Christ’s Sufferings And Glory In Isaiah 53

Feature 4 – April 2021 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Christ’s Sufferings And Glories In Isaiah 53

Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. —Luke 24:26-27 JND

Outline Of Isaiah 53
The whole book of Isaiah, like every part of the Word of God, displays perfection in how it is organized as well as in what it says. The second part of Isaiah is made up of three sections of nine chapters each: chapters 40–48, 49–57 and 58–66.The first two sections each end by saying, “There is no peace to the wicked.” Chapter 53 is in this second section and is in fact the middle chapter of both this section and of the whole second part of Isaiah. Truly, Christ is the center of all God’s thoughts and plans.

Isaiah 53 is also one of the Servant Songs of Isaiah, where Jehovah speaks of His beloved Servant. Now we know this is our Lord Jesus Christ. Chapters 42, 49, 50 and 53 bring the Lord before us in this unique way.

In further analyzing our portion we find that it is made up of five stanzas of three verses each, beginning at Isaiah 52:13 and continuing through the end of chapter 53.

Behold My Servant – Isaiah 52:13-15
The phrase “Behold, My Servant” is found twice in Isaiah (42:1, 52:13). In Matthew 12:18 we have a quote from Isaiah 42 with this same phrase clearly applied to the Lord Jesus. Therefore we know that He is the servant spoken of here. Our Father has had many faithful servants to serve Him, but this special Servant surpasses them all! He is the One to whom our Father would direct our attention.

“He shall deal prudently” (Isa. 52:13) or in wisdom. Our blessed Lord used great wisdom in His interactions with people here. When asked whether it was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar or not, He answered, “Pay then what is Caesar’s to Caesar, and what is God’s to God” (Mt. 22:21). The Pharisees and Herodians were not doing the first, and they did not want to do the second either!

“He shall be exalted and be lifted up, and be very high” (52:13). It may be that the phrase “be lifted up” refers to His being lifted up on the cross. However, we like to think these three words look on to His glory, now in heaven and yet to come on this earth. How appropriate for our God to begin with the end in view, when His Christ will be glorified. We wait for that day!

Then in Isaiah 52:14 we are reminded of His sufferings: “His visage [or appearance] was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the children of men.” This has generally been understood that so terrible was the abuse He received even from the hands of men that as He hung on the cross He was hardly recognizable as a Man. God, in the person of His Son, was within reach of sinful men, and they showed their hatred toward Him.

Many were astonished at His sufferings, and many will be astonished at His glory (v.15). The Gentile nations – not only the remnant of the Jews – will see, hear and consider His greatness!

His Reception By The People – Isaiah 53:1-3
Chapter 53 begins with His coming into the world the first time. As the apostle John tells us in His gospel, “He came to His own, and His own received Him not” (1:11). “Who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?” (Isa. 53:1) is quoted in John 12:38 and applied to His first coming in grace.

We learn, too, in our chapter that the “Arm of Jehovah” is another name for the Lord Jesus. It occurs a number of times in Isaiah and is worth looking up. As the “Arm” He is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:24). His first coming was not in power “to subdue all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:21) but to accomplish all the will of God for our salvation. What a Savior!

At the beginning of Isaiah 53:2 we have a unique word picture of the Lord Jesus as the “tender sapling,” or “tender plant” as found in other translations, which grew up here before His Father. He was also the root out of dry ground. Speaking generally, all around Him in the “days of His flesh” (Heb. 5:7) there was nothing for God. The ground was dry. He did not draw anything from that scene, but daily – moment by moment – He was in communion with His Father. He awoke “morning by morning” to hear as a learner, or a disciple, and receive a word from His Father (Isa. 50:4). How much we individually need to spend time each day in the Word of God and in prayer, to draw our resources from heaven!

Yet, He was “despised and left alone [or rejected] of men” (53:3). Thankfully some did receive Him, but the majority of the nation would only cry, “Away with this Man ... crucify Him” (Lk. 23:18,21). In the words of the parable, they said, “We will not that this Man should reign over us” (19:14).

He was “a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (53:3). How amazing when we think of who He was: the Creator of all became a Man to be the “Man of sorrows”! He knows what sorrow is like, and He is very familiar with grief. Dear sorrowing and suffering saint, look up! Our blessed Lord Jesus knows from His own experience what you are going through. He has known sorrow and He has experienced grief; He is able to sympathize better than anyone else.

His Work As A Substitute For His People – Isaiah 53:4-6
Verse 4 does not speak of His atoning sufferings. Some have mistakenly taught this, but from Matthew 8:17 we see that our Lord felt the effects in His heart of all the afflictions He relieved. He truly entered into all the sufferings of those He healed and cleansed. Notice that at the grave of Lazarus, even knowing that He would raise him from the dead, He “groaned” in His spirit “and was troubled” (Jn. 11:33, see v.38 KJV). Precious Savior!

Isaiah 53:5 is the middle verse in this central stanza of this Servant Song. Truly it is the highlight of His work, not only for the repentant remnant of the Jews in the future but also for each one of us today who knows Him as our Lord and Savior. “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” (v.5). The transgressions and the iniquities were ours. The wounds, the bruising, the chastisement and the stripes were all His, what He suffered for us – His people – in order that we might have peace and be healed. Truly, as the hymn writer Thomas Kelly (1769–1855) said, “Who can tell how much we owe Him?”

We add that Isaiah 53:5 uses language we can understand to communicate to us what is beyond our understanding. We know that men wounded, bruised and chastised Him, and gave Him stripes. However, what men did to the Lord could not secure peace or spiritual healing for us. These words really bring before us what He endured at the hand of God.

In verse 6 we see confirmation that it is Jehovah’s work that is before us. We had each gone astray, “we turned every one to his own way.” The reader may have gone one direction in sin, and the writer another, but every believer can say Jehovah laid our iniquities upon our Savior. The picture of the sin offering in Leviticus 4 may be helpful. The individual who brought an offering for sin had to lay his hand on the animal’s head, figuratively transferring his sins onto that animal, which was then killed and burned in place of the man. We know that the “blood of bulls and goats is incapable of taking away sins” (Heb. 10:4 JND) and that every animal sacrifice in Israel only looked forward to the work of Christ. Still, these Old Testament pictures are helpful in understanding more of Christ’s work. Here in Isaiah 53 we have the teaching that goes with the pictures, or types, in the sacrifices.

Sufferings From Man – Isaiah 53:7-9
In these three verses we have a number of prophecies which were fulfilled on the day the Lord Jesus laid down His life for us. How amazing that Isaiah had these details revealed to him 700 years before Christ died! This is another reason to have confidence in the Word of God.

“He ... was as a sheep dumb before her shearers” (v.7). Most men loudly protest if unjustly condemned. The Gospels emphasize His silence, as seen in Matthew 27:11-14, Mark 15:3-4, Luke 23:9 and John 19:9. He did answer when put under oath – “I adjure Thee” (Mt. 26:63). The Lord Jesus sought to reach Pilate’s conscience (Jn. 18:37-38), but He gave no word to defend Himself.

“He was led as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:7). This thought of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, or the Lamb of God’s providing, is further spoken of in the New Testament. Please read John 1:29,36 and 1 Peter 1:19.

“He was taken from oppression and from judgment” (Isa. 53:8) or, “His judgment was taken away” (Acts 8:33). As far as man was concerned, the trial of the Lord Jesus was a terrible overthrow of justice. God will hold men accountable for this, which gives one reason for the time of great tribulation that is soon coming on all the earth, after the rapture of the Church to heaven.

“Who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living” (Isa. 53:8). Humanly or naturally speaking, He could have no generation or seed, being cut off from the earth in death. But we know the power of God has intervened to raise Him from the dead, and in resurrection He brought forth “much fruit” – saints who all take character from Him (see Jn. 12:24; Rom. 8:29).

We are then reminded that His work was as the Substitute for His people. This will include the future remnant of Israel, but dear reader, it also includes all who have believed this from all ages – even us today. Have you believed in Christ and His finished work for you?

In Isaiah 53:9 we find the contrast between what men assigned and what God appointed. Unbelievers would have happily cast His holy body into a mass grave with the two thieves. However, God appointed that He should be with the rich in His death (see Mt. 27:57-60; Mk. 15:43-46; Lk. 23:50-53; Jn. 19:38-42). Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, laid the Lord’s body in his own new tomb, thus fulfilling this Scripture. Our God is faithful to His word!

The end of Isaiah 53:9 is quoted in 1 Peter: “Christ ... who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth” (2:21-22). We may often experience chastisement, punishment or rebuke from our Father because of our sins. The Lord Jesus did not suffer for His own sins, for He had none, but He suffered for us!

Sufferings And Glory From God – Isaiah 53:10-12
In the last stanza of this Servant Song we have His sufferings from God and the coming glory for this wonderful Savior. Many have wondered, “How could it please Jehovah to bruise Him, in other words, to make Him suffer?” It is because of the results of His glorious work. We have three results of His suffering in verse 10 (KJV).

1. “He shall see His seed.” He will have a generation! We may connect John 12:24 and Genesis 1:12 with this thought. He was the precious grain of wheat that would not abide alone, but went into the ground (death). Now as a result there is much fruit; and just as in nature the seed that is planted bears a plant and further seed like what originally went into the ground, so He has many brethren like Him (Rom. 8:29)!

2. “He shall prolong His days.” He lives now in “the power of an endless life” (Heb. 7:16), as risen from the dead. His days will have no end (Ps. 72:17, 102:27)!

3. “The pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.” Many have accomplished some of the will of God in their lives, but He has done all that will and finished the work that was given Him to do. All the Father’s thoughts for what is yet to come will prosper in His hand. How wonderful that time when He will reign and all will be done for God’s pleasure at last in this world!

Do you ever wonder why the Lord Jesus would suffer so much for you? I have. He looks at the results of the “travail of His soul” and He is “satisfied” (Isa. 53:11). I always find this phrase encouraging. Our blessed Lord has no regrets for what He has passed through for us. May we praise and worship Him!

In the rest of the verse (jnd) we find two aspects of His work: He will “instruct many in righteousness; and He shall bear their iniquities.” Titus 2:11-14 shows us that both of these things are true of all who belong to our blessed Savior. Grace teaches, “We should live soberly, and justly, and piously in the present course of things” (v.12). Verse 14 says He redeemed “us from all lawlessness.”

In the last verse of our chapter in Isaiah we find that our blessed Lord will have a portion and spoil – a reward. In the words of our Lord, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Lk. 24:26). The sufferings came first, then the glory. He is glorified now in heaven, but He soon will be glorified here on earth when He sits on “His throne of glory” (Mt. 25:31)!

As we close Isaiah 53:12 we have a brief review of His sufferings: “He hath poured out His soul unto death.” This is the last reference to His soul that is mentioned in this chapter. It shows us that He willingly gave Himself, His life. The next phrase, He “was reckoned with the transgressors” was fulfilled when the Lord was crucified between two thieves (Mk. 15:26-27). Finally, we are reminded that “He bore the sin of many” (Isa. 53:12). We hope all of our readers can say that they are included in this “many.” There is no other sacrifice God can accept as an atonement for the soul. Have you turned to Him in faith and repentance? For those of us who can say yes, who have turned to Him, He is now our Intercessor in glory (Heb. 7:25).

By Kevin Quartell