The Servant of the Lord
Read Isaiah 52:13–53:12. What great hope and promise are found here for us?
These verses present one of the most majestic passages of the Old Testament. This section establishes, without explicitly stating it, the limits and ineffectiveness of the Israelite sacrificial system as a means of expiation (the removal of the barrier between humanity and God). The problem of sin was so serious that only the Servant of the Lord could solve it. The passage describes the experiences of both the people and the Servant.
The People: The people went through two experiences, one of disbelief and misjudgment, the other of confession and contrition. Initially the Servant was perceived as unattractive, almost like a leper (Isa. 52:14) and as someone “stricken by God, smitten by him” (Isa. 53:4, NIV). Because God appeared to have rejected Him, they, too, despised and rejected Him (vs. 3). Then they realized that there was a divine purpose in the experience of the Servant; that He was taking their sorrows and infirmities (vs. 4) on Himself. He was bearing their sins, and as their substitute, He was dying for them. In the light of the sacrifice of the Servant, they saw themselves as they truly were: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (vs. 6, NIV). It is only by looking at the Cross that we perceive the distortions of sin in our lives.
The Servant: The experience of the Servant was extremely painful. He was lonely, rejected by all (vs. 3), loaded with sorrows and suffering, and oppressed and afflicted (vs. 7) and even “cut off from the land of the living” (vs. 8, NIV). Yet, there was no justification for this treatment because “he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth” (vs. 9, NIV). Why was this innocent person suffering? It was because the Lord was presenting the Servant’s life as a “guilt offering” (vs. 10, NIV). He was bearing the iniquities of the people, dying in their place in order to declare them righteous and innocent (vss. 11, 12). But after that sacrificial death, He was to see light again (vs. 11) and to be highly exalted (Isa. 52:13).
This prophetic depiction of the sacrificial death of Christ was offered by Isaiah as the only effective way of expiation from sin. Christ became what we are in order for us to be restored to fellowship with God.
| Read again Isaiah 52:13–53:12, paying special attention to all that Jesus has done for us on the cross. What hope do you see in there for yourself? |
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