Last week I wrote about the efforts to undermine the
writings of the prophet Isaiah, and now I want to highlight what I think
Isaiah’s critics ultimately want to do away with. In chapters 52-53 the prophet
wrote of the suffering servant, a passage that any unbiased reader would have
to conclude is a perfect description of the work of Jesus on the cross. For
1,700 years after Isaiah wrote, rabbis believed this passage to be a prophecy
of the Messiah, but today many Jews ignore this passage altogether.
Isaiah wrote that the servant would be “despised and
rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Many today have
trouble with the death of Jesus, believing God would never allow the Messiah to
be killed in that way, and that the people would welcome Him with open arms;
Isaiah, however, portrays Messiah as one who is rejected and despised by His
own people, something we clearly see happen to Jesus. The prophet continued:
“Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” God didn’t just allow the
crucifixion, He is foretold it.
It gets even better. Isaiah noted, “He was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed…the Lord has laid on
him the iniquity of us all.” Jesus was pierced on the cross by three nails and
a soldier’s spear, and striped by the cat-o-nine-tails. This wasn’t some
accident God could not stop, nor a heretic getting what he deserved; God knew
our peace with Him could only come by crushing His own Son. That is why Isaiah
could say, “Yet it pleased the Lord to crush him,” for “It was the outcome that pleased Him, not the pain[1].”
Isaiah said he would die with the wicked and be buried with the rich (Jesus
died between criminals and was put in a rich man’s tomb); he would make many
people righteous (who else has done that?); and most notably, he would divide
the spoil with the strong because he
died (in other words, after death he
would celebrate victory, a clear picture of the Resurrection).
Please take the time to read these two chapters on your own,
for space does not permit me to comment on each line.
When we remember that Micah predicted the Messiah would be
born in Bethlehem (5:2) and Daniel said He would come before the temple was
destroyed (9:26; this happened in AD 70), we are left with a clear picture of
Jesus. He was rejected and humiliated, only to bear the sins of many, and make
peace between God and all who trust in Jesus. If you are looking for a Savior,
Isaiah points Him out to you.
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