Isaiah 53 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.
Along with Psalm 22, this passage graphically describes key events in the life of Jesus. The Psalm (written 1000 years in advance) gives us a first-person account of the crucifixion. Isaiah above (writing 750 years beforehand) takes more of an overview of Messiah’s life from the viewpoint (mainly) of God and His people. Both accounts are breathtakingly accurate and deeply moving. I will touch on certain parts of Isaiah 53 that seem particularly meaningful.
In contrast to most of the works of art that have attempted to portray Christ, note that outwardly his appearance was not in the least striking. He did not stand out in a crowd by virtue of physical attributes (v 2). Rather, His perfections, His beauty and His glory belonged to His inner being - His heart and His soul.
In Lamentations 1:12, a character cries out to those who pass by to consider if there is any sorrow like his sorrow - experienced at the Lord’s hands. In context, the character in question may be a personification of fallen Jerusalem, but Christ could just as easily have taken these words as His own. And it wasn’t just at the cross that Jesus experienced grief and pain and sorrow. Think of His entrance as the spotless Lamb of God into the cesspit that we have made (through our sin) of the creation He once declared to be “very good”. Think of His torment as He saw His people being burdened and taken advantage of by those who should have been their spiritual guides. Think of His real, raw grief at Lazarus’s tomb because sin had done its work and death had claimed His friend. Think of His Father’s house being turned into a den of robbers. And yes - think of His “trial”. The mocking, spitting, scourging and beating. And think of the crucifixion. All of this experienced in a dazzlingly, infinitely pure soul. Was there ever sorrow like His sorrow? This is where we see the sinfulness of sin most clearly.
But then we are brought face to face with the reason why He put up with all of this - in order to take our place under the law, to keep it for us and to receive the punishment that it prescribed for all of our law-breaking. Look at v 4-6. The people watching thought that God was striking Him for offences He must have committed. How wrong! He had no sin. All the punishment He bore was what rightly belonged to us - to those whom He was healing from sin.
He was meek in His “trial”. Legions of angels were being restrained (I imagine) or else would have sped to rescue Him from such injustice. He didn’t defend Himself from any of the false accusations that were made. He kept quiet. Why? Because for our sake and for our salvation it had to be this way. He had to die in our place. There was no other way (clearly) for God to undo the effects of sin and to purchase a people for Himself out of its bondage.
He had no earthly children, yet through His sacrifice, He has produced countless spiritual offspring, all of whom will grow up into His likeness!
Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy follower of Jesus, gave his own grave as the temporary home for the body of Jesus. But see how this passage also speaks of His resurrection. Note that it pleased God to crush Him and to put Him to grief, but that is not the end of Him! This One, who poured out His soul to death and was crucified as a transgressor and between two criminals, will yet prolong His days and God’s will will prosper in His hands. He will make many to be counted as righteous and will be satisfied with the reward for His work (in part, His spiritual offspring - the joy set before Him). He will be counted among the great because He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
Believers should find this passage bittersweet, I think. Bitter because it was my our sin that made Jesus a Man of Sorrows and put Him to shame and unspeakable suffering. Sweet because nevertheless He loved us and was willing to give Himself up for us, being crushed by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God so that we could be set free and made like Him!
