One of the greatest of the ancient Hebrew prophets was a man named Isaiah.  Chapter 52 of the book of the Bible that bears his name introduces us to someone popularly known as “the suffering servant.”  He doesn’t start out that way.

In verse 13, we learn that this servant is unique: “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.”  Prudent (judicious, wise, shrewd).  Exalted (elevated, of greatly superior status). Extolled (praised, glorified, lauded). Very high (extraordinarily or extremely far above, at the pinnacle of position or power).

Sounds impressive so far, right? Then something happens to shred this rosy depiction and leave it hanging in bloody tatters (v. 14): ^“As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men—”  Suddenly, the condition of God’s special servant takes a sharp and startling turn.  His physical appearance now causes jaw-dropping, breath-snatching astonishment.  His face has been somehow marred beyond human likeness and his body has all but lost human semblance.

The result (v.15) is that many nations’ “…kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” It takes quite a shock to make the most narcissistic and prominent people on the planet close their mouths and think.  But it seems as chapter 53 opens, that their consideration has not led them to the right conclusion.  A perplexed and outraged prophet cries, “¹Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

These questions are purely rhetorical. A relative few have believed the words of the prophets.  It was that way in Isaiah’s day and the situation hasn’t changed much since.  The Lord bared His mighty arms to perform His great work of salvation, but few were paying attention and even fewer understood. The same is true today.

The identity of the servant grows even clearer with the words,^2 “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant” [the God of heaven, having begotten his Servant, watches him grow up, springing up seemingly out of nowhere] “and as a root out of a dry ground,” a green shoot in the midst of barrenness.  Although this plant is different from all others, it is outwardly quite ordinary: “he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”

Once more, the shadow of suffering darkens the emerging portrait: 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.”  God’s special Servant, his own Son, is “despised” (mentioned twice for emphasis), “rejected,” ill-esteemed, and disrespected.  He is “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Yet there is something strange about all this.  Notice that the sorrows and grief are not His own, but someone else’s:

⁴ “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…” [emphasis added].  The grief and the sorrows He endured were on our behalf.  So, too, was the physical suffering.  We cannot redeem ourselves because of our sin.  He could not have suffered for His own sins, because He had none.  Would we be grateful?  Would we hail Him as our long-awaited Messiah and our only hope?

If you answered yes to these questions, then you don’t know the Bible, world history or human nature.  Nobody likes a loser, and that’s just how multitudes saw Him, even in His pain: “…yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”  A suffering Servant?  A mortal Messiah?  Come on. Get real.

Yet the truth of God’s word is persistent.  It cannot and will not be ignored:

⁵ “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 [from a flogging] we are healed. ⁶All 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” [emphasis added].

So,…God’s supernaturally conceived and tender (innocent) Son, whom the Father sent into the world and then watched grow up, one green shoot in a dry desert of the spiritually dead, was the substitute, the legally qualified sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, just as the patriarch Abraham testified: “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb…” (Genesis 22:8).  God would lay on this one Lamb, the iniquity of all people.

What would happen to this Lamb?  Isaiah foretold, 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.”  He would be brought to the slaughter, yet He wouldn’t cry out, wouldn’t protest, wouldn’t defend Himself.  He knew what His Father had sent Him to do, knew why it had to be this way, and willingly obeyed in order to fulfill God’s great purpose.

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.”  God’s Son, His precious, innocent Lamb, would be arrested, tried and then “cut off.” He would be sacrificed, actually not figuratively killed.  Note again the clear declaration: “for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” It was not random chance, a political miscalculation, a tragic mistake or an unlucky accident.  It was God’s plan for dealing with our sin and guilt, and God’s provision for accomplishing His plan.

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.”  The Savior of the world would not harm or deceive anyone.  Yet, He would be executed with criminals.  He would die, and be buried in a rich man’s tomb. How could the God who sent us Messiah allow such things to happen to His Son?  He didn’t permit it, He willed it, for our good:

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.”

The word “pleased” in this context is easily misunderstood.  It does not mean gratified by or happy about sending His Son to suffer and die (an ignorant, vile, and blasphemous thought); but that out of His boundless love for us, God was willing for this to occur, because the sacrifice satisfied the holy and just demands of the law.  This willingness was not passive or merely permissive—God Himself bruised the Son and “put him to grief” to expiate (atone) for our sin and guilt.

Why do the Scriptures say only “bruised,” when the Father knew that to be effective in removing our sin, the Son, His special Servant, would actually die in our place?  The explanation is provided: “…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.”

Wait, what?  After the Lamb of God has been sacrificed for our sin, He will see His seed?  But Isaiah said God’s Servant would be “cut off” without descendant after Him.  How can a dead man have “seed?”  How could God “prolong his days” if His Servant had already lived His last one? How could the pleasure of the Lord prosper in the hand of the Righteous One, if that hand were lifeless?

The answer is obvious: none of these things could happen if the Christ (Greek for the Hebrew word, “Messiah” meaning, “Anointed One”) were dead.  They could only occur if Christ were alive.  Hence the word, “bruised” in describing His violent death.  The Christ’s death would not be permanent.  He would rise again.  The Father would raise Him.  He would prolong (extend) His days.  God would yet accomplish great things by the hand of His Servant.

The Lord’s Anointed ¹¹ “…shall see of the travail [painful labor] of his soul, and shall be satisfied…” (He would think the trade well worth making—the Righteous for the unrighteous, paying the full penalty our sins deserve, that we might go free).

“…By his knowledge [knowledge of or concerning Him] shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”  There it is again, the promise that He will bear the sins of others.  Notice that while Christ died for the sins of all, “many” are justified (but NOT all).  Only those who accept the atoning sacrifice on their behalf are covered by its merits. Those who reject the Lamb do not receive the forgiveness His sacrifice provides and assures.  But this is no fault of the Lamb’s.  He accomplished all that He came to earth to do:

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.”

God’s special Servant, His Anointed One, His Messiah, lives to enjoy the eternal fruits of His temporary suffering. The risen Lord also lives to pray for His own, to defend them against all accusation.  The verdict in our case is “not guilty,” because the penalty has already been paid by Another, who took our place at sentencing and satisfied a judgment against us the enormity of which we could never hope to settle.

You know the One that is pictured here.  You know where He comes from and Who sent Him.  You know what He came to do and for whom He did it.  You know how He could be majestic yet seem ordinary, how He could be all-powerful, yet meek, lowly and vulnerable.  You know how He can be mortal, yet immortal; how He could die and yet be eternally alive.  That’s right. Say it with me: His name is Jesus, called Christ, Son of God, Savior.

There is no hiding, no pretending, no distracting, no deflecting, no delaying any longer.  You know and you know that you know.  So does God.  What will you do with this knowledge?  Remember what Isaiah wrote by the Holy Spirit (v.11): “by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bare their iniquities.”

Do YOU want to be justified?  Do you want Jesus’ sacrifice to apply to YOUR iniquities?  Should you choose to reject it (and not to decide is to decide) the only recourse you will have on your personal day of reckoning will be to pridefully, stubbornly, and hopelessly stand on your own sinful record in the court of the Holy One of Israel.  Please don’t do that.  Don’t be so foolish, so reckless as that—to stake your eternal destiny on your ability to get God to excuse your sins, when you have already turned up your nose at the pardon Jesus suffered and died to give you.  That is a fantasy and the stark reality of Hell will prove it. Follow the Truth.  Follow Jesus.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you. Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams and character).