With the Lord’s approval, Paul called himself the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” The evangelism of the Gentiles is something to which he referred over and over again in his epistles. For example – Ephesians 3:1-11 – “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the MYSTERY… Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister … Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the MYSTERY, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I hope that you never tire of hearing and reading scriptures like this, because, if I am not mistaken, you are all Gentiles, and the salvation of your soul is dependent upon God’s gracious gift towards you.
Although Paul called this evangelism of the Gentiles “a mystery,” it isn’t that the subject was brand new. There are dozens of Old Testament scriptures, beginning in Genesis, which declare that God is universally gracious. Then in addition to the scriptures, there are the Lord’s examples – Ruth the Moabitess and Rahab the Canaanite woman of Jericho, among many others. There were Hittites among David’s men, and even foreign kings and queens who came to worship Jehovah at the side of the children of Israel.
As I say, Paul could have quoted many scriptures which spoke about the salvation of the Gentiles. Some of these scriptures appear to refer only to the days of the Millennial Kingdom, such as Isaiah 11 – “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”
In addition to declarations like these, there are others which don’t seem to refer to the Millennium at all. There is the wonderful 55th chapter of Isaiah – “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.”
Paul could have referred to many different scriptures here in Romans 15, but the one which Holy Spirit first brought to his mind was Isaiah 52:13-15 – “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” I think that there is something significant in this passage, separating it from most of the others which speak about the salvation of the Gentiles. It isn’t merely a declaration that they will be brought to the Lord and serve under the Messiah. With these words we are catapulted into the Old Testament’s greatest gospel statement. Not only are we told that many Gentiles will join many of Israel in the Lord’s grace, but we are told how that grace will be applied. “Surely he (the Saviour/Messiah) hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all…. …It pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 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.”
This morning, it isn’t my intention to study Isaiah 53, but rather the closing words of the previous chapter. Let’s consider the Prudent Servant, the Mutilated Messiah and the Gracious Saviour.
Notice the word “behold.” It is the Lord Who is telling us to behold. He is saying that this is important and we need to pay attention. And what does “prudently” mean? It means “wisely” and, thus, “properly.” But we have to be careful here, because the worldly definition means “to act tactfully.” And what is “tactfulness”? “Tactfulness” refers to discretion and perhaps even using deception to get things done. Ninety-percent of the time “prudence” involves compromise. And by those standards, Christ was very imprudent in permitting Himself to be crucified. But how did Christ behave prudently in an evangelical context? He was prudent in that He did the Father’s will completely and thoroughly. In a sense it was prudence that He never sinned. He was prudent in what He taught and in His ministry of miracles. And yes, He was prudent even in going to the cross. Christ was prudent when He accomplished the will of God in laying down His life as our sacrifice for sin.
Isaiah 52:13 is just the introduction to the rest of the thought, and it doesn’t express all the details. It just gives us the beginning and the conclusion. It essentially describes what Paul speaks of in Philippians 2 – “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.”
Christ, the prudent servant of Jehovah, went to the cross in order to die for God’s elect, and in accomplishing their salvation, our Lord was glorified – highly exalted and extolled.
Let’s say that you are an agnostic a journalist working for CNN, and your boss heard about Jesus of Nazareth. Let’s say that he sent you to the Holy Land to follow Christ around for several months. What would it be that impresses you the most about this man? Would it be the simplicity of His life – His dress, His foods, His poverty? Probably not, because many people would be living in the same sort of life-style. Would it be the THINGS that He teaches? Again, probably not, because you are, after all, an agnostic. Would it be the WAY that He teaches? That impressed some of Israel, but Jesus’ authority and manner wouldn’t excite someone as worldly-wise as yourself. When you saw him healing the sick, feeding the multitudes, raising the dead and so on that would certain catch your eye. As an agnostic, you would definitely be curious about how He could do it. Those miracles caught the eye of many in Israel – people who still died outside the faith of Christ.
All right then, what about the manner of Jesus’ death? His martyrdom? As the lamb dumb or silent before the shearers, you might be impressed. But since you had nothing personal at stake in Christ, it probably wouldn’t mean a great deal to you. Jesus was not the only man to die on a cross. As an outsider, you might be curious about Christ, but not deeply interested.
Who were those people who were astonished at the brutal beating and death of the Lord Jesus? Were the Roman guards, who inflicted much of that beating? Was Pilate astonished? How about the priests, who were determined that condemn Christ to death? The average resident of Jerusalem may have been touched somewhat by all the blood. But again, this prophecy doesn’t really relate to these people.
The word translated “astonied” here, “shamem” (shaw-mame’), has a variety of emphasis. In some places it is translated “amazed” or “astonished.” But it speaks of “DESOLATION” more often than any other word. This verse says, “Many of us were desolated by the brutality which was inflicted upon God’s servant. His appearance and form was beaten almost beyond recognition.”
I suppose that many ordinary people might have been shocked to see this bloodied man. But those who were most astonied were those who loved Him and had a stake in His sufferings. His disciples, and His mother, the Marys would have been crushed to see his broken and bloodied face. And if you and I had been there, I think that we would have been aghast to see Him, because…. “He was wounded for OUR transgressions, he was bruised for OUR iniquities: the chastisement of OUR peace was upon him; and with his stripes WE are healed.” Do you see the word “wounded” in 53:5? It is translated “wounded” only 3 times. But it is rendered “profaned,” “polluted” and “defiled” 68 times. I’m not suggesting that it ought to be translated some other way, but I am suggesting that the word “wound” may be far to soft for what it really means. And the word “bruised” is translated “crushed” and “broken into pieces” three times as frequently as “bruised.” Christ Jesus was defiled and desecrated – crushed – and slashed into ribbons all for our salvation.
These things would mean little to anyone who was not actually redeemed by such a sacrifice. Christ Jesus was defiled and desecrated for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities. The Messiah was ridiculed, spit upon, beaten beyond recognition and nailed to a cross in order to purchase our redemption. Perhaps no one would give this even a second thought who was not actually saved by all of this. And to you Jews – this sacrifice was not made for you alone – many Gentiles are being saved as well.
This reference to “many nations” ought to be obvious. Jesus may have been the son of David, and the prophet like unto Moses…. He may have been a child of Israel through the tribe of Judah… But he was destined to be the Saviour of souls from every tribe and nation under God’s blue heaven. The “sprinkling” mentioned here has nothing to do with baptism, because “baptism” has nothing to do with sprinkling. This is a figurative way of referring to the application of the sacrificial blood of the Saviour. The high priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat, and the priests often sprinkled blood on the altar. That sprinkled blood was essential for atonement. And our Great High Priest, the infinite Son of God, has sprinkled His own blood on the mercy seat on behalf of all those whom He has saved.
And those who had not seen before, but who now see, and those who had not heard earlier, refers to kings and commoners from among the nations of Gentiles around the world. For hundreds of years the Lord dealt primarily with Israel, and to them the Lord revealed Himself. The rest of the world for the most part had not seen nor heard of Jehovah. But now, Paul was taking the gospel to dying souls from Syria to Spain, to Jews scattered around the Mediterranean and to Gentiles who had never ever heard that there was a Messiah, or that they needed one. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”
The gospel, which the Jews may have thought was their personal property, isn’t their’s at all. The true gospel is the gospel of Christ. And Christ has commissioned Paul and others to take it to every people, tongue and nation. “To YOU is this word of salvation preached.” “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “To (Christ) give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” If Paul was here today, he would say, “Repent of your sin and put your faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter who you are and no matter what your native race might be.”