Isaiah 53:1-12
Isa 53:1
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of
the LORD revealed?
In the last three verses of chapter 52 Isaiah speaks
about the sending forth of the gospel to the nations of the world and the
reception of it by the Gentile nations.
Now Isaiah turns to the nation of Israel and asks the question “Who hath
believed our report?” The report
was concerning the true gospel which would pardon, and give salvation free to
all the Elect that Christ came to die for.
People would be saved without keeping any of the ceremonial law and to
Israel this was something astonishing as they believed the law was their primary
source of forgiveness of sins. Then
Isaiah asks about the arm of the LORD and to whom it is revealed.
The true gospel does not come with any fanfare or external evidences
except the changed life. The arm of
the LORD or the power of salvation is revealed to the Elect of God.
Concerning chapter 53, Rabbis in the false religion of
Judaism attempt to make this about modern Israel but that is a false teaching
because the Bible nowhere mentions modern Israel as it is a political nation and
not a biblical nation. Plus there
are too many personal pronouns which means it is speaking about a person and not
a country.
Isa 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.
And there shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his
roots: (Isaiah 11:1) His coming
into the world and his growth will be more secretive than anything.
He will not come as a king with all pomp and circumstance and will not
exude the might of a valiant warrior.
He will grow up as a tender plant which means he will make no special
episodes in his life. The plant
will grow along with other plants as Christ would grow up along with the people
of Nazareth. The root out of dry
ground is focusing on the fact that the nation of Israel at the time Christ came
on the scene was in the depths of false religion adopting the Babylonian Talmud
as their authority instead of the Hebrew Scriptures.
The dry ground also meant there would normally have been no way for a
plant to survive without water yet Christ was the fountain of living water.
Jesus answered and said unto her,
If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to
drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water. (John 4:10) Then his
body shall have no form or comeliness which means that his bodily features would
be plain and ordinary as he grows up.
He will not have the bodily form of a weightlifter but will have a body
which is suited for his needs and not for showing off his superiority.
Then he will have no beauty as some type of really handsome man.
His facial features would be ordinary so he would not attract the carnal
attention of the women and the jealousy of the men.
This way he would grow up without any special attention being drawn to
him, that would definitely happen when he starts his ministry.
Isa 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.
Then we begin to understand a little about the earthly
opposition that Christ faced while here.
We know these things are true because the four gospels are replete with
the hostilities that he faced while in Israel.
He was scorned a vile person and hated by many.
Since he was despised by so many, he was rejected by the very people he
called his own.
22 The stone
which the builders refused is
become the head stone of the
corner. 23 This is the LORD'S doing; it
is marvellous in our eyes.
(Psalm 118:22-23) This
rejection was already prophesied in Psalms about 300 years before Isaiah penned
his prophecy. This was very evident
at his trial when the people yelled for Barabbas and rejected Jesus wanting him
to be crucified. He was well-acquainted
with sorrows especially when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And he took with him Peter and the
two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. (Matthew 26:37)
One of the greatest sorrows that he suffered is when he would be his
separation from his Father at the time he was paying for the sins of the Elect
upon Calvary. He was also
acquainted with grief because many times he was grieved in his spirit.
And when he had looked round about
on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith
unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched
it out: and his hand was
restored whole as the other. (Mark 3:5)
Then the people will hide their faces from him, that is, they will deny
him in the presence of Pilate and the people.
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye
delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined
to let him go. (Acts 3:13)
There would have been many of the same people who denied Christ listening
to the sermon of Peter as he accused them of denying Christ.
He was despised or hated which seems strange since Christ raised the
dead, healed the sick, fed many people and did many other things for the good of
the people and yet he was the most hated person in Israel.
The people esteemed him not which means they didn’t even have the
slightest regard for him as he faced hostile crowds wherever he went.
Normally, the crowds were stirred up by the religious leaders who feared
losing their positions. Religion is
the greatest enemy of truth!
Isa 53:4
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
It is important to know that Christ bore “our” griefs and
sorrows and not for those of everyone in the entire world.
The griefs and sorrows that we have is our sins which weigh us down and
cause us to do things opposite of the truths of God.
It causes us to face everlasting damnation if we are not redeemed.
The penalty for our sins is death but Christ took that penalty for us by
fulfilling the demands of the law which none of us could have kept.
Since the Jews at the time of Christ were in such spiritual darkness,
they believed that Christ had deserved what he got because of his teachings.
Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)
One of the teachings they hated him for was that he himself was being the
Great I Am of Sinai. The Jews
wanted to stone him for that statement in the next verse but he performed a
miracle and just walked away through the crowd.
They believed that he was a blasphemer and that it was God who was the
one who struck him which carries with it the meaning of being smitten with the
hands which is what happened to him when he fell into the hands of the Roman
soldiers. Then they also believed
that God was the one who afflicted him for all the blaspheming statements that
he made not realizing that he was fulfilling the Scriptures but because they
were a commentary based religion, they never knew this nor could they figure it
out being spiritually blind.
Isa 53:5
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 we are healed.
The word “wounded” carries with it the meaning of
“pierce” which is exactly what happened to the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
He was pierced through the wrist with a spike and not just a nail as we
think of nails in the present. He
faced the cross not for anything that he did but it was for us, the Elect of
God, that he paid for our sins completely and that included the removal of sins
from the soul of the redeemed.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our
transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12) Prophesied
back in Psalms about 1,000 years from the time of the crucifixion.
Then he was bruised for our iniquities which is our wickedness and
vileness in the performance of sinful activity.
This was prophesied back in Genesis.
And I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)
The chastisement or the punishments that he received on our behalf
yielded our reconciliation back to God.
Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)
The greatest peace that the believer experiences is not peace with others
although that is a good thing but it is taking the person from being an enemy of
God to being a child of God through the reconciling gospel.
Then the verse teaches that with his stripes were healed.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:
by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
This is not talking about the healing from physical sickness as the fake
charismatic movement teaches it is that our spiritual condition is now healed.
The soul which was sin-sick is now healed as every vestige of sin is
removed from the soul of the saved.
Isa 53:6
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.
This not only applies to the nation of Israel which had
turned to false religions and idols but has application to the entire human
race. If sheep are left unguarded
for any period of time, they will wander off in all directions and many of them
would become prey for animals like lions or wolves who will pounce on them when
they see they are alone. This is
exactly what happened to the human race.
They completely walked away from God and as a result they have created
thousands of false religions which people receive temporary comfort yet they all
lead to eternal damnation. Peter
speaks about this in his first epistle.
For ye were as sheep going astray;
but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. (1 Peter 2:25)
There is just one major difference, that Peter states that we “were” as
sheep going astray but now when a person becomes saved, they are returned to the
Shepherd of our souls who guides us and gives us truths so that we never stray
from him. Then the LORD hath laid
on Christ the iniquity of all the believers as we read “of us all” which is a
certain group and not the whole world.
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. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
The Apostle Paul further expounds on that verse.
As Paul teaches on
the doctrine of reconciliation, he brings out an important point that for
believers to be reconciled unto God, it was necessary for Christ to become sin
for us. Christ was totally sinless but He came to this world to die for the
Elect and that meant he had to take on the sin of all the Elect He planned to
save. This meant He took upon Him the sin of millions of Christians, he became
sin for us, then as a result of His sacrifice, those billions of sins had become
expunged from all the believers. Christ, who knew no sin, took sin upon Himself
from those of us who knew sin. If He did not, then salvation could not be
initiated in the lives of any of the Elect. The sins of the Elect were charged
to Christ and as a result, those who became saved, righteousness was imputed to
them. It was the great paradox in history that Christ became sin and man became
righteous. I will greatly rejoice
in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with
her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10) We can
rejoice with Isaiah that we received the robe of righteousness, which is really
the imputed robe of Christ’s righteousness.
Isa 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.
He was oppressed as one oppresses a debtor to exact
payment or as a slave driver who whips his slaves.
In other words, Christ was greatly punished for our sins because God’s
justice required exact punishment for our sins which Christ took upon himself.
The place of the scripture which
he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb
before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: (Acts 8:32)
In
this passage it speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ going before the Sanhedrin
and Pilate, knowing why He came to earth, He did not say a word in His defense
or tried to talk His way out of the coming events. Now is my soul troubled;
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I
unto this hour. (John 12:27) Isaiah had compared this event to the
time of shearing the sheep which was done without the sheep resisting or even
those sheep which are destined to be slaughtered for their mutton did not resist
those who would slay them.
Isa 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.
Then in the course of his suffering Jesus was considered
a criminal so he was bound and constrained just as a criminal would be.
Then he was tried by both the Sanhedrin and then handed over to Pontius
Pilate where he received judgment.
The Sanhedrin deemed him a blasphemer and Pilate had judged him to be innocent
but since Pilate was a politician, he allowed the people to choose which one
would be sentenced to death. The
people chose Barabbas as the one they wanted freed and then Jesus was taken from
the presence of Pilate to be crucified.
Normally when a male member of a family dies, that would end any chance
of their future generation. In
Christ’s case, his future generation would be heralded by millions on account of
his death. His death created
millions of followers and created a spiritual generation of believers.
Then Christ was taken from Pilate’s judgment hall to be handed over to
the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
He was crucified at 9:00 AM and gave up the ghost at 3:00 PM.
Then the verse teaches us that Christ was crucified for the transgression
or sins of the people of God.
Here is where the people went from sinner to Saint.
The term “my people” denotes a certain group of people whom Christ died
for and that was for the chosen body of believers.
Christ’s death was not random in that someone has to accept it to be
saved but was completed on Calvary for the sins of his Elect.
If Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary was random, then it would not be
complete until someone “accepts him” and then the sacrifice of Christ would be
complete. In other words in the
theology of some, Christ’s sacrifice is an open ended sacrifice where completion
is determined by sinful man but the Scriptures in no place ever teach such
heresy.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,
It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John
19:30)
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of
our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:2)
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4)
The reason the work was finished is because upon the
death of Christ, all the Elect of God were now sealed for eternity.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of
God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
Isa 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.
Christ was crucified between two thieves and when they
were dead, they were buried and since Christ was considered to be a criminal, he
was also taken from the cross after death and his earthly body was placed in the
tomb of Joseph of Arimathea who was a rich man.
Christ’s body was treated like every other earthly person who had died,
it had to be buried immediately because of decomposition especially after what
he went through even before the crucifixion.
Christ had not done a violent thing during his three and a half years of
earthly ministry but on the contrary went around doing good and helping people.
He never even spoke a deceitful word.
His speech and his deeds were above reproach.
The reason he was considered a criminal was because of the accusations
leveled against him by the jealous Jewish leaders who wanted to maintain their
positions and their lifestyles.
Unfortunately, if a person is accused many times they are the ones who have to
prove their innocence instead of the accusers proving their guilt.
22 Who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled,
reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed
himself to him that judgeth
righteously: (1 Peter 2:22-23)
Isa 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.
Awake, O sword,
against my shepherd, and against the man
that is my fellow, saith the
LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will
turn mine hand upon the little ones. (Zechariah 13:7)
The crucifixion of Christ was prophesied in Zechariah 13:7 as the sword
being brought against the shepherd who is Christ.
The word “pleased” carries with it the meaning of “having great desire
toward something.”
Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Christ despised or set aside the shame of the
cross knowing that the outcome would be the salvation of millions of people
throughout the ages. This is why
the LORD was pleased because he saw beyond what His Son was presently going
through and knew that the fruit of his sacrifice would be eternal.
Christ was temporarily in grief as he had to bear the sins of all the
Elect in that short time. His
sufferings already began in the Garden of Gethsemane when he started sweating
drops of blood. His soul was also
affected by his death which upon his death went to be in the presence of the
Father.
And when Jesus had cried with a loud
voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said
thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46)
In other words, his human nature in concert with his divine nature were
all affected by the sacrifice for sin.
Then in the second half of this verse we are told that
the Lord shall see his seed, that is, all those who would become saved are of
the seed of Christ.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy
seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16)
Then his days would be prolonged which means his days would become
eternity and they would never end as days do when speaking of time on earth.
Then the pleasure of the LORD which would be the salvation of souls from
the pits of sin would prosper in his hands as the universal church of Christ
goes throughput the entire world and nothing can be done to stop it.
The prosperity we see is not financial but spiritual as we see thousands
come into the kingdom of God each day, even though we may never meet them till
we get to glory but the church will prosper.
Isa 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.
The word “travail” carries with it the meaning of
“grievous, wearisome, labor.” His
soul shall suffer much because of the sins of this world but he will continue on
in his ministry until all would be accomplished. Even though he would suffer in
his soul over these conditions, he would persist.
Then saith he unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
(Matthew 26:38) In his
persistence in his fight against sin for the Elect, he would still maintain a
level of satisfaction because he viewed the end of these trials as victory for
him and the Elect of God.
Elect according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be
multiplied. (1 Peter 1:2) The
knowledge would be that those named before the foundation of the world would be
justified because of the sacrifice of Christ.
Notice here he is called “righteous servant.”
Then the other knowledge would be the knowledge which is imparted to the
true believer and that Godly knowledge is where we build on the faith we have in
Christ as we become more knowledgeable in the things of Christ, the greater our
faith in him will become. This will
happen only because Christ has borne the iniquities of the Elect of God and has
forgiven them and removed all sins from their souls thus paving the way for the
understanding of biblical and heavenly things.
The fact that Christ bore our iniquities also tells us that there is
nothing we can do on earth to, in any way, effect further salvation because that
would be works and no work can ever circumvent the cross.
Isa 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.