The fifty-third chapter of the book of Isaiah is generally
called the Fourth Servant Song, the first three of which are found in chapters
42, 49, and 50. The designation “Servant Song” was given to these passages by
Bernard Duhm in 1892 and has generally been adhered to ever since, even though
many scholars point out that there is no evidence that these passages were ever
used as “songs.”
The importance of the passage before us can scarcely be
exaggerated. From the earliest times Christian writers have found here a
detailed description of the sufferings and death of Jesus the Messiah and in this they clearly
follow the New Testament. Within the last hundred years or so, however, many
scholars have questioned this view and have identified others as the Servant.
Some follow the modern Jewish view and say that the suffering servant is
Israel. Others see the Servant as Deutero-Isaiah. Others, following the
preterist method of interpretation, propose that the Servant in chapter 52:13
is the Persian King Darius II while the servant in chapter 53 is Zerubbabel!
Time does not permit a detailed examination of such views.
First, we will look at the context
in which the passage is set and show its importance in the light of the New
Testament teaching about the content of the gospel.
Then we will attempt a brief
exposition of the whole passage, concentrating on those verses which explain
the meaning of the Servant’s death and bringing out significant New Testament
passages as we go.
1. CONTEXT
AND STRUCTURE
In his book, What Saint Paul Really Said, Tom Wright points
out that Christians have generally failed to understand what the Bible means by
“gospel” and “justification” simply because they have not grasped the
background to these terms in the thinking of Paul. The same can be said of
Isaiah 53. To grasp its meaning we must fit it into its literary and prophetic
context.
One of the greatest failings of historic Christianity has been its
failure to recognize the importance of eschatology in its proclamation of what
it calls its “gospel.” The message preached is usually only a message about
the death of Jesus and, in such expositions, Isaiah 53 will be generously quoted, but its setting, that of chapters 40-66, will be ignored.
We will now attempt an outline of the message of chapters 40-66 and
examine the setting in which Isaiah 53 appears.
The following is a summary of the main features
of the second half of Isaiah.
Because of its sins, the people of Israel have been taken
into captivity. Many find themselves in prison. Others have been scattered
throughout many nations and live in conditions of utter misery. The persecuting
power is explicitly identified as Babylon (Isaiah 43:14; 46; 47).
Sometime during this period of captivity a group of people appear,
bringing a message of good news, of deliverance to Israel and restoration to
their land, forgiveness of sins and the appearance of a deliverer, sometimes
said to be God - Yehovah
Himself, and later identified with a person known as the Servant of Yehovah. The Servant himself brings
the gospel in Isaiah 61.
The task of the Servant is to restore Israel and bring
light and salvation to the surrounding nations. A time of prosperity and
spiritual blessings ensues. God’s Spirit will be poured out freely. Israel will
send emissaries to its former captors and the world will unite in universal
worship of God - Yehovah.
Those who refuse to submit will be dealt with severely, and the book closes
with a somber view of Gehenna where the wicked will be destroyed.
Now let us take a closer look at the more immediate context
of Isaiah 53. Chapter 52 contains a prophecy of the preaching of the gospel.
Verse 7 shows that it is a message concerning the Reign of God - Yehovah, in New Testament language,
the Kingdom of God. The following verse describes the ending of the captivity
when “all the earth shall see the salvation of our God - Yehovah.” A striking feature of this
section is that Paul quotes directly from it no less than four times in the
letter to the Romans. Chapter 52:5 is quoted in Romans 2:24: “my name [Yehovah] is blasphemed continually
every day.” Verse 7 appears in chapter 10:15 in order to prove that God - Yehovah has sent messengers to preach
the gospel. Paul quotes verse 15 in Romans 15:21 and finally chapter 53:1 is
quoted in Romans 10:16.
Romans opens with Paul’s introduction to the subject of the
gospel which he says “was promised before through His – Yehovah’s prophets in the Holy
Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus the
Messiah
our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and
declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by
the Resurrection from the dead.” Although other prophets do predict the
preaching of the gospel, Isaiah has more to say about it than any other. Paul
is here identifying his message with Isaiah 40, 52, 61 and other passages.
Clearly the prophet Isaiah is for him supremely important. And Paul’s teaching
on the sacrificial death of the
Messiah
can only be derived from Isaiah 53.
It should be clear from what we have said that we believe
that what has come to be called the futurist view of prophecy is the correct
way to interpret Isaiah. New Testament fulfillments do not exhaust the meaning
of any of these passages.
Attempts by commentators to interpret Isaiah as if it
refers to the ending of the captivity in the time of Ezra are completely
unconvincing.
2.
EXPOSITION
The Messiah and His Sufferings Revealed to the
Nations
The passage we are considering is divided into five stanzas
consisting of three verses each. The first is found in chapter 52:13-15, the
second in chapter 53:1-3, the third in chapter 53:4-6, the fourth in chapter
53:7-9 and the last in chapter 53:10-12.
The first stanza (52:13-15) forms a summary of what follows
in chapter 53. The servant is introduced with the words “behold, My Servant
shall deal prudently.” The word translated “deal prudently” primarily means to “act
wisely” and also “prosperously” because prosperity is the result of acting
wisely. The exaltation of the Servant predicted in the second half of the verse
has been taken by some to refer to the resurrection and ascension of the Messiah Jeswus but is more likely referring
to his Second Advent. He is not now exalted as far as the kings of the earth
are concerned; indeed the world generally despises the things of the Messiah, but the thrust of this
passage is that the leaders of the earth will come to acknowledge him. We may
note here the passage in Philippians in which Paul speaks of the Messiah receiving a “name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in
heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus the
Messiah
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
Verse 14 gives us a summary of the sufferings to be
outlined in the following chapter, sufferings which cause astonishment to many.
The verb which is translated “astonished” means to desolate or waste, to be
thrown by anything into a desolate or bereaved condition; to be startled,
confused; as it
were to be petrified by paralyzing astonishment. Many will realize then for the
first time the extent of the Servant’s sufferings as he is openly revealed in
the sight of the nations. His sufferings were greater than that of any man and
were not simply physical. Many men have undergone intense physical pain and
even died heroic deaths, but the death of God’s – Yehovah’s servant was more than just a
physical death, as the next chapter will bring out.
The sprinkling of many nations in verse 15 has overtones of
the sacrificial system and the sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat and the altar
of incense on the Day of Atonement. The term used here is also used in relation
to sprinkling the water of purification on a leper (Leviticus 14:7) and sprinkling the ashes of the red
heifer on those defiled by a corpse (Numbers 19:18). It is the Servant himself who
sprinkles the nations, a hint of his priestly functions which are fully
explained in the epistle to the Hebrews.
The kings of the nations so sprinkled will have nothing to
say; which reminds us of
Habakkuk 2:20: “But Yehovah is in
His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.” The last part of
verse 15 is a sober reminder of the ignorance that will exist at the time of the Messiah’s Second Coming. This is also
mentioned in Isaiah 60:1-2: “Arise, shine, for your light
is come and the glory of Yehovah is
risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross
darkness the people: but Yehovah shall
arise upon thee and His
glory shall be seen upon you.”
The Messiah’s Reception
The second stanza, contained in chapter 53:1-3, continues
and expands on the theme of ignorance and unbelief summarized in chapter 52:15.
Verse one is quoted in John 12:38 and is linked with Isaiah’s prophecy of
unbelief in chapter 6. Paul quotes the same passage in the same sense in Romans
10:16 where it forms part of his explanation of why Israel has apparently not
believed the gospel. The unbelief with which the Lord Jesus has been received down through the ages
is something foreseen long ago and is part of the purposes of God.
As early as the time of Moses Scripture declares that “Yehovah has not given you a heart to
perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day” (Deuteronomy 29:4). Isaiah was told to
proclaim the spiritual blindness and deafness of the people of Israel (Isaiah 6:9-10). He was told that this condition
would last “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses
are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, Yehovah has removed men far away and
the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land” (Isaiah 6:11, 12). This plainly
refers to a captivity which has not yet taken place, for the blindness of
Israel and the nations in general continues to this day.
The speakers in verse one of chapter 53 are a group of
believers at that time and what follows represents their confession as they
look back at the sufferings of the
Messiah
now made plain to them for the first time. This is the time described in
Zechariah 12:10-14 when Israel will look on him whom they have pierced and
there will be a great mourning for him as the truth of the gospel is finally
revealed to them.
The “arm of Yehovah” is a
reference to divine power. The arm of Yehoah is
mentioned as part of the great promise of deliverance in chapter 40. The
remnant of Israel prays for it to be manifested in chapter 51:9: “Awake, awake,
put on strength, O arm of Yehovah;
awake as in the ancient days in the generations of old.” Chapter 52:10 says, “Yehovah has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all
the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
The Servant of Yehovah is
therefore the arm of Yehovah
manifesting God’s power in deliverance and salvation. The Messiah stands as it
were in the place of God, acting as His vice-gerent. Verse two recalls several
passages where the Messiah is referred to as a Branch (Isaiah 4:2; 11:1, 10; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15). These terms refer to the
origin of the Servant in the House of David in the land of Israel, which was
characterized by barrenness. His people despise him, seeing nothing of beauty
in him.
The Gospels amply testify to the truth of verse three.
Jesus was despised by the leaders of the people and Jews have consistently down
through the centuries considered that Jesus was an apostate who was smitten by
God.
The Christian Jewish writer David Baron has
this to say about Jewish reaction to Jesus:
No person in the history of the Jews has provoked such
deep-seated abhorrence as He who came only to bless them, and who even on the
cross prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” When on
earth, at the end of His three-and-a-half years of blessed ministry among them,
they finally rejected Him. Their hatred was intense and mysterious. “Away with
this man; release unto us Barabbas. . . . Crucify Him, crucify Him” was their
cry. And all through the centuries no name has provoked such intense abhorrence
among the Jews as the name of Jesus.
I have known personally most amiable, and as men, lovable
characters among the Jews; but immediately that Jesus was mentioned, a change
came over their countenances and they would fall into a passion of anger. In
the course of my missionary experiences these past thirtyfive or forty years,
how often has it been my lot to witness some of my people almost mad with rage; clenching their fist, gnashing their
teeth, and spitting on the ground at the very mention of the name which to the
believer “is as ointment poured forth”!
Baron goes on to detail some of the vile terms
which are applied to the Lord
Jesus in the Talmud.
It is likely that the term “rejected of men” has particular
reference to men of high rank, leaders of the people rather than the generality
of mankind. Paul can say that not many of the world’s mighty men or nobility
have believed; God has rather chosen people who are generally despised by the
world’s intelligentsia with the ultimate aim of shaming the so-called wise
amongst men. “Have any of the rulers believed on him, or of the Pharisees?” was
the contemptuous sneer of the leaders of the Jews, and it remains the attitude
of the majority of opinion formers in our world today, many of whom are deliberately
reviving ancient pagan beliefs under the guise of scholarship while they are at
the same time attacking the Bible.
The Sin Bearer
Verses four to six form the middle section of this chapter
and of the entire prophecy. Their teachings are of central importance as they
set out the reasons for the sufferings of the Servant. David Baron translates
verse four literally as follows: “Verily they were our griefs (or
sicknesses) which he
bore, and our sorrows (or pains) with which he burdened himself, but we regarded him as one stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted.”
Baron goes on to state that “No plainer or stronger words
could be used to express the thought of vicarious suffering than those employed
in the original of this verse.”
Here we confront the important issue of what has come to be
called “penal substitutionary atonement.” That means in plain language that the Messiah was punished for our sins and
took our place so that by virtue of his sinless sin-offering sacrifice God may forgive us
our sins.
The idea of bearing sin or bearing iniquity occurs quite
frequently throughout the Old Testament and it always means to be punished for
the iniquity. It is used in this sense in Numbers 14:34 when the Israelites
were told by God that they would bear their iniquity for 40 years. That is,
their punishment for their unbelief would last for that period of time. Aaron
was to “bear the iniquity of the holy things” (Exodus 28:38, 43), meaning that he would be
punished for any sin committed in relation to the tabernacle ritual. A person
would “bear his iniquity” if he witnessed an offense and refused to disclose it
under oath (Leviticus 5:1).
The idea of bearing iniquities occurs in verses 4, 6, 11, and 12 of Isaiah 53.
If to bear sin means to be punished for the sin then it is
clear that for the Servant to bear the sins of others he was punished for their
sins. There seems to be no way of avoiding the conclusion that the Messiah died as a substitute for our
sins. The substitutionary language of this passage is well recognized even by
those who do not accept the idea of substitution. The apostle Peter quotes the
fifth verse in 1 Peter 2:24, saying plainly, “He bore our sins in His own
body on the tree.”
Further evidence for substitution is found in Matthew 20:28
and Mark 10:45. This important statement by Jesus reflects the language of
Isaiah 53:11. Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The substitutionary
preposition “anti” is translated “for” in this
passage. It is used in other passages in such a way as to indicate that its
meaning is “instead of” or “in place of.” Thus, “Archelaus
reigned over Judea in place of [anti] his father Herod” (Matthew 2:22). Jesus asked, “What father among
you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of [anti] a fish give him a
serpent?” (Luke 11:11).
Another Greek preposition that is relevant to
our subject is “huper”. This word can have several
meanings and can often be rendered “on behalf of.” In some passages, however,
such as 2 Corinthians 5:14 and Galatians 3:13, it clearly has the meaning
“instead of.” This last passage is one of a number where a substitutionary
interpretation is obvious even in English translations.
Those who are of the works of the law are under a curse,
but the Messiah has
taken the curse upon himself so that the covenant promises to Abraham might
come upon us. 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 is likewise explicitly substitutionary: “If
one died for all, then all died; and he died for all, that those who
live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose
again.”
The word translated “smitten” or “stricken” at the end of
verse four is used in 2 Kings 15:5 where King Uzziah was stricken with leprosy
by God for his presumption in entering the Temple. Because of this connection
some rabbis in ancient times called the Messiah “the leprous one.” There is
certainly no need to follow this interpretation but a problem does arise in
this verse in connection with disease and the Messiah. The words translated
“griefs” and “sorrows” are the ordinary Hebrew terms for sicknesses and
disease. Matthew quotes this verse in this connection to prove its
fulfillment by Jesus in his healing miracles (Matthew 8:17).
Two different errors have arisen from a
misunderstanding of these terms.
One error, following the rabbis
mentioned earlier, sees the Messiah himself as actually suffering from some
unspecified diseases. According to this view Jesus not only bore sin, but also
was afflicted with disease himself. In support of this has been quoted Luke
4:23, where Jesus said to the synagogue audience, “You will surely say unto me,
‘Physician heal yourself.’”
A more common error is
the belief that since believers can expect forgiveness of sins because Jesus
has borne them, so they can also expect divine healing of all their illnesses
because Jesus has borne them too. Healing is therefore as much a part of the
atonement as is forgiveness of sins. Since it is obvious that believers do
suffer illnesses and die, implicit in this view is that such people are lacking
in faith to be healed.
It is therefore essential to understand why the
words for sicknesses and diseases are used here. Throughout the Old Testament
disease is often used as a synonym for sin. One of the best examples is found
in chapter 1 of Isaiah:
Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood
of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken Yehovah, they have provoked to anger
the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be
stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the
whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no
soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not
been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment (Isaiah 1:4-6).
It is obvious from the context here that
literal diseases are not in view since the subject matter concerns the body
politic of the whole nation.
David also in some of the Psalms speaks of his sins as if
they were diseases. In the great penitential Psalm 51 he refers to God having
broken his bones; something
that did not literally happen (verse 8). Healing is sometimes used as a synonym
for forgiveness (Isaiah
57:19).
David Baron has this to say about Jesus’
miracles of healing:
The miracles of healing not only served to certify him as the Redeemer, and as “signs” of the
spiritual healing which he came
to bring, but were, so to say, pledges also of the ultimate full deliverance of
the redeemed, not only from sin but from every evil consequence of it in body
as well as in soul.
Hence our full salvation [which takes place at our resurrection]
includs not
only the perfecting of our spirits, but the “fashioning anew of the body of our
humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of His glory.”
The second half of verse four graphically describes the
terrible suffering as the believing remnant continues to look back at the
sufferings of the Messiah. The
word “nagua” means one stricken or smitten with a
dreadful, shocking disease, and is particularly applicable to leprosy as we
noted earlier. He was “smitten by God” and afflicted, i.e., he is one bowed
down by suffering.
That Jesus was so punished is true but the punishment was
for our sins and not for his own. Yet the Jewish people, in striking
fulfillment of this prophecy, have taught for centuries that Jesus deserved to
die the death he did. They have called him “poshe”- the transgressor; who well deserved the violent death he
suffered. The Talmud puts Jesus in hell along with Titus and Balaam.
Those who adhere to more modern versions of the view that
Jesus deserved to die should consider carefully what they are teaching in the
light of this passage. It is contrary to the whole thrust of this passage to
claim, as do the Christadelphians, that Christ died for his inherent sin
nature. They have God punishing Jesus for something that was inherent within
himself. Talk of a “sin-nature” in the
Messiah [who was the only perfect man who has ever lived] is
foreign to this and all other Scriptures. Verse 5 reiterates the
substitutionary nature of the
Messiah’s sufferings. It was for “our transgressions,” “our
iniquities.” The chastisement, which resulted in our peace, was upon him. Indeed the peace of mind I now have is because of
what he did for me on the stake, when he became a sin-offering sacrifice to
reconcile humanity to his God and Father Yehovah!
We note here the important word “peace,” a common theme in
this section of Isaiah. “There is no peace to the wicked” is the message of
Isaiah 48:22 and 57:21. Isaiah 57 foresees a time when God will speak peace “to
him who is far off and to him who is near” (Isaiah 57:19). Paul refers to this verse
in Ephesians chapter 2 when he explains that God has made Jews and Gentiles as
part of the one body of the
Messiah, new creations in him, through the cross. Surely Isaiah 53:5 is
in the forefront of his thinking here.
The sixth verse shows the necessity of the vicarious
sufferings of the Messiah.
Mankind in general, both Jew and Gentile, has become totally alienated from
God. There is no thought here or elsewhere that man by his own efforts can turn
back to God of his own accord. The image of a flock of sheep without a shepherd
graphically illustrates what men have done in relation to the things of God.
Sheep will wander all over the place without a shepherd to guide them, and such
has been the experience firstly of the Jews, but also of Gentile so-called
believers.
All of these iniquities have been “laid on him” by God. The
term rendered “laid on him” is more literally “caused to alight on
him” and is in Hebrew a term of some violence. It is used in 2 Samuel 1:15:
“Go near and fall upon him; and he smote him that he died.”
B.W. Newton comments on this expression:
“In other passages our iniquity is spoken of as resting on
the holy one, and he bearing it. Here it is spoken of as
coming upon him
like a destroying foe and overwhelming him with the wrath that it brought with
it.” The word “avon”, rendered “iniquity,” denotes firstly the
transgression itself, secondarily the guilt which arises as a result, and
thirdly the punishment which it incurs.
The Messiah’s Gentleness, Death and Burial
Verses 7-9 set forth the attitude of the Messiah towards
his sufferings, stressing the voluntary nature of them, and describe the
judicial process by which he was executed and the nature of his burial. It is
the passage which the Ethiopian eunuch was reading when Philip was directed to
join him and from which he preached the gospel. The New Testament always
applies this chapter to Jesus.
Verses 7 and 8 are beset with translation difficulties
beginning with the first part of verse 7. The Hebrew term “niggas” (rendered “he was oppressed”) sometimes
means the rigorous exaction of debts. It is used in this sense in Deuteronomy 15:2,
3. “Every creditor that lends aught
to his neighbor shall [on the seventh year] release it; he shall not exact it
of his neighbor or his brother, because Yehovah’s release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it again.” The word is also
used of the Egyptian taskmasters exacting the full quota of bricks from the
Israelites (Exodus 3;
4). The oppression then is oppression of a judicial nature and was amply
fulfilled in the trials of Jesus before Caiaphas and Pilate.
All of this suffering was entered into voluntarily by the Messiah as emphasized by the second
half of verse 7: “Yet he
opened not his
mouth.” The Gospels record that Jesus did not make any replies in his defense
and only responded to the High Priest’s questions when he was put under oath to
do so. He was completely non-resistant. We should point out that the apostle
Peter clearly brings out the non-resisting character of the Lord Jesus and urges Christians to follow the same
example (1 Peter 2:21-25). Suffering and persecution should be borne patiently
following the Messiah’s own
example. The Sermon on the Mount enjoins the same attitude on disciples (Matthew 5:38-42) as does the Apostle Paul (Romans 12:17-21). A violent Christian is a
contradiction in terms. We simply must not offer violence or hostility of
any kind when we meet with persecution.
Commentators emphasize the difficulties of translating
verse 8, which reads in the KJV, “He was taken from prison and from judgment.”
The NASB reads “By oppression and judgment He was taken away” while the NEB has
“Without protection, without justice, he was taken away.” The same version adds
a footnote: “After arrest and sentence, He was taken away.”
David Baron comments:
The idea that is most prominent in the word luqqach (“taken
away”), is that of being snatched or hurried away. The word otser (rendered
“prison”) primarily means a violent constraint. Here, as in Psalm 107:39, it
signifies a persecuting treatment which restrains by outward force, such as
that of prison or bonds. The word “mishpat” (judgment) refers to the judicial
proceedings in which he was
put on trial, accused and convicted as worthy of death; in other words, to his unjust judgment. . . . Hostile
oppression and judicial persecution were the circumstances out of which he was carried away by death.
The phrase “and who will declare his generation?” is also difficult and is
variously rendered by different translations. The NASB renders this “and as for
his generation, who
considered that he was
cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to
whom the stroke was due?” The word translated “generation” usually means “an
age” or “the men living in a particular age,” and by extension a group of
people bound together by similarity of circumstances or moral character. In
this latter sense a generation can be coeval with the present evil age. Baron
points out that the word rendered “declare” in the KJV can also mean “speak,”
“complain,” or “lament” and is used in a few passages to describe prayer (Psalm 55:17). He suggests that the meaning of
this passage is “As for his
generation; who
(among them) poureth out a complaint” (i.e. at his treatment) or “who among
them uttereth a prayer?” (i.e. on his behalf). This could be an allusion to a
Jewish custom in capital trials of calling upon all who had anything to say on
behalf of the accused to come forward and “declare it” or “plead” on his
behalf. If this is the case, it means that no one was called upon to speak for
Jesus at his trial, as would normally be the case, and it ties in well with the
first part of the verse.
The substitutionary nature of his death is again mentioned
at the end of the verse. The stroke that was properly due to the people fell on
him. To be “cut off” is a biblical expression meaning to be executed. It is
found in Daniel 9:26 where it is again used of the cutting off of the Messiah.
The burial of the
Messiah
is the subject of the first part of verse 9. The word “grave” here is not the
Hebrew word sheol meaning the general grave of mankind but rather refers to a
sepulcher or tomb. It was the custom of the Jews to give criminals an
ignominious burial as Josephus records: “He that blasphemeth God let him be
stoned, and let him hang upon a tree all that day, and let him be buried in an
ignominious and obscure manner.” Since the Jews condemned Jesus as a blasphemer
this would no doubt have been his fate had not God miraculously intervened. The
time of the Messiah’s
humiliation and sacrifice were now over and God honors His Son by providing a
rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, to arrange for his burial in his own new tomb.
The sinless nature of the Messiah is the subject of the last
part of verse 9. Peter quotes this verse, giving it a different rendering.
“Because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth” becomes in 1
Peter 2:22 “Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth.”
The Messiah’s Exaltation
The last section of this great prophecy begins with a
review of his sufferings and sacrifice. The word translated “bruise” literally
means “crush.” “Put him to grief” means to afflict with sickness and reminds us
again of verse 4. Two translations of the phrase “When you shall make his soul – body, being an offering for sin” are
possible. The first is to translate as above and take the phrase as a statement
made to God. The second view renders it as “When his soul – body, being shall make an offering.” The NASB
prefers this rendering and in addition takes the word “soul” as equivalent to
the personal pronoun “himself.” Readers of this journal will not need to be reminded
that this is a legitimate and common use of the word nephesh throughout the Old
Testament. “Nephesh” refers to the whole person. It is closely connected with
the blood in Leviticus 17:11, and Isaiah 53:10 links the idea of the blood of
the sacrificial animals with the common New Testament references to “the blood
of the Messiah.” The
offering for sin referred to here is the trespass offering, the asham, the law
concerning which is found in Leviticus 5:1-13 and 7:1-10. The verse provides
the important basis for the common New Testament doctrine that the Messiah was a sin-offering sacrifice.
“He shall see his
seed” has been taken by some Jewish interpreters in its natural sense of
posterity or offspring and used to refute the idea that it is fulfilled in
Jesus of Nazareth who had no natural offspring. This section of Isaiah, however,
recognizes the important theological concept of the seed of Abraham (41:8;
43:5; 44:3; 48:19), and the fulfillment of the covenant blessings. Paul
shows in Romans 9 that Abraham’s seed does not mean descendants according to
the flesh; rather those who have the faith of Abraham are the children or seed
of Abraham. The Messiah
himself is the seed, as Paul states in Galatians 3:16. This is a truth which is
also found in the Old Testament. Psalm 72 applies the wording of the Abrahamic
covenant to the Messiah (verse 17). Those who have been baptized into the Messiah are the seed of Abraham, because we are new creations in him!
Seeing his seed occurs after he became an offering for sin,
in other words after his death. The seed then does not refer to literal descendants
but to the spiritual seed of Abraham. Psalm 22:30 is parallel with this verse
in describing his seed as one of the blessings following his sufferings and
death. The last part of verse 10 could only refer to the resurrection. It is
reminiscent of Psalms 16 and 21:4: “He asked life from you - Yehovah and you gave it to him, length of
days forever and ever.” Jewish writers have commented that the
phrase length of days refers to the life of the age to come. Following his
resurrection God’s Kingdom will prosper in his hands.
The Jewish commentator Abrabanel paraphrases the first part
of verse 11 thus: “He shall see the travail of his soul, i.e. his seed; he shall be satisfied, i.e. with length of
days.” One of the results of his travail is found in the second part of verse
11.
David Baron translates this as follows:
“By His knowledge shall make righteous (or,
bring righteousness) the Righteous One (My Servant) many.”
It is possible to take “his knowledge” in both the
subjective sense of the knowledge that he himself has, or in the objective
sense of the knowledge of him on the part of others. If the former is
correct then it could well mean that those who are made righteous are made so
through the knowledge that Jesus himself had; in other words, they will believe
what he believed. This seems incorrect, however, and more likely refers to the
fact that the righteous must know him. Knowledge then would be synonymous with
faith, a meaning which it seems to have in a number of passages (Hosea 4:6,
John 17:3).12
The
construction “the Righteous One, My servant” is unusual in placing the
adjective before the noun, contrary to normal Hebrew practice. The definite
article is also omitted from both words, the whole construction emphasizing the
unique character of the servant.
We have already referred to Baron’s translation of verse
11. Contrary to the impression given in most translations, justification is not
the subject here.
It is the righteousness which springs from that
justification and forgiveness which is being spoken of. The Bible requires that
God’s people are actively righteous. Indeed, as Paul says in Romans 8:4, it is
in them alone that the righteousness of the Law can be fulfilled.
It is clear that this verse was in Paul’s mind as he was
writing Romans as he virtually quotes it in Romans 5:19: “For as by one
man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man’s obedience many
will be made righteous.”
The “many” referred to here are the mass of mankind and not
just the Jews. We encountered this word in chapter 52:14, 15 and it appears in
significant New Testament passages bearing on the atonement. The Lord uses it
in Matthew 20:28 in what is really a commentary on this passage, and Paul uses
it extensively in Romans 5:12-21.
The word “many” occurs again in the Hebrew of
verse 12 where it is rendered “great” in English translations. They are those
who share with him in his inheritance as described in Psalm 2. “Ask of Me and I
will give you the nations for Your inheritance and the ends of the earth for
Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them
in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (vv. 8, 9).
The application to Messiah is clear but he himself makes
this same promise to those who overcome (Revelation 2:27). They will be partners
with him in the glory of the Kingdom of God. This is because “He poured out His
soul – his entire being unto
death and bore the sins of many.” The blessings of the Kingdom would be
impossible without the death of the
Messiah. All the blessing we have are all of Him acting as His
Father’s agent and nothing of us!
The final statement of the chapter returns to the priestly
theme hinted at in chapter 52. There the Messiah sprinkled all nations. Now he
makes intercession for transgressors, standing between them and God. The
priestly function of the Messiah is mentioned also in Psalm 110:4 and Zechariah
6:13 and is fully developed in the letter to the Hebrews.
3.
SUMMARY
In conclusion, the message of this chapter is closely
intertwined with the gospel of the Kingdom/Kingship of God - Yehovah. A
summary of the gospel preached by the apostolic church is given in Acts 8:12
and Acts 28:23, 31 as the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus the Messiah [understanding a name of Jesus involves
knowing everything that Jesus represents as the son of God]. We
could paraphrase this as “The Kingdom and the Stake - Cross.” This must be the
message that we preach to the world, for until the sin question is dealt with,
none of God’s blessings are remotely possible. Only the sin-offering sacrifice of the Messiah Jesus can deal with our sinfulness
and deliver us from the
bondage of sin and give us a right standing with God so that we
can inherit the blessings of His
Kingdom.
Written by JOHN
CUNNINGHAM © 1998, A Journal from the Radical Reformation, Fall 1998, Vol. 8,
No. 1. And edited by Bruce
Lyon
