Introduction
Over the last six weeks, we’ve been seeing how the Old Testament is watermarked with prophetic anticipation of Jesus. The exodus, for example, points forward to his deliverance from the slavery of sin. The day of atonement points forward to a perfect sacrifice which removes our guilt and shame.
But while some Old Testament passages point to Christ in a quite obscure way; a snake on a pole, a curse for one hung on a tree, others bring him into strikingly sharp focus. No passage more so than Isaiah 53, which paints a portrait of the Lord’s future sufferings and death as clear as any passage in the New Testament which looks back to them.
Susan Pearlman, who is Jewish and who believes in Jesus as her Messiah, once talked about a survey that was conducted on the streets of Tel Aviv. The survey asked, “Who do you think the 53rd chapter of Isaiah describes?”Most people interviewed were unfamiliar with the passage. (The modern state of Israel is, in point of fact, quite secular).
But when the respondents were shown the text, most answered that they did not know who it referred to, but many said it sounded a lot like Jesus. When you read Isaiah 53 it is unquestionably a sketch of Jesus and his passion. It is unmistakably him.
Though written around 750 years before his birth, it describes Jesus’ afflictions, saving death and ultimate vindication so exactly, so unerringly, and in such detail, that you’d be forgiven for wondering if it was composed after the event. But we now know for sure that it wasn’t.
Because in 1947 a young Arab boy, throwing stones into a desert cave, stumbled upon 900 perfectly preserved ancient parchments – we call them the Dead Sea scrolls.
Radiocarbon dating established that these scrolls were written down around 100 BC. The Isaiah parchment was fully intact and practically word-for-word identical to the oldest manuscript they had known until that time (which dated back to 600 AD).
So any doubts that any of Isaiah might have been written after Jesus died were settled then once and for all. What we’re about to read is unquestionably a prophesy of the future, not a report of the past. Let’s read it together now:
Just as there were many who were appalled at him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness –
so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Prayer…
Here, then, is a prophetic song in five stanzas, each consisting of three verses, which tells us that God will appoint who will serve, then be “highly exalted” not after he has triumphed, as we might expect, but “after he has suffered.”
It says that people will reject him, that his death sentence will be undeserved, that he will be innocent in word and deed, and that he will not retaliate by protesting. It says that his suffering will be so severe as to render him physically unrecognisable. It says that his death will be caused by the piercing of his body but, like a lamb led meekly to slaughter, he will go silently to his death.
It says that this man, in death, will carry the weight of our sin himself and that he will pray for his adversaries as his life ebbs away.Then he will die alongside lawbreakers and be buried in a rich man’s tomb. And it explicitly says that all this, all of it, will be no accident, but God’s resolute plan and purpose.
Every detail of this chapter was graphically fulfilled when Jesus was arrested, put on trial, taunted, mocked, flogged, crucified, killed, buried and raised from death.
Jesus carefully identified himself with this suffering servant when he said, in Mark 10.45, that he “came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
His glorious exaltation
“See, my servant”, says God in 52.13, “will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.”
The song starts with the word, “See…” Or in some Bible translations, “Behold.” In other words, God is signalling that he is about to reveal something to us of primary importance. He is appealing to you to give your undivided attention to what will follow.
For centuries, the Jews had imagined that their royal Messiah would be elevated head and shoulders above the rest and be wondrously revered. They still do. They’re still waiting.
No one ever imagined that their saviour and king would be humiliated and bruised and crushed. But it was all written down! It was staring them in the face. God says that he would be raised up and exalted - but only after he had suffered.
His ordinary appearance
Verse 2 says that there was nothing about the way Jesus looked that would cause you to take a second look. I take that to mean he wasn’t especially athletic or handsome.
He was from a nowhere town called Nazareth. It was a bit of a dump; the armpit of Israel. No one expected anything of note to come from there.
There is no physical description of Jesus anywhere in the entire New Testament. We don’t know if he was tall or short, blue eyed or brown eyed, clean shaven or bearded, curly haired or bald. His face and physique weren’t what you noticed about him at all.
Except for revelation from God, you would never have looked at him and thought, “Oh, clearly, this is the Son of God.”
His humiliating rejection
In v3, it describes a man who will be turned upon and rejected. The hostility towards this servant figure is calculated and pronounced.
The Gospels tell us that Jesus was rejected by his own siblings who did not believe in him at first. He was deserted at the end by his chosen few followers. He was disowned by his most vocal spokesman. He was betrayed for money by a trusted friend. Twice in this section the word “despised” is used.
And notice, the all-encompassing word ,“we” – every one of us here today – “we held him in low esteem.” If you are a Christian today, before your conversion, you dismissed him. You didn’t care about him. You didn’t value him at all. You never once treasured him. You never so much as looked his way.
But by the wonder that is the grace of God, you were awakened as to the identity this servant through the gospel, and now you esteem him like no other.
His unfair trial
What about his arrest and trial? Isaiah saw in v8 and 9 that it would be a terrible miscarriage of justice.
“By oppression and judgment he was taken away yet who of his generation protested? Though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.”
No one stood up for him, did they? Everyone passed the buck. No one could be bothered. Pilate couldn't find a single fault in him and pleaded weakly with the crowd but then washed his hands of him. He was clearly innocent of every charge laid against him.
His trial was a joke. The witnesses couldn’t even get their lame testimonies to agree. They kept changing the charges against him, making it up as they went along. It was a set up.
He was held in contempt by his own people who thought nothing of releasing a violent murderer into the streets instead.
Never, before or since, was one man found guilty by so many by the evidence of so few. Never has a punishment been more severe, for a prosecution more dubious.
His disfigured form
What of the physical features of his death? What did Isaiah see 750 years before the cross? He saw that the gruesomeness of his beatings would be so savage and bloodthirsty that people wouldn’t recognise him anymore.
“His appearance (v14) “was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness.”
His flogging was an unrelenting tearing of his back, his arms and legs. His crown of thorns will have masked his face in blood.
Verse 5 says “He was pierced…” Isaiah saw that his death was not going to be the result from poisoning, or hanging, or drowning, or burning, or suffocation - but from wounds punctured in his flesh. There would be blood, and it would be ugly.
“Many,” he says, “were appalled at him.”
His silent obedience
What of Jesus’ attitude to his suffering? Isaiah saw a man, in v7, who would go silently and without a fight to his execution. At no point did Jesus try to argue his way out of trouble.
“As a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
The Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod plied him with questions, but Jesus gave no reply. He went to the cross silently, because he went to the cross willingly.
John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus died at the same time that Passover lambs were slaughtered in the temple to symbolically take away the sins of the people for another year. But Jesus was the Lamb of God slain to actually remove the sins of the world forever.
His assumed guilt
Beyond his rejection, Isaiah, in v4, goes further saying that, being executed, people will actually believe that he is getting his just deserts.
“We considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.” People felt this was God’s doing. The irony is that they were right.
His preordained destiny
It was no accident. It was purposeful. It was God’s plan, says v10, from beginning to end. “Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.”
We are meant to know this; we are meant to know that behind this appalling suffering lay the saving purpose of God to display his love for sinners like us. It is intentional. What more could God do to persuade you that he loves you?
But the fact that people believed that Jesus was being stricken by God explains why there was so little open sympathy for him. In the Gospels, people say things like, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah.” We’re told the crowd jeered and laughed as he carried his cross. The leaders sneered at him. Men insulted him and spat in his face. The death squad played dice for his clothes.
His merciful intercession
What on earth did they think when he began to pray for his executioners as he hung there dying? “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
Isaiah, in v12, foresaw that too. “He made intercession for the transgressors.” But, even when he did that, people did not realise that the man they put to death was this figure Isaiah prophesied about.
His undisputed death
Isaiah also makes it absolutely clear in v8 that his vision of a suffering servant was not an ordeal from which he later recovered. No. He faded, and faded, then he stopped breathing, and then his head dropped and his body hung limp and lifeless.
“For he was says Isaiah, “cut off from the land of the living.”
He died of his injuries. The Gospels too describe how his death was certified beyond doubt. Research now shows that the copious flow of blood, followed by the copious flow of water described in John’s Gospel are medical evidence of cardiac rupture. Jesus died literally of a broken heart.
His distinctive burial
The Gospels also explain that, as a final indignity, Jesus died between thieves, and he wasn’t even accorded the honour of having his own grave. Instead, his lifeless corpse was hurriedly placed in the borrowed tomb of a wealthy man called Joseph of Arimathea.
Isaiah, in v9, saw even that. “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.” This is, by any standards, a compellingly vivid prophetic portrait of the Lord's passion and death.
His atoning sacrifice
But everything I have said so far is of secondary importance. Because the main burden of Isaiah’s vision is its spiritual significance.
No less than ten times between v4 and v12, Isaiah says that in his death, this suffering servant will somehow take upon himself all our sicknesses, sorrows and sinfulness. He himself will absorb the wrath of God and bear the punishment of death that our sin fully deserves. He himself will suffer the torment that is separation from God on our behalf.
“Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering…” (v4)
“He was crushed for our iniquities… By his wounds we are healed…” (v5)
“The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all”. (v6)
“For the transgression of my people he was punished.” (v8)
“The Lord makes his life an offering for sin…” (v10)
Imagine you fall into a pit, and you can’t get out. You look at social media on your phone and you see a motivational post that says, “Believe in yourself and you will get out of your pit.” An optimist comes along and shouts down to you, “Well, things could be worse.” A pessimist follows close behind and shouts down, “Actually, things will get worse.” A journalist turns up with a film crew and asks you for an exclusive on how you fell into the pit. A politician arrives and says, “It’s the other party’s fault that you fell into the pit.” A psychologist looks down and tells you, “It’s because of your mother and father that you are in that pit.” But Jesus, seeing you, is filled with compassion. He climbs down, puts you on his shoulders, and helps you safely out, condemning himself to being in the pit in your place. If you will let him.
When I was about 20 years old, I was offered a free, all-expenses paid, two-week trip to Israel. It included flights, hotels, food, drink, tour guide, insurance – everything.
I’ll tell you how it happened. A friend of mine had booked to go but, about two weeks beforehand, she landed a job and had to start during those holiday dates. She said to her new employer, “But I’m on holiday then.”
They said, “We’ll reimburse you – and we’ll add the cost of your trip to your annual salary.”
Well, I had just been saying to her how I envied her being able to go to Israel and see all the sights. She said, “Here’s my ticket. Take it. It’s yours. All paid up.” All I needed to do was renew my passport which was out of date. Everything was free. There was no cost at all.
But if I hadn’t got up and sorted my passport out, I couldn’t have gone.
Jesus paid your debt in full on the cross, he climbed down into the pit to save you but unless you get up and accept what he offers by faith, unless you let him lift you out, you are no better off.
So believe Christ died and rose again for you! Receive him into your heart by faith! Commit your life to him today as your Lord and Saviour. No decision you make in life will be more important, or less regretted. Why delay it any longer?
This is what it’s all about. We cannot save ourselves. Even our good works cannot save us; they are filthy rags in comparison with Christ’s righteousness. The good news is this; the Lord so loved us that he was willingly crushed, bruised and punished for our sin. All our sins and mess were transferred on to him as though he were the guilty one.
1 Peter 3.18 puts it like this: “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”
And even better than that, he gifts you his righteousness as if it were your own.
Satan hates the cross, because Christ defeated him on it; it seals his doom. When Islamic State terrorists spread over Iraq and Syria in 2014, the first thing they did in every town was to smash crosses on church buildings to bits.
Satan hates the cross. Even in the UK, we have all heard of Christians who’ve been bullied, demoted and even sacked for wearing a cross at work. A few years ago, a well-known supermarket chain photoshopped out the cross from the roof of a church that featured on its yoghurt packaging.
People seem to fall over themselves to promote other religious festivals in the UK, but for some strange reason, everyone seems to feel the need to censor or airbrush what Christ achieved on the cross.
Why? Isaiah tells us why. “He was despised and rejected by mankind,” he was held in low esteem. And he still is.
His triumphant resurrection
Did Isaiah see anything else? Was it just an appalling vision of undeserved suffering? Was there anything more? Yes, there is one last thing.
750 years before the events, Isaiah, in v10, was given the revelation that after his trial, his suffering, his death and burial, new life would spring forth. “Though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days…”
When I saw what Kathie went through on four occasions she brought our children into the world, I felt that my love for her had never been greater. She was more beautiful to me than in those moments, though sweaty and noisy and messy, than at any other time.
How much more the cross, though brutal, is beautiful because its agonies give birth to new life.
“After he has suffered,” says Isaiah in v11-12, “he will see the light of life and be satisfied. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great… because he poured out his life unto death.”
This is the majesty of the cross. Out of its unsightly ugliness and gruesome darkness comes new birth, life forever, and unspeakable joy.
Ending
The very first verse of the next chapter in Isaiah says, “Sing, burst into song, shout for joy.” So, as we make our response, I want to invite you to come to the foot of the cross with an overflowing heart of grateful praise.
Let's stand to worship...
Sermon preached at King's Church darlington, 13 April 2025.
