ISAIAH 53: 10-12
"THE SUFFERING SAVIOR BECOMES THE REWARDED REDEEMER."
Isaiah 53 is the doctrinal explanation of the crucifixion. As we look at such suffering we ask, why would God forsake the Son of His love? Why would He turn His back on the very One to whom He said, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him." The answer has appeared in each of the stanzas of verses we have considered. The Lord Jesus suffered and died vicariously; that is, He took our place and bore our sins. He was our substitute.
Christ’s crucifixation though brought about more than anguish to His soul. It openned the doorway to Heaven, where the Innocent One who suffered and died for us returned victorious over sin, death, and hell. And now, He who was humiliated, is raised on high in glory and majesty and is ready to share His victory and its glorious blessings with all who will follow Him (CIT).
I. DEATH BRINGS LIFE, 53:10.
II. SATISFIED THROUGH SUFFERING, 53:11.
[THE MANY MADE RIGHTEOUS]
III. EXALTATION OF THE SERVANT, 53:12.
The last prophetic verse (v. 9) foretold of Messiah’s death and tomb. From verse 10 we gain understanding that His work continues after death. But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting (Him) to grief (sickness); If He would render His soul (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.
[As images of burn rubble and frantic people flash on the TV screen, a reporter says, "A terrorist organization has claimed, responsibly for last night’s bombing that left 23 dead and scores injured." It was not a random act of violence but one that was calculated to frighten people and advance the agenda qt those who
In stark contrast, one of histories most brutal acts was intended to bring peace and healing, not fear. In addition, God claimed responsibility in the prophecy of Isaiah, seven centuries before it happened. The prophet foretold God claiming responsibility for the Messiah’s death, but not for man’s brutality. God claimed responsibility for the death of His Son, allowing anyone to claim His gift of forgiveness.]
Here we have the explanation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was God who crushed Him. Isaiah 53 is the unfolding of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son ... What boundless love God had for the world to Give His Son for it. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:32, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all..."
Yes, it was the Lord’s will to crush Him. His death was not in the hands of wicked men but God’s. This does not absolve from responsibility those who put Him to death, but they were not in control of the situation. They could do only what the Lord permitted them to do. And God brought the greatest good out of the greatest wickedness of man.
We might ask; "Why would God be pleased to crush Him?" He was without sin. The Lord Jesus could say without contradiction "I always do those things that please Him" (the Father) (Jn. 8:29). Never once did He not surrender to the Father’s will through out His earthly ministry. Yet it is still written, "The Lord was pleased to crush Him." The pleasure of the Lord in this act comes from the accomplishing a good far greater that the terrible suffering the Servant endured. The Father did not take pleasure in crushing His Son but in the full and sufficient sacrifice and cleansing for sin. Through Christ’s death penalty the judgment for sin was accomplished. God took pleasure not in doing it but because of the end result that it would accomplish. Had the debts of our behavior gone unpaid they would stand forever between us and a just God.
Ephesians 5:2 says He "gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Christ is represented as offering Himself to God as an expiatory sacrifice (Rom. 3:25;8:3, 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10, Heb. 9:14).
Notice the conditional if. It indicates that this offering is the necessary condition if God’s redemptive purpose is to be realized. It also signifies that the offering was a voluntary one. The will of God becomes the servant’s will, not by compulsion but by the unconditional surrender of obedience [after death] as in Gethsemane. The servant goes forward to sacrifice confident that this is the only road to God’s victory, confident that this act was God’s will for Him. (The guilt or trespass offering was the offering where by one made good an offense that had been committed).
There are results of His [propitiatory] self-sacrifice. Three resulting benefits that come to the Suffering Servant are given here. The first is that He will see His seed. His offspring are those who by His [vicarious] suffering and [propitiatory] sacrifice have accepted His redemption from the guilt and power of their sins. [A seed must die and be buried before it bears fruit.]
When people accept Him as their guilt offering before the Father they become His children. He will have lived the most fruitful life every. Instead of being childless, He will have children of every race, tribe and nation, a great multitude that no man can number.
If He were to die and remain dead this would be impossible. If He dies as a guilt offering He will see, this is a clear teaching of His resurrection from the grave.
It is also prophesied that He will also prolong His days. What has been very simply said is that by surrendering to death the Servant prolongs and multiplies His life in the life of others. He lives by dying for "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains by itself alone, but if it does die it bears much fruit" (Jn. 12:24) . The life of Christ is prolonged on earth and multiplied by it s spreading among those that will also die to self and live to Him generation after generation.
The third benefit is that the God would bless or prosper what ever the Son does, what ever He put His hand to do. The word indicates a expanding progress. This prospering certainly denotes the hand of ministry (Num. 36:13).
Why don’t you place your life in the had of the Servant of God and see it prospered. He will make you fruitful and your disciples will multiply the prospering of you life in way that only heaven will reveal.
II. SATISFIED THROUGH SUFFERING, 53:11.
Verse 11 continues prophesying more results of the Servant’s suffering and sacrifice. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see light, and be satisfied. By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.
Whatever the Servant had to endure is cleansed and healed by light. Experiencing anguish and suffering according to the will of God for us brings light. Such penetratingly painful experiences in the soul break open the soul and allow God’s light to shine in, and eventually out, more brightly. It is in God’s light that we truly see the things of eternity.
The Servant is then assured by God that the result of His labor and suffering for others will bring satisfaction. He will be uplifted by seeing the fruit of His grievous toil. His death will not be in vain, nor will His resurrection from the death be without results. The Servant who suffered such great anguish of soul opened the door for the salvation of many, and He will be satisfied throughout eternity.
["By His knowledge" is a subjective rendering. I prefer the objective rendering, by knowledge or experience of Him.] Those that will know the Righteous One will be justified. You come to know Jesus by faith. They would be righteous before God because of His death for them. Their iniquities will no longer be able to rise up and accuse them for they have been born away. They will no longer bear their iniquities but will have the righteousness of the Servant. Again, the Servant makes many righteous by bearing their iniquity (fallen, sinful nature). He is able to declare righteous all who truly accept His offering [and therefore experience deliverance] for their sin.
Only One possesses experiential righteousness, the many possess iniquities, and praise God for the gracious interchange. We can receive from Him who took our iniquities His righteousness. A man’s heart must be blinded not to accept such a gracious offer.
Calvin Miller reminds us of the fable of the little girl whose MOTHER’S FACE was hideously scarred from an early injury. As the little girl grew, made friends, and gained her own identity, she became more and more ashamed of her mother’s horrid appearance. As she walked down the street with her mother, she noticed people moving over to the far side of the walk or even crossing the street to avoid them. Gradually, the girl found ways to avoid being with her mother in public. Eventually, the girl became an adult, married, and moved to another town. Her lonely mother suffered financial setbacks and faced basic hunger. Her daughter continued to ignore her, even in such destitute circumstances.
One day the daughter discovered an old diary of her mother’s. It described a horrible fire that swept through their home. The mother rushed into the burning house, scooped her daughter into her arms, and ran back out, burning herself beyond belief. The truth dawned on the girl. Her mother’s horrific scars came from saving the daughter’s life. A new kind of shame raced through her heart and soul. She went to her mother and threw her arms around what now appeared to be a beautiful face. In tears she expressed her gratitude for all her mother had done. A new love relationship controlled their lives from then on (Miller, Until He Comes, p. 139).
[So often we depend on outward appearances as we choose our leaders and friends. We do not look behind appearances to find the truth about a person, a program, or an organization and their abilities to help us. Israel kept looking beyond her boundaries to find a strong ally to deliver her from enemies. Time and again God sent word to trust Him and let Him alone be the ally they needed. What does it take to reveal the truth to us about who can really help us and meet our needs? Who has proved true and faithful in our times of deepest distress? Are we ready to turn to the Faithful One, or will we seek yet another earthly ally?]
You need to realize all Christ has done for you. Stop being ashamed of Him. He suffered for you, in your place.
III. EXALTATION OF THE SERVANT, 53:12.
Verse 12 prophesies some of the victory spoils that will be given to the Servant of the Lord because He chose to obey God. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong. Because He poured out His soul (Himself) to death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors. [... or and for their rebellions He intervened].
"Therefore," because of the Servant’s great suffering and the Servant’s great work, His future exaltation is promised Him by God. In faithfulness the Servant had descended to the lowest depths to redeem man. Because of that faithful obedience, God will exalt Him to the Highest Heights (52:13). The first time He came in humiliation. He was rejected of men and despised. But men He comes again He will be the Exalted One!
Christ is then pictured at the forefront, dividing the spoils of His victory with the victors. The great and strong are the new view, the new eternal reality, of those who have been saved by the Exalted Servant. The Exalted Servant will divide His spiritual victories and eternal fruits with them. Obviously those spoken of as mighty and strong are the spiritual seed of verse 10.
The verse is the conclusion, the summation comment, the outcome of all that has come before. It is placed last in the poem to give it special prominence. What is the cause of the servants exaltation? It is the voluntary self-sacrifice of the Servant to identify Him transgressors, dying their death so that they, so that we could live.
Yes, the suffering Savior is also the conquering King. He and His will be exalted! Why has the Triune God Head exalted and rewarded Him and the many He made righteous? "Because He hath 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."
And again we have, He "bore the sin of many". He did not merely die with the rebels, He died for, in the place of, the rebels. No clearer teaching of the vicarious substitutionary atonement could be made. Yes, the Suffering servant and His actions will be vindicated. He who let Himself be counted a criminal and went willingly to His death for the sake of sinners will receive His justification from God.
Twenty-five years ago the Brazilian government turned a prison near the city of SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS over to two Christians to run on Christian principles. Except for two staff, inmates do all the work. Families outside the prison adopt an inmate to work with during and after his term. Chuck Colson visited Humaita and made this report:
"I found the inmates smiling-particularly the murderer who unlocked the gates, and let me in. Wherever I walked I saw men at peace, clean living areas, and people working industriously. The walls were decorated with biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs. My guide escorted me to the notorious punishment cell once used for torture. Today, he told me, that block houses a single inmate. As we reached the end of a long concrete corridor and he put the key into the lock, he asked, ’Are you sure you want to go in?’
"’Of course,’ I replied impatiently. ’I’ve been in isolation cells all over the world.’ Slowly he swung open the massive door, and I saw a crucifix, beautifully carved by the inmates-the prisoner Jesus, hanging on the cross. ’He’s doing time for the rest of us,’ my guide said softly." [-Rick Ezell in Defining Moments]
CONCLUSION / TIME OF RESPONSE
Jesus came to pay a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. Yes, God has done everything possible for our salvation. "He spared not His own Son for us."
What does that sacrifice mean to you? Have you believed on Him whom the Father sent? Have you accepted by faith that work of redemption made possible through Christ’s sacrifice and the shedding of His blood? His judgment was ours. He was our substitute. Trust the Savior today.
Come as you are, a sinner unable to do anything to make yourself acceptable to God. The work has been done for you by the Savior, and His blood opens the way for you to come to God. It was for you the Savior died and rose again. Believe on HIM NOW as your sin-bearer and substitute.
God has promised to receive you. And not only to receive you but to forgive you and interceded for you. He who cried out "Father forgive them for they know not what they doll is also the Great High Priest who ever lives to plead before God the merit an d virtue of His atoning work which is the only ground of acceptance for the transgressors for whom He died. Yes, He who identified Himself with man in their sins is at the right hand of God cleansing the sins that are confessed to Him. He is living to intercede for His brethren. Are you a member of the family of God?
This Prophecy of the suffering Servant’s humiliation and His submission to the Father’s will to bear the sins of man were instrumental in Christ knowing that He was following the Father’s plan. Today they should be instrumental in your decision to follow Christ.
Will you make that decision to follow this Christ who loves you so?
Friend, what is your response to our loving God? He put the Son of His love in your place, and made Him an offering for your sins. What is your response to the Savior who became your substitute, shedding His blood in payment for your sins so that you no longer need be separated from God? The darkness of Golgotha was endured by the Lord Jesus so that you might not suffer the outer darkness of eternity.
If you are a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, does not this love draw you in complete surrender of life to the One who gave Himself for you? But if now you realize you do not know the Savior, and you have never trusted His atoning sacrifice for you, I ask you to receive Him personally as your sin-bearer and substitute. By believing on Him you may "rest in pardon and relief, from the load of guilt and grief; rest in His redeeming blood, rest in perfect peace with God.
