God Sends His Servant Isaiah 53

 God Sends His Servant

LESSON OUTLINE 

SUFFERING SERVANT—Isa. 53:4-5 

STRAYING SHEEP—Isa. 53:6 

SUBSTITUTIONARY SACRIFICE—Isa. 53:10-12 Exposition: Verse by Verse 

SUFFERING SERVANT ISA. 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 

Bearing griefs (Isa. 53:4). {Isaiah 52:13—53:12 is the fourth of the Servant Songs in Isaiah and probably the most familiar of all, at least for Christians. Here we see both the travail and the triumph of the Servant. While some of the other Servant Songs could arguably be applied to Israel, this one definitely depicts the sufferings of an individual.}Q1 

As he read this passage, the Ethiopian eunuch asked an appropriate question: “Of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” (Acts 8:34). While acknowledging the need for guidance in understanding this text (vs. 31), it was clear to the eunuch that Isaiah was speaking of a certain man. Of course, Christians recognize that man as the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Since Isaiah 53 is rarely read in Jewish synagogues today, many modern Jews are unaware of how closely it parallels the sufferings of Jesus of Nazareth. Those involved in Jewish evangelism frequently appeal to Isaiah 53 in their efforts to convince Jews that Jesus is the Christ. Whether dealing with Jews or Gentiles, however, those preaching Christ are still asking, “Who hath believed our report?” (Isa. 53:1; cf. John 12:38; Rom. 10:16). 

{Isaiah declared that this Servant had “no form nor comeliness” that would cause us to be attracted to Him (53:2). While this could refer to the Messiah’s general appearance, it most likely referred to the crucifixion, which became a stumbling block to Jews (I Cor. 1:23). On the cross, “his visage was so marred more than any man” (Isa. 52:14) that believing Him to be the long-awaited King of Israel was difficult for most Jews to accept.}Q2 

This “man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3) “hath borne our griefs” (vs. 4). The word “griefs” could be translated “sicknesses” or “infirmities.” This line is quoted in Matthew 8:17 in reference to Christ’s healing ministry. This has led some to conclude that both physical and spiritual healing are a part of the atonement. Since it is God’s will to save us (I Tim. 2:4) but not always to heal us (II Cor. 12:7-9), we may conclude that healing is part of the atonement to the degree that heaven will be a place free from suffering (Rev. 21:4). 

While healing may come as a result of prayer (cf. Isa. 38:1-5; Jas. 5:13-16) and other means (cf. II Kgs. 20:7), the fact that all people get sick indicates that physical healing is not an entitlement for believers. While this should not hinder us from praying for the sick, it should nevertheless keep us from giving them false hope. 

{Christ was the one who carried our sorrows. He did this primarily on the cross but also in the way He related to others’ grieving during His ministry and in His continuing intercession on our behalf (Heb. 7:25-27). He knows all our burdens, for He has borne them.}Q3 

In spite of what Christ did, some viewed Him as “smitten of God” (Isa. 53:4), that is, “singled out for unusual punishment because of unusual guilt on his part” (Leupold, Exposition of Isaiah, Baker). “Smitten ‘by God’ and afflicted express the objective and subjective sides of his suffering: the divine agent and the personal experience of being brought low, humbled, humiliated” (Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, InterVarsity). “The terrible and unlawful punishments, even death, that befell Jesus were considered by the people as being the natural results of the sins of Jesus. How wrong and misguided were the people!” (Coffman, Commentary on Isaiah, ACU Press). 

Bruised for iniquities (Isa. 53:5). The suffering Servant was not despised and rejected by humans because God afflicted Him for His sins. Rather, “he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” {In short, His sufferings were not the result of His sins; they came from ours!}Q4 Indeed, He had no sin (Heb. 4:15); otherwise, He could not have suffered on behalf of sinners, bearing the wrath of God for us. 

Once we come to the New Testament, we better understand what Christ did for us at Calvary, where He “died for our sins according to the scriptures” (I Cor. 15:3). Paul declared that the One “who knew no sin” became sin for us “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Cor. 5:21). {Peter also wrote that Christ in “his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Pet. 2:24). These last words come from Isaiah 53:5, indicating that Peter understood the healing to be primarily spiritual in nature, namely, the offer of cleansing through Christ’s shed blood (cf. Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:28; I John 1:7).}Q5 

The “chastisement of our peace was upon him” (Isa. 53:5). The meaning of this statement is that Christ suffered to procure our peace with God. “None have rendered this better than Luther: ‘The punishment was laid on him that we might have peace’” (Leupold). While we deserve to be chastised for our sins, Christ, in fact, took our place and suffered the punishment we rightly deserved. In a mysterious way, Christ experienced separation from the Father during the dark hours of the crucifixion. His cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34; cf. Ps. 22:1), indicates that the wrath of God was visited upon Him as He was being wounded for our transgressions. 

STRAYING SHEEP 

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

While most of us have probably not spent a lot of time around sheep, we know that sheep are creatures prone to wandering off. Without a shepherd, sheep quickly get separated from the flock or find themselves in great danger. In short, sheep need constant care, guidance, and protection. So it is with human beings. This is why the image of God being our Shepherd is a familiar one in Scripture (cf. Ps. 23:1; Ezek. 34:11; John 10:11; I Pet. 5:4). 

{In this regard, human beings are like sheep; that is, we have “gone astray” (Isa. 53:6). This wandering is partly due to our innate propensity to sin, a result of the Fall. But we cannot blame it all on Adam, for we all have willfully disobeyed God. We are sinners both by condition and by choice.}Q6 “The picture of the straying sheep summarizes all our inadequacy and errancy of nature” (Motyer). 

Instead of following the Heavenly Father, every one of us has turned aside to go his own way. As Paul put it, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Since the “wages of sin is death” (6:23), salvation comes only through Christ, “that great shepherd of the sheep” (Heb. 13:20). 

Isaiah 53:6 declares that in direct response to our going astray, “the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” 

God counted His Son’s sacrifice as sufficient for everyone’s salvation. As fully God and fully man, Jesus alone could have achieved this for the world. Of course, salvation is universal only in that it is offered to all. Only those who receive Christ will actually enjoy the benefits of His sacrifice. Each person must make a decision whether to accept Christ and His atoning sacrifice. “In this area—and it all again and again adds up to vicarious atonement, stated and restated, defined and redefined—in this area, we say, lies the explanation of the unparalleled suffering that the Servant had to undergo” (Leupold). 

SUBSTITUTIONARY SACRIFICE 

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 

Rejected (Isa. 53:10-11). Although the Servant “had done no violence” (vs. 9), He was “despised and rejected of men” (vs. 3). He had not been deceitful in any way; “yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him” (vs. 10), a seeming rejection by even the Almighty. Jesus famously quoted Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,” on the cross, yet verse 24 indicates the Father did not hide His face from Him, though it certainly felt like it. The issue of whether or not Jesus was truly forsaken on the cross is debated even among faithful Christians. 

Although it was God’s will to bring about the death of His Son for our salvation, this in no way exonerates those who plotted against Him, betrayed Him, falsely accused Him, or carried out the crucifixion. That Christ prayed for His tormentors (Luke 23:34) was not a blanket pardon for their deeds. Rather, it was a plea to the Father to include them in the offer of salvation, should they be willing to repent and believe. 

Had Christ defended Himself before His accusers, He no doubt could have easily convinced Pilate that the charges leveled against Him were erroneous and escaped the fate of the cross. He was nevertheless “brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isa. 53:7). Hence, Jesus did not defend Himself, for it had been foretold that He would not do so. 

{Once Christ went to the cross as “an offering for sin” (vs. 10), He would see His “seed,” or offspring. This means that His death would not be the end of the story, so to speak. The resurrection would follow on the third day. His “seed” would be those who came to believe in Him and then continued to spread the message of His atoning work.}Q7 Never before nor since has anyone suffered such an ignominious death and been so honored; no historical figure has ever had as many followers as Jesus. 

Isaiah 53:11 echoes many of the thoughts that have already been stated in this chapter. Perhaps the repetition we find in Isaiah 53 was designed to press home the great truths of this prophecy. The “travail of his soul” emphasizes again the sufferings of the Messiah. That He “shall be satisfied” means that “he shall look back upon a task well and brilliantly done” (Leupold). 

{The One who was so mistreated by others was, in fact, God’s righteous Servant. Had He not been truly righteous, He could never have been the sacrificial Substitute for unrighteous sinners. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (I Pet. 3:18). 

Only through the knowledge of the righteous Servant would many be justified.}Q8 “The word here [knowledge] could be translated ‘by knowing him’, indicating that it is as people come to know him that they enter into the benefits he has won for them” (Motyer). 

Reward (Isa. 53:12). The picture presented in verse 12 is that of a great conqueror. The battle had been won, and the spoils of war were now divided among the victors. “The Lord indicates why he, the Servant, is so strikingly deserving of the major share of booty; ‘He poured out his soul unto death,’ a more expressive way of saying that he gave his all in the great conflict in which he was engaged” (Leupold). 

{That the Messiah was counted among the transgressors can be seen in two ways. First, Christ identified Himself with sinners by dying for them. Second, He was literally counted among the transgressors by dying between two thieves and therefore viewed by many as a common criminal.}Q9 That “he made his grave with the wicked” (Isa. 53:9) might also be a reference to the scene that occurred on Golgotha. He was certainly “with the rich in his death” by being buried in the borrowed tomb of the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea (Matt. 27:57-60). 

{The fact that we are transgressors reminds us that our sins are acts of willful disobedience to a holy God. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). Christ, however, stepped in to intercede for transgressors.}Q10 “The Servant is thus a go-between, interposing between two parties, not as a barrier but as a bridge.… The Lord put his Servant in between, using him as a means of disposing of that (our iniquity) which alienated him from us. Here the Servant comes voluntarily to stand with us so that when he had borne our sin he might bring us to God” (Motyer). 

Even a cursory knowledge of the events of Christ’s final days will quickly lead to the conclusion that Isaiah 53 was written about Him. If we are willing to trust and obey Him, the veil of unbelief will be lifted, and we will see Jesus Christ clearly portrayed throughout the pages of the Old Testament, anticipating His ministry, death, and resurrection (cf. II Cor. 3:13-18). —John Alva Owston