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This prophesy, the fourth of the Servant prophecies, is widely considered to be the greatest of all Messianic prophecies. It sets before us with startling clarity the vicarious (substitutionary) suffering of the Messiah for the sins of the people. It so closely matches the passion and crucifixion of Jesus that it almost seems that Isaiah was there on Golgotha.
H.P. Leupold declares that this prophecy “is and will remain one of the grandest and most dearly beloved passages of Sacred Writ” and a passage that develps the vicarious sufferings of the Messiah “in a measure not oudone even by the New Testament writers” (Leupold, Exposition of Isaiah, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1971) 222, 223). Hengstenberg calls it, “the most important of all the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and better adapted than any other to lead us to a right understanding of the whole” (Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, Kregel Reprint Library (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishing House, 1979) 229). Luther remarks that Isaiah 53 “is the foremost passage on the suffering and resurrection of Christ, and there is hardly another like it” (LW 17:215).
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NIV Isaiah 52:13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him--his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness-- 15 so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
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Yahweh is speaking about the Servant in 52:13-15. Prophecy does not always proceed in describing events according to chronological order. Often the order is confused (to us). Case in point is this section. Verse 13 describes the Messiah’s exaltation; verse 14 speaks of humiliation and suffering; verse 15 tells of his exaltation again.
Four verbs describe the Servant’s exaltation in verse 13: “act wisely” (lk;f' (´¹kal)), “raised” (~Wr (rûm), “lifted up” (af'n" (n¹´¹°)), and “exalted” (hb;g' (g¹bah)) which is modified by “exeedingly” (daom. (m®°œd)). Philippians 2:9 quotes this passage.
Verses 14-15 contain a comparision: Just as the Servant will suffer more than any man has, so will he be exalted beyond that of anyone.
“his appearance was so disfigured” is a translation of tx;v.mi (mishµat), which can also be translated “his face was so disfigured” or “he was ugly in form” or “he was
inhumanly deformed.” “more than the sons of men” This passage speaks to the mark of Christ’s passion upon his body—he was beaten so badly his face and body were disfigured. Christ’s face and body were beaten and scourged (Matthew 26:67, 27:26-30).
“so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him.” – The New Testament authors speak of “sprinkling” in Matthew 28:19, Hebrews 9:13-14, Hebrews 10:22, Titus 3:5-6, 1 Peter 1:2.
“For what they [the nations] were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.” -- This is quoted in Romans 15:21, 16:25-26, and Ephesians 3:5-9.
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NIV Isaiah 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
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“He grew up . . . like a root out of dry ground.” -- This passage refers to the humble condition of the Messiah before he suffered. A root that grows in dry ground is underdeveloped and insignificant. The Servant did not grow up in a family of signficance, but in one unknown and insignificant. See Mark 6:1-3.
“He had no beauty or majesty” – The Hebrew text actually says, “He had no form or majesty (rd'h' (h¹d¹r), a word that is often applied to God or kings). As Jesus grew up in the streets of Nazareth, there was nothing kingly or regal about his appearance to make people notice him.
“nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” – The Hebrew word for “desire” is hD'm.x, (µemdâ), which has the sense of “take pleasure in.” Jesus had no natural charisma, nor was he particularly popular. People were not drawn to him.
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NIV Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
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Now begins a description of the Servant’s suffering, the people’s reaction to it, and the real reason for that suffering.
The Servant is described as (1) “despised” (hz"B' (b¹zâ)” and (2) “rejected” (ld,x' (µ¹del)), which might be better translated “abandoned” or “forsaken”) by men. Furthermore, he is described as (3) “a man of sorrows” (bAak.m; (mak°ôb), a Hebrew word that means “pain” or “suffering.” It can mean either physical or mental pain, and (4) “familiar with suffering” (ylix\ (µ©lî), a word that
usually means “sickness” but can be translated “grief.” Moreover, the Servant, is (5) “like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised” and (6) “we esteemed him not. The sense is “we considered him to be of no account.” Every one of these things was fulfilled in the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. Numbers 1-2, 5-6 came true as people, soldiers, Jewish leaders, all considered him to be someone guilty of blasphemy or insurrection and thus cursed by God.
Pronouns are everything! Note the repeated use of “our” in the following section. Luther: “These words, OUR, US, FOR US, must be written in letters of gold. He who does not believe this is not a Christian . . . Now follows what He would accomplish by His suffering, whether He suffered for His own sake or for the sake of others. And this is the second part of our understanding and justification, to know that Christ suffered and was cursed and killed, but FOR US. It is not enough to know the matter, the suffering, but it is necessary to know its function.”
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” -- The word translated “infirmities” is the same word that was translated “suffering” in verse 3 (ylix\ (µ©lî)). Whereas verse three had said that the Servant had experienced sorrow and sickness, verse 4 tells us that “took up” (af'n" (n¹´¹°) used again in 53:12) and “carried” (lb;s' (s¹bal) used again in 53:11) them. In other words, the Servant was experiencing the suffering that we deserved to suffer. He bore the consequences of our sin. He became our substitute.
Matthew sees this passage fulfilled (in part) by Jesus healing the sicknesses of the people (Matthew 8:16-17).
“yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.” – “Stricken” ( [g:n" (n¹ga±), “to strike”); “Smitten” (hk'n" (n¹k¹), “to hit, smite”); “Afflicted” (hn"[' (±¹nâ), “to degrade”). Isaiah includes himself among those who totally misinterpreted the reason for the Servant’s suffering. They mistakenly thought God was punishing him because he himself was evil or guilty. Quite the contrary, the servant was innocent. The reason for his suffering was not his sin, but ours.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions” – The Hebrew word ll;x' (µ¹lal) can mean “to pierce” “to bore through” or “to wound fatally”. Jesus was pierced by the nails of the cross and the head of the spear. The prepositin !mi (min) means “for” or “because of.” The Hebrew word
translated “transgressions” is [v;P, (pesha±), which can also be rendered “rebellion” or “revolt.” Here is the teaching of the vicarious substitution of the Messiah in all its clarity. He was pierced for OUR transgressions. The Servant was being punished not because of his own, but because of our trangressions. He suffered the punishment of God that we deserved. He took our place. He became our substitute. (See Romans 4:25, 5:8; 1 Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:19-21; Gal 1:4, 3:13; Hebrews 7:27, 9:24-28, 10:10-13; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:2, 4:10).
“He was crushed for our iniquities.” -- The same thought as above is repeated here in slightly different language. The word “iniquities” ( !wO[' (±¹wœn) has the sense of “infraction,” “crooked behavior,” or “perversion.” Jesus was being punished in our place.
“the punishment that brought us peace was upon him” – The word for “punishment” is rs'Wm (mûs¹r). The peace referred to ( ~Alv' (sh¹lôm)) is peace between God and us: reconciliation. (See Micah 5:4-5; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14-17; Colossians 1:20). By his suffering and death Christ gave us peace with God.
“and by his wounds we are healed.” – The word translated “wounds” is hr'WBx; (µabbûrâ) and refers to the “stripe” or “wound” that a beating or whipping left. See 1 Peter 2:24. Isaiah finally declares the purpose of the Servant’s vicarious suffering and death: to heal us. The word for “heal” is ap'r' (r¹p¹°), which obviously refers to a spiritual healing from the disease of sin.
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NIV Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
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“We all, like sheep, have gone astray” – Gone astray from God because our sin separated us from our Shepherd (Isaiah 59:1-2). “We all” is universal, referring to all humanity.
“Each of us has turned to his own way.” This shows the sinful will of mankind. Each person pursues his own sinful agenda, doing only what seems right to him, without any thought of whether his life is pleasing to God. (Compare Judges 17:26).
“The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” – The Hebrew word translated “has laid on him” ( [g:P' (p¹ga±)) should be translated “caused to fall on him.” The word signifies a violent attack, as when someone falls on someone else to kill them. It was Yahweh that caused all this to happen. It was he that caused the inquities of all people to fall upon Jesus and kill him. It was he that chose to punish Jesus in our place. The “inquity of us all” refers to the “sins of the world” as John 1:29 and 1 John 2:2.
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