Study Notes

Isaiah 53

Review

We have come to our sixth and final study entitled "Jesus in Isaiah." While usually taught on Sunday evenings, I thought this was most appropriate this week on Thursday night, seeing as how we have come to the very day on which Christ was crucified - the Thursday before Resurrection Sunday.

53:1 Who Has Believed Our Message?

Like we talked about in chapter 52, "the Arm of the Lord" is one of the many titles of Jesus Christ. Jesus is revealed to each person when they hear the message of the gospel and believe.

53:2 The Appearance Of Jesus

Like all human beings, Jesus progressed from childhood to adulthood. Luke tells us that...

Luke 2:40 The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

The Son of God was growing, but there was nothing to distinguish Him physically from any other young Jewish man around. He was just an average looking guy. As a matter of fact, when He came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowds all said, "Who is this?" (Matt. 21:10). And later that week, when He was about to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas was leading the cohort to a group of 12 Jewish men that all looked somewhat similar. Because Jesus was not standing out as the tallest one or the handsomest one,

Matt. 26:48 ...he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.”

53:3 Despised And Forsaken

In chapter 49, Jesus was referred to as "the despised One." We talked about how the Jewish leadership spoke evil of Him often. But He wasn't just despised, He was forsaken of men - totally abandoned.

When He was arrested in Garden of Gethsemane,

Matt. 26:56 ...Then all the disciples left Him and fled.

And the next day, the nation to whom He was given was asked,

Mark 15:12-13 "...what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify Him!”

He was despised and forsaken of men.

Sorrows And Grief

Jesus was also no stranger to sorrows and grief. His soul was deeply grieved to the point of death right before His arrest (Mark 14:34). Why would anyone willingly go through such an ordeal? The next three verses tell us what He was doing...

53:4-6 Our Griefs, Sorrows, Transgressions, And Iniquities

The torturous pain Jesus was about to undergo was for us. This is the key point, the basic foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ:

Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How do those two things connect? The wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God. And of course,

Rom. 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Every one of us wandered far from God like sheep in our rebellion against Him. So how do we get from that to a free gift from God of eternal life? It's what Jesus did:

Rom. 5:8 ...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus went to the cross as a substitute. Our substitute. He bore our griefs, carried our sorrows... was pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and chastened for our well-being.

The penalty of our sins all fell on Him.

Healed By His Scourging

And that's the gospel: the fact that Jesus was our substitute - He took the penalty of our sin. He was scourged instead of us.

Nowadays, "scourge" is used to describe someone or something that causes trouble. But in ancient times, scourging was a brutal form of torture.

When Jesus was scourged, He was bent over and His arms were tied around a large post to be whipped. The whip the Romans used was called a fluh-JEL-um, which was made of many leather thongs. To the thongs they tied lead balls for weight and sharp pieces of bone and metal to grab and tear the prisoner's flesh. By the time Jesus' scourging was overwith, His back was laid bare - no skin left, only torn muscle exposing bones and internal organs.

By allowing Himself to be scourged, Jesus opened the door for us to be healed from the disease of sin. He was whipped so that we wouldn't receive what we deserved to receive, which was for us to be scourged.

So let's read those verses again:

Is. 53:4-6 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

53:7 Silence Like A Lamb

This verse was being read aloud by an Ethiopian eunuch during the first century as he traveled in a caravan from Jerusalem to Gaza. A deacon of the church named Philip came running up to him and asked if he understood what he was reading. Since the eunuch didn't, he invited Philip up into his chariot and asked,

Acts 8:34-35 ...“Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

Philip no doubt explained to the eunuch about the accusations launched against Jesus that led to His conviction and crucifixion.

Although Jesus suffered oppression and affliction, He did not try to defend Himself against all of the false charges that people brought against Him. He kept silent before the Jewish Council

Matt. 26:62-63 The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But Jesus kept silent...

Then, when Jesus was brought to stand before Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, the chief priests and elders were accusing Him. Again, He did not answer (Matt. 27:12).

Matt. 27:13-14 Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.

You see, Jesus wasn't trying to get justice. He wasn't trying to prove Himself innocent. He was on a mission to save us. And that meant being slaughtered like a lamb. So He didn't open His mouth.

53:8 Considered Dead

Jesus was oppressed brutally and judged unfairly. And so He was taken away to be crucified. Everyone who witnessed that horrible event considered that He was cut off from the land of the living - in other words, everyone thought He was permanently dead. And why wouldn't they? Everybody who dies seems to be permanently dead!

But Jesus wasn't permanently dead.

Acts 2:24 “...God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power."

So, although He was buried in a tomb, He was raised from the dead on the third day (1Cor. 15:4).

The Stroke Was Due My People

And yet again, God clarifies for us the reason He was killed - it was not because of something He had done wrong - the stroke was due because of the sins of the people.

53:9 Wicked Men And A Rich Man

Just when you think that prophecy can't get any more specific, it confronts you with even more details. Jesus was crucified with two other men, one on each side of Him, who were wicked robbers (Matt 27:38; Mark 15:27). And after He died, it was a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea who gathered up courage and went in before Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus (Mark 15:43), then prepared the body for burial, placing it in his own tomb (Matt. 27:60)

Sinless

And yet again, we're reminded that this horrible death Jesus suffered was not because of His own sins. Simon Peter quoted this very verse to prove the sinlessness of Christ:

1Pet. 2:22-24 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Jesus did not die for anything He did... He was completely sinless. The Bible tells us over and over again that He never sinned.

2Cor. 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Heb. 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Heb. 7:26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;

1Pet. 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

1John 3:5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

He was truly the sinless Son of God

53:10-12 A Guilt Offering

Jesus rendered Himself as a guilt offering. This passage would make sense to the Jews who had grown up making guilt offerings at the temple, but for us it needs a bit of explanation.

The guilt offering was commanded by God in the book of Leviticus:

Lev. 5:15 “If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the LORD’S holy things, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the LORD..."

Lev. 5:16 “He shall make restitution for that which he has sinned..."

Lev. 5:17 “Now if a person sins and does any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, though he was unaware, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment."

Lev. 5:18-19 “...So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his error in which he sinned unintentionally and did not know it, and it will be forgiven him. It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the LORD.”

As we continue reading in Leviticus 6 about the guilt offering, we find out that its purpose was to make restitution for sin that was committed because of unfaithfulness, deception, robbery, lying, extortion, etc. and bring reconciliation before God and before men.

When Jesus gave Himself as a guilt offering, pouring out Himself to death, He bore our sin and interceded for us sinners. He brought restitution and reconciliation between us and God.

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