granted. This study has helped me to turn back to the cross and try to appreciate and praise Jesus for saving me; it also has helped me to work on changing my thoughts and actions to focus on Jesus more and more each day. While I believe I will always be a work in progress, I feel closer to Jesus now than ever before. Thank you for this study, Dee.
Oh Laurie — thanks for sharing so vulnerably. This is the best take-a-way possible!