Isaiah 53
Introduction:
Imagine you have an adversary who tells you they can predict your future. You say to them “oh really, well what will I do tomorrow?”
And they say “Tomorrow, you will wake up around 7, have some cereal for breakfast. You’ll put on your shoes, go to your workplace, and go to sleep in your bed that night.”
What would you do?
I’ll tell you what I would do. I would call up a friend and say “hey, I am going to need to come over and borrow your shoes for tomorrow. Don’t worry about it. I’ll bring you some pizza. I’ll give them back.” I’d call up a coworker and see if they would be willing to trade shifts for tomorrow. Maybe give them some pizza too. I would set my alarm for 5AM. I have to set it that early because I don’t hear it for the first hour, ask Jenni. For breakfast I would have whatever was left over from that pizza I had to buy. And I’d sleep on the couch that night – well, maybe. That’s pretty committed. I might let that one slide because I don’t sleep so well on the couch. Back issues too.
Now, the person might get lucky and predict some things correctly, maybe I’d forget and snooze till 7, or maybe I just couldn’t be bothered to try to keep everything from happening. But I sure would not do precisely as they predicted that I would do. Considering that my adversary would be human and not all powerful, I am confident I could prove them wrong and would try my absolute best to do so.
As we head toward Easter in a few weeks, I have been led to share with you from God’s Word in Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is one of the most remarkable chapters in the entire Bible. For me personally, there is no other chapter in all of Scripture which strengthens my faith as firmly in Jesus as Isaiah 53 does.
Isaiah 53 predicts with stunning accuracy that the Messiah must be rejected. He must suffer. He must die. He must be buried. And He must live again.
But what makes Isaiah 53 such a powerful testimony to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, is that it was written down long before Jesus walked the earth. It was written down around 700BC. About 700 years before Jesus was born and around 730 before He rose again.
And not only does it state that the Messiah must be rejected. He must suffer. He must die. He must be buried. And He must live again. But it also states that this prophecy would not be believed. And it was not believed. How do you like that?
Something that the Bible teaches plainly is that mankind, apart from the new life which God gives through faith in Christ, is at enmity with God. That means that mankind is in a state of war with God. And the Bible says that fallen man is under the authority of Satan and does as he wills. Satan is often times called in Greek the diabolos, which means adversary. He is God’s adversary.
So this is what Isaiah 53 does. God has it written down plainly, 700+ years before the events, giving His adversaries ample time and notice to do something about His plan. 700 years. He says, “You are not going to believe this. You are going to reject the Messiah. You are going to kill the Messiah. You are going to bury Him. But He will live again.”
And then. Mankind, under the influence of Satan – who hates God – says in response “Oh yeah! God! Well guess what! I do not believe that! I reject Your Son! He is not my Messiah. And I will nail Him to a cross like He deserves.” And then they are shocked, shocked, when He lives again.
Link: Talk about mind blowing. Is this for real? Did that really just happen? Did God’s enemies really just do exactly as God said they would? Yes! What an amazing God! Turn with me to Isaiah 53 and we will see God’s salvation plan clearly revealed. As we go through it, we’ll also be looking at many other verses demonstrating their fulfillment.
Text: Isaiah 53
Theme: God Wins and His Victory is Our Salvation
Verses 1 – The Message will not be Believed
“Who has believed what he has heard from us?” – This is an easy to overlook phrase, but actually is a very remarkable prophecy! When you are reading through the Gospels, you will often read that Jesus tells His disciples point blank that He is going to be rejected, killed, and then raised again three days later. Isaiah tells people in this prophecy that the Messiah will be rejected, killed, and yet – though He dies – He will live to see the fruit of His labor.
Jesus said it would happen. Isaiah said it would happen. Isaiah says it won’t be believed – and guess what?
Nobody believed it. Jesus talked about it. It’s written in this book.
And yet, despite this being written down well in advance and Jesus talking about it with His disciples often – It was not believed. That says something about the truth that God’s Word never fails. Even when the word is that people will not believe the word, it still comes true.
The most striking example of this comes in Mark 8:31-33. Go ahead and turn there.
*Read Mark 8:31-33*
Mark says “he said this plainly.” That is so that you and I can know: Jesus did not stutter. His statement was not mysterious. It was not shrouded in mystery. It was not unable to be understood. What He meant was known. It was said plainly out in the open.
Jesus says “I must suffer. I must be rejected. I must be killed. And I must rise again.”
Very plain. But it was not believed. Peter heard the statement, understood it, drew Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. Matthew 16:22 records the words he said “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
Jesus says: It must happen. Peter says: It shall never happen.
A direct contradiction of unbelief in the clear spoken word of God. And what Jesus said was nothing different from what you can find in Isaiah 53. But Peter didn’t believe it. John didn’t believe it. James didn’t believe it. Matthew didn’t believe it. The Pharisees didn’t believe it. The women who went to find Jesus at the grave didn’t believe it – although that one changed pretty soon!
What does Jesus have to say to this outspoken contradiction of God’s Word and God’s plan? He says: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Peter hasn’t become possessed by Satan, but he has become the mouthpiece of Satan. He has done what Satan always does – position Himself as the adversary of God’s plan and contradict God’s Word. What Peter said is exactly what Satan would say. God says “This will come to pass.” Satan says “This will not come to pass.”
Application:
Now, it is easy to stand in judgment of Peter at this moment. To point the finger and shake the head. Come on Peter, what were you thinking? But I want to point out that this is normal human behavior. I don’t mean healthy human behavior. I mean normal human behavior.
For one, others didn’t believe it either. The prophecy was that people wouldn’t believe it, so Peter isn’t the exception here, he is the rule. And if you and I had lived back then, we would not have been the exception to the rule. And two, be honest: have you ever contradicted God’s Word either with your voice or actions or in your heart?
Yes, you have and I have too. But let us be reminded that to contradict the Word of God is to act as Satan would. The word of God is not to be contradicted and it must and will come to pass.
Link: Because God’s Word must and will come to pass, we are wise to believe and affirm it and foolish when we do not. In Mark 8:31 Jesus says several things that must come to pass. Jesus must suffer many things. He must be rejected. He must be killed. And He must rise again after three days. Let’s go back to Isaiah 53 to look at that prophecy again.
Verses 2-3 – The Messiah Must be Rejected
The rejection of the Messiah was also foretold. It says very specifically that the Messiah would not be desired, that He would be despised, and that He would be rejected.
During the time that the Messiah came to earth, everybody was talking about the Messiah. Everybody wanted to find the Messiah. People described the spirit of the times as “The Messianic Expectation.” And yet, when He came, He was despised. They said “Oh, this person can’t be the Messiah. The Messiah is supposed to free us from Rome and this person claims to be the Son of God. No, we reject Him.”
At the time, nobody stopped to think “well now wait a minute, this is the exact situation that Isaiah described!” But now we can look back and it is perfectly clear. Ironically, that Jesus was rejected is one of the things that authenticates Him as being truly the Messiah.
Look with me at John 11:45-53 to see one of the strongest examples of this rejection.
*Read John 11:45-53*
Here is the moment that the leaders of the nation decisively rejected Jesus and made plans to put Him to death. There is a tremendous irony here that only God could orchestrate. Caiaphas, one of the foremost of Jesus’ opponents and party to Jesus’ upcoming shameful trial – Caiaphas of all people, declares the Words of God. “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
Indeed, Caiaphas! You people indeed know nothing at all. Jesus is the Messiah and He, One man, shall die for the people so that the people should not perish.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – Spoken plainly by Jesus. Indeed, Caiaphas, you know nothing at all.
Link: But God knows all. And what man intends for evil, God intends for good. Not only must the Messiah be rejected, but He must suffer as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
Verses 4-6 – The Messiah Must Suffer
Matthew 27:41-44 “So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said ‘I am the Son of God.’ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.”
Jesus healed the sick and diseased. He cast out demons. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. What was the response of people? “He saved others but cannot save Himself– God has rejected Him and won’t save Him.” Even criminals near Him reviled Him in this way.
It further goes to prove that Jesus is who He says He is.
While He was being rejected by men and esteemed to be punished by God, the truth is that He was bearing our sins on the cross so that we could have peace with God. He suffered in our place.
“All we” – all of mankind. Isaiah wrote this and Isaiah is obviously included in this “we.” That’s what “we” means. You and I. Even Isaiah, the holy prophet of God, was guilty of transgressions, iniquities, and like a sheep had turned away from the good shepherd to follow his own way. If Isaiah is guilty, it would be silly of you to imagine that you are not.
All are guilty of this. All are guilty of sin. All have disobeyed God in some way, whether that be through lying, hate, laziness, unfaithfulness, gossip, whatever. We’ve all gone astray and we all have earned punishment for that.
There is piercing for transgressions. There is crushing for iniquities. There is chastisement and wounding for sin. In God’s holiness and justice, there must be punishment for sin.
Because there must be punishment for sin, this is why Jesus says that He must suffer many things.
Jesus, because of His great love for the Father and great love for us, bore our punishment for us so that we could have peace and healing.
Link: He was obedient even to the point of death on our behalf. “The wages of sin is death.” – Romans 6:23. Jesus’ death was also foretold. Jesus said He must be killed and this too was spoken plainly by Isaiah.
Verses 7-9 – The Messiah Must be Killed
When Jesus was brought before the high priest of Israel, He was accused falsely of many things. It wasn’t really a trial as they had already determined that He was going to die. They just wanted to find a reason for it. So person after person came to accuse Him and failed. Through it all, Jesus stayed silent.
*Matthew 26:57-68*
It wasn’t a trial. It was oppression and judgment and a lamb being led away to the slaughter. When Jesus eventually did speak, they heard what they wanted to hear: a crime. There wasn’t anything criminal in what Jesus said, especially since it was true! But this was oppression and judgment, not a trial.
I mean look at who is overseeing the trial: Caiaphas. Caiaphas is the one who argued that they must kill Jesus. What kind of trial is overseen by a person plotting to murder you? What kind of a trial is that? No, this isn’t a trial, this is murder.
Caiaphas should be the one on trial for murder. And by the way it also wasn’t legal for the high priest to tear their robe. It says very specifically in Leviticus 21:10 that the high priest was not to tear his clothes.
Jesus was cut off from the land of the living. His grave was made with the wicked and with a rich man. When He was crucified, He was crucified alongside of thieves – wicked people. So His death was with the wicked. His grave was then purchased for Him by a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea.
Link: Jesus’ death had to take place. He said it did. Isaiah prophesied that it did. And on the human side of affairs, it was an oppressive murderous crime. But God had a plan and a purpose behind this death. And not only would Jesus die and be buried, but He would live again.
Verses 10-12 – The Messiah Must Live Again
The crucifixion of Jesus does not represent failure for God. This was not an interstellar basketball game where the clock is ticking down and things don’t look so good because team evil currently has a lot of points on the board.
No, what just happened is that team evil drove the ball up the wrong side of the court and helped score the win for team good. They are whooping and hollering and celebrating. Yes! We got a point! We did it! We win! We crucified the Messiah! And then they look up at the score board: team good – 100 points. Team evil – 0 points. What?
Have you ever seen real little kids playing soccer? Oh man, I remember a real good one where all the kids on a team were just swarming around the ball, kicking it, the out of control horde of delirious toddlers follow it around kicking it – and they kicked it into their own goal. And they were all so excited. And all the adults just couldn’t help but laugh at that.
This is a little like that, only it’s not children – its adults. And they aren’t kicking a ball, they are crucifying the Messiah. In short – it’s no laughing matter.
What happened? Is this the best plot twist the world has ever seen? No, this is not a plot twist. The plot was revealed long ago. Evil acted its part. But God has won and evil has lost, as was foretold.
Romans 8:28 says “all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose.” God takes it all and turns it into good. Such is His all-powerful goodness that He can take even the evil and turn it into good.
And that is what He did. Jesus’ life was given as sacrifice as an offering for guilt. The guilt of our sin, He took upon Himself. Jesus made many to be accounted righteous, and He did it by bearing our iniquities.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
On the cross Jesus called out “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And the Father did. Jesus, in obedience and love to the Father, became the Lamb of God. He took upon Himself all of our sins so that we could have forgiveness.
Jesus’ prayer for our forgiveness was heard. He died to make it so.
While we mocked and tortured Him and nailed Him to a tree, He called out for our forgiveness. And He willingly had our sins transferred to Himself on the cross – the sins of you, me, of Peter, of the legionaries who pierced Him, even of Caiaphas. What amazing love! What amazing grace!
But He didn’t stay dead. Jesus said that He must rise from the dead. And He did.
“There in the ground, His body lay. Light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth, in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me. For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.”
After that glorious day of Jesus’ resurrection, people who once did not believe this report began to believe. Those even who called for His crucifixion began to believe. The people on team evil, realizing their sin and the deep, deep love of God for them, took off their jerseys and were robed in new spotless garments as they came to faith in Jesus.
You might think that, winning the victory so completely as God did, that He would have no interest in forgiving mankind for the sin of crucifying His Son. That He would say “I won! Prepare to die you fools! You deserve it!” But in fact, I want you to know that the reason God did this was so that He could forgive mankind. It was so that He could forgive us. The object of the mission was the forgiveness of the defeated. His victory means our eternal redemption.
Imagine with me this scenario: You and Jesus stand in arms against one another. Swords in hand. Jesus says “You will pierce me in the hands, in the feet, and in the side. Then I will pierce your heart with my holy Word. I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
Not out of obedience, but in sin, you attack. Your sword pierces each hand, His feet, and His side. When you believe yourself to have won it is then that God speaks: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You finally realize: Jesus is Who the Bible says that He is and you know that He will save you. The Word pierces into your heart. You place your faith in Jesus. As the world’s most skillful surgeon, God removes your heart of stone and replaces it with a heart that is tender toward Him. His Holy Spirit He gives to you. God has won. You have been forgiven. You have been born again. He is your Father and you are His child.
Application:
Will you believe this report?
– By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not of works so that no man can boast.
Will you tell others this report so that they might also believe?
– Millions today still do not believe this report. And maybe haven’t heard. Will you share with them?