Pastor's Power Points

March 26, 2006

Divine Satisfaction (cont.)
As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied…
Isa. 53:11a

From the context of this passage we can understand the nature of His satisfaction which arises from the accomplishments of the suffering. It is a suffering with the power to remove sin. Motyer points out: “The uniting doctrinal theme is the understanding of the Servant’s death as a guilt offering (10b); a sin-bearing sacrifice which removes sin and imputes righteousness….”¹ John introduced Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus was completely aware of that truth as His mission in having come to earth. He was “sure of His power to remove men’s sins, and was never more emphatic about that power than when He most felt those sin’s weight.”² The removal of sin then makes men righteous, the Servant will “justify many.” This is a colossal feat and is, therefore, what brings such satisfaction to the Servant. Oswalt searches into 53:11 with passionate awe:

From the Servant’s sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when his offering is accepted, the verse moves to discuss exactly what is accomplished. The statement is startling in both its simplicity and its daring. This man, by what he has done, will make people righteous? It is not difficult to understand why he should be declared the Righteous One. He has been treated shamelessly because of the sins of others when he himself has been completely innocent. But how can he make many become righteous? The entire book has been about the persistent sin and unbelief of the chosen people, not to mention the world at large. This man will change all that in a sentence?³

What we have here is the prophetic account of what was later recounted by the apostle Paul, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” John also affirms, “But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.” Knowing that the travail of His soul would accomplish this, The Servant’s satisfaction came from the sense of sin removal once and for all, a finality to his toilsome labor that now presents an eternal offering for those whose sin He bore. Because of this He cried “It is finished!” while yet on the cross. Delitzsch fittingly concludes,

Because our righteousness springs from the forgiveness of sins as a gift of grace… the prophecy ever reverts anew from the justifying work of the Servant of God to His sin-destroying work as the foundation of all righteousness: “And their iniquities he shall bear.” His continued taking of our transgressions on himself is but the constant presentation and representation of his atonement which was offered once for all.⁴

The removal of sin means the removal of that which separates man from God opening the floodgates to reconciliation. With this accomplished, the Servant was satisfied.

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^{1 J. A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, 437
2 W. Robertson Nicoll, The Expositors Bible, Vol.III, 882
3 John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66, 404
4 F.J. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, Vol.II, 310}