Wednesday, October 25 2023
Contributor: Peter Folikwe INTRODUCTION Towards the end of chapter 52, the sin bearing Servant of God was introduced. Today, we shall be reviewing Vicarious Sacrifice of Christ, Jehovah's Servant: Is 53:1-12. With continuation from Is 52:13 - end, without necessarily repeating what we learnt last week. The vivid account of the prophecy recorded by Isaiah in chapter 53 of the coming of the Messiah - Jesus, the servant of God, His sufferings, His sanctification and glorification proved beyond reasonable doubt Jesus is the Messiah and the soon coming King. Isaiah 52:13-15
Verses 1-3 Isaiah is here asking in verse 1, who will believe a contradiction that a suffering Messiah will turn out to be a Saviour of mankind. He came weak and vulnerable like a tender plant. He was to be killed by Herod, but they fled with to Egypt. 1Cor 1:27 tells us “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty”
Verse 3 “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Isaiah - a Jew, here is writing to his fellow Jews about a future deliverer who they will reject. A prophecy that eventually came to past. Not only was he rejected by the Jew, Gentiles whom he also died for rejected him. Isiah further described Him as despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His sorrows and griefs were for the fallen, desperate condition of humanity. Verse 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. Our greatest grief and sorrows He was to bear was our sins. We esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. Isiah’s prophecy here is that during His travails to the cross, when he was beaten, scorched and eventually crucified, the Jew believed that He was suffering for His sins - blasphemy. Little did they know that God simply looked away from Him because of the enormous sins of the world He decided to shoulder. Verse 5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” The film Passion of the Christ, by Mel Gibson tried to dramatically display the excruciating torture our saviour Lord Jesus experienced on His way to and on the cross. He went through all these torture because of my sins. Verse 6 “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.” We like sheep gone astray means, we have strayed away from our maker because of our sinful ways. God decided to place all our iniquities on Him. Verse 7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.” He had the powers to release Himself but chose to be a lamb led to the slaughter. Even when false accusers libel led against Him, He offered no defense . He needed to be condemned and crucified for our sins. Verse 8 “He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.” He was cut off from the land of the living. He was killed extrajudicially. Again for our transgressions He was stricken. Verse 9 “And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.” He was crucified with and like a criminal. The tomb where He was buried was for the rich. Verse 10 “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” It pleased God to see Him bruised and crucified because, of the ultimate peace of seeing the sins of the world taken away. Seeing His seed is seeing rebirths in Christ: 2Cor 5:17. Verse 11 “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.” His death and resurrection brought us justification. A sincerely born again Christian is absolved from the wrath of God because of justification. Verse 12 “Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.” Again this verse clearly resonate with Phil 2:9-11. His name is revered among the high and might up until today and forever. Here we see that He bore the sins of many; not everybody. Only those who believe on His works of salvation. CONCLUSION |