Pastor Kyle Bitter - Good Friday - Friday, April 10, 2020, 1:00 p.m.
Text: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12
Watch Service Video
It’s true that today is different from the way many of us are accustomed to observing Holy Week. It’s true that it seems strange for you to watch this at home, just as it’s weird to speak to a couple of cameras and a whole bunch of empty pews. But for a few minutes today, we have the opportunity to think beyond all that weirdness – which is temporary – and look at something that is timeless by spending some time thinking about why we gather at all – ever, whether digitally or in person! In today’s first lesson we have the chance to look at the events of Good Friday from the vantage point of God’s prophet Isaiah, who served some seven centuries before the time of Christ. Isaiah invites us to look at the events of Good Friday through the lens of one of his favorite prophetic pictures – a figure he calls “the servant of the LORD,” a figure charged with carrying out God’s will to save his people – often a reference to the promised Messiah to come! Isaiah describes the events of Good Friday like this: “See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.” (Isaiah 52:13 – NIV84). On Good Friday, we see that happen. Jesus was raised up on a cross, and we have gathered to honor and esteem him for that. In looking at the rest of Isaiah’s prophecy, God invites us to consider the various reactions people have to the suffering of the Messiah, and invites us to marvel at how God in his grace has enabled us to Understand What We See at the cross today and what it means for our lives.
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