DAY FORTY-SIX:
The Suffering Servant
Today we're looking at Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering servant. Before we dig in let's look at Isaiah's background. His book begins, "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." Isaiah's ministry spanned four kings and sixty years! We read of his call in Isaiah 6. He saw a vision of the Lord in the Temple, and it caused him to say "Woe is me!" He knew that he was in the presence of the Holy Lord, and he was painfully aware of his sin and uncleanness. But God called him to give His message and equipped him with what he needed to do the job. Isaiah's book spans 66 chapters and is the longest of the prophetic books. There is a sharp break between chapters 39 and 40 which has led some to conclude that someone other that Isaiah wrote chapters 40 through 66 long after he had died, making the last part of the book a "pious fraud," written either in exile or after the return from exile. Recent computer analysis of the text, however, has shown a consistency throughout the book that could only come with one author.
Now on to our text. Isaiah had foretold Judah's exile in Babylon because of their faithlessness. But now, over a hundred years before that exile, Isaiah brings words of hope from God! As the people of Judah marched toward Babylon they could take comfort in these words. Isaiah 51:11 says, "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isaiah 52:7 says, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" Glorious stuff!
The meat of this passage is the prophecy of the "suffering servant," which is especially meaningful in Lent. This passage begins at the end of chapter 52: "Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand." This is a prophecy of the coming Messiah, the deliverer of Israel. The people longed for the arrival of their King, believing He would free them from their bondage. And indeed there are many passages that show the Messiah in this light. Isaiah, however, is describing something entirely different. God's servant will be marred beyond recognition, beaten mercilessly. Yet He will "sprinkle" (or possibly startle) the nations and shut the mouths of their kings.
Isaiah continued in chapter 53: "Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of theLord been revealed? 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. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Isaiah knows that the thought of the Messiah as sufferer rather than conqueror was so contrary to the nation's expectations that they would find it hard to believe. This Servant would not be impressive. In fact, he'd be pretty ordinary, from a poor background. When He would speak people would hate Him.
We read on and find out why the Servant suffered: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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. 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." It wasn't His own pain, but ours, that the Servant carried. The Lord laid our sins on Him, and He carried them! Through His wounds, which we deserved, hot He, we are healed from the deadly consequences of our sins.
We continue reading: "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. 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? 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." We see all of these things fulfilled in Jesus. Mark 14 records that Jesus said nothing at the hasty and illegal trial before the Sanhedrin, except that He was the Messiah. He was indeed carried off, beaten beyond recognition and then nailed to a cross. And He was with a rich man at His death. He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
"Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 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. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, 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." Jesus obediently endured the judgment for our sins so that He could save us from them. Hebrews 12: 2 says, "...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Jesus looked past the cross to see the generations of believers who would enjoy forgiveness and great blessings because of what He did. It was all worth it! This is a story worth telling and telling again!
Ten years ago Mel Gibson released The Passion of the Christ. It portrayed the brutality of what the Jews and the Romans did to Jesus so graphically that the movie received a well-deserved R rating. But even with all the Hollywood special effects Gibson still fell short of portraying Christ's suffering and death. We can't begin to imagine the horrors of Jesus' scourging and crucifixion. You can read this article, A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion, by C. Truman Davis, MD. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." Jesus did it all for you and for me! What else can we do but bow in awe at God's sovereign plan and praise Him?
I leave you with a beautiful hymn meditation on what Jesus did for us, O Sacred Head Now Wounded.
Very emotional song. The Passion of Chirst made me realize how much Jesus suffered for us! I know Jesus sufford a lot more than we could ever imagined!
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