Gloria Dei Lutheran Church | Urbandale, Iowa

Shocking Servant

Pastor Phillips’ Sermon

Lenten Service, February 13, 2008

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Tonight we’re taking a look at the prophecy of Isaiah and the passage that describes the Messiah. These words are so bizarre and strange that it’s a little bit difficult for us to get into them so I’ll read them one more time just to help you kind of get in that flow. Verse 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.” These words of Isaiah described Jesus, the Messiah, as a figure so grotesque that His appearance was shocking to those who saw Him.

I have a hard time seeing that when I think of Jesus. But as I read these words, I’m reminded of something that I experienced some years ago. Our family was on a vacation to Washington, D.C. and we had seen all the usual sights. We went to the capital building and had a tour and saw the wonderful artwork and the statues and a few politicians. We also got to see all the Smithsonian institution museums, natural history and science and all those different places. Then we went to see the monuments and memorials and it was just a wonderful experience. But then kind of as an afterthought, we decided we’d stop by and we’d visit the National Holocaust Museum. I didn’t really know what to expect but as we began our tour, it was kind of a sobering effect that fell over us and we walked the steps of those who had suffered 60 years before and we saw the videos, the still pictures. We even stood inside what was a replica of one of the boxcars that all of these people had been herded into and carted off to the concentration camps. We read the diaries of some of the survivors. The worst part, though, was the image of those who had been used for experimentation. When we finished our tour and walked out of the building, we just didn’t feel the same. It didn’t feel like a vacation. We were overwhelmed by what we had seen. We were shocked by those images. And there was sort of something that spoke powerfully to your heart and said, “This isn’t just an indictment of the Nazi’s or even the civilians that were in that country and knew what was going on but did nothing. Or the rest of the world who heard the reports and didn’t respond.” No, this went far beyond all that. It was an indictment of humanity. And as we walked away from that building, we just had these thoughts, deep and profound thoughts that you were part of the guilt.

When I read these words from Isaiah, that’s what comes to mind. “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.” But you know, that just doesn’t square with my image of Jesus. When I think of Jesus, I think of that beautiful baby lying in the manger on the bed of golden straw where there are adoring parents looking on and the shepherds all gathered around. When I think of Jesus, I think of a tender and sincere 12-year-old boy standing in the temple discussing the deep truths of the faith with the scholars of His time. When I think of Jesus, I think of a gentle teacher instructing His disciples about how much their heavenly Father loves them. When I think of Jesus, I think of Him looking into the eyes of the woman caught in adultery with no judgment, only compassion and mercy. When I think of Jesus, I think of Him holding those little babies and the little children who came up to Him and blessing them in His arms. When I think of Jesus, I think of Him standing on the mountainside with the multitude gathered around sitting before Him and He’s speaking on a warm summer day. When I think of Jesus, I see Him calming the storm and comforting His frightened disciples. I see Him healing a man born blind, weeping at the tomb of Lazarus and feeding the 5,000. When I think of Jesus, I don’t think of a hideously, ugly, shocking servant described in Isaiah.

But there was that one time, the time when that disciple betrayed Him and liars accused Him and politicians condemned Him. The time when soldiers ripped off His clothes and bloodied His back with their whips, when mockers spit on Him and hurled insults at Him, when they pounded that crown of thorns on His head and when He struggled to carry that cross and when they drove those huge nails through His hands into the wood and through His feet into the wood and when they lifted Him up on the cross and He hung there and bled there and died for all the world to see.

There was that time but I don’t like to think about it. Just like I don’t ever want to go back to that Holocaust museum and feel that guilt and sense of shame for all of humanity for what we had allowed to take place. I don’t want to see those horrific images again, to look into the eyes, those hollow eyes and share their experience. I don’t want to go there but the words of Isaiah ring out “the shocking servant.” That’s how Isaiah pictures Him and we must admit that really is part of who He is. I don’t like to think about that. We like to think of all the wonderful happy things. But His suffering and pain and humiliation is a crucial part of who He is.

We don’t like to think about it, don’t like to talk about it. And I wonder why that is? I don’t think it’s just the visual of Jesus on the cross with nails in His hands and all of that. I don’t think that’s the reason. I think the reason is that deep down, we know that strong body of our dear Savior was broken and beaten for us. And deep down, we know that the painful crucifixion was the punishment we deserved. And deep down, we know that it’s our sins that have made ugly our beautiful Savior.

We don’t want to go there. It makes us uncomfortable. Not a very pleasant conversation. But we have to go there. We have to go to the cross because without that, without Jesus suffering and dying for us, there is no payment, there is no forgiveness, there is no mercy, there is no eternal life. So we must go there to the foot of the cross and look up at our Savior in all His pain and suffering and thank Him. Amen.