The Suffering Servant

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

Today marks the beginning of Holy Week, and our first reading from Scriptures comes from the Prophet Isaiah, with his description of the Suffering Servant, which is the Messiah Jesus.  In this brief passage of 15 verses, there are 12 prophecies of the Messiah, which were all fulfilled by Jesus during the last day of His life.  Let’s take a closer look at and meditate on a few of the verses of this passage.

As Isaiah opens this passage (vs. 52:13) he is speaking the words of God, and he tells of God’s “servant”, and describes him in very graphic and terrible detail.  How can we tell who this is?  The rest of the passage tells of how much this person, the servant, would suffer, and not for what he did, but on behalf of others.  It is quite obvious that Isaiah is not speaking of himself, nor of anyone he knew at that time.  As history has passed, we can see that this was all fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  God chose to save the world through a humble and a suffering servant, rather than some mighty, majestic and powerful king.  Exactly the opposite of what the world would expect.

In verse 14 we read that because of the suffering and abuse that He suffered, Jesus’ whole appearance was so disfigured that He barely looked like a man anymore.  We’ve all seen on TV and in movies a guy who’s ben beat up, maybe in a bar fight or something - the black eye, split lip, bloody nose, bruises, etc.  They still look like a man, though.  Jesus was so physically abused and tortured that Isaiah said he would scarcely even look like a man anymore.  He endured that for you and me.

Though there were many who followed and loved Jesus throughout His ministry, He attracted many enemies.  As verse 3 of chapter 53 describes, He was despised and rejected.  The people He had come to save and redeem turned against Him.   It is the same today.  Jesus is just as despised by people in our society as He was back when He walked the earth.  He came to redeem us from Satan’s grasp and control, save us from an eternity in hell, and what is our reaction to Him - despising and rejection.  No wonder He is a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.

In verses 4 - 5 we read of the horrible suffering that Jesus endured.  Why did the Lord of Heaven go through this?  In verses 4 and 5 we read the word “our” five times.  Our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions, our iniquities, our peace.  He endured all of this for us.  He was wounded, bruised and chastised for us.  The last part of verse 8 clearly says that it was for the sins of all people that Jesus was killed.  All this was prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus came, and He fulfilled each of these prophecies.

In verse 6 we are compared to sheep that have wandered off, going their own way.  Sheep are not a very bright animal.  To be honest, they are rather stupid animals.  They can’t be trained to do anything.  They are also very defenseless.  Like stupid sheep we have gone our own way, the way of sin, that leads to destruction.  It is our sins, our stubborn, willful iniquities, that God laid on the back of Jesus.  Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, being led to the altar to be the sacrifice for our sins (vs 7).  He didn’t fight, cry out against this, or curse those who did this to Him, which was all of us.

Though Jesus died like a common criminal, and because of that His body would normally have been buried in a criminal’s or pauper’s grave.  Instead a very wealthy follower of His, Joseph of Arimathea, gave Jesus his grave.  This was prophesied in today’s passage, as we see in verse 9.  He died with the wicked, but was buried with the rich.

Throughout this passage we have seen how it was our sins that brought the Savior such sorrow, grief, torture and death.  The passage, though, does not end on such a horrible note.  No, instead it gives us some hope.  Verses 10 - 12 tell how that the sacrificial death of Jesus satisfied the Father’s wrath for sin, and would make forgiveness and salvation available for all of mankind.  As many as would receive and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf would be justified and saved.

With Good Friday this week, the day when we commemorate this sacrificial death of Jesus for us and our sins, let us meditate on all that He suffered for us.  We should not take the Blood of Jesus lightly, as it purchased our salvation.  And if you have not personally acknowledged that Jesus died for you and have accepted Him as your Savior, I pray you will today.