Behold, My Servant will prosper;
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. (Isaiah 52:13)

What does it mean for God Himself to identify the Messiah as His servant?

It means that God determines everything He does. He has no independent will of His own. He serves at the will of God and the pleasure of God.

And by the way, if you think that’s a demeaning word, “servant” or “slave,” mark this out. In the Old Testament, prophets and kings are called slaves of God. Just for an example, Moses is called the slave of God 17 times, which is to say that very distinguished people have that kind of relationship to God. Even the Messiah. Remember Philippians 2:

Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

He humbled Himself and took upon Himself the form of a slave.

So the Messiah does the Father’s will and only the Father’s will. This is the testimony of Jesus. Read the Gospel of John and see how many times He says, “I only do what the Father wills Me to do. I only do what the Father shows Me to do. I only do what the Father does. I only do what the Father desires Me to do. I do what I do to please the Father.” It culminates in Him saying, “Not My will but Yours be done.”

The Messiah, then, is identified as this one who is the possession of God. Consequently, the pronoun is “My” Servant, the one that is Mine. This is the Messiah. So the Servant of Jehovah is the person being spoken of in Isaiah 53 by the future generation of Jews as they lament.

And now we know who that is. It is Jesus. This is clearly talking about Jesus Christ, and in the New Testament there are 30 references (explicit and implicit) back to this chapter in the Gospels alone. And in the whole New Testament there are 50 such references back to this chapter. This is clearly a prophecy that speaks about the death, resurrection, and future exaltation of the Messiah, who is none other than Yeshua, Jesus.

You can find more insights into Isaiah 53 in Dr. MacArthur’s book “The Gospel According to God: Rediscovering the Most Remarkable Chapter in the Old Testament.” For a limited time, the book is available for 25% off from The Master’s University’s bookstore, here.

This post is based on a sermon Dr. MacArthur preached in 2012, titled “The Scorned Servant of Jehovah, Part 1.” In addition to serving as the pastor of Grace Community Church and the voice of Grace to You, Dr. MacArthur is the chancellor of The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, Calif. You can learn more about TMU at masters.edu.