Isaiah 53

== Isaiah 53:1 ==
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
This is a continuation of what Isaiah was saying in Isaiah 52, especially verse 10. He asks the question concerning this Servant: 
* Who is going to believe what I'm saying about this Servant? 
* Who is going to have this personal mighty holy work of Jehovah revealed to them? 
Isaiah is telling them all this great stuff about Jehovah coming to save them through this Servant, but there is a pause here, a warning of sorts because of the following things that will be true about this Servant (Jesus).
== Isaiah 53:2 ==
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.
Where the Jews expected a beautiful man like David, a kingly man like Saul, the Servant would be born poor, he would not be physically good looking or strong and nothing of note. Jehovah is known for doing this, though, throughout history. He uses the people of no account to do great wonders. Israel was like this, a nation of shepherds and slaves, physically small and weak compared to the nations that came up against them, but Jehovah was with them and through them accomplished His will. Jesus was not what the Jews were expecting, physically of no account, not a material king or wealthy, just a poor carpenter's son. Yet through Him, Jehovah accomplished the reconciliation of mankind to Himself, the greatest event He had accomplished for mankind.
== Isaiah 53:3 ==
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.
This is not the Servant on the cross yet. This is the Servant in life. He was rejected by His own people (John 1:11), hated and eventually crucified by them. Yet He was like us in every way. A man who endured sorrow and grief, loss, pain. He wept for dead Lazarus even though He knew He could raise Him. He wept for Israel, His people of the flesh. He was tempted like as we are tempted (Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:15). Through all this, our Creator experienced humanity. Everything that the Servant became, He restored and there was not anything of mankind that He did not restore to a right relationship with the Theotes (the Godhead).
While some of Israel responded to His teachings, the majority of Israel did not. They rejected Him, turned their faces from them, hated Him and tried often to kill Him because He did not fit their notion of the Messiah.
== Isaiah 53:4 ==
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Note here that this is our griefs that the Servant bears, our sorrows that He carries. This is still the humanity of Jesus. He lived as one of us and this is of great importance to understand. If He did not live as one of us, then His death, burial, and resurrection, His work of restoring our image to that in which it was created, would have been for nothing. If we only focus on the death of Christ, then we miss the point altogether. Matthew 8:17 quotes this verse after Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law, casts out demons, and heals many others. It reads, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Matthew thus declares the meaning of this verse to be that Christ bearing our griefs, carrying our sorrows, is living among us and healing us.
In this we see that Jesus became all that we are in taking on humanity. When we sin, we mar the image of God that we are made in (Genesis 1:26-27). By coming in the flesh, by enduring our mortality, He came in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3) and in this manner He can be said to have borne our sins by bearing our humanity (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Next enters the idea of the Servant on the cross. The Jews (we in this context) did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. It is imperative to understand that this is what the Jews thought, not the reality of the situation. They thought the Servant was a false Messiah and even though it was they that put Him on that cross crying crucify Him, crucify Him, they attributed His death as a just one, a righteous judgment against this so-called "false" Messiah, "false" king by Jehovah directly. The horrors of the cross that they inflicted on the suffering Servant they incorrectly attributed to God.
== Isaiah 53:5 ==
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.
Yet what they thought was righteous judgment by God against a false Messiah was in reality Jesus going willingly to the cross to be wounded by those He had come to save enduring the suffering of the cross for them. In doing so, He showed the ultimate turn the other cheek. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Even in dying Jesus sought to forgive, sought to draw men unto Himself, and in death shed His blood which cleanses us from our sins. 
It wasn't the Father that put Christ on the cross, though that plan was willingly accomplished by the Godhead in perfect unity foreseeing what man would do and determining to use that for the good of all mankind. It was the sins of humanity that put Him there. The Hebrew preposition מִ (mem) means "from". It is translated as "for" in the KJV using a more archaic application of the word "for" that is now confusing to us. All modern translations have kept the word, but the meaning is then lost to modern readers. He was wounded "from" our transgressions/bruised "from" our iniquities are the more accurate phrases. Had man not sinned against God, there would have been no need for this at all. Yet this was not God's wrath being demonstrated.
It was His love for mankind being demonstrated.
I have thought long about this phrase "the chastisement of our peace was upon Him". I have come to a different conclusion that I have not heard anyone else say before, though I admit I have not read as much material from Christianity as I would like. Chastisement is correction. What is receiving correction here? Certainly not the Servant, Jesus. He had no sin, had nothing to be corrected for. I believe that it is the understanding the Jews had, that men had, about peace. Throughout the Old Testament we read about how the Jews incorrectly viewed peace. They sought a peace through conquering all their enemies and ruling the world through might of arms such as in the days of David and Solomon. Jeremiah spoke of this where they thought they would have peace, but there was no peace to be had (Jer 6:14; 8:11), but Jesus spoke of peace differently. In physical terms, He said He had not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34; Luke 12:51). Yet what did He say to the Apostles as He was preparing them for His death and departure from the world?
* "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27).
He taught them that He was giving to them peace but not as the world gives peace. He was correcting their idea of how peace was to be found, not through might, through strength of arms and conquering enemies with the sword, but by trusting in Him, by resting in the truth of the gospel and the eternal life He was bringing to them through His death. 
The chastisement/correction of their understanding of peace was upon Him means that in His death, He was restoring to them eternal life and ending enmity between God and man, between Jew and Gentile, and bringing together all men in Him.
In being human and coming in the flesh living as we lived, enduring all that we endured including real temptation, He was able to heal us. He endured the sins of mankind who tortured Him, mankind who crucified Him, that we could be made dead to sin and alive unto righteousness as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:24. Our sins put Him on the cross and by those stripes that we inflicted on Him we are healed, we are restored to our relationship with Jehovah.
== Isaiah 53:6 ==
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.
All we - a generalized reference to the nation of Israel, specifically of Judah and Jerusalem about which the book of Isaiah is written.
Like sheep have gone astray - note that for them to have gone astray, they had to be not "astray" to begin with. Many will try to make an intense effort to teach that men are conceived/born sinful, but here Isaiah points out that the sinners of Israel had left the path Yahweh had set them on at the beginning.
We have turned every one to his own way - "we" again is Judah and Jerusalem and this generalization speaks to what they have turned away from Yahweh to, their own selfish desires.
And the Lord - that is Yahweh
has laid on him - the word for "laid" here is הִפְגִּיעַ (paga) and it means to cause to intercede, interpose, entreat, meet, light upon, or enjoin
the iniquity of us all - again, keeping this in context, Isaiah is writing about Judah and Jerusalem. While we extrapolate this within the broader context of scripture to all of humanity, Isaiah is speaking specifically here of the iniquity of the Jews.
What Isaiah is saying here is that Yahweh has caused the suffering Servant to intercede or make entreaty for all of the sins of His people. This burden is not that of "becoming" sin - i.e. becoming murder, fornication, idolatry, theft, etc. - but becoming human, living perfectly, then using the shedding of that innocent blood by the sin of man to wash that sin away. When mankind sinned, the Servant interceded and gave them life instead. To bear this burden was not to be made as if He had been the one who had sinned, but to take up their cause and heal them, cleanse them that they might live and not remain dead in their trespasses.
== Isaiah 53:7 ==
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.
The oppression and affliction came from those of Judah who rejected Jesus, who fought against Him His entire ministry, who tried Him illegally, tortured Him, and put Him on a cross. He went willingly, allowing it to happen though He could have easily stopped it. This is why He did not open His mouth. Had He given a defense, they would have harkened and we could not have been cleansed by the blood He shed in death, could have no hope of resurrection by His own defeat of death.
In this passage, Jesus is again associated with the idea of the lamb. A young sheep gives no defense when it is about to be shorn of its wool or slaughtered for sacrifice. It remains silent. So, too, was the suffering Servant before His accusers, before those who were murdering Him.
I would take a moment to remind the reader that analogies are only useful for the point they intend to convey. If we take an analogy beyond that, we get into absurdities. Jesus was not literally a dumb animal. He did not remain quiet for the same reasons a sheep remains quiet (too unintelligent and trusting to know what's going on until it is too late). The only ideas intended by this comparison is the innocence, the silence, and the sacrificial aspects of the lamb. No more.
== Isaiah 53:8 ==
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.
This phrase "He was taken from prison and from judgment" is an indication of the illegality and unjustness of Jesus' situation. Jesus was never actually taken to prison and the judgment against Him was not according to any law. His trial was a travesty of justice, wholly against the law both in the timing and manner as well as a standard to hold up to Him to show what crime/sin He committed (which was none). This phrase isn't saying he was taken out of a jail cell to be judged, it is saying that there was no due process of law, no legal or justified measure for Him to go to the cross. He was condemned sinfully by His judges and executed unjustly by His accusers.
Who shall declare His generation? - A better way to think of this is "who shall speak for His life?" In other words, no one, not one single person was brought before the accusers, before Herod, before Pilate who would defend Jesus. He was left all alone, His friends fled in fear or at the best too afraid to speak up even if present such as in John's case. The only witnesses that spoke at Jesus' trial were false witnesses, though Jesus said that all He did was done openly in the temple and synagogue (John 18:20-21).
He was cut off from the land of the living - This is more than just Jesus being killed. This is Him being rejected by the Jews (the land/earth) who had been God's chosen people. The very vehicle of the promise to Abraham to bring the Messiah into the world hated Him, despised Him, and rejected Him. They cut Him off from them and killed Him.
for the transgression of my people was he stricken - again we have the preposition מִ (mem - from) as in verse 5. When we see this, it means "because of" the transgressions. In other words, the reason the Suffering Servant was struck was because the Jews caused Him to be struck by their false witness, their sin, just as Peter accuses on Pentecost in Acts 2:22-23: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:" God did not kill Jesus. God did not do anything but deliver Himself up, yield Himself and allow them to do what they were going to do. The action, the sin, was done by the Jews.
== Isaiah 53:9 ==
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.
Jesus did not fight, did not cause a rebellion, did not resist the earthly authorities at any point. He never lied to save His own skin and it was for the truth He was killed. As we know, verse 9 is one of those specific prophecies of scripture that shows Jesus was the Messiah and that the Bible is inspired, most definitely from a divine source. Almost 800 years before the burial of Christ, Isaiah was told that Jesus would be buried in a rich man's tomb. He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea, a rich man and honorable counsellor according to Matthew 27:57, Mark 15:43, and John 19:38.
== Isaiah 53:10 ==
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.
It pleased Yahweh to bruise Him - One of the oft pushed misconceptions of this phrase is that God the Father was pouring out His wrath on the Son and was gleeful about it. This misconception makes God out to be some sadistic tyrannical figure like some pagan deity and it is not only wrong, but disgusting. The reality is that the pleasure is not in the torture on the cross, but what that suffering by the Suffering Servant accomplished, namely the reconciling of the world to Himself. The Father, Son, and Spirit were all pleased that Jesus made this self-sacrifice in order to be reconciled to the world. Remember, Jesus went willingly, putting Himself on the cross (John 10:11, 17-18).
He hath put Him to grief - Yahweh has put the Suffering Servant to grief, to endure the brutality of man to show us they way to act towards those who do evil to us. Remember that Christ taught to turn the other cheek? (Matt 5:39) Christ could have rejected going to the cross, could have called legions of celestial angels to come and destroy His enemies. Instead, He spread His arms wide on the cross inviting all to come to Him despite their sin and rebellion. The grief He endured was for our benefit.
When thou - the Israelites/Jews; remember who Isaiah is writing to here. Jehovah is spoken of in the third person, "He/Him/His" but now Isaiah uses the term "thou/you" which is 2nd person. He is addressing His audience, not God.
Shalt make His soul an offering for sin - When the Suffering Servant was put on the cross, it was not just His body that endured the sinful actions of the Jews, but His soul. His soul went to Hades, the realm of the dead for three days, but as the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 16:10 "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hades; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." It was not just His body that returned to life, but His soul that rejoined His body to make that happen, tearing asunder the gates of Hades (Matt 16:18) and coming back to life so that we can do the same.
But what does it mean that the Jews would make His soul an offering for sin? They did not realize what they were doing. God was using their sin, their action, to do good. Jesus shed His blood in death and it is that blood that takes away sin, not the blood of bulls and goats (Hebrews 10). His soul was offered to bring peace (peace offering - to bring peace or reconciliation between God and man), to atone for sin (sin/burnt/trespass offering - His blood was shed to wash away our sins, a cleansing flood made available by His death), to be a meat offering (remember, we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood each first day of the week and live thereby - John 6:53-67). Note that the blood of Christ was shed for all, but does not cleanse the sin of all. It has to be applied, in water immersion according to the Word, in order to wash away sin. In understanding this, we can conclude that it was not that Jesus became sin itself. He did not become rape, murder, pedophilia, theft, adultery, etc. Instead, the atonement was in the shedding of the blood, much like the blood that was shed by the passover lambs. The blood was shed in the universal sense in that "whosoever" spread the blood on the doorposts would be saved. However, the blood that was shed was not universal in that only those who spread the blood were saved. When we see that Jesus was made an offering for sin, it was in the sense of what His blood could do for mankind throughout time. It was shed in that brief time of His death, but it is applied throughout all time.
He shall see His seed - Jesus will rise again from the dead and He will see those who have converted to Him, who have repented of their rebellion and obeyed His voice in baptism and become sons of God once more (John 1:12; Romans 8:14; Galatians 4:7; Phillipians 2:15; 1 John 3:1-2). We are His seed, children of the groom (Jesus) and the bride (the church) as are all those who are obedient to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
he shall prolong his days, - Though He died, He will be resurrected and His life will go on unendingly never dying again
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand - herein is the focus of Yahweh's pleasure, not in the torture, but in the restoration of the image He made mankind in. That restoration would prosper, it would spread out to the whole world like the mountain in Daniel 2 that broke the statue.
God is a God of love, not of sadistic glee at the torture of His Son. Yet it pleased Him to go through with this as the best way to restore mankind to Himself.
== Isaiah 53:11 ==
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.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: - some who read this will assume that the satisfaction comes from the torture, from God expending His wrath on His son, and that this will satisfy Jehovah's sense of justice. However, this neither this phrase nor the context bears that out.
First, Jehovah will see the travail of the Suffering Servant's soul. This is not the same thing as "The Father will torture the body of His Son" as some want us to believe. This phrase is a parallel to the one before it: It pleased Jehovah to bruise Him. Seeing the anguish of Jesus upon the cross, Yahweh knew that His purpose in sending Him to Earth to heal humanity, to restore the image He had made of Himself in the beginning to Himself, was accomplished in what Jesus endured on the cross. This is what satisfied Him. To say that the travail was the end point and what Jehovah was ultimately satisfied with makes Him out to be that sadistic child abuser, which is blasphemous. Look at the rest of the verse to verify this.
by his knowledge - His refers to the Suffering Servant, Jesus. By His knowledge or perception. This harkens back to the first phrase where Jehovah will see the travail of Christ soul. Yet Jesus is God so that seeing is Jesus' perception as well. It is imperative to understand again that Jesus went willingly to the cross, in perfect harmony with the will of the Father and Spirit. Jesus saw the travail of His own soul and He too was satisfied, not in a sadistic way at the travail, but by what that travail accomplished.
shall my righteous servant justify many; - In other words, in Jesus seeing that He had accomplished the will of the Godhead on the cross, that point where He acknowledged "It is finished", Jesus died and in His death justified many by the shedding of His blood.
for he shall bear their iniquities. - Again, this is not saying that Jesus became all the sins of all the people of the world. Just as we noted in verse 6, to bear or carry our sins was to intercede for us, to take up our cause and heal us, cleanse us that we might live and not remain dead in our trespasses. In the shedding of His blood, Christ provided the healing balm that washes our sins away and makes us as pure as if we had never sinned. As some preachers like to say, to justify us by His blood is to make it "just if I" had never sinned. This was His burden, not actually becoming murder, rape, theft, idolatry, etc. This is confirmed in the very next verse.
== Isaiah 53:12 ==
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.
Because Christ, the Suffering Servant, completed the task set to Him by the Godhead, He gets the promised inheritance of the eldest brother, the firstborn of the dead. As Acts 13:33 says, when Christ was raised from the dead, He was that day begotten of the Father. He became the only begotten of the Father having been raised from the dead to receive the inheritence of the kingdom of Christ, the church. One day, when the Resurrection comes, Jesus Christ will no longer be the only begotten of the Father.
The great and the strong here are the faithful, those faithful before the cross such as Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and those faithful after the cross that would establish the church: the Apostles, the martyrs, the overcomers, and the faithful even today. The spoils to be divided are the rewards of winning the war against sin and the devil begun in the garden when man fell.
When Christ "poured out His soul unto death" on the cross, He died truly. It wasn't just a swoon or a trick. He truly died so that He could truly defeat death by His resurrection. He was accounted as a transgressor by His own people, hung between two thieves as a common criminal.
And by bearing the sins of many, by taking up their cause, He made intercession for them, provided His cleansing blood to wash away their sins that they might be healed and restored to a right relationship with their Creator. What was marred by Adam was healed by Christ, the image of God was made whole again. Christ won the victory over the Devil and sin and death. He provided a perfect moral example to us in how He lived His life and in how He died at the hands of enemies.
In Truth and Love.