4-Day Commentary Challenge - Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Sample

THE SERVANT SATISFIED

Men see the death of the Lord Jesus only as a tragedy. They imagine a visionary martyr, perhaps ahead of His time, suffering and dying for His ideals. This is a travesty. God’s Word shows that that which is in one sense tragedy is the source of the deepest joy. What Christ suffered at the hands of men was tragic. They took Him and with “the hands of godless men” crucified and killed Him, as Peter declared (Acts 2:23). In and through the tragedy, nevertheless, God was working out His sovereign purpose of grace. Isaiah emphasizes that:

But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. (v. 10)

The most mysterious thing about the death of Christ, and the most glorious, is that He was God’s sacrificial Lamb. In some way that we cannot comprehend, He took our place in bearing the righteous judgment of God against sin. This was the depth of the suffering of the Lord Jesus, that which caused Him to cry out in the thick darkness:

My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? (Matt. 27:46)

It was from this that His holy soul shrank in the Garden of Gethsemane, not from fear, but from very holiness. Many brave men have borne great physical suffering unflinchingly, but only the sinless Son of God could bear this suffering. To be made sin—how little we know of the effect that would have in the soul of a perfectly sinless person.

But the Lord Jesus could look beyond the suffering. “For the joy set before Him,” that is, in exchange for that, He “endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). All this Isaiah saw. He “will see His offspring,” he said. The Lord Jesus had in view that great multitude of sons whom He was to bring into glory (Heb. 2:10). When viewed in this light, the true light, the death of Christ is not a tragedy, not a waste, but the greatest triumph possible. This is proved by the fact that death could not hold Him—“He will prolong His days.” The Old Testament in a number of passages foresees the resurrection of Christ, that other essential element of the gospel.

 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied. (v. 11)

How many times in human history men have dared to accomplish stupendous feats all for nothing. Not so with the Lord Jesus. Here is the crown of His atonement—“satisfied”! The question that comes to every individual who comes in contact with this truth is: “Are you satisfied?” To put it even more personally: “Am I satisfied with that which the Lord Jesus Christ did for me upon the cross?” By “His knowledge,” that is, by the knowledge of Him- self, God’s “righteous servant” justifies. He can do this because He has already borne their iniquities. “And through Him everyone who believes,” the Scripture says, “is freed from all things” (Acts 13:39).

The prophecy closes with the same thought with which it began, exaltation after the suffering. In this brief passage we see both of the major themes of Old Testament prophecy in general: “the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1 Peter 1:11). The spoils of this tremendous and unique campaign are now divided. The Messiah has come into His own. Psalms 2 and 72 are good examples of other prophetic Scriptures that speak of the coming day of Christ’s triumph and millennial reign.

Is it possible to read a passage such as Isaiah 53 and to see it only as a dim and far-off event, something that had meaning to the prophet and the people of his own day, but not to subsequent times? Alas, yes, for “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). To the seeking heart, the believing heart, the Lord Jesus is revealed in all the sad-joyous tragedy-triumph of His substitutionary, sacrificial death and in all the unalloyed joy and triumph of His glorious bodily resurrection. The Servant of Jehovah is the Christ of Calvary and of the empty tomb. 

 Note from the Publisher:  We hope that you have been encouraged by this 4-day commentary challenge from Alfred Martin.  You can pick up a copy of  Isaiah - Everyday Bible Commentary at moodypublishers.com.