120 The Substitutionary Servant

Isaiah 53:4-6

July 21, 2024

This morning we jump back into our study of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant.

I remind you again that

· You cannot overstate the significance of this passage.

· None of those who walked with Christ and who saw His death and resurrection fully understood what was going on there

· Until God allowed them to understand the Scriptures.

And chief among the Scriptures

Which explain the atonement of Christ is Isaiah 53.

Our theology on the atonement

Certainly comes from the New Testament writings of the apostles,

But their theology came from Isaiah 53.

Now we’ve already spent two sermons in this passage.

First we saw: THE SUCCESSFUL SERVANT (Isaiah 52:13-15)

Where we were reminded that

· Despite the shock,

· Despite the fact that Jesus suffered more than any human ever,

· He is in fact God’s Chosen Servant.

1. God has raised Him.

2. God has ascended Him to the heavens.

3. God has seated Him at His right hand.

Jesus is both Lord and Christ

Despite what the world saw in His horrific crucifixion.

He is the Successful Servant.

Last Sunday night we saw: THE SCORNED SERVANT (Isaiah 53:1-3)

Even though He is God’s chosen Messiah,

The world most certainly has not recognized Him as such.

They didn’t see an obvious king.

· The saw “a tender shoot”

· And “a root out of parched ground”

They saw a meek and gentle man, not a revolutionary.

And they saw an ordinary man, not one with a noble pedigree.

Even His appearance was less than inspiring since “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

Visually speaking He just didn’t have that “it” factor.

When seeing Him in a crowd, He didn’t stand out as an obvious king.

(3) “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

And I want to bring that verse back to your attention

Because this morning we move into verse 4

And yet it is clear that verse 3 is still on Isaiah’s mind.

Namely that statement: “A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;”

And if you think about it, that is really a peculiar statement.

We even have a song that begins with:

“Man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came!”

Why is it so peculiar that the Son of God would be called a “man of sorrows”?

Let me remind you here of a theological truth.

We call it: THE ASEITY OF GOD

Aseity comes from a Latin word that means “From Self”

And it speaks of God’s self-sufficiency.

That is to say God needs nothing outside of Himself

For His own satisfaction or fulfillment.

God is totally self-sufficient.

God is totally self-fulfilled.

Sometimes we hear contemporary Christian songs which deny this doctrine. For example a recent Hillsong song called “What a Beautiful Name” which says, “You didn’t want heaven without us, so Jesus You brought heaven down.”

The song insinuates that there was this empty hole in God;

some lack of fulfillment or inward grief that could only be fulfilled by us.

Heaven, without us, just wasn’t enough.

That is blasphemous because it denies the Aseity of God.

Within the trinity God needed for nothing, wanted for nothing.

John 5:26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;”

Acts 17:24-25 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;”

God is totally self-sufficient and fulfilled.

So it is extremely peculiar that the God-Man would be described as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”

· As though He was somehow unfulfilled.

· As though He was somehow depressed.

· As though He was somehow in need.

We would expect the God-Man to be described as “A man who needed and wanted for nothing. A man invincible to the plight of humanity.”

But He was called “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”

And that statement brings with it an enormous: WHY?

And the answer to that question is given here in the first two lines of verse 4 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried;”

HE WAS A SUBSTITUTE

· The “sorrows” He carried weren’t His “sorrows”, they were “our sorrows”.

· The “griefs” He bore weren’t His “griefs”, they were “our griefs”.

He was “a man of sorrows” because He bore our sin.

And that is repeated continually in these 3 verses.

Take a look at all that was laid on Him.

· (4) “griefs” and “sorrows”

· (5) “transgressions” and “iniquities”

· (6) Apostasy and Defection “gone astray” and “turned to his own way”

· And again in verse 6 “iniquity”

None of those were His, they were ours.

And one of the things that I think will help us understand the weight of this passage even more is if I start by asking you a question.

WHEN?

· When were our griefs laid on Him?

· When were our sorrows laid on Him?

· When were our transgressions laid on Him?

· When were our iniquities laid on Him?

If you say “the cross” then you are off in your timeline by about 33 years.

For it was not the cross where our sins were first laid on Him,

IT WAS THE MANGER.

Romans 8:3 “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,”

Christ was SENT “in the likeness of sinful flesh”

· Christ bore the marks of sinful flesh in His body, being circumcised the 8th day.

· Mary had to complete the days of purification even after the birth of Christ.

· Philippians 2 says He was “made in the likeness of men”

A.W. Pink wrote:

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust” (1Pe 3:18). The reference here must not be restricted to what Christ endured at the hands of God while He hung upon the cross, nor to all He passed through during that day and preceding night. Beware of limiting the Word of God! No. The entirety of His humiliation is here included. The whole life of Christ was one of sufferings. Therefore was He designated “the Man of sorrows,” not simply, “sorrow.” From His birth to His death, suffering and sorrow marked Him as their legitimate victim. While yet an infant, He was driven into exile to escape the fury of those who sought His life. That was but the prophetic forerunner of His whole earthly course. The cup of woe, put to His lips at Bethlehem, was never removed until He drained its bitter dregs at Calvary.

He experienced every variety of suffering. He tasted poverty in its severest rigor. Born in a stable, owning no property on earth, dependent upon the charity of others (Luk 8:3), oftentimes being worse situated than the inferior orders of creation (Mat 8:20). He suffered reproach in all its bitterness. The most malignant accusations, the vilest aspersions, the most cutting sarcasm were directed against His person and character. He was taunted with being a glutton, a winebibber, a deceiver, a blasphemer, a devil. Therefore do we hear Him crying, “Reproach hath broken my heart” (Psa 69:20). He experienced temptation in all its malignity. The prince of darkness assailed Him with all his ingenuity and power, causing his infernal legions to attack Him, coming against Him like “strong bulls of Bashan,” gaping on Him with their mouths like ravening and roaring lions (Psa 22:12-13). Above all, He suffered the wrath of God, so that He was “exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Mat 26:38), in “an agony” (Luk 22:44), and ultimately, “forsaken of God.”

https://www.chapellibrary.org/read/subsfg

Had our sins not been imputed to Christ until the moment He hung on the cross then what explanation do we have for His suffering before that day?

No, God placed our sins on Him from His birth, and His entire life of suffering bears witness to His identification with us.

· All the poverty

· All the reproach

· Even the temptation in the wilderness

He suffered those things because He was made in identification with us.

A.W. Pink makes another remarkable observation,

And one that I had never contemplated.

We know for example that Psalm 40:7-11 is about Christ.

Hebrews 10 tells us that specifically.

Psalms 40:7-11 “Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.” I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation. You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.”

Pink then says, “What about verse 12?”

Psalms 40:12 “For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me.”

And we easily say, “That can’t be about Christ, for He never sinned.”

And that is true He didn’t.

But what if verse 12 is not speaking about His own sin,

But rather sin He has taken upon Himself and is now liable for?

When a man legally becomes surety for his neighbor has the debt not become just as much his as if he had made the charges himself?

Every time Christ offered forgiveness to a sinner,

Who promised to pay that debt? Where did it transfer?

· Our sin was NOT POTENTIALLY transferred to Christ.

· Our sin was NOT SYMBOLICALLY transferred to Christ.

· Our sin was ACTUALLY TRANSFERRED to Christ.

· And thus He bore our sin as though it was His own.

IT FELL ON CHRIST.

He took the statement.

He took the bill.

He became liable.

AND THIS IS THE POINT.

Christ started sipping that bitter cup the moment He was born,

And He drained it down to its dregs on the cross.

He began to bear our sin

And the sorrow and grief that accompanies it at birth

And He finished it at His death.

Do you want the explanation of why He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”?

It is because He had taken our sin upon Himself.

“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried;”

At the Day of Atonement we read about Aaron’s job:

Leviticus 16:21 “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.”

And in THE EXACT SAME WAY:

Our text this morning ends with this line:

(6b) “But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

CHRIST HAS ARRIVED AS OUR SUBSTITUTE.

Christ has arrived to bear our sin

And the sorrow and the shame and the suffering that goes with it.

He took at Bethlehem and He finished it at Calvary.

This is what we mean by substitute.

HE WALKED IN OUR PLACE.

THAT IS HOW the self-sufficient Son of God could come to be called “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”.

THIS MORNING we want to look at these 3 verses in Isaiah 53

Which all speak of His substitutionary work.

These verses are so remarkable because

They speak of us as much as they speak of Him.

· He is referenced 8 times

· We are referenced 10 times

· And those references are linked

It is “our griefs” He is bearing.

It is “our sorrows” He is carrying.

It is “our transgressions” that He is pierced for.

It is “our iniquities” that He is crushed for.

He is taking our place.

He is our substitute.

I’m going to break these 3 verses down into 5 points this morning.

None of them will take long,

Isaiah offers 5 statements of explanation

As to how the self-sufficient Son of God

Could be come to known as a man of sorrows.

#1 THE SIMPLE EXPLANATION

Isaiah 53:4a

“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried;”

We’ve already discussed this quite a bit

So you understand why He is a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.

· Our sin brings with grief.

· Our sin brings with it sorrow.

· He was bearing our sin.

In Genesis 3 we have sin entering the world with Adam and Eve

In Genesis 4 we have sorrow and grief as Adam and Eve must bury their son Abel.

Grief follows in chapter 5 with death.

Grief continues in chapter 6 with wickedness leading to a flood.

Where does sorrow and grief come from?

And the answer is because of sin.

And for clarity purposes let me say it like this, “Your sin.”

Sure we live in a sinful world and a fallen creation.

But it is misplaced for us to blame our sorrow and grief

On anyone’s sin but our own.

While it is true that at times the righteous suffer. (Job taught us that)

I can assure you that more of our suffering has to do with our sin

Than it does our righteousness.

WE SUFFER BECAUSE WE SIN.

Proverbs 20:17 “Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.”

That was simply Solomon’s poetic way of reminding you that

SIN BRINGS SORROW WITH IT.

· Sometimes it brings immediate sorrow.

· Sometimes it brings delayed sorrow.

· Sometimes it brings lingering sorrow.

· Sometimes it brings generational sorrow.

· Sometimes it brings splattering sorrow.

But it always brings sorrow.

It is never worth it.

AND CHRIST CAME TO BEAR THAT SIN.

Hebrews 9:28a “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many…”

There is an actual imputation of our sin onto Christ.

· This is the reason for His sorrow.

· This is the reason for His grief.

· This is the reason for His death.

HE SUFFERED ON OUR BEHALF

Jesus spoke of this on 3 specific occasions.

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Luke 22:19-20 “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

Twice Jesus says it is “for you”

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

That we see.

But we also need to zoom in on the word “Surely” there

Because it reminds that what Christ did wasn’t potential, it was definite.

· He didn’t nearly bear our griefs.

· He didn’t almost carry our sorrows.

· “Surely” He did it.

And that is evident in His life.

He actually suffered because He actually bore our sin.

So there is a SIMPLE EXPLANATION as to why He was a man of sorrows.

#2 THE STUPID EXPLANATION

Isaiah 53:4b

“Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

Talk about the miscalculation of the century.

· We saw Christ suffering poverty…

· We saw Christ suffering grief…

· We saw Christ suffering slander…

· We saw Christ suffering arrest…

· We saw Him humiliated and crucified…

And our own logical explanation was that

HE MUST HAVE REALLY OFFENDED GOD BAD!

“we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

We see it at the cross, as Jesus hung there.

Matthew 27:43 “He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

What are they saying?

We let’s see if God is really pleased with Him or not?

IT IS RIDICULOUS!

A similar analogy would be like if you go out today and sign your name on a note to buy a new car, but you can’t afford it.

· So someone else agrees to let you keep the car,

· But they have the note transferred into their name.

But because of the added financial burden to their life,

· They become visibly burdened.

· Their clothes get worn out,

· They resort to very little food,

· It becomes obvious they are suffering under a heavy financial strain.

And your response to their plight is: “Well I guess they’ll learn to better manage their money.”

It is the most remarkable picture of human blindness in the entire Bible.

The thought that Jesus suffered because of something He did wrong.

THAT IS A STUPID EXPLANATION.

· For if He has a sin, then name it.

· If He has a failure, then expose it.

· If He offended God, then show it.

A Simple Explanation, A Stupid Explanation

#3 THE SPIRITUAL EXPLANATION

Isaiah 53:5a

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;”

Now it is obvious that the stakes have been raised.

· For now the Servant is not just sorrowful or grieved;

· Now He is “pierced through” and “crushed”

We’ve moved from consequences to judgment.

We’ve moved from depression to death.

We’ve moved from discipline to execution.

He was “pierced through” and “crushed”

· This is not lethal injection.

· This is not dying in your sleep.

· This is not euthanasia.

This is painful, intense, horrific, execution.

The type of death that makes one wonder just how angry God was?

And the answer is: VERY ANGRY.

Later we will read:

Isaiah 53:10a “But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief…”

There is no hesitancy here.

There is no relief here.

There is no restraint here.

It is the determination to Hit Him as hard as you possibly can.

It reminds us again of the hatred which God has toward sin,

For we clearly read that it is sin which brings this judgment down.

We read about “transgressions”

PE-SHA in the Hebrew and it speaks of “rebellion” or “revolt”

· It is sometimes translated “breach of trust” (Ex 22:9)

· It is someone who was in covenant with you and then sinned against you.

And clearly God does not take it lightly.

In fact His response to “transgressions” is to pierce one through.

We read about “iniquities”

A-VONE in the Hebrews and it speaks of “perversity”.

And God does not like it.

Exodus 20:5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,”

God’s fury here is seen on this sin to the point that

He crushes those who engage in it.

By crushes we mean “trample under foot”.

It is severe judgment.

So on one hand you have the general depravity and perversity of humanity and their propensity to do vile and immoral and perverse things.

And on the other hand you have this broken vow or broken commitment or treachery or breach of trust.

BOTH OF WHICH GOD HATES

BUT CHRIST IS THE ONE BEING PUNISHED FOR IT.

He was never perverse. He never betrayed.

But God has laid our betrayal and our perversity on Him

And He is being crushed and pierced through for it.

“But He was pierced through for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquities;”

· Think about the most vile and perverse things you have done.

· Think about the times you have broken your word to God.

· Think about God’s fury on those sins.

And now see God laying that sin on Christ and punishing Him for it.

He is not only a man of sorrow and grief,

He is also a man under God’s furious judgment.

And He is there because He is a substitute.

So there is not just a physical substitution going on here,

But clearly a spiritual one.

#4 THE SAVING EXPLANATION

Isaiah 53:5b

“The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”

Thus far we’ve seen two categories of His substitutionary suffering.

We’ve seen sort of a physical or at least social suffering indicated by His sorrow and grief.

We’ve seen a spiritual suffering indicated by His being pierced through and crushed under God’s wrath.

But here we find the upside of His substitution.

He suffered so that we can be at peace.

He suffered so that we can be healed.

His substitution was so that He might save.

Isaiah says, “The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him”

“well-being” is the Hebrew word SHALOME and it means “peace”

Humanity, ever since the garden, had been at enmity with God.

· Adam and Eve removed from the garden.

· Abel cursed to wander the earth.

· The entire world flooded during the days of Noah.

· The world scattered at Babyl.

· God on a mountain warning not to even touch the mountain.

· God dwelling behind a veil which no man can enter.

THERE WAS ENMITY AND SEPARATION.

That is because of sin, and more specifically, unatoned sin.

Because the rebellion & perversion of man had not been dealt with.

AND MANKIND COULD NOT BE AT PEACE WITH GOD.

So Christ comes to suffer God’s wrath.

Christ comes to pay the penalty.

AND THE BENEFIT OF HIS SUFFERING is transferred to those who believe in Him.

· He received grief, sorrow, piercing, and crushing;

· We get peace as a result.

There was “chastening” required for our peace and He took it.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

The other benefit we receive is that “by His scourging we are healed.”

This is a direct reference to the “griefs” He bore up in verse 4.

That word “griefs” can also be translated “sickness”

And thanks to the work of Jesus we no longer bear those griefs,

We are “healed”.

NOW, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO ADDRESS IT.

Many charismatics have taken this verse to mean that because of the atonement of Christ, no Christian should ever get sick, and if they do they have the right to expect complete and total healing.

Now, aside from Scriptural exposition,

Even human observation should reveal the nonsense of such a belief.

Clearly everyone ages and everyone dies of something.

Paul told us that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven” and that this “mortal must put on immortality”.

So clearly that is not what is meant.

Now, I will say that physical healing is absolutely part of the atonement, but so is sinlessness. And they will be achieved in the millennium when Christ restores all things, but that is not a promise we enjoy here.

That is a misunderstanding of Isaiah’s point

And a distraction from the gospel here.

To clarify, let me simply ask you a question about Isaiah 53.

In this beautiful chapter is Isaiah referring to sickness as a sin or is Isaiah referring to sin as a sickness?

Isaiah is using sickness as an analogy for sin

And revealing that Christ came to fix that problem.

Now, others will push a bit further and point out when Matthew quoted this verse.

Matthew 8:16-17 “When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”

Clearly there Matthew quoted this verse in reference to literal physical healing, so shouldn’t we then say that is the point?

No, what Matthew is doing is forcing the reader to understand

The spiritual significance to the healing ministry of Jesus.

He links the healing ministry of Jesus to Isaiah 53

So that you will turn and read Isaiah 53 and see that

The One who can heal diseases

Is actually the One who can forgive your sin. That is the point.

What we are talking about here is that

Jesus bore our sin so that we might be saved.

He was saddled with our sin.

The ramifications of that for Him was sorrow, grief, piercing, and crushing.

But because He was saddled with our sin

The ramification for us is peace and healing; spiritual healing.

He bore our sin so that He might save us.

Simple Explanation, Stupid Explanation, Spiritual Explanation, Saving Explanation

#5 THE SOVEREIGN EXPLANATION

Isaiah 53:6

Peter loved this verse too:

1 Peter 2:24-25 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

We again see emphasized the substitutionary work of Christ.

· We see that we were the sinners.

· We see that we were the strayers.

· We see that we are the rebels.

But we see that all of our sin has fallen on Him.

· Not just the consequences for our sin,

· But our sin itself is imputed to Him.

“the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

It is that same point made over and over and over in these 3 verses.

· Christ is our substitute.

· Christ bore our sin.

· Christ took accountability for the evil things we did.

· He took our debt, we get debt relief.

That is all stated here again.

BUT THE FINAL POINT I want you to see here this morning

Is who THE CATALYST for all this is.

Take very special note of the instigator:

“But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

THIS IS GOD’S DOING!

Humanity did not get together and decide to offer Christ to God as some sort of payment for our sin. (That is pagan)

No, it is God who determined to send Christ to bear our sin and pay the penalty for it. (That is the gospel)

So many misunderstand the gospel, as we mentioned at the start,

· As if God was somehow unfulfilled

· And desperately needed us as friends

· So in order to fix His loneliness and unfulfillment

· He decided to send Christ so that He could have us back.

That is blasphemous

That is humanistic

That is idolatrous

No, God was totally self-satisfied just as He was.

He didn’t send Christ out of His need to be reconciled to us,

He sent Christ because we had a need to be reconciled to Him.

We saw it all the way back in Genesis:

Genesis 22:7-8 “Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.”

Genesis 22:13-14 “Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”

And what was God’s motive for such a sacrificial act?

(not loneliness, not depression, no unfilfillment)

LOVE

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God’s love was not motivated out of His own selfishness

Or desires to fill some void in His own life.

GOD’S LOVE WAS SELF-SACRIFICING.

· God decreed the coming of Christ.

· God decreed His incarnation.

· God decreed that He bear our sin.

· God decreed that He bear our sorrow and grief.

· God decreed that He bear our judgment.

And God put it upon Him.

God strapped it on His back.

Just as Aaron laid his hands on that goat

And figuratively placed the sin of the people,

So God literally placed our sin on Christ and judged Him for it.

This was done so that we might have peace with God.

This was done so that we might be healed of our wickedness.

Christ is the SUBSTITUTIONARY SERVANT.

Christ is the means by which we are forgiven and saved.

And we celebrate that this morning in the taking of the Lord’s Supper.

Here we celebrate the body that suffered for us.

Here we celebrate the blood that was spilled for us.

Here we see His humiliation, His sorrow, His grief,

His piercing through, His crushing, His death.

And He did it for us that we might know

Peace and healing, forgiveness and salvation.

And as we partake, we love Him, we celebrate Him, we praise Him,

We thank Him, we proclaim Him.

It should have been our body that was broken,

It should have been our blood that was spilled,

But Jesus took that upon Himself for you.

Eat and rejoice!

Drink and rejoice!

“The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”

We will now have a time of preparation and then we will approach the table of the Lord.

LORD’S SUPPER

· Deacons come forward

Isaiah 53:1-3 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

· Give bread to deacons

· Deacon prayer

· Deacons pass out bread

Luke 22:19 “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

· Take bread

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

· Give juice to deacons

· Deacon prayer

· Deacons pass out juice

Luke 22:20 “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

· Take Juice

· Prayer

· Parting Hymn