Isaiah 53
PENTECOST
Pentecost is the coming of the Holy Spirit to all people. The prophet Joel speaks of the spirit being poured out by God upon “all flesh.”
We talked last week about Elijah being the greatest of the prophets and the signifier of all prophets, but Isaiah is much more widely read and quoted. By the first century BC, Isaiah was far and away the most important prophet, especially for his prophecies regarding the coming Messiah.
Isaiah is the most important prophet of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the caves of Qumran 21 copies were found. Isaiah was by far the most quoted prophet. The Essenes of Qumran believed they were on the threshold of the Messiah’s arrival, and they used Isaiah’s prophecies to point them toward the Messiah. Jewish interpreters have always considered Isaiah 52-53 to be a Messianic passage.
Funny thing, though: Isaiah 53 is not read by many Rabbis anymore. It is almost something of a forbidden chapter. Why?
an unread chapter
Let’s walk through:
[walk-through Isaiah 53 with corresponding verses:
Is 53:2 ——> Is 11:1
Is 53:3-4 ——> Mark 3:6
Is 53: 5 ——> Rom 3:25
Is 53: 6 ——> Hebrews2:17
Is 53: 7-8 ——> Mt 27: 11-14a
Is 53: 9 ——> John 19:38
Is 53: 10 ——> John 10:18
Is 53: 11a ——> Rom 6:9
Is 53: 11b ——> Rom 5:1
Is 53: 12 ——> Mt 27:38
Is 53: 12b ——> 1 Peter 2:24
How can we call it anything less than amazing to know that these verses were written to identify the Messiah some 500-700 years BC?
THE PENTECOST / PROPHET CONNECTION
What is the connection between Isaiah and Pentecost? Divine utterance: the Holy Spirit speaking through the prophet Isaiah half a millennium before Jesus.
Pentecost is the releasing of that same Holy Spirit upon “all flesh.” Notice that Scripture doesn’t say “released to his chosen favorites” or “his prophets,” or “Bible-believing Christians” of a certain sect, but “all flesh.”
The first evidence of this comes 50 days before Pentecost on Good Friday. When the temple curtain is torn top to bottom, the Holy Spirit of God residing in the Holy fo Holies is released upon the world. The first thing that happens (according to Mark) once that curtain tears is that a Centurian—the pagan, Roman, Gentile dog who supervised the crucifixion of Jesus looks up at him and sees what no one else in Jerusalem could see. He says, “Truly, this man is the Son of God!” A crazed, ironic statement, coming not from a follower or Jew, but a total outsider to the faith—one even complicit in Christ’s killing. This is the narrative evidence that the Holy Spirit was now non-local—released upon “all flesh”
At Pentecost, the Disciples finally (finally!!) get it. They quote Joel 2: 28-29:
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
The same Holy Spirit that spoke through Isaiah is now released from the provenance of the prophets to the whole world. The question for us now is:
How can we know when the Holy Spirit is speaking?
Dr. Dale Bruner, formerly of Whitworth University, has written popular commentaries on Matthew and John. Some years ago, he set out to write an extensive commentary on the Holy Spirit. What resulted was a very thin volume entitled “Holy Spirit: Shy Member of the Trinity.” Bruner boiled down the theology of the Holy Spirit to an image which has never left me and I hope you will remember as well.
To illustrate, Bruner writes the name Jesus on a blackboard. He then walks behind the blackboard, reaches his hand around and points at the name of Jesus.
“That is the Holy Spirit,” he says.
The Holy Spirit is that which points with eternal persistence to the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Spirit reveals Jesus, and whenever Jesus is revealed, it is evidence of the Holy Spirit.
The work of the Holy Spirit is singular and consistent; it is proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.
UTTERANCE TODAY
It can be difficult, especially when there are so many people who claim to speak by or for the Holy Spirit. I think it is right and proper that we should hear these people with suspicion and skepticism.
How do you feel when someone approaches you and says, “The Lord put it upon my heart to tell you…” I listen, but I really dislike the presumption of anyone speaking for God in a self-conscious way. When someone says that to me, I hear: “You may not disagree with what I’m about to tell you because it is from God,” which is patently manipulative. Beware of such talk.
The Church has been misled in every generation by charismatic personalities claiming a new “word” from the Lord to guide God’s people. Now while I don’t doubt for a moment that God speaks to us in visions, dreams, and the depths of our prayerful hearts, we must remember that God’s word to an individual is authoritative only for that individual. If God should speak to you, then yes, obey! But do not expect the rest of the community of faith to fall into line. The Church has its Word—Jesus Christ—and there are no more needed such words.
Furthermore, these contemporary utterances tend—in time—to remove focus and attention from the timeless Word of God, and as such constitute nothing less than idolatry. Beware them.
Let me be clear: God does indeed speak to his people today by the Holy Spirit, but we must beware the human tendency toward idolatry which tempts us to codify and control that Spirit—something we must not do.
WHAT OF TONGUES?
What are we to make of “speaking in tongues” today? Again, let’s be clear: what happened at Pentecost bears no resemblance to what passes for speaking in tongues today. At Pentecost, the Apostles were speaking known, identifiable languages, full of known nouns, verbs, and adjectives. It was all a focused proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ, not some kind of subjective intoxication.
But at Corinth—a cosmopolitan, pagan city—the practice of “babbling” was normal. Part of pagan prayer involved simply babbling nonsense syllables in the hopes of accidentally pronouncing the name of an unknown god who would be at your service once summoned. You call the name of the god and then you can get that god to do your will. Note that this is the exact opposite of Judeo-Christian faith. We call upon God whose name is known only to himself in order that we might be aligned into his will.
This babbling got Christianized, and Paul encouraged its baptized life in Corinth. He never teaches it, nor expects it anywhere other than Corinth—he even discourages it in public worship—but he does consider it a blessed gift for personal worship. We support this whole-heartedly.
An old friend of mine shared his frustration at not being good with words. He complained that he got so caught up trying to find the right words that he just felt frustrated or even stupid. I suggested to him that he ask God for the gift of tongues—a personal prayer language just between him and The Lord.
Think of Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady of Jazz singers. She was a phenomenal and accomplished jazz artist with a deeply sophisticated grasp of jazz scales and harmonies. Ever heard her sing scat? What a marvelous gift! Now only a complete Philistine would say: “What? She’s singing nonsense syllables—that’s not music!” Similarly, it is nonsense to say that praying in tongues—by which I mean allowing the inexpressible longings of the heart and soul to be poured out directly from the back burner of the mind and lifted to God as prayer, praise, adoration, and communion—is anything less than Godly and God-honoring.
Again, for private use only, unless you have an interpreter, and good luck there.
GIFT OF EARS
Everyone has heard of the gift of tongues, but I think not so many have heard of the gift of ears. Okay, it’s not scriptural, but it is real.
Have you ever heard “God’s word to you” through a sermon, a Bible study, or in prayer? Ever felt like the pastor secretly knew your hidden problem and was addressing you in particular? I’ll tell you for a fact that I’ve never done that, but if you’ve had that experience, that is every bit as much a work of the Holy Spirit as anything like tongues.
The Holy Spirit works not only through the proclamation, but through the hearing of the gospel—in the ears of the hearers.
I can’t say how many times in my career someone has approached me days or weeks after a sermon and told me that when I said so-and-so it was terribly significant to them, only in my head I’m thinking: Nope—not even close—I’m sure I never said anything quite like that! I rejoice at these pronouncements, because they reassure me of two things: first, that the Holy Spirit is active in the hearing ears fo the faithful; and second, that the Holy Spirit has used me in spite of myself. That’s the way I like it: to be used by God, but to be used beyond my awareness of being used. Otherwise, I might turn into one of those self-vaunting televangelists.
THE WORD WITHIN A WORD THAT DARE NOT SPEAK A WORD
Finally, we also have a reassurance from Christ that when we are put on trial and called to speak for him, that his Holy Spirit will help us in that hour:
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” —Luke 12: 11-12
It is far better that we should trust in the Holy Spirit’s power and presence as promised by Christ than to rely on manmade formulas for our responses. Better to trust the Spirit than recite the four spiritual laws or run the down the “Roman Road.” It is fine and well that we know these things, but to choose them over the work of the Spirit is keep our hands on the wheel, which leaves little room for God.
The good news is that the same Holy Spirit who led Isaiah to compose his strange prose is the same Spirit released upon “all flesh” in the Messianic Era (which we are in now). The work of the Holy Spirit is singular and consistent; it is proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. †