Isaiah 53:1-6

In Isa. 53:1-6 we see the wonder of the substitutionary or vicarious atonement.  The Servant is “our” substitute: bearing our sorrows, being wounded for our transgressions, and being chastised for our peace.  This Man of sorrows who has no beauty that we should desire Him had no sin of His own (v9).  Thus He was the One on whom the LORD could place all our guilt (iniquity, v6).  

Who is this Servant?  This was the question of the Ethiopian in Acts 8:34 when he read this same passage asking: “of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”  Philip answered by preaching Jesus to him.  Yet John said that the Jews rejected Jesus (12:37-38). They did not believe the report, even though they saw the “arm of the Lord” revealed in the signs Jesus performed. 

Most Jews today reject Jesus as the Servant.  Some reject the ancient Rabbis and deny that the Servant is the Messiah at all.¹  The tragic experience of Jews during the first Crusade (1096AD) led many to conclude that the Servant was the innocent nation of Israel.²  Today the foundation of the Jewish nation is often tied to the Holocaust and the unjust suffering of an innocent people.  While the Jews did nothing to Hitler or the Crusaders to deserve such treatment, the same can be said of Rome, Babylon and Assyria in earlier times.  Scripture maintains that the affliction of the Jews is tied to their rebellion against God, not the antagonism of surrounding nations (e.g. Deut. 28:64-68; 32:21-26).  

Many Jews and Gentiles alike deny that the Servant is God as Jesus claimed to be.³  They are offended by a hero (so to speak) who has no beauty, is despised and rejected by men.  Perhaps you have had similar misgivings⁴:

·        If Christ is God, how can he also be called a servant? (52:13)

·        How can it be said that He will be exalted? Isn’t God always exalted? (52:13)

·        If Christ is God, how can he be smitten and afflicted of God? (53:4)

·        If the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all, then Jesus must be inferior to the Lord. (53:6)

·        How can God die and be buried? (53:9)

·        If Jesus is God, how can it be said of him, “the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand?” (53:10)

The answer to each of these and other similar objections is bound up in the Biblical doctrine of the incarnation.  Read the grand description of the humiliation of our Lord in Phil. 2:5-8.  Though equal with God, He humbled Himself, taking on the form of a Servant, becoming a man that He might be obedient to death, even the death of the cross.  The sinless Savior and Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One of Israel, is able to provide atonement for the sinful Nation, and yes for all men.  Remember that while He was rejected by most, those who did receive Him by faith became children of God (John 1:10-12).  Receive Him today!  Worship the Servant today!