| SUFFERING SERVANT |

It is in this passage in Isaiah that it becomes clear to us that this Suffering Servant is indeed Jesus. Consider just a few of the lines of prophecy.

  • Isaiah 52:14 - Jesus was marred beyond recognition. The beating that Jesus endured was beyond even what was legal by Roman standards of justice.
  • Isaiah 53:2 - Though Jesus is the Son of God, he did not glow. He was not of great stature or excellent appearance. He was a simple carpenter’s son.
  • Isaiah 53:4 - “carried our sorrows” - The sin of mankind was represented by the cross that Jesus would carry.
  • Isaiah 53:5 - “pierced for our transgressions” - Jesus was literally pierced with a spear when he hung on the cross for the sins of those he came to save.
  • Isaiah 53:7 - “he opened no his mouth” - Jesus was silent before Herod and Pilate. He did not defend himself.
  • Isaiah 53:9 - “with a rich man in his death” - Jesus, who was a poor itinerant preacher, was buried in the borrowed tomb of a rich Pharisee.

All that said, the greatest prophecy of these passages is in Isaiah 53:11.

Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

This is the “service” that the Suffering Servant, Jesus, came to do. It is the work of the Messiah to take the wrath of God for sinners so that sinners like you and I can be declared righteous. We will see a lot more on this in the New Testament, but is it not amazing to see how God has been working through the whole of this history to redeem the lostness that began way back in Genesis 3?