March 16, 2011
Central Truth
As Christians, we believe Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is Isaiah's prophetic vision of Jesus Christ, who despite being innocent, lived a life full of grief, suffered an agonizing death on the cross, and ultimately rose from the dead to atone for our sins and make peace between man and God.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
(Isaiah 53:11)
1
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
1
53:1
Or Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3
He was despised and rejected
2
53:3
Or forsaken
by men,
a man of sorrows
3
53:3
Or pains; also verse 4
and acquainted with
4
53:3
Or and knowing
grief;
5
53:3
Or sickness; also verse 4
and as one from whom men hide their faces
6
53:3
Or as one who hides his face from us
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
7
53:10
Or he has made him sick
when his soul makes
8
53:10
Or when you make his soul
an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see
9
53:11
Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light
and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
10
53:12
Or with the great
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
11
53:12
Or with the numerous
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
It happened at mile 10 of the Ironman. I had already swam 2.4 miles and biked 112 miles, and the stress and fatigue on my body had led me to the point of collapse. My body could not take any more. I tried to detach myself from the growing pain in my legs and growing weight of fatigue that covered my body like a blanket of iron. As I turned inward to look for a place to manage the pain, I found myself weeping uncontrollably. Then a thought came into my mind. Christ did not quit. What if Christ had decided the pain was too great to bear? Thinking of Christ, I struggled on. Three hours later, in the freezing rain of December, I crossed the finish line, raised my hands, and praised God.
Isaiah writes in 52:13-53:13 of the anguish of the Suffering Servant as a prophetic reference to Jesus. Written hundreds of years before Christ, Isaiah mentions the shocking and agonizing path that Christ had to take to pay for our sins. Instead of being treated like God the Son, Christ lived the life of a homeless peasant, preaching to and doing miracles for the same people who would later condemn Him.
Isaiah points out that the Servant's suffering was not for His own guilt, but for our sake and for our healing. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. The Father was delighted to crush Him as our guilt offering.
His life of poverty and grief was punctuated by an agonizing death. In the end though, it was not the crown of thorns on His head, nor the nails in His hands, but the separation from God that broke His heart. Taking on the sins of the world, He cried out, ""MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" (Matthew 27:46) Then, for the first and only time in eternity, Jesus was separate from the Father. He tasted the misery of the Great Divorce destined for those who do not know or love God.
And Salvation was created.
1. In light of this passage, how seriously do you think God treats sin? What is His solution for sin?
2. Do you believe that Jesus is the answer for your sin? If so, have you trusted in Him to be your Savior?
3. Is suffering always evil? Can God use suffering and grief for a good purpose?
4. If God has called us to be like Christ, does that include suffering for Him as well? How?
WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY
ISAIAH 51-55 (MAR 14-18)
Read Isaiah 53.
To whom does this chapter refer?
Activity: Fold a piece of paper in half, longwise. At the top of the left side, write "The Prophecy (Isaiah 53);" on the right side, write "It Happened! (New Testament)." Read each Isaiah verse and look in the New Testament (specifically the Gospels) for verses that show the prophecy coming true. Fill in the chart with what you find. Here are a few examples: Isaiah 53:2/Luke 2:52; Isaiah 53:5/John 19:34; Isaiah 53:9/Matthew 27:57-60; and Isaiah 53:12/Mark 15:27. Look for others!
Isn't it awesome that Isaiah prophesied about Jesus coming to be the Savior of the world? Have you put your trust in Him and accepted His gift of bearing your sins (verse 12)?