The Appalling Cost of Being Brought Back Home

It's a funny thing, you know.
People who have a great home often despise it,
wishing they were somewhere else.
Anywhere else would be a better life, more fun, less rules.
But it doesn't take long when they do get away from home
until they realize just how good home was, and they become homesick.
Well, this was my family.
I think this will probably shock you, but I can say without a doubt,
without a shadow of a doubt, that I had the worst family in the world.
They treated my father in an absolutely shocking way,
despising him, bringing him endless shame and grief.
It was clear to everyone in the neighborhood how much they hated the family,
how much they longed to cut loose and do their own thing.
Well, finally my father gave them a taste of that which they longed for.
He had them removed from the family home by the Babylonians
in a last-ditch attempt to bring them to their senses.
In part it was successful because it didn't take long for them
before they decided that, well, after all, their father and their home was pretty special.
Of course, then they longed to be back home again.
Of course, little did they know that this is what my father had intended all along.
He could never have abandoned his children regardless of how awful they were to him.
So he appreciated the desire of those of his children who actually wanted to be back home
and longed for family relationships to be restored.
But then it was clear that his children had absolutely no idea
of the appalling cost of being brought back home.
They didn't seem to realize that being brought back home
was just more than a physical deliverance from the Babylonians.
They didn't realize that if they were truly to be brought back home,
they would need a spiritual deliverance,
something to change their rebellious hearts and attitudes and actions.
And that's where I come into the picture.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm getting ahead of myself here.
You might be wondering this morning, well, who am I?
Let me introduce myself.
I am the servant of the Lord, that mysterious character
who emerges from Isaiah's prophecy as he looks into the future with his mind's eye of faith
and explores God's ultimate intention for his rebellious children.
I decided that it was about time I made a direct appearance.
After all, this is the fourth song that Isaiah has written about me.
Each one builds a picture of my place in God's purpose for the salvation of his people.
I guess most would say this morning that this particular song is the most amazing
and the most heartwarming of all the songs.
And it is. This is my song.
Anyway, I thought it best that I should turn up today and walk you through the verses of my song
because some of the things it says about me are hard to grasp, hard to appreciate.
Some seem to think that Isaiah's song about me here in this particular part of his prophecy is out of place.
Some think that it seems to interrupt the wonderful description of my Father's promised salvation to his people,
that of forgiveness and restoration.
He's promised wonderful things. He's promised to fix the mess sin has caused in his world
and restore the Garden of Eden conditions.
He's promised to bring his people back home to be with them forever.
And all these promises, knowing that his people would continue rebelling, continue sinning against them.
You see, that's exactly why I do have to step forward here.
That's exactly why I do have to come to the fore and be the focus of the future.
You see, I'm the answer to the burning question that's been in Isaiah's prophecy.
How can God promise forgiveness and restoration of relationship
in spite of ongoing rebellion and sin on the part of his people?
I am God's secret weapon for the salvation of his wayward people.
In contrast to God's servant nation, which simply proved itself to be blind and dumb,
a servant who failed miserably to achieve the mission and purpose that God had given her.
That is, to secure God's purpose in his world and to secure God's honor.
In contrast, I actually have God's complete confidence.
I will act wisely. I will do the right thing.
In fact, through my actions, I will not only sprinkle or cleanse the nation so their sin is removed
and they are fit to be in relationship with my Father,
but in doing this, I will get from my Father the honor he so richly deserves,
the honor he has planned for himself from the beginning of the world.
Put simply, the mission my Father has given me is absolutely amazing.
It will show his wisdom, his power, his love and commitment both to his own glory and honor,
but also his commitment to saving his sinful people and making them what he wants them to be.
But I have to tell you, it is not going to be easy for me.
It is not going to be pleasant for me.
Ahead of me, you see, I know I will be despised.
I will be the cause of great offense to many.
I will be bruised and bloodied until I am not even recognizable as a person.
It is not going to be easy.
But strangely, in that same event, even when I am considered the worst of the unclean,
I will actually be cleaning the nations. I will cleanse the nations.
The whole thing will come together as a package leaving the so-called wise people of this world
absolutely gobsmacked so they will only be able to hang their heads in quiet shame.
Well, that is my future in summary form.
I just want to spell it out a little bit more for you in detail as Isaiah has written in these other four verses that are part of my song
so that you can understand and appreciate the appalling cost of my Father bringing his people back home
in forgiveness and restoration.
I must say it saddens me deeply.
It saddens me deeply that my people have not believed the message Isaiah and other prophets have brought to them.
My Father has revealed his mighty arm.
Or in other words, my Father has revealed his powerful plan and purpose.
His deeds are evident.
But his people have been largely blind and dumb and deaf.
They refused to believe.
Even worse, they refused even to listen to what my Father said to them.
And I know the same will apply to me.
I know that early on in my mission people will think I am pretty special.
They will get excited about me as one who has appeared suddenly,
who has been sent by God and who gives new hope in desperate times and extreme circumstances.
But I know it won't last.
Gradually as they get to know me and what I am about, excitement and hope will give way to contempt and rejection.
Put simply, people will become totally embarrassed by me and the values I will teach and display.
In fact, it is not too much to say that my only companion or friend will be suffering and pain.
And let me tell you again, that is going to be mighty hard to take.
Because the whole focus of my mission will be the very people who treat me so despicably
and who want absolutely nothing to do with me.
Well, I have just said, and I say again,
the way things will play out for me will be real hard for me to bear.
Because people will get it so wrong about me and about my suffering.
People will see my life as suffering and a violent death as I am killed and crushed.
And you know what? They will just conclude that I deserved it.
That my suffering and death are God's punishment for my disobedience, for my sinful actions.
They will conclude, I have been crushed by God, by my Father.
And they will be right in one sense.
But at the same time, they will be so terribly, terribly wrong.
How could God's people be so blind and stupid that they could not see the real cause for my suffering
is their disobedience, their sinful actions, not mine?
How could they be so blind to the fact that I am the only one who gets it right,
the only one who does not deserve to suffer and be crushed?
Yes, my Father will crush me, but not because I deserve it.
How could God's people not see that I am crushed in order to heal them?
How could they not see that the torment and death I will suffer is really that which they deserve?
How could God's people be so stupid not to see that my death is really a sacrifice
in which my good and perfect life is substituted for their guilty, rebellious lives?
How could they not understand, how could they not appreciate
that I will endure all of my Father's hostility, all of my Father's wrath due for their sin
so that they can enjoy forgiveness and peace and a new relationship with him?
This has always been my Father's wonderful plan to save his people.
But how could God's people not see that I will be the one
that has to pay the appalling cost of bringing them back home?
You might be wondering, why would I allow all this to happen to me?
Well, the answer is very simple really.
You see, forgiveness is only possible through the sacrifice of a substitute.
And in my Father's plan, I am that sacrifice.
It's not only in my life that I am to know suffering,
but also, and perhaps most importantly, in my death I am to know suffering.
From a human point of view, my death will be the biggest miscarriage of justice ever seen in God's world.
And you know what? Worse still, people won't even care that I was illegally killed,
left without descendants as a memorial to my ever having been here, buried as a criminal,
even though at least there will also be some honor in my burial,
some acknowledgement in me being a real and worthwhile person.
We see sacrifice is what's needed for forgiveness, and so that's what I'll do.
They were like sheep going astray in sin and rebellion,
but I am the lamb who will be slaughtered to pay the penalty for their sin and rebellion.
Amazing, isn't it?
You might be wondering if I'm happy with my mission to be a sacrifice.
Well, I suppose it's a bit of a mix.
I'm delighted to be the means by which my Father's honor is secured.
I'm delighted to know that my suffering and death will mean forgiveness for God's people.
But I have to tell you, the awfulness of it all, as I just think about it, overwhelms me.
There's almost too much for me to bear.
Now here's one point in my song you need to listen very carefully,
because things don't end as you might expect.
Yes, I will be killed in the greatest miscarriage of justice, humanly speaking.
But make no mistake, you should never think it's people, sinful people, getting the better of me, really.
It will only and always ever be the outworking of my Father's plan to crush me for the sin of my people.
But get this also.
See, normally a sacrifice or a guilt offering dies and stays dead.
But I'm telling you now that I will be a whole new type of sin sacrifice, because I will be resurrected.
I will come back to life.
I can hardly wait for that moment.
That moment will make all the pain and suffering worthwhile.
Nothing could be more rewarding to me than to be honoured as God's great King and Saviour and Lord.
To be entrusted with the outworking of my Father's purpose for His world in history.
Then real justice will be seen as apparent defeat is shown to be victory.
And once again, I will take my place of honour alongside my Father as His good and faithful and true servant.
That's great.
But you know, there's something better, something even better than that, that I'm looking forward to.
Nothing could give me greater satisfaction than to see the benefit of my sacrifice in the lives of my many people.
And that will be the outcome for any sinner in the future who recognises that I will do for them that which they could never do for themselves.
Secure forgiveness, a new life, a new relationship with my Father.
In fact, the benefit of my death for my sinful people throughout the ages will be just this.
That my Father will be able to treat them just as if I'd never sinned.
How good is that?
Well, that's my song.
I hope it has really grabbed you and warmed your heart.
And as the servant of the Lord, I want to leave you with just a couple of challenges.
First one is this.
Christians often link my song to Jesus.
And I want to tell you here this morning, that's entirely correct to do so.
What Isaiah saw in the future in his mind, Isaiah's faith, is now a historical reality for my people all these years later.
Six hundred years after Isaiah first spoke those words.
That's pretty neat, isn't it?
Pretty neat that Isaiah, controlled by God's Spirit, looked forward to me coming as Jesus and actually spoke about me ahead of time.
All those years, all those generations ahead of time.
And that leads me to the second challenge.
It's entirely appropriate that you re-read this song and make it personal.
For example, Jesus died for my sin.
Now you should know that many will mock you for believing something that sounds so simplistic.
So ridiculous perhaps even in an age when people actually don't have sin apparently.
But let me tell you the truth.
And you should never be embarrassed by this message of grace or forced or pressured to move beyond that message of grace.
You see, I want nothing more than to spread the benefits of my death and resurrection.
But you need to recognise your sin and that you cannot be acceptable to my Father through your own efforts and your own actions.
All I ask you is that you let me do for you that which you can never do for yourself.