Jesus Sees

At some level or other, we are all working on the same thing. Every person alive is trying to figure out how life works. This isn’t some theoretical question but a very practical one. It occupies not merely our minds but also our souls. How does a husband love his wife and vice versa? When is anger right? How do I know if I’m doing okay? How do I change what’s wrong with me? We try to understand what works and what doesn’t. And nobody has it all figured out. Nobody. The key to it all, the key to understanding life, is understanding God. Who is He? What is He like? How has He decided things should work? And what exactly does He think of me? You may never actually say it in the way that I just did, but these are the kinds of questions that we all deal with. And in this we all, quite appropriately, make this assumption. If we are able to get some good answer to these questions then we can live this life well. Fortunately, God has not left us in the dark about understand Him and understanding life – though that is exactly what we deserve. One goal of the Bible is to answer these questions. But too often the truths of the Bible – the answers to these questions – are veiled to us. So, for example, we use words like ‘blessing’ and ‘curse’, but the power of these words never quite takes hold of our hearts. We allow them to become mere ‘Church Words.’ And we’ve moved further away from understanding life accurately.

A sermon is God speaking to you so that you can get beyond these obstacles, understand Him a little better and thus get closer to a life lived well. Today, as I lead you through our text, I will speak about blessing and curse, but I will say it differently. I’ll talk about how God sees, God acts and lives are changed. In fact, I will be even more precise than that. What it really boils down to is that Jesus sees, Jesus acts and lives are changed. Remember, it is Jesus who has appeared to Isaiah. It is Jesus who has sent him preaching. And it is Jesus who is now Lord over all. The key to it all is Jesus. In our text, Jesus deals with two groups, the world, that is, Assyria, and the Church. As we make our way through the text we’ll see what blessing and curse bring about. Will this radically transform your life this week? Probably not. Change doesn’t usually happen so quickly. But I do hope that what I say will help you to understand Jesus better so that you can understand your life better.

Listen as I read Isaiah 10.5-34.

Assyria was on a mission – a mission from Jesus. Listen again. ‘Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.’ It’s worth noting that the godless nation that Assyria was sent to was Israel, Jesus’ Old Testament Church. Assyria pursued its mission and that with great vigor. Assyria was Jesus’ weapon, His very effective weapon. But Assyria stumbled at one key point. ‘By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.’ Assyria was proud. It did not understand that its ability to succeed, to crush nations, was given to it by Jesus Himself. And in this Assyria made an assumption, a foolish assumption: Jesus will not see, Jesus will not act, nothing will change. But note how the Sovereign of nations will respond to this. ‘When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.’ The mission will be accomplished. Jesus’ Church will be punished. He wants that to happen. But then, Assyria will be dealt with. Jesus saw what was going on. Jesus saw not just the actions of Assyria but also the attitudes of the heart. Jesus saw, and He resolved to act. He decided to punish this proud nation, to bring back on their heads what they deserved. Isaiah tells us what that will look like. ‘Therefore the Lord God of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire.’ Punishment. And picturing the Assyrians as a mighty forest, Isaiah describes the results of Jesus’ actions. ‘The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.’ Jesus promised that the great superpower, Assyria, is to disappear from the stage of history. And so it came to be. Assyria was cursed.

Jesus saw, Jesus acted, lives were changed.

Let me insert a quick thought before I move on. Our nation has, no doubt, accomplished much that is good. One could say that America has had a mission from Jesus. But, one would also need to say that we are an arrogant people. We also boast, ‘By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding…’ In so many ways, America is not that different from Assyria. Jesus sees, Jesus acts, lives will be changed.

Now, how does Jesus deal with His Church? The first thing to note is that He makes a distinction within His Church. ‘A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.’ There is the remnant, those who return, and then there is the rest of the Church. And what happened to the rest? ‘For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.’ Jesus saw, Jesus acted, lives were changed. Most of the Church was destroyed. Those who had been children acted like enemies, and they were punished. Not disciplined. Punished. ‘Destruction is decreed.’ The boast, ‘We are Abraham’s children, offspring according to promise’, was shown to be empty. Destruction!

Now an important question. What made the difference between these who suffered destruction and the remnant? Please remember that we’re talking about the Church. How did Jesus make a distinction within His Church? What was it that made the difference? One thing that didn’t make any difference was religious behavior. Go back to chapter one. Isaiah describes a very religious nation. They were studying the teachings of the Law, offering sacrifices at the Temple, celebrating the annual feasts, spending time praying. And yet, what awaits? ‘Destruction.’ So, what made the difference between safety and destruction, life and death, heaven and hell?

There are quite a few ways to answer this question and identify the difference. Jesus’ words to a curious Church member fit here. ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ There are actually several reasons why this answer fits. But here’s just one. Saying it this way makes clear that this is not something that any of us can control. There is nothing that anyone can do to make this happen. Think about it. No one asked you if you wanted to be conceived and born the first time around. You had absolutely no say in the matter. Why should it be any different when it comes to being born again? And this is important. Consider the people in Isaiah’s day, or in Jesus’ day or even in our own day. There will always be people who are eager to do whatever is necessary to be considered suitably religious. These are things that they can control and accomplish. And so, they do. And they then assume that is right with Jesus. But being born again is beyond all of that. When it comes to being born again, it’s clear Who is in control – and who isn’t.

So, the Church, in Isaiah’s day, in Jesus’ day and in our own, is made up of those who are born again and those who aren’t. Jesus sends His Spirit to some so that He might do His special work in their lives and these are born again. And it is clear that we do not control this. Jesus sees, Jesus acts, lives are changed.

Let’s move on. Isaiah tells us that Jesus has plans for his born again remnant. ‘In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.’ Isaiah is describing a critical change. At one point Judah leaned upon someone who struck them. Isaiah is talking about Assyria. Even some of the remnant fell into the trap and thought that this reigning superpower could take care of some of their problems. Remember King Ahaz of Judah being confronted by the northern kingdom of Israel and their ally, Syria. And what happened? Ahaz depended on Assyria who came to his aid and dealt with these two nations. But then Assyria double-crossed him and struck Judah. The one that Judah had hoped in, that they had leaned on, became a greater problem. And so, Jesus promises the remnant that instead of putting their hope in people and things that can only fail, they would come to lean on the Holy One of Israel – in truth. That little phrase, ‘in truth’, is so important because it is filled with hope.

There were those in Jesus’ Old Testament Church who said all the right things, who professed their belief quite clearly and accurately. But they had not been touched by the Spirit. They were not born again. So, they said that they were leaning the Holy One of Israel, that they relied on Jesus, but they weren’t. King Ahaz would be a prime example of this. But Jesus saw and, in mercy, He acted. Some of these hypocrites were renewed. The Spirit was sent, and they were born again and became part of the remnant. As a result, they began to really lean on Jesus. It became more than just words. They leaned on Him ‘in truth’. There is hope for hypocrites. Jesus sees, Jesus acts, lives are changed.

This clarifies the difference between true and false, born again and hypocrite. If you really have been born again, then you lean on Jesus. You depend on Him to be able to deal with life. He is your hope. Remember that the Church of Isaiah’s day looked to Assyria to deal with their problems. Assyria was their hope. Ahaz and those with him figured that this great nation could take care of things. They figured wrong. They should have relied on Jesus instead. Isn’t that what Isaiah had told Ahaz? And bear in mind that this wasn’t some ‘religious’ problem. This wasn’t about how to get to heaven or how to worship properly. This was a political problem. Those born again depend on Jesus to be able to deal with life, all of life. That’s the evidence that someone has been born again.

And this gets us to the other way that phrase ‘in truth’ relates to the remnant. Those who are born again are still sinners. And what that means is that they do depend on Jesus – but not completely. There are lots of times when they falter and depend on something else, on some modern substitute for Assyria to help them deal with their problems. But Jesus sees His children wrestling with sin, trying to get it right but all too often not doing well. And so, Jesus acts. But He does not act in anger to punish. He understands what’s going on. So, He acts in love. He sends His Spirit. The work of the Spirit at this point is not to cause the new birth in these. They are already renewed. The Spirit is sent to give more of what is needed to deal with that particular sin. And it is dealt with. The hope of every renewed person is that one day he will lean on Jesus completely, in truth. This will happen. Jesus has promised it. And that will be glorious. Jesus sees, Jesus acts, lives are changed.

Let me pull this together. What have I told you? You are all trying to figure out life, trying to understand how it works. The key is Jesus. Who is He and what is He like? I talked about a small slice of the answer to those questions: how He changes lives for the better and the worse. Or to use Church Words, how He blesses and curses. And that is summed up in this little sentence that I hope you will remember. Jesus sees, Jesus acts, lives are changed. This is the Gospel. Believe it and live well.