Elliott Baptist Church - August 22, 1999 Sermon

Sunday, August 22, 1999

Meditation on the Declaration
Isaiah 53:8

INTRODUCTION: Isaiah the fifty-third chapter is a prolonged description of Calvary. Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter gives twelve points from this great chapter that prove that the only one who can be described here is Jesus Christ:

     1. He comes in utter lowliness "a root out of dry ground"(verse 2).
     2. He is "despised and rejected of men" (verse 3).
     3. He suffered for the sins and in the place of others "He was wounded for our transgressions" (verse 5).
     4. It was God Himself who caused the suffering to be vicarious. "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (verse 6).
     5. There was an absolute resignation under the vicarious suffering "He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth" (verse 7).
     6. He died as a felon "He was taken from prison and from judgment" (verse 8).
     7. He was cut off prematurely "He was cut off out of the land of the living" (verse 8).
     8. Yet He was personally guiltless "He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth" (verse 9).
     9. He was to live on after His sufferings "He shall see his seed; he shall prolong his days" (verse 10).
     10. Jehovah's pleasure was then to prosper in his hand "The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand" (verse 10).
     11. He was to enter into mighty triumph after His suffering". He shall divide the spoil with the strong" (verse 12).
     12. By all this, and by "justifying many" through His death and living again, He was to "see the travail of his soul, and.... he satisfied" (verse 11). The verse that we are studying today is verse eight.

I. DETAINED IN A VIOLENT MANNER

     A. "He was taken from prison and from judgment...." This speaks of the events that took place after Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord. To get a clear picture of these events, we must go to the garden of Gethsemane (John 18:1-13).
     B. Key Words:
          1. The words "taken from" come from the Hebrew word lugach which means, "to take, take in hand, to capture, seize, to take away." This is what they did to Jesus. They bound Him and led Him away (John 18:13).
          2. "Prison," Hebrew word otser meaning: "to restrain, violent constraint, and detention." This also fits into the account found in John 18.
          3. "Judgment," Hebrew mishpat, "process, procedure, litigation (before judges), judicial proceedings.
          4. Jesus was violently taken in hand by wicked men. He was detained and carried from one place to another during the proceedings that mocked true justice.

     C. A suggested time table of the events referred to here: Event Verse Time
          1. Arrested, taken to Annas - John 18:13 (1:00-1:45 am)
          2. Trail before Caiaphas - John 18:19-24 (1:45-2:00 am)
          3. Taken to Sanhedren - Matthew 26:57-59 (2:00 am)
          4. Trial before Sanhedren - Luke 22:66-71 (5:00-5:45 am)
          5. Taken to Pilate - Luke 23:1 (5:45-6:00 am)
          6. Taken to Herod - Luke 23:7 (6:00 am)
          7. Condemned & scourged - Matthew 23:7 (after 6:00 am)
          8. Crucified - Luke 23:33 (9:00 am)

     D. Every principle of justice was violated. He did not have a proper trial.
          1. He was illegally indicted.
          2. He was tried at night contrary to the law.
          3. No one testified on His behalf.
          4. He was tried on the day before the Sabbath, against the law.
          5. He was condemned in one day, violating law.
          6. The merits of the defense were not considered.
          7. The men who would have voted against condemnation were not present.
          8. He was sentenced in the wrong place - home of high priest.
          9. He was charged with blasphemy then the charge was charged to treason.
          10. He was condemned without evidence.
          11. He was executed when the judge said He was innocent (Mt 27:24).

II. DECLARATION OF HIS GENERATION

     A. "...Who shall declare his generation?" "Generation" is "period of time, those living during a period of time."
          1. Let us consider the men of the generation in which Christ lived here on earth:
               a. In Mark 8:38, Christ called His generation an "adulterous and sinful generation."
               b. Then we look at Matthew 17:17 where He says they were a, "faithless and perverse generation."

          2. Now, consider the words of Christ, God's Son as found in Lk 17:25. "First he must suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation."

     B. Having discussed His "generation," we now look at the definition of the word "declare" because it is a key word.
          1. The Hebrew word for "declare" means "to speak, to complain, to put forth thoughts."
               a. David Baron interprets this as meaning: "As for his generation - who (among them) poureth out a complaint? Who complains on his behalf?"
               b. What Baron says is the idea given in the Hebrew.

          2. When anyone went to trail in those days, it was customary among the Jews to call upon anyone who had anything to say in favor of the accused, to come forward and "declare it" on his behalf (John 18:20-21).

          3. In those days, a condemned man was given a forty day grace period before execution so that a town crier could go out and cry out the offense and sentence announcing that any of his generation (family or tribe) could come forth and give evidence of innocence before the end of the grace period so a new trial could be set.
               a. Jesus was arrested at 1:00 am and crucified at 9:00 am.
               b. During that time, no one came forth on Jesus behalf for fear of the Jews, even the disciples fled (Matthew 26:56).

III. DYING A VIOLENT DEATH

     A. "For he was cut off out of the land of the living...."
          1. "Cut off" Hebrew gazar meaning "to cut down." This points to a violent death.
               a. Acts 8:33 "...who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth."
               b. Daniel prophesied His violent death: "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself."
               c. Acts 3:14-15 tells of His violent death.
               d. The parable of the vineyard pictures the death of the Lord by the Jews (Matthew 21:38).
               e. His murderers said to Pilate: "His blood be on us and our children" (Matthew 27:25).

     B. "The land of the living." Jesus was cut down in the very midst of His days by a violent death (Acts 2:23, 36; 5:30).

IV. DESCENDANTS

     A. "...For the transgressions of my people was he stricken."
          1. He did not die for His transgressions; He had none (II Corinthians 5:21). He died for their sins.
          2. He died the just for the unjust.

     B. "My people." God is speaking here.
          1. This refers to God's elect of the Jews and Gentiles (Hebrews 2:9-13).
          2. Christ died for a people (Matthew 1:21).
          3. The Gospel is to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).
          4. Yes, Christ died for believing Jews but not for them alone (John 11:51-52).

     C. "Was he stricken." On account of our sins, the stroke fell on Jesus.

CONCLUSION: He suffered through a travesty of law, no one gave testimony of His innocence or complained of the injustice. He suffered. His life was violently cut off for us. "The stress of the passage is what Christ endured."

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Sunday, August 22, 1999