Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Isaiah 53 is a major prophecy concerning the purpose of the cross of Jesus.  The context in Isaiah is perfectly fitting.  God promised to deliver Israel from Babylon, God’s chastening tool (Isa. 47), causing Israel to return from Babylon (48).  In addition the LORD promised His Servant (the Messiah) that His suffering would not be in vain (49:3f) and that He would not only rule Israel but would receive people from the nations (49:5f).  God would remember His people Israel (49:14-26) and the shameful treatment of the Servant (50:4ff) would be rewarded.  Israel would be comforted (Isa 51:1-16) when God’s fury was removed (51:17-23) when He redeemed His people (52:1-12).

But wait!  How will the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, be able to do this without just payment for the sin of Israel and the nations?  The Lord’s holy character must be satisfied.  The answer is that the Redeemer will suffer and die in the place of the sinners.  It is the message of this last of the four great Servant Songs of Isaiah (42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-9).

Keep in mind where we are as we follow Jesus to the cross.  He is being led back from Gethsemane to be afflicted by men.  The first Song speaks of His meekness; the second that in death He will seem to have failed in His mission; and the third that He will be shamefully treated.  Isa. 53 echoes the message of affliction and meekness.  In the Garden He has settled with the will of His Father.  Isa. 53 is very clear that this suffering is crucial to the plan of the Father (esp. 53:10).  And this Song is very clear that the Servant is serving the sinners; His death is vicarious, an act done on behalf of others.  The Servant Messiah was the substitute, for the people of Israel and for the Nations.

·        52:13-15: The Servant will be exalted.  As astonishing the extent of His sufferings, His glory will be even greater.  God always exalts the humble!  So He will do for His Son what He promised in Psalm 2.  He will rule on Zion’s throne; He will receive the nations as His inheritance.

·        53:1-3: The Servant will be humble throughout all His life, considered A Man of Sorrows rather than a man highly esteemed.  

·        53:4-6: The affliction of the Servant will be for others.  As Daniel’s prophecy noted, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself (Dan. 9:26).  He carried our sickness and pain (v4), was wounded for our rebellion and bruised for our perversity or depravity or crimes (v5).  He received correction and black and blue marks that we were destined to receive (v5).  We strayed like sheep, turning to our way rather than obeying the Creator; yet the punishment for these crimes was laid on Him (v6).

·        53:7-9: The Servant took it all in silence, meekness.  We will see this in each of the trials.  Though He had a perfect defense, yet His only words were to confirm His Messianic claims, the very claims that infuriated His enemies.  The Holy One was cut off from the land of the living.

·        53:10-12: Yet the Servant’s affliction was not in vain.  His Father was pleased to do this because from death came resurrection, prolonged days and fruitful labor.  Being counted with the rebels He made intercession for the rebels.

Consider Isa. 53:11.  When it is all said and done, the Servant Messiah will be satisfied because He will have a great inheritance: by His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many.  To be one of the righteous ones you must come to God as Abraham did: Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:5).  Abraham believed God’s promise of the Messiah, a Son of Abraham through Whom the blessing would come (see this in Gen. 15:1-4 and in Gen. 14 where Abraham met Melchizedek, the type of the Messiah.  

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[Additional note concerning the Servant in Isaiah.  The common Jewish idea is that the servant is the nation, not the Messiah.  To them it speaks of the suffering of the nation, not one person, the Messiah.  There are places in Isa. 40-66 where the servant is the nation.  But in this passage that interpretation does not fit.  In our reading today, Isa. 52:13-53:12, there are several references to the Servant which are singular and personal.  The pronouns are not plural nor even collective; they refer to one person.  That is how you would normally understand this. 

In addition note the interchange in Isa. 49:3-6, the second Servant Song.  Here is that passage from The Complete Jewish Bible:

3 He said to me, "You are my servant, Isra'el, through whom I will show my glory."

4 But I said, "I have toiled in vain, spent my strength for nothing, futility." Yet my cause is with ADONAI, my reward is with my God.

5 So now ADONAI says - he formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Ya'akov back to him, to have Isra'el gathered to him, so that I will be honored in the sight of ADONAI, my God having become my strength

6 he has said, "It is not enough that you are merely my servant to raise up the tribes of Ya'akov and restore the offspring of Isra'el. I will also make you a light to the nations, so my salvation can spread to the ends of the earth."

In v3 God addresses the nation as His servant.  Then in v4 someone else is speaking.  Is this the nation saying to God my existence has been useless?  Perhaps though it also fits the Messiah.  What we do know is that the person speaking in v5-6 is not Israel; it is Someone formed in the womb to bring Israel back to God.  It is the Servant in v6 to whom God will also give the nations.  To understand that the suffering Servant is the Messiah makes good sense when interpreting Isaiah.  And it fits perfectly the sufferings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels.  He is the fulfillment of all the Servant Songs.]