NOTES for Isa 52:13-53:12
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. |
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: |
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. |
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? |
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. |
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. |
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
Hide
Of all the prophets, the image of the suffering Messiah appears only in Babylonian Isaiah. To his contemporaries these words sounded strange: for them the image of the Messiah was least of all associated with any kind of suffering. For them the Messiah was a righteous King, who would live like a king. What suffering could there be?
Meanwhile, in the prophet's words there sounds a revelation concerning the fundamental laws of spiritual life. After all, he does not say by accident that the Messiah suffers not for His own sins, but for the sins of other people, for the sins of the whole people of God. And He suffers voluntarily. This means that the Messiah takes upon Himself responsibility for the people's sins, somewhat as even today one person can repay another person's debts by paying his creditors for him. True, when a crime is involved, the transfer of responsibility to another person is impossible in our day. Today each person answers for himself before the law. But in ancient times it was possible to stand surety even for a criminal, taking upon oneself responsibility for the crime he had committed and bearing the corresponding punishment. In such a case it was presumed that the surety knew well the one for whom he was vouching and was so confident in him that he was ready to free him from the consequences of what had been done. The surety's motives did not matter here. He was required only to take upon himself the consequences of the crime committed by the offender.
This is exactly what the Messiah does before God in Isaiah: He takes upon Himself responsibility for the sins committed by the people and bears all the consequences of those sins. After this, the people are freed from responsibility and receive a chance to begin a new life from a clean slate. This was the only chance, because one cannot enter the Kingdom together with the burden of the consequences produced by sin committed consciously and voluntarily, and there were many such sins in the history of the people. Someone had to take them upon himself, giving the rest the possibility of entering the Kingdom unburdened by a load too heavy for new life. And the Messiah does this just as voluntarily and consciously as the people once sinned quite consciously and voluntarily, thereby opening the road to the Kingdom for the people and becoming the Redeemer.
Readings for 3 April 2026
After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan. Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free. | ||
