“Pierced for Our Transgressions”

Here are some of the take-aways I retained from Rev. Dr. Timothy Keller’s sermon today.

Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12

This scripture consists of five points.

1) Understanding the mixture. That Christ was many things, one of which was succumbing to such extremes of human punishment and torture that left his physical state in a disfigured, almost alien-like condition. Emphasis on the extremity of the word “appalled”. He withstood this cruelty by choice, and the degree to which the pain and hatred would be inflicted was certainly foreshadowed in this Old Testament book.

2) Accepting the ordinary. Often, we want God to change us in a dramatic fashion. We want instantaneous results. We expect to undergo an overnight conversion, instant gratification, or hear a voice from above. Rather, just as there was nothing distinctly beautiful or majestic about Christ’s form on Earth, we should not come to expect such rapid healing. “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) Comprehending the magnitude of His love. As you know, death is a certainty among all of us. All life on Earth comes to an end. Christ, however, actively chose this path as it was God’s decision for Him to be “crushed for our iniquities“. This decision was made out of deep love.

4) This passage, apparently, highlights the meaning of the crucifixion better than any other chapter in the bible. And it is certainly an act of great injustice. “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.” All real love is substitutionary sacrifice. Parents would understand this best, as they choose between personal freedom and the wellbeing and future of their children. Yet, by letting their freedom go they come to gain a greater freedom in return.

5) Though the keyword of this fifth point escapes me (it may have very well been included in one of my earlier bullets), there is one interesting comparison that was conveyed, reaching back to the classic tale of the beauty and the beast. The beautiful woman, in this tale, comes to love the beast and kisses him, thus transforming the hideous beast into the handsome prince/king that he was. Well, Christ does this one better. Jesus chooses to become a beast… to turn us into beautiful people. He is beaten to a pulp and crucified like a mangled beast, saving us through his grace and love. Our sins were forgiven in this most beautiful act, and “the arm of the Lord been revealed.” I thought that was an interesting twist perspective on an old fairy tale.