The Nonlinear Path of Desolation

Christian Lee (2024 Dec 29, Sunday, Storyline Church)

Today we unpack the fourth and final of the "servant songs" that appear in Isaiah. This servant song is considered in Scripture and in Christian history to be one of the most sacred and theologically rich prophecies about the cross.  Christian breaks down this final servant song (52:13-53:16) into three parts. Today's message covers the success and desolation that the Servant faces. He is marked with wisdom and is exalted but the very next verse tells us he was marred beyond recognition. These are typical of the stories the servants of the Lord experience: triumph and defeat, honor and disgrace, and success and failure. A reductionistic and naïve perspective of the Christian life often leads to great offense when loss, desolation, and wilderness hit our lives. How can we guard our hearts from cynicism and spiritual estrangement?

Passage: Isaiah 52:13-15 (ESV)
Sermon Series: The Servant Songs of Isaiah, 4 of 7