OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

Let me ask you to do a little math…  Everyone divide 1 by 3.  What’s the answer?  .3 repeating, right?  Now, what’s .3 repeating times 3?  It’s not 1!  It’s .9 repeating.  Somewhere we lose .1 repeating…  [mind blown].  Math doesn’t work!  this is why bridges fall down eventually!  Lol…

Have you ever discovered that something you believed your whole life was wrong?

like Math… 😉

I know you’ve felt this before

-I’ve had friends who found out the people they thought were their birth parents had adopted them

-I’ve seen families torn apart finding out that the person who was supposed to be faithful had a secret life

It’s almost never good when you discover that what you’ve believed was wrong…

Today, I want to take you into a struggle I had with this, and then walk you through my study in the story of God to find a way out of it..

To start, we have to go back into the story of God back to a prophet Isaiah.  When we covered Isaiah, I mostly told you about how his prophecy impacted me and brought me back to God…

Isaiah was prophesying right before the fall of the Southern Kingdom into the hands of the Babylonians…

b

One of the key themes in Isaiah is what scholars have called the “Servant Songs” (Song 1 – 42:1-4; Song 2 – 49:1-6; Song 3 – 50:4-9; and Song 4 – 52:13-53:12.)

b

Christians say the Suffering servant in Isaiah is Jesus…

If you’ve been a Christian for a long time, you’ve probably heard a sermon on some of these verses about Jesus…

Except, the Suffering Servant isn’t a person, it’s the nation of Israel…

ILLUSTRATION:

Heard Rabbi’s say this and thought they couldn’t be right, I’ve read these passages over and over again, listened to pastors preach on it and never heard one of them once say that it’s not referring to Jesus but Israel.

The problem is, their right – Isaiah clearly identifies the suffering servant as Israel.

I’m not going to read these all, but I will show you quickly on the screen that this is the case…

[Anthony, can you get these references all on one screen]

1. Isaiah 41:8-9 (NIV):“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen…I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.”
2. Isaiah 44:1-2 (NIV):“But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen…”
3. Isaiah 44:21 (NIV):“Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant…”
4. Isaiah 45:4 (NIV):“For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen…”
5. Isaiah 48:20 (NIV):“…’The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.’”
6. Isaiah 49:3 (NIV):“He said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.'”

Here’s the problem…  The prophecies about the suffering servant are some of the clearest prophecies of what Jesus would do & He fulfills them… 

b

If the prophecies are talking about Israel (Jacob) and not Jesus then what do we do?

Look, let me set this straight – even if these prophecies were not directly about Jesus, it would be ok, wouldn’t be the end of faith in Him, but would be difficult…

Let me read something to you that on first blush will seem innocuous:

John 15:1-4

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 

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Jesus says, “I am the true vine“

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That’s a weird thing to say, why does He say it that way?  He could have just said “I am the vine” and not have to qualify His metaphor…

To answer, we have to go back to the OT and to Isaiah…

Isaiah 5:7

7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty

    is the nation of Israel,

and the people of Judah

    are the vines he delighted in.

And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;

    for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

Or 

Jeremiah 2:21 [God speaking of Israel]

I had planted you like a choice vine

    of sound and reliable stock.

How then did you turn against me

    into a corrupt, wild vine?

b

In the Old Testament Israel was called “the vine” and now Jesus is saying, “I am the True Vine…”

b

Jesus is saying He is replacing Israel as the vine…

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But what about Israel is He replacing?

We’ve been in the story of God for a long time now, and have covered a lot of ground…  Do you remember the promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

“through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed“

b

Israel was meant to be a blessing that would bring relationship with God back to all nations…  and they failed…

-Instead in the Story of God, we see them bringing division, war, pain, selfishness, and idolatry (with little moments of blessing)

It’s not their fault, not sure any group of people could do it, I actually think that was God’s point, to show us “this” had to be the way…

Jesus is the new Israel – He comes to redo their story and become the blessing…

b

Let me show you…

Jesus will start His ministry by being baptized… he even says…

Matthew 3:15

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this tho fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

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John’s baptism was a baptism for forgiveness of sin and repentance (Mark 1:4).  Jesus is being baptized not for sin and repentance, but because Israel began in a baptism of the red sea…

b

Jesus gets baptized, immediately goes into the desert and is tempted by the devil for 40 days (1 day for each year the Israelites were in the desert).

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I believe the righteousness He’s fulfilling is redoing Israel’s story…  He is redeeming their failure to follow God

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As a matter of fact, Jesus does a TON of things Israel does or that happen in Israel’s History…

[Anthony, I will not read all this – will you put a caption for people to take a picture and schedule to post it on FB on Sunday at 1pm as well – I’ll reference a few things, but that’s it]

Jesus does this over and over again:

• Baptism > Red Sea Crossing
• Temptation in Desert – Grumbling and abandoning the worship of Yahweh
• Water to wine > Moses will bring water from a rock
• Jesus multiplies loaves > Moses gives manna in the desert
• Jesus is the vine > Israel is the vine
• Jesus walked on water > Elisha made an axe head float
• Jesus fed multitudes (both Jews – 5k, and Gentiles – 4k) > Elisha fed 100 (2 Kings 4:42-44)
• Jesus raises woman’s son to life, Jairus’ daughter, & Lazarus > Elisha raises Shunammite woman’s son
• Jesus came to serve not be served > Rehoboam – “you’ll be my slaves”
• 12 Disciples > 12 Tribes
• Jesus heals lepers > Elisha healed Naaman of leprosy
• Jesus is in a turbulent sea following God’s mission asleep in a boat, stands up and rebukes the storm > Jonah in a boat running from God’s mission, asleep in the boat, asks to be tossed into the sea
• Jesus blood and body take becomes the new passover, quotes Moses “this is the blood of the covenant”, Jesus will rescue us from the authority we gave over to the enemy “the god of this world” > Passover is given to the Jews as rescue from slavery
• Jesus goes up on a mountain, his face and clothes become brilliantly white, like light > Moses goes up to meet with God and get the 10 commandments and his face glows
• Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a Donkey > Solomon rode a donkey to be coronated King

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What does all this mean?  It means that when we read Isaiah, we are reading a prophecy written hundreds of years before Jesus came into the world that describes Jesus perfectly…

b

Jesus came to become the blessing to the whole world…

A blessing to you…

CLOSING:

Isaiah 53

I want to close by reading Isaiah 53 to you…

Who has believed our message     and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,     and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,     nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,     a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces     he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

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.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,     yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,     and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,     so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.     Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living;     for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,     and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence,     nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,     and though the Lord makes[c] 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[d] and be satisfied[e]; by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,     and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]     and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h] 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.