He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:3-4)
What is the theme of Isaiah 53? The theme is deadly suffering.
That leads to a second question: Was the suffering deserved? Was this sufferer who is being described here deserving of this kind of relentless suffering? The answer to the question is no.
So His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. (Isaiah 53:9)
In fact, in verse 11 God calls him “the Righteous One.” That leads to a third question: Did God attempt, then, to protect the righteous sufferer? The answer is no.
But Yahweh was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If You would place His soul as a guilt offering,
He will see His seed,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand. (Isaiah 53:10)
This is an amazing story of unparalleled, undeserved suffering by a righteous sufferer who is unprotected by a righteous God. This leads us to a fourth question: Why did a righteous God not protect the righteous sufferer?
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our peace fell upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him. (Isaiah 53:5-6)
He is a substitutionary sufferer. He is suffering, not for His own sins, but for the sins of others. Which leads to another question: Why should a man do that? The answer is, because He was willing.
Therefore, I will divide for Him a portion with the many,
And He will divide the spoil with the strong;
Because He poured out His soul to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)
What an amazing person, to suffer willingly. And the next question is this: What is the outcome?
Behold, My Servant will prosper;
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
Just as many were appalled at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand. (Isaiah 52:13-15)
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)
By doing this, he will justify the many. He will be exalted. He will be satisfied. And He will be rewarded.
Who is this? It can be no one other than the Lord Jesus Christ. This was written 700 years before Jesus was born, approximately, which is evidence enough that God is the author of Scripture, because only God knows the future in detail. This has to be Jesus Christ — all of these details are fulfilled in Him.
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 2.” 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.
