The Suffering Servant of the Lord

Jesus, the Suffering Servant of the Lord, is displayed in Isaiah 52 and 53. He is called the Suffering Servant of the Lord because in obedience to the Father, He emptied Himself of His divine prerogatives, took the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Being in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8). He did this because the Father decreed that from the rebels of His creation, He would gather a people for His own sake.

Isaiah 52 describes Jesus’ final form, having been beaten beyond human recognition. He suffered at the hands of the very creature He came to save (13-15).

Man’s Inability

The first three verses of chapter 53 describe man’s inability to perceive the things of God apart from the revelation of God’s Spirit. Jesus was rejected because man looks on the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7), and Jesus had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him (2). He was not what they were expecting out of a Messiah.
Later in the chapter,
The following verses vividly describe the substitutionary death of Jesus for our salvation He has…

Borne our griefs
Carried our sorrows
Pierced for our transgressions
Crushed for our iniquities
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace
With his wounds we are healed

The Contrast

A contrast is conveyed in the middle verses of the chapter… 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.
Contrasted with…
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.
He offered Himself as a substitute in our place, receiving upon Himself what we rightfully deserve.

The Transaction

The chapter closes with a sobering statement… Yet it was the will of the YHWH to crush him… he has put him to grief… when his soul makes an offering for guilt…
Although the cross took place in time and space where, as a man, He suffered at the hands of men, Christ’s death was ultimately a spiritual transaction.
…he will see his offspring…
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.
He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

As we ponder God’s great work portrayed in this passage it is equally important to consider that God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).