Isaiah 53 - The Servant of the Lord
In the book of Isaiah, we find the Lord’s warnings to Israel regarding coming captivity, as a result of their obstinate rebellion against him. However, like many other prophets, Isaiah’s warnings are also interspersed with many passages of hope.
Although they are under God’s judgment now, God’s covenant promises of an eternal kingdom of righteousness, in which redeemed men and women live in his presence for eternity, stands. He will fulfill all of his promises despite what it might seem like in the moment for Israel.
Although God’s people would rebel against him, he would not remove his steadfast love from them. He would not violate his covenant or alter his promises. Instead, through chastisement and discipline, he would purify a remnant of people to be his forever.
Within the book of Isaiah, there are four significant which rest the future hope of this salvation upon one significant, unnamed individual. In these passages he is simply presented as one called “the servant of the Lord.” Consequently, these four passages are known as Isaiah’s “Servant Songs.” You will find them in Isaiah chapter 42, 49, 50, and 53.
Servant Song 1 - Isaiah 42:
In Isaiah 42, the servant is presented as one who will be upheld by God; chosen by God; in whom God's soul delights; who will not break a bruised reed, quench a burning wick; who will faithfully bring forth justice; who will not grow faint or discouraged until he has established justice in the earth; who will be given as a covenant for the people; who will be a light for the nations; who will open blind eyes; bring out prisoners, and deliver those who sit in darkness.
This figure is meek and gentle, bringing forth justice, and single-minded in his determination to bring forth justice on earth. He will be the key figure upon whom the Lord will make a covenant with the people.
Servant Song 2 - Isaiah 49:
He will bring Israel back to God. He will be honored in the eyes of God. God is his strength. He will be a light for the nations, so that God's salvation may reach the end of the earth. Further, kings of earth will prostrate themselves before him. Again, we are told that he is chosen by God. And again, it is emphasized that God will give him as a covenant to the people. Like Isaiah 42, here we are told that he will have special mercy on the oppressed and downtrodden. He will rescue prisoners. He will satisfy those who are hungry and thirsty and protect them from danger. He will have pity on them, leading them by springs of water (like a shepherd).
Servant Song 3 - Isaiah 50:
This servant speaks as one whom the Lord has given knowledge and instruction. He speaks words which bring sustenance to the weary. Here also we begin to see introduced the idea that this Servant of the Lord, will suffer. He will willingly give himself to suffer disgrace at the hands of his enemies. In his suffering however, the Lord will deliver him, and vindicate him.
And then we come to the fourth servant song in Isaiah 52 and 53. Shockingly in what, from a human perspective, appears to be a sort of counter-climax to the servant songs, this individual, chosen by the Lord to bring salvation to his people, meek, gentle, merciful upon the weak, bringing forth justice and righteousness on earth, is also one who will suffer a shameful death.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
So, in this servant song, written by Isaiah many hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ, he explicitly described the character, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. More than this, he explained the theology at work which made the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ necessary.
Let’s work our way through this song.
53:2. For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground.
Like a plant unexpectedly sprouting up out of dry, barren soil, bringing new life in the midst of desolation, the Messiah would be born. After 400 years of divine silence following the close of the Old Testament, Jesus would enter the world. He brought life and light in the midst of death and darkness.
And he would come in a way which confounded the superficial pride of men. Born to an unknown woman, in an unknown town, revealed to the lowly shepherds, and born in manger. His ministry would do the same as he sought out the weak, the tired, the oppressed, and the sinful. Through him and his earthly ministry, the Lord would confront human pride, and confound human wisdom.
Isaiah 11:1-4 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
But he would come at a time when Israel was corrupt. Led by hypocritical legalists; unfaithful shepherds who victimized the sheep instead of leading them to God. Instead of swinging wide open the door to the kingdom of heaven, they slammed it in the faces of the people. They preyed upon the people, not ushering them into the kingdom of God, but instead making them children of hell. Instead of teaching the word of God, they taught their own commandments as if they were true doctrine.
These leaders were children of Satan, doing their father’s bidding. What hope they had of a Messiah was corrupt. They were self-righteous, feeling no need for personal salvation. What hope they had in the promises of the coming Servant of the Lord; the Messiah, was a hope shaped more by their political ambitions than their understanding of the Word of God.
So, when the Servant did come, when Christ did arrive, he came in a way which the Jews did not expect. They were blinded by their own pride and self-righteousness.
Isaiah 53:2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
The nature of Jesus birth; his family; his appearance; how he conducted his ministry; none of it appealed to the self-righteous. None of it squared with human wisdom.
And so…
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Rejected. Why? Because he came with an offer of salvation! Why would people reject this? Because they were so hypocritically self-righteous that the notion that they need to be saved was an offense. Jesus came calling all men and women to repentance, no matter their religious status. All needed to be saved through him, because all were sinners. This was too much for the hypocritical legalists to bear.
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief:
Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
Luke 19:41-42 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
Gethsemane: Matthew 26:37-38 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me."
But also, the cross…
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 52:14 As many were astonished at you-- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
His body so wrecked upon the cross that he was revolting. Men looked away in horror and disgust. But also in disdain…
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
The one who had been chosen by the Lord to bring his covenant promises to pass; who came with love and mercy for the weak and rejected; who spoke only words of righteousness, suffered a revolting death, and those who looked upon him responded by proclaiming that he was getting what he deserved. God must have been punishing him for his sins!
How could this be? How could they be this blind? They had on multiple occasions sought to stone him for blasphemy..
John 10:30-33 I and the Father are one." 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" 33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God."
Mark 14:61-64 [Before the High Priest] But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" 62 And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, "What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?" And they all condemned him as deserving death.
So, in their eyes, Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, was deserving of death. God would punish him, for his sins. Shame, horror, disdain.
God, in his perfect timing sent the Messiah. He sent him at a time when his people, the Jews had so corrupted Judaism that they no longer possessed the ability to recognize or receive the Messiah promised in the scriptures. So, while the Jews were puffed up in self-righteousness, consumed with worldly thinking, corrupted by a hypocritical religious system, God quietly sent his Son, the Messiah in a way which confounded all of their expectations and instincts. Yet, he did so exactly in the way predicted in the scriptures. They were spiritually deaf and blind. Their hearts were hard and their consciences seared.
Far from welcoming the Messiah and bowing before him, they despised him. They rejected him. They “esteemed him not”. That is, they considered him useless and cast him aside like revolting refuse.
BUT NOTICE THE TENSE HERE.
Isaiah 53:2-3 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah is writing about future events but wording it as if the speaker is looking back and recalling past events. What we have here is a prophecy which looks forward to a time when those who rejected the Messiah would come to a mournful realization of what they had done.
Although the speaker states the manner in which Israel viewed the Messiah and how this sinful blindness led them to reject Him, he then begins to show how the veil of confusion would one day be lifted and how a remnant of Israel would begin to fully understand who the Messiah actually was and what his rejection and death actually signified.
Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
And so, look at what these Jews ultimately begin to realize:
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
“We felt fully justified in our hatred and rejection of him. Seeing him upon the cross, we saw the just judgement upon a sinner. A blasphemer. He was getting what he deserved. He came with a message which condemned Israel, which grouped us in with Gentiles, he confounded our leaders and associated with sinners. Beyond this, he tried to make himself one with God. We despised him and did so in conceited self-righteousness. Surely our hatred for him was in service to our god!
But, what a stark realization dawned upon us as the spirit of God lifted our blindness. In seeing his torn, bleeding body – a scene so revolting we had to turn our heads away, we began to realize it wasn’t for his sins that he suffered but the horror we were seeing was the horror of our own iniquities.”
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
“In our spiritual blindness, we looked upon him as he writhed in pain and felt no empathy, no pity. He was getting what he deserved! But now we see it. his wounds were wounds for our transgressions. His crushing was for our iniquities. The sin that we despised in him, was not his own, it was ours. He was suffering for us and because of us.
Suddenly, our eyes began to see it. He was not a sinner, he was saviour. He was not a blasphemer, he was Lord. He was not refuse to be cast out, he was a pearl of great price to be treasured and adored. He was not a failed religious leader selfishly seeking a following, he was the true shepherd gathering together the flock of God.
As God lifted the blindness, Jesus upon the cross transformed from the ultimate villain, suffering the just penalty for his own sins into a suffering sacrifice who willingly gave himself for the sins of the very people who had rejected him. He suffered for us. He was our substitute.”
OUR SUBSTITUTE (penal substitution)
2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
As reflected in Isaiah 53:5 – “upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”
That is, through his death, by bearing our sins and suffering the penalty that rightfully belonged to us, he made peace between us and God. God’s wrath was absorbed by Christ and turned away from us.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…
The Servant of the Lord, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, died in the place of sinners. He didn’t die for his own sins, but he bore the sins of all who would believe in him. He didn’t die because he was an enemy of God, he died to reconcile enemies to God. The substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ produced peace between God and man. Why was it necessary and how did it produce this peace?
Why was it necessary? - The Universal Depravity of Man
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Here the speaker has a clear understanding of the depravity of man – all men. ALL we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned – EVERYONE to his own way.
This is an indictment, not just on the Jews but on every man. This is clear as Paul pulls this truth forward into the New Testament in his letter to the Gentile believers in Rome. He writes:
Romans 3:10-12 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
Everyone has strayed from God and what does it look like? Every man going his own way. Doing as he desires; living for himself; becoming his own moral authority; becoming his own God.
All human beings born into this world are born into iniquity. All are sinners. Sinners by nature, but also sinners by practice. There are no exceptions.
The idea of “going astray” assumes a right path. In our sinfulness we stray from the law of God and his righteousness. In committing iniquity, we have transgressed the law of God and deserve the just penalty for our rebellion.
Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
All are sinners, all have gone astray from God. All are lost in their iniquity. All are law breakers. All are held accountable to God.\
How then can a sinful world find peace with God?
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The speaker sees in Christ’s death, more than an atrocity committed by lawless men. He sees a divine act whereby the LORD himself has laid the iniquities of us all upon Christ. What does this mean? That Christ became a sinner upon the cross? No, not at all. But on the cross, God the Father as judge declared Christ to have committed the sins of those for whom he was dying.
[Again] 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Penal Substitution
Bearing the sin of the world (John 1:29), Christ then incurred the just penalty for such sin – the wrath of the holy God.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
Who did the crushing?
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.Propitiation
Peace was necessary because the sinfulness of man separated man from God and incurred his wrath. How was the peace accomplished? God’s justice against man’s sin was satisfied as he crushed the Messiah. He exercised his full wrath against man’s sin upon the Messiah. In so doing, he received his death as an offering for the guilt of man (10 - he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt). The Messiah satisfied God’s righteous anger and turned his wrath away from man. As our passage says…
Satisfied? Yes.. Isaiah 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.
This is what the Bible calls propitiation:
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
This is the significance of:
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The imagery here in Isaiah 53:6 is an allusion to what the Lord had instructed Israel to do on the Day of Atonement. Specifically, regarding the SCAPEGOAT:
Leviticus 16:21-30 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness… 29 "And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.
The scapegoat is a foreshadowing of the Messiah who would come. All the sins of all who would believe in him were placed upon him and he took them away. He didn’t take them the wilderness however; he took them to the grave. There our sins are left, never to be remembered in judgment again.
Remarkably, our passage tells us something more of the Messiah and his relationship to the Day of Atonement. Not only is he the scapegoat, but he is also the sacrificial lamb:
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
“He opened not his mouth” - The Messiah would not only die for our sins, but he would do so willingly.
John 10:17-18 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."
And so, he did not protest. He did not resist.. but he went to the cross willingly where he would bear the sins of his people which the Father placed upon him…
Matthew 27:12-14 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?" 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
1 Peter 2:22-23 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
Galatians 1:3-5 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
So, we have our iniquities placed upon the Messiah, he bearing the just penalty that we deserved as those who had all gone astray from God. That penalty being the wrath of God towards sin. That wrath being satisfied as God is pleased to pour it out upon Christ. Peace then being made between holy God and sinful man, through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Messiah.
Wicked men crucified him of their own evil volition, yet behind it all was the Lord’s sovereign working wherein he was bringing forth salvation for all. Greater than the suffering inflicted by the hate-filled, vindictive, religious hypocrites, was the divine wrath which Jesus willingly bore for the sins of the people.
Isaiah 53:8-10 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt,…
[RESURRECTION]
And then, remarkably, Isaiah not only sees the birth, life, ministry, rejection, and death of Jesus in this passage, but he also sees beyond the grave.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see his offspring. The servant of the Lord will be killed. He was never married, never had children, but in his death, he will:
Produce offspring.
Live eternally
Accomplish the will of the Lord.
How is it possible to accomplish these through death? It is possible because Jesus didn’t stay dead.
Acts 2:24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
So then, through his perfect life, substitutionary death, and his resurrection what was the “will of the Lord” that he accomplished? Look in verse 11:
Isaiah 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
First it says, “out of the anguish of his soul he shall be satisfied.” The Servant, Jesus, will be fully satisfied with what he has accomplished through his own suffering. This reminds us of Hebrews 12:2 where it says:
Hebrews 12:2 … who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Both God the Father and God the Son are satisfied with what Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice accomplished. This is not “satisfaction” as we often use the term. “That is satisfactory;” or “He satisfied the requirements;” or “Yes, I’m satisfied with that.” Instead, what is actually in view here is the full satisfaction of God’s righteous requirements so that his wrath and judgment is turned away from sinners. The New Testament has a somewhat technical term for this satisfaction – it is the word propitiation.
Romans 3:21-25 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith….
The life, and death of Jesus Christ fully satisfied God so that his wrath has been turned away, from whom? Those who have “faith in Jesus Christ.” These are declared righteous, not on the basis of their personal goodness, but on the basis of their God-given faith.
Isaiah 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Romans 4:4-5 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
Would you believe in Jesus Christ this morning? You, like every other man and woman born into this world, are a sinner. You like the rest of mankind have gone astray from the Lord. You, like every other person is separated from God and in need of reconciliation. Further, you like every one else, can’t attain favour with God through your own righteousness or good works. You, like every other human being, need a righteousness which is not your own. Through faith in Jesus Christ, and what he accomplished for you on the cross, the Lord will not only count your sin as paid for by Christ but will count Christ’s perfect righteousness as if it is your own.
And again, how does one attain this righteousness? By grace, as a gift, when you believe by faith.
CONCLUSION
As we conclude look one more time at verse 12. Amazingly, Isaiah sees even beyond the death of Christ, and his resurrection and portrays for us the exaltation of Christ.
EXALTATION
Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Like a victorious King returning from battle after defeating his enemies and capturing their spoil, Jesus defeats sin, death, and Satan and has the spoils of his victory in hand. He raises from the dead, is exalted at the right hand of the Father, and shares the spoils of his victory with all who belong to him.
Colossians 2:13-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
This morning, if you will trust Jesus Christ as your saviour, and confess him as your Lord, you also will share the spoils of Christ’s victory. You will be reconciled to the Father, will receive the Lord’s Holy Spirit, and will be declared righteous in his sight.
So, we have God, who after 400 years of silence, and at a time of spiritual barrenness sent his ultimate revelation to his people in the person of the Messiah. Yet, he did so in a way unexpected by, and undesirable to Israel. The Messiah came meekly and with a message which confounded the Jews. They were so inflated with self-righteousness that instead of receiving their saviour and his message of repentance with humility, they rejected him out of religious pride. They despised him and relished in his death. They counted him as a transgressor who rightly deserved the judgement of God.
The speaker reveals the coming attitude of a remnant of the Jews as their spiritual blindness is removed and they consider once again the death of Christ. And what will they realize?
That Jesus Christ was the Messiah who went to the cross both willingly and as a fulfillment of God’s divine will. There on the cross, God placed upon him the guilt of all who would believe in Christ and subsequently punished him as if those sins were his. Christ was then buried and rose again, victorious over sin and death and distributed the benefits of his victory to the church. God’s wrath was satisfied, peace was made with man, and Christ’s righteousness was given to those for whom Christ died.
