Prayer (5 Minutes)
- Have everyone share one thing they were thankful for in the week.
- Have everyone share one prayer request.
Song (5 Minutes)
Catechism (5 minutes)
Have everyone read aloud simultaneously or allow everyone to try to answer before revealing the answer.
Q9: What does God require in the first, second, and third commandments?
A: First, that we know God as the only true God. Second, that we avoid all idolatry. Third, that we treat God’s name with fear and reverence.
Deuteronomy 6:13-14 (ESV) — It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you.
A: First, that we know God as the only true God. Second, that we avoid all idolatry. Third, that we treat God’s name with fear and reverence.
Deuteronomy 6:13-14 (ESV) — It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you.
Scripture (5 Minutes)
Isaiah 53 (NLT)
Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Discussion (5-10 Minutes)
You can lead through a teaching or use the following questions to start a discussion:
- What does it mean that all our sins were laid on Jesus? (See Isaiah 53:6.)
- In what ways can you identify with the statement: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6)?
- How does this passage help you understand your sin and Jesus’ sacrifice?
- What are some of the results of Jesus’ death, according to Isaiah 53:10–12?
- Why is it important that this was written almost 700 years before Jesus was born?
Closing Prayer (3 Minutes)
From Isaiah 53:5–6.
Jesus, you were pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. You took the sin of us all and paid our penalty on the cross. Thank you for always having the perfect plan for us. Thank you for offering me relationship with you because of your sacrifice. Help me understand your word and apply it to my life. In your name, amen.
Jesus, you were pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. You took the sin of us all and paid our penalty on the cross. Thank you for always having the perfect plan for us. Thank you for offering me relationship with you because of your sacrifice. Help me understand your word and apply it to my life. In your name, amen.