Let us turn to God's word and
I want to direct you for a short while tonight to words that we
find in Isaiah chapter 53. In Isaiah chapter 53 and our
text is found at verse 9. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death because he had done no
violence neither was any deceit in his mouth. Isaiah 53 9 and
he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death
because he had done no violence neither was any deceit in his
mouth. It's a portion of God's Word
I'm sure that we're all familiar with And Luther said every believer
should be well acquainted with Isaiah 53. Surely it's a portion
we should be able to remember by heart. Let me just begin by
trying to give some sort of general outline of this familiar chapter. It really begins, of course,
at the end of the previous 52nd chapter. It opens really there
at verse 13 and then runs right through to the end of the 53rd,
this 12th verse. And it is God who speaks directly
there at the beginning and then again at the end and as God speaks
so he makes mention of his servants. Behold my servant shall deal
prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. The opening words of the portion
then there in verse 13 of the 52nd chapter and then again when
we come to the closing words we see how it is the Lord God
himself who is speaking in verses 11 and 12 and speaks once more of his servant
his righteous servant he shall see of the travail of his soul
and shall be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities And then
the Father speaks of the fruit of all those sufferings, the
portion that is granted to the victorious one, and the spoil
of all his sufferings. Well, that's the beginning and
that's the end, and as I said, it is the Lord God in those portions
who is speaking very directly, but the majority of the chapter
from verse 1 right through to verse 10, really sets before
us the words of preachers and the words of believers. Surely it's the preachers who
are speaking in verse 1 who have believed our report, and to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed. how this word is to be proclaimed
and yet so few will accept it, men reject it, they have no interest
in it, and they can only come to have any understanding of
it or embrace it when God reveals His mighty arm. That is the only
way that the sinner will ever believe these things that are
written concerning the Lord's servants. So the preacher asks
those questions there in verse 1, but really then the remainder
of the chapter from the 2nd verse through to the 10th verse, isn't
that in many ways simply the words of those who have believed,
those who are believe us, verse 2, he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground he hath no
form nor comeliness and when we shall see him there is no
beauty that we should desire him the way isn't that those
who have been brought to understand something of the mysteries that
are being spoken of concerning this this man, the Lord's servant,
who is a suffering servant and yet a righteous servant as we
see there in verse 11. We're coming to consider in particular
what is stated here at verse 9. How he made his grave with
the wicked and with the rich in his death because he had done
no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth." Now, Calvin has
a whole series of sermons on this chapter and here he makes
the observation that this word because has the sense of though. If we insert then a different
word we can read it that he made his grave with the wicked and
with the rich in his death, though. He had done no violence, neither
was any deceit in his mouth. And then the great Protestant
reformer goes on to speak of Christ's perfect innocence. Christ's perfect innocence. And
that really is the subject that I want to try to address from
this particular verse tonight. Christ's innocence in his death. First of all, to say something
with regards to what is being said here, the Scriptures as
it lies before us. And we know that all that the
Lord endured when he comes to the end of his earthly ministry
and the great purpose of his coming to make that one sacrifice
for sins forever, his death, his burial, his resurrection,
All of these things must take place according to the Scriptures. When Paul defines something of
the Gospel that he preaches, there in the opening words of
1 Corinthians 15, remember what he says. He's reminding them of that Gospel
which he preached, which they had received, in which they stood,
by which they are saved. And he says at verse 3, I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received out of Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was
buried and that he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures. All that we have there in the
New Testament is according to what is written here in the Old
Testament Scriptures. Doesn't the Lord himself say,
search the scriptures? In them you think that ye have
eternal life, and these are they that tell of me. And so here
in the text he made his grave with the wicked and with the
rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither
was any deceit in his mouth. Now what is being said then in
this particular scripture, this verse? Well here we see the Lord
Jesus associated with the wicked. As he comes to the end in a sense these wicked ones we
might say are his companions. He made his grave with the wicked
and wicked here is actually a plural and denotes very wicked men These
are the ones that the Lord is with when he comes to die, very
wicked men. Remember what the apostles say
to the Jews there in Acts 3.14, He denied the Holy One and the
just and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. And who was that murderer? Barnabas.
We read him there at the end of John 18. They cried out when
Pilate was minded to deliver one at the Passover as was the
custom. They cried out, not this man
but Barabbas. And in Mark's account we're told
quite specifically Barabbas committed murder in the insurrection. And Most detail, really, concerning
Barabbas is to be found in Matthew 27, and there at verse 15 and
the following verses we have quite a bit of detail concerning
this particular man. And this is the one that they
desire to be delivered, he was a murderer. And do we not, even
there, see something of the idea of substitution? Christ is the
one who must suffer, Christ is the one who must die, though
he be the innocent one, and this man who was a robber and a murderer
is the man who is set free. And not only that, we know also
that when he came to those who were crucified with the Lord
Jesus, there were two thieves. Two thieves crucified with him
were told, one on the right hand and the other on the left, and
there is the Lord Jesus in the midst of them. What do we see
then with regards to the dying of the Lord Jesus there? He is
treated as a criminal and his death was really judicial
in the portion that we read. we see in Broads before Pontius
Pilate brought into the into the judgment hall and Pilate
of course is the man who does have the authority this is why
the Jews had brought him to Pontius Pilate because they didn't have
the authority to execute a man but this is the Roman governor
and what did we read there in John 19.10, then says Pilate
unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? The Lord was refusing to
answer this judge. Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest
thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power
to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest
have no power at all against me. except it were given thee
from above therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the
greater sin from whence did this man have that authority? well
the powers of thee were told are ordained of God in Romans
13 he was under God the lawful ruler he had that authority to
condemn a man or to release a man And it's interesting, isn't it,
because when we think of the language of the Apostles' Creed,
it has that statement concerning the Lord Jesus that he suffered
under Pontius Pilate. And he said quite deliberately,
it reminds us of the judicial nature of his death. It was no
ordinary death that the Lord Jesus died. He was taken to that place of
execution. Golgotha. What do we read here
in our text? He made his grave with the wicked. Well, the place of execution
was normally always, and also the place of interment. Golgotha
literally means, as we're told in the Gospel, a place of a scoff. Some say, well, it was given
that name because it was a It was a hillock and it was in the
shape of a skull. But also, it would have been
a burial ground. There would have been many remains
just lying around. There would have been skulls
about the place, and other bones. All the Lord Jesus Christ then,
as he comes to die, is very much associated with the wicked. that's what the scripture is
clearly setting before us but then besides the wicked we also
read of an association with the rich and with the rich in his death
it says and interestingly the word rich is not a plural as
was or is the case with the word wicked, it is singular and clearly
here the reference is to a particular individual. This man is the one
who comes and begs the body of the Lord Jesus of Pontius Pilate
and then takes that body away. He was not buried there at Golgotha. The body was removed. And we have the detail We have
the detail in the Gospel, God has given us in his wisdom a
fourfold account of the sufferings, the death, the burial and the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And what do we read in Matthew's
account towards the end of that 27th chapter, verse 57, when the evening was come, there
came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself
was Jesus' disciple. He went to Pilate and begged
the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body
to be delivered. And when Jesus had taken the
body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and he laid it in
his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock and he rolled
a great stone to the door of the sepulchre and departed. It
was a new tomb in which never a dead body had been laid. He was preserved from all corruption
even in his burial. Even in his burial. Will not
suffer thine holy one to see corruption. We have those words
there in the 16th psalm and there They are preached, aren't they,
in the Acts both by Peter in the second chapter at Pentecost
and then later Paul in chapter 13 at Antioch in Pisidia. They make reference to that 16th
Psalm and the words concerning the Lord Jesus how he was preserved
from all corruption that holy body saw nothing of any corruption. And so a rich man comes and begs
his body and there is a measure of dignity then in the way in
which that body is entombed. Well, these are some of the details
that are set before us and we see them so wonderfully being
fulfilled there in the New Testament. But secondly, I want to consider
the significance of the text, really the doctrine, the doctrine
that is laid before us in this verse. And it is very much the
innocence, the innocence of the Lord Jesus. We sang only the
other Lord's Day, that hymn of hearts, much we talk of Jesus'
blood, but how little understood. There's so much to ponder and
to meditate upon when we come to consider the Lord Jesus, not
just in dying but when we see him buried, as it were, entombed
in the grave, when we see him rising again from the dead. What
the doctrine is concerning the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus
here. And remember what I said at the
outset with regards to this word that links the two parts of the
verse. He made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death, because, having the force of
though, he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth. Doesn't it really set before
us the truth that there was no cause of death in the Lord Jesus? No cause of death at all. He
had done no sin, and it's a soul that sinneth, that shall die. and it's the wages of sin that
is death, but he's innocent, he's innocent. We know that his
human nature, that that was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb
of the Virgin Mary is referred to as that holy thing and it's
to be called the Son of God. The eternal Son of God has taken
to himself a sinless human nature, body and soul. And as he was
without all taint of original sin in his conception, yes, it
was in the womb of a virgin, but that virgin was a sinful
woman, we have to remember that. She, in the Magnificat, rejoices
in God her Savior. But there is the miracle, of
course. of the virgin birth, that he is preserved from every
taint of Adam's sin. And as was the case in his conception
and in his birth, so also in his life. All were told he had
done no sin. Neither was guile found in his
mouth. The statement is clear enough
here. at the end of our text tonight,
and it's interesting because Peter literally repeats those
words in his first epistle. 1 Peter 2.22, Who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth. Doubtless as Peter wrote
those words, he would be mindful of what we have here in Isaiah
53. But he's not just quoting the
passage, it's so engrained, it would seem, in his mind and in
his heart. The Lord Jesus is that one then
who, as he was sinless in his birth, so in his life he is without
sin. Tempted, yes, tempted in all
points, like as we are, yet without sin. Holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners and no guile in his mouth look at
the way in which Peter goes on to speak of him there in that
portion we just referred to in the second chapter of his first
epistle verse 22 who did no sin neither
was guile found in his mouth who when he was reviled reviled
not again When he suffered he threatened not, but committed
himself to him that judgeth righteously, who his own self bare our sins
in his own body on the truth, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes ye were healed." Surely Peter is very much aware
of the the language that we have here in Isaiah 53 he is speaking of the
Lord Jesus and how he doesn't seek in any sense to defend himself
he doesn't answer when his judge comes and questions him this
innocent one so willingly and readily submits to the cruel
death of the cross. Innocent. And it's interesting,
in that portion that we were reading, in John's account, three
times, did you observe that as we read through the verses, three
times, his judge pronounces him to be faultless. There, in John
18.38, I find in him no fault at all. Then again in verse 4 of chapter
19, I find no fault in him. And yet again at the 6th verse,
take ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. He is, he is the innocent one,
but he dies. And why does he die? He dies
for others. He dies for others. It's a substitution
of the atonement. It's that great truth of the
Gospel. It's Jesus in the sinner's place. Why was he manifested? Why does
he come into this world? Well, John tells us there in
the third chapter of his first general epistle. You know that
he was manifested to take away our sin, and in him is no sin. Oh, he's manifested to take away
sins, but he himself is a sinless one. God hath made him to be
sin for us. Who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God, in him. These are all truths
that we're so familiar with, but this is the very heart, really,
of the gospel substitutionary atonement. Look again at the
actual vocabulary that we have in this verse. The word death you might observe
from the margin, is literally another plural. Wicked is a plural. Indicating something of the great
wickednesses of those with whom he is associated as he comes
to die, but it says he made his grave with the wicked and with
the rich in his deaths. In his deaths. That's emphatic. It is such a profound death that
this man is dying. And that's why the Holy Ghost
has inspired the prophets to use a plural rather than a singular. Many deaths, we might say. Oh,
there's a profundity here. His death is a manifold death. He's dying For many sinners he's
dying for all sorts of sinners. He's dying for the wicked, the
lowest strata of society, common criminals, the very offscouring
of the world. These are the ones he's dying
for. And these ones that he's dying for are the complete opposite
to himself. He had done no violence. And
yet the man who is released there, Barabbas, was such a violent
man. He was a murderer. Murderers
have no life abiding in them. And yet this man is freed and
the innocent one is the one who suffers. And then also he's associated
with the rich. Well, as I say, literally the
reference is to Joseph of Arimathea, but when we think in theological
terms of the rich, we immediately turn to the epistle of James
and what James has to say with regards to these rich men. He speaks of them twice in his
epistle. In chapter 5, Go to now, ye rich men, weep
and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches
are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten, your gold and
silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against
you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped
treasure together for the last days. Behold the hire of the
ladders who have reaped down your fields, which of you is
kept back by fraud, cryeth. and the cries of them which have
reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Surveillance.
You have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton, you
have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter, you have
condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you. Oh,
these are the rich, notorious, really, notorious sinners. But also, in chapter 2, Verse 5. Hark, O my beloved brethren,
hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith,
and heirs of the kingdom which hath promised to them that love
him, that ye have despised the poor? Do not rich men oppress
you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme
that worthy name by the which ye are called? O the Lord Jesus,
so willingly identifies with sinners as he comes to die. And he dies not only for sins
that are external and obvious, but also he dies for those internal
and those hidden sins. He was guileless. He was guileless. There was nothing of deceit in
him. and yet he comes and he willingly bears the penalty for
the worst of all sins, inward sins, spiritual sins. This is
the efficacy then of that precious blood that he sheds as he poured
out his soul unto death. And it's all the good pleasure
of the Lord. He pleased the Lord to bruise him. Oh, he willingly submits to the
will of his father in making that great sin a turning sacrifice,
but then he does not suffer and die in vain. He shall see of
the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Oh, that precious
blood hasn't just made salvation a possibility or a probability
for men, it's made salvation sure and certain. for all those
that the Father gave to him in the eternal covenant. But how
we see him here as that one who comes to suffer, to bleed, and
to die, the innocent one, the just one, in the room and in
the stead of the worst, the vilest, the most violent of sinners.
He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death.
because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth. Let the Lord be pleased to bless
his word. Let us now sing the hymn 227,
a lovely hymn of top ladies that reminds us of course of the purpose
of Christ's death, atonement, substitutionary atonement. From whence this fear and unbelief
hast thou, O Father, put to grief thy spotless Son for mine? And
will the righteous judge of men condemn me for that debt of sin
which, Lord, was charged unto thee? Number 227, the Tunis Pembroke
719.