1. THE FOURTH SERVANT SONG - THE EXALTED AND SUFFERING SERVANT (ISAIAH 52:13-53:12)

2. To solve the problem of human sin once for all, God would raise up a Servant who would suffer and die vicariously for sinners one day. There are two major themes running through the above passages:

3. A. THE EXALTED SERVANT (ISAIAH 52:13-15) A clear prophecy about Jesus in this passage: 1. The divine goal for the Servant is exaltation (Isaiah 52:13) - God intended his Servant to be highly exalted. See Hebrews 1:3; 2:8 2. The path to exaltation involves humiliation (Isaiah 52:14) - Yet the Servant has to undergo suffering and death. See Hebrews 2:9-10; Philippians 2:5-11 * For Jesus, the Cross precedes the Crown. Application: Suffering now becomes the pathway to exaltation

4. B. THE SUFFERING SERVANT (ISAIAH 53:1-12) 2 MAJOR TRUTHS ABOUT THE SUFFERING SERVANT: 1. Jesus as the Servant of God – see Mark 10:45; Acts 8:32-35 2. Jesus voluntarily suffered on behalf of others A PROPHECY ABOUT THE SUFFERING SERVANT 1. Isaiah made this prophecy around 700 years earlier 2. Jesus fulfilled each detail of this prophecy

5. MAJOR FEATURES OF THIS PROPHECY The Servant of God has to undergo 1. A rejection by the Jews (vv. 1-3) a) Jesus was despised by his own people. See John 1:9-11. b) Jesus thus became the ‘man of sorrows’ Application: Jesus can fully emphatise with our personal brokenness

6. 2. A sacrificial death (vv. 7-9) a) Jesus voluntarily laid down his life for our sake (John 10:15-18) b) God did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all (Romans 8:32) Application: We should never doubt that God always has our best interest at heart.

7. 3. A vicarious death (vv. 4-6; 10-12) a) Jesus died as our personal substitute on the Cross * Illustration: the case of Barabbas (Matthew 27:15-26) b) Jesus averted and absorbed divine wrath upon himself * The cry of dereliction on the Cross (Matthew 27:46) * The crux of substitutionary atonement: How then could God express simultaneously his holiness in judgment and his love in pardon? Only by providing a divine substitute for the sinner, so that the substitute would receive the judgment and the sinner the pardon - John Stott Application: Jesus calls each one of us to a life of taking up the cross daily (Luke 9:23)

8. CONCLUDING REMARKS: How then should we live in the light of Jesus suffering and dying for our sins? See 1 Peter 2:21-25