“An Exegesis of Isaiah 53”
By Ben Bailey
It has often been noted that the Book of Isaiah is like a miniature Bible. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah are like the 39 books of the Old Testament where God brings judgement and punishment upon immoral nations and men. The last 27 chapters of Isaiah are also like the 27 books of the New Testament. They are riddled with prophecies of hope, release, redemption, and reconciliation through the coming of the Messiah. The highlight of the last 27 chapters of Isaiah is the climatic prophecy of the suffering Savior found in chapter 53. Or, more precisely beginning in chapter 52:13 and extending through chapter 53.
This prophetic text is
the most beautiful, in-detail picture painted of the Almighty Son of God. Most scholars believe that Isaiah, the son of
Amoz, wrote the Book of Isaiah in the eighth century B. C. Therefore, the text of Isaiah 53 would
probably have been written around 700-750 years before the cross of Christ. This fact will further illustrate to the
believer the inspiration of the Bible, and the great love that God had for
mankind before time began (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:20-21; I Cor 14:37; 2 Tim
1:8-10; I Pet 1:18-20; Eph 3:10-11).
The purpose of this paper
will be to look at some of the intricate details of Isaiah 52:13-53 and list
and elaborate upon the characteristics of Jesus Christ, the suffering
Savior. In doing this, it is my hope
that the reader will be drawn closer to Christ through a realization that He
really was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8).
The first characteristic
listed about God’s Servant is that He would be a Man of prudence, or
wisdom. “Behold My Servant shall deal
prudently…” (Isaiah 52:13). Webster’s
Dictionary defines a prudent person as one who is “capable of exercising sound
judgement in practical matters, cautious or discreet in conduct.”1 Another way of describing a prudent
person is by designating him as wise.
Luke made this exact assessment of the young Jesus when he said, “And
Jesus increased in wisdom, and stature, and favor with God and man” (Lk
2:52). Jesus Christ is the epitome of
true wisdom. In Matt 4:1-11, when Satan
tempted Christ, Jesus displayed His prudence by not speaking hastily, but
speaking as the oracles of God (I Pet 4:11).
Solomon declared in Proverbs 1:7 that, “The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Jesus truly did posses a reverent respect for
the Father when He said, “I must be about My Father’s business” (Lk 2:49).
The next characteristic
of the suffering Savior is His appearance, or visage was to be marred more than
any man (Isaiah 52:14). The only time in
the life of Christ that this has reference to is from His trial to His
crucifixion. Notice the physical abuse
Christ incurred for you and me:
1.
Jesus
was scourged by Pilate for us (Matt 27:26).
A scourging is described as a method of punishment where the culprit was
stripped, stretched with cords or thongs on a frame, and beaten with rods.2
Dr. C Truman Davis has described a scourging as, “the Prisoner was
stripped of his clothes and His hands tied to a post above His head. The Roman Legionnaire steps forward with the
flagrum (flagellum) in his hand. This is
a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls
of lead attached near the ends of each.
The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across
Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs. At
first the thongs cut through the skin only.
Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous
tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of
the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying
muscles. Finally, the skin of the back
is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of
torn, bleeding tissues.” 3
2.
A
crown of thorns was embedded into Christ’ head (Matt 27:29).
3.
He
was spit on, and beaten on his thorn crowned head with a rod (Matt 27:30).
4.
A
robe was placed on Him, allowed to dry, then violently ripped off to create
intense pain and bleeding all over again (Matt 27:28,31).
5.
His
hands and feet were nailed to a cross and he was crucified to death (Matt
27:35).
Another characteristic of the Messiah found in Isaiah 53 is His rejection by men. No one was ever rejected more than Christ and the gospel. In Isaiah 53:3, Isaiah said, “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” The one verse that describes Christ’ rejection most is Matthew 23:37,
"O Jerusalem,
As a whole, the Jewish nation rejected Jesus Christ. Jesus understood that Isaiah 53:3 was speaking of Himself when He told His disciples that the Son of Man must first be rejected by this generation (Lk 17:25). Jesus Christ truly was the chief corner stone that was rejected by the Jewish builders (Matt 21:42). In response to the rejection of Christ by the Jews, Peter said,
“This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12)
The next Characteristic of the suffering Messiah that we find in Isaiah 53 is He was crucified for all humanity (Heb 2:10). In Isaiah 53:4-6, God said,
“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 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.”
Before Christ came into the world, man was spiritually dead because of sin (Rom 3:23,6:23; Isaiah 59:1-2). But, because of God’s great love for all mankind, He sent Jesus to die for our sins (Jn 3:16; Gal 1:4). In Romans 5:6-8 Paul expressed it this way,
“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus Christ is our sacrifice for
sin today. In I Pet 2:24, Peter would
say concerning Christ, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes
you were healed.” Under the Old Law,
when a person sinned he would have to offer a young bull without spot and
blemish for his sins (Lev 4:3ff). But,
under the New Testament, Christ is our eternal sacrifice for sins (Jn 1:29, Heb
10:12). He went to
The final characteristic that we will note about Christ from Isaiah 53 is that his nature was that of total and complete perfection. In Isaiah 53:9 we are told, “And they made His grave with the wicked; But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.” Jesus Christ was the only sinless person to ever walk upon the face of the earth. “He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth” (I Pet 2:22). He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). “He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Because of the sinless life of Christ, we can be cleansed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Pet 1:19).
Truly, Isaiah 53 enlightens us in many ways concerning the death, life and glory that the Messiah had upon this earth. When we are reminded of the Christ in this light we should all be able to say with the Apostle Paul, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (I Tim 1:17).