Isa. 52:13-53:12, Servant Song #4

Servant Song #4, Isa. 52:13-53:12

We now come to the last, and probably the best known of the Servant Songs.  I say “best known.”  But many don’t realize the song actually begins with the stanza at the end of Isa. 52.  The Song begins, “Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently” (52:13).  And we often refer to this as “the Song of the Suffering Servant.”  But I hope you realize we have already seen in the previous songs it was the will of the LORD that the Servant would suffer.  Let’s take a quick journey through the 5 stanzas of this powerful Song.

·       52:13-15: The Servant is humble and yet effective. The Song begins with the end: the Massiah will be exalted.  But then it quickly moves to His humiliation.  These songs center primarily on the Incarnation, that descent of the Son of God from being “in the form of God” to taking on the “form of a bond servant.”  He will win the day, shutting the mouths of the arrogant kings (Ps. 2:1-3), not by His appearance as a man but by His

·       53:1-3: The Servant is called “the Man of Sorrows.”  But the gist of this stanza is that in all His sorrows, added to them will be His rejection by the ones He came to save.  Notice how Isaiah the prophet identifies with the nation (“our,” “we”).

·       53:4-6: The point of the Man of Sorrows is not simply to suffer.  All of His suffering is not for Himself but for “us.”  Again, the prophet identifies himself with Israel through possessive and collective pronouns.  This stanza has a strong description of our sinfulness.  We don’t fully appreciate what Christ has done for us unless we recognize our sinfulness.

·       53:7-9: He was oppressed, yet He will be honored.  I see the righteousness of Christ in this stanza.  In v7 His silence before those who put Him to death is evidence that He was committed to the will of His Father.  Verse 8 presents us with the mystery: because He took our sin on Himself He has died.  That seems to be the end of any thoughts about His glory and exaltation.  And yet, the crucified Man had a rich man’s burial because the sin He bore was ours until He graciously took it upon Himself. 

·       53:10-12: Two things in v10 are critical.  First, all this was and is God’s plan. The Servant, the LORD’s Servant, is the Man of Sorrows because it was the Father’s will.  And second, that “will” was to make an offering for sin.  Because God so loved the world He sent the Servant to suffer and die.  His being counted with the sinners is at first incriminating (the Father forsakes Him), but then receives a reward.  Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed (Ps. 85:10).