When is the last time you had hope?
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness Desmond Tutu
I’m talking about macro hope…When was the last time you looked at this world and had optimism?
Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering 'it will be happier'
―Alfred Tennyson
How about on a micro…your life…scale When was the last time it felt like a new day was dawning?
That …oooh child things are gonna get easier? …Some day…we’ll walk together and we’ll get it all done!
Been a while since you felt hope and it’s cousin victory?
How about we change that? How about we shift the conversation? How about this weekend we talk about hope and optimism and confidence and victory.
Not pie in the sky, delusional empty wishes and pipe dreams.
Nope – I want to talk about history based …actually happened…moment in time…realty.
At this crucial moment in history … the history of our community, the history of our state, the history of our nation, the history of our world…
…how about at this crucial moment in the history of our church…the history of your family…and your own personal destiny….
We talk about the game changing victory of Jesus Christ over the grave…and in so doing walk away with hope?
Now it would seem that if that was our intention the last place we should spend our time on this beautiful Easter weekend would be in one of the prophets of the OT.
· Hope…and victory, at first glance do not appear to be their prime message.
The prophets – Amos, Hosea, Jonah, Micah, and the biggest of them all Isaiah - are often pictured as Eeyores and Cranky old men…
Misconception is that all they talk about was the Divine Monotony…as Tim explained last week… …if you don’t get your act together you’ll experience great pain through punishment.
But look deeper…look carefully…and you’ll see imbedded in their dark counsel…hidden in their blistering sermons…are rays of hope…waves of light…voices of victory
· and a surprising foreshadowing of the actual resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Isaiah 52:1 page _______________
1 Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. 2 Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion
An interpretation explanation moment… Who is Isaiah talking to? Zion, Jerusalem, Daughter of Zion
· they all mean the same thing…Zion…mountain where Jerusalem was built. Jerusalem the center of the nation of Israel…daughters of Jerusalem = the people who lived there. All together they are metaphors for the nation of Israel – the people of God.
· Now…since the time of Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of God…the people of God became inclusive of all who had surrendered their lives to Jesus.
Therefore – Zion, Jerusalem, Daughter of Jerusalem = YOU and me!
So…allow me to read it again…
Wake up, children of God , clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, followers of Jesus. 2 Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, people of God . Free yourself from the chains on your neck, Christ followers.
It’s a call for hope and confidence and even partying!
· Wake up…get up…clean yourself off
· Let fall to the ground the chains of depression and hopelessness!
· Get dressed…Put on your power outfit and your party clothes
Why? why the party clothes? Why the hope? In verse seven he tells a mini-story…
7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" 8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. 9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
OK so maybe I’m embellishing it a bit but I picture the sun rising … a soldier standing guard on the wall notices something…a runner gasping for breath and shouting God reigns…he has returned!
And the watchmen says – you are a sight for sore eyes and turn s to the city and yells…God has come back! Sing! Dance! … God has come back and he has rolled up his sleeves…bared his arm…and the whole world is going to know!
· again – hope…victory…joy…confidence!
And yet…we still don’t know where this is coming from! Until we get to Verse 13…and the scene shifts and the camera zooms in on one man….whom Isaiah calls …the servant.
13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him-- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness-- 15 so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they (the nations) were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. Isaiah 52:1-15
STOP and talk about this servant…you can read between the lines and see that though Isaiah had no idea who he was talking about we do now looking back…it is a prophetic picture of Jesus.
· and this isn’t the only place Isaiah refers to him…
1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope." Isaiah 42:1-4
6 he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." Isaiah 49:6
…and then of course Isaiah 53…
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
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.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Clearly looking back this mysterious servant was a picture of Jesus Christ.
Which brings us back to 52: 13
13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him-- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness-- 15 so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they (the nations) were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. Isaiah 52:1-15
Vs. 14 – at some point he will be a freak show…appalling, tortured, disfigured
but…
Vs. 13 – he will be raised…lifted from low to high…and be praised and worshipped
and…
Vs. 15 – he will go to work… leaders and nations will be silenced…in awe…they will understand for the first time
and then Jesus will function as a great high priest sprinkling (offer forgiveness and salvation)
Let’s put this all together…
Isaiah is saying…(although he had no idea what he was talking about…)
· people of God Wake up! Get up! Stop with the whoah is me! Drop the chains…Get on some party clothes…
· because we got some good news…God reigns! Our savior was beaten to a pulp but he got up swinging
· He now stands above every nation…and every ideology…he rules over every religion and every government
· He offers a new start…redemption and salvation for all.
Get up! Sing! Dance! Celebrate because there is hope!
Isaiah was picturing the 3 days that changed human history…the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
What happened in those 3 days not only changed human history but your individual destiny…
Listen to me…this is why you should have hope today…
1) the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus unleashed the kingdom of God – victory over injustice
a. it was not a social idea that died with the author
b. it was and is a revolution that can heal every broken place of this world
2) the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus proliferated his presence…it multiplied his presence by the billions…
a. Jesus did not disappear…he was and is omnipresent…in two ways
i. his spirit now broods and presides over all
ii. his spirit takes up residence within all who surrender to him.
b. Jesus is not dead – he is alive
3) the physical bodily resurrection destroyed the long term power of death
a. Death will take us all one day but because of the resurrection of Jesus it will not have the last word…it will win the battle but it will not win the war.
b. For those who have surrendered to the servant of Isaiah, the savior of the world…there will be life…there will be victory for eternity.
So…to quote Isaiah…
Wake up people , clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O people of God
2 Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, my friends. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, struggling ones
Burst into songs of joy!
Your God reigns
He has brought forth redemption and salvation
Tell the whole world to shut their mouths - God’s strong arm has been revealed
Because Jesus has risen from the dead!