Isaiah 53:1-12
Ps Paul Cheng
“…clearly prophesied in Isaiah 53…”
~8 min read
Good Friday is a time when churches all over the world commemorate the crucifixion and death of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Second Person in the Triune God, who humbled Himself to come into this world, and died on Calvary’s cross to save mankind. His sufferings and death were clearly prophesied in Isaiah 53.
I. He Was Rejected
Isaiah 53:1, Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? The arm of the LORD speaks of the power of God which is the gospel of Christ. Romans 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. By divine inspiration, Isaiah the prophet who lived about 700 years before Christ saw Him as the power of God to save, but sadly, the majority of Israel had rejected Him.
Isaiah 53:2, For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Using the agricultural process as an illustration, Isaiah said that the people saw Jesus as nothing extra-ordinary. He was just an ordinary person appearing in a rebellious nation. The phrase no form nor comeliness means that His physical or majestic appearance was not particularly impressive.
Isaiah 53:3, He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. The people were looking forward to meeting a greater David according to their own human terms. So, when they saw Him suffering, they turned away from Him because they were ashamed of such a “Messiah.”
What about you? If you are an unbeliever, you are just one of the millions out there in the world who have rejected Christ. Even 700 years before Christ, it was already prophesied that He would be rejected. If you are a believer, it is because of your faith which is a gift of God, and the gospel (power of God) which was revealed to you. If faith is not a gift from God, none would have believed in a man who had lived his life in rejection (c.f. Ephesians 2:8-9).
II. He Was Our Sin-Bearer
Isaiah 53:4-6, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Indeed, Jesus was a man of sorrows, but those sorrows were not His own. He did not deserve them, for they were our sorrows. He took our place, and He had done for us what we could not do for ourselves. Theologians call this “imputation” which (in Latin) means to charge to someone’s account. The penalty of our sins must be paid, and it could not be swept under the carpet. The only way the relationship between sinful man and a holy God could be made right was when the debt of sins had been paid. But it was a debt none of us could pay and God charged that infinite debt to His only begotten Son. Jesus took our place on the cross, and the unbearable weight of our sorrows, our guilts, were imputed unto Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
He was bruised for our iniquities; this is a very descriptive way to explain the suffering of Christ. In those days, when the people wanted to get the grain from the stalk, they had to bruise it by threshing it, or break it so that the grain could be detached from the stalk, and subsequently they would crush it in the mill to turn it into flour to be used. Jesus was bruised, broken and crushed under the punishment of our sins.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him; here, the chastisement was not the discipline of a loving father but the act of justice. It was the act of God taking vengeance on our sins, and Jesus drank it all to the last drop, to obtain the peace with God that we cannot obtain.
The phrase with his stripes we are healed means with His wounds we were healed. It does not mean that by Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, the believers will never be sick again. This phrase has been wrongly interpreted by the charismatics to refer to physical healing. Is it possible for Christians to contract the deadly coronavirus? Most certainly, otherwise, why do we have to put on masks or be vaccinated, as forms of protection?
Here, it means we have been healed spiritually, and the fulfilment of our physical deliverance would come in the day when the Lord returns. Then He would bring an end to suffering, sin and death. It is only in the resurrection glory that all believers would experience no sickness, pain, sorrow and death.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way. We are like foolish sheep wandering here and there, falling into sin and looking at all the different ways to save ourselves through our own self-righteousness, but all for nothing. The interesting thing about sheep is that though they are foolish and often getting into trouble, yet they have something that goats do not have. They have a shepherd to protect, guide and lead them! Jesus was not only the shepherd who was willing to die and bear the sins for His sheep, but also in order for Him to do that, He had to be the lamb. The shepherd became the sheep! As John Calvin said, “The Son of God became the Son of man so that the sons of man might become the sons of God.”
III. He Died In Humility
Oftentimes when people consider the death of Christ, they would look at His death as a sign of weakness. But Christ was not caught in a series of events beyond His control. He came for this ultimate purpose (c.f. John 10:17-18).
Isaiah 53:7, He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. But why didn’t He call upon the Father to send a legion of angels to rescue Him and send fire to consume His persecutors? Well, what’s the point? He came for this ultimate purpose to die on the cross, and so when the time came, He went willingly like a lamb to the slaughter. He did not murmur nor complain; He did not resign it to fate or some unfair justice. He was not over-powered, for He chose not to fight back. He purposefully and willingly went to the cross!
But it does not mean He deserved the abuse He received. Isaiah 53:8, He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
At His trial, He was quickly tried and judged. The phrase who shall declare his generation? means “who will declare the length of His life? Who is able to determine the length of His future?” In other words, His enemies might think they had gotten rid of Him, but the reality was that there was no end to His existence, for He was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the Almighty God. Nonetheless, He died, and His death was a most violent one because He was cut off out of the land of the living.
Isaiah 53:9, And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. In both His actions and words, He died in absolute righteousness and humility. Jesus was crucified with the two thieves (the wicked), and He was buried in the grave of Joseph of Arimathea (the rich).
IV. He Was Bruised But Victorious
The death of Jesus Christ was more than a human plot; it was a divine plan and strategy. At the cross, Christ was doing the will of God. Isaiah 53:10, yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. It was on that cross that Jesus made His soul an offering for sin. His death gave His seed, the believers, eternal life. The world looks at the followers of Christ as a bunch of losers, but the reality is that they are not only saved through the cross, they have also been blessed beyond measures, with all spiritual blessings.
Isaiah 53:11, He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. As Christ looked at God’s saving plan, and He measured the price He had to pay to accomplish it, He knew that He had to endure the pain and suffering on the cross. But for Him, it was worth it all. He was satisfied, and with that knowledge, He faced the cross.
Isaiah 53:12, Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Jesus was ascended into heaven, and seated at the right hand of God. He was given a name above all other names; He had destroyed Satan and his wicked angels, and defeated all His enemies through His death and His precious blood that was poured out. Jesus was never guilty of any sin, yet He was willing to be the friend of sinners, and He was willing to be our Saviour to bear our sins and be our Intercessor.
My friend, who would love us so perfectly, amazingly and sacrificially? Who would willingly die as our substitute? Knowing that Jesus lived in rejection, He was our sin-bearer, He died in humility, and He was bruised but victorious, what then is our response to His great love? We must love Him with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our strength. We must serve Him with all faithfulness, and live our lives to serve, worship and glorify Him all the days of our life.
With love in Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng
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