Many people refer to Isaiah 53 as being the “forbidden chapter” of the Bible! For centuries, Jewish synagogues would include this chapter in their yearly readings. But not anymore. Today when Jewish people read Isaiah 52 in the Synagogue, they stop before they get to end of the chapter (at verse 12) and the next week they just jump straight into Isaiah 54. It’s not that Jewish people CAN’T read Isaiah 53 for themselves - it’s just that it’s not “officially” part of their book anymore. That section of Isaiah just doesn’t exist for them.
ILLUS: One man said he found a Hebrew Study Bible at his local bookstore, and (out of curiosity) turned to Isaiah 53 and he saw this footnote: “This is a very difficult passage.” And he thought to himself: “Why is this a difficult passage? Is it difficult because they DON’T understand what it says? Or is it difficult because they DO understand what it says?” (Marc Axelrod)
Well, what does it say? Isaiah 53 says that God was going to send His servant… and that servant would be exalted. But His appearance would be marred - He had no majesty or beauty that we should desire him. He was going to be despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows. He’d carry our griefs and sorrows, and He’d be pierced for our transgressions; crushed for our iniquities. His sufferings would bring us peace, and his wounds would heal us. He would be oppressed, and afflicted… and yet he would not open His mouth. Like a lamb being led to slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, He wouldn’t open his mouth. By oppression and judgment He would be taken away; He would be cut off from the land of the living (HE WOULD DIE). He’d be stricken FOR the transgression of God’s people. And they would make his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death.
Now, that kinda sounds like Jesus, doesn’t it? And that’s part of the reason that the Jews don’t read it in the synagogue anymore.
What’s interesting is, up until about 1000 years ago - every Jewish rabbi taught that this chapter (Isaiah 53) described the Messiah …. the coming King! EVERYBODY AGREED!
But then, there was this Jewish Rabbi who disagreed. They called him Rabbi Rashi, and he lived in Spain about 1000 years ago. Some of his Christian friends and neighbors tried to convince him that Biblical prophecy especially) in Isaiah 53 pointed to Jesus. And because this prophecy was so clear… Rashi had a problem. He obviously didn’t want to admit that Jesus was the Messiah, so he reinterpreted the prophecy so that it was no longer applied to the Messiah. (https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/inescapable-truth-isaiah-53/)
Now, Isaiah 53:1 asks a very interesting question. And the question is this: “Who has believed what he has heard from us?” There’s something about the things that are said in Isaiah 53 that’s difficult for a lot of folks to believe
I mean - modern day Jews struggle with the idea that this might describe Jesus. But even in the days of Jesus, when rabbis accepted that this prophecy described the messiah - they STILL struggled to understand it. The prophecy spoke of a coming Messiah who would be wounded and suffer and be slaughtered and die like a common sheep, and then he’d die with the wicked? THAT DIDN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!
So when Jesus came, and He told His closest followers that He would be arrested, beaten, crucified and buried, and rise on the 3rd day - nobody believed Him. “Who has believed he has heard from us?” NOBODY! They could read the chapter for themselves… but they didn’t really BELIEVE it. They weren’t looking for a King who die for their sins. They were looking for a man who could throw off the shackles of Rome and make Israel into a great nation again. They couldn’t believe what God meant to say in this chapter.
So let’s look at Isaiah 53 and ask: what did GOD mean to say. Well, what God was saying was this - He was going to send the Messiah… to change YOUR life. He bore YOUR griefs and carried YOUR sorrows; He was pierced for YOUR transgressions; He was crushed for YOUR iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought YOU peace, and by His wounds YOU are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; YOU have turned to YOUR own way; and the LORD has laid on Him YOUR iniquity. Isaiah 53:4-6
Now, I’ve taken a little liberty with the passage. I’ve changed it to help you understand… Jesus did this FOR YOU! You and I need to take this personally. What Jesus did He did for YOU to change YOUR life!
Now, people have trouble believing that they need what Jesus did.
ILLUS: I know a man who had a copy of his mother’s hymn book, and I happened to notice he’d changed the words from “Amazing Grace.” In that songbook – in the 1st verse of Amazing Grace it says this: “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a WRETCH like me.” But this man had scratched out the words “A WRETCH like me” and replaced them with the words: “SOMEONE like me.” My friend didn’t see himself a wretch… he was a pretty nice guy. I mean, it was nice of Jesus to die on the cross - but it wasn’t necessary. Jesus didn’t really need to go to all that trouble just for HIM because this man felt he was good enough to earn heaven.
ILLUS: In fact, people tend to get a little annoyed with us IF we suggest otherwise. A preacher was once confronted by a man who demanded: “If I don’t accept what you believe… am I going to hell?” And the preacher responded: “Well, let me ask you a couple of questions: 1. Do you believe that people who commit moral crimes ought to be punished? And the other man said “Well… yes.” 2. Have you ever done wrong things you’ve been ashamed of? And the other man admitted “Yes… I have.”
Then the preacher explained: “We both agree that people who do bad things should be punished, and we both agree that we have done bad things. And that is the Bad news. This is not a good picture for us. It’s as if the judge is about to lower the gavel on the two of us in the dock. We both know we’re guilty and we both know we’re going to get what we deserve… But then the judge pauses and says, ‘By the way, are either of you interested in a pardon at this point?’” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqumyDo2sc8)
You see, that is what Isaiah 53 is all about. All we like sheep have gone astray. We’ve done bad stuff and we deserve to be punished. But Isaiah 53 is saying is this: … God has offered YOU a pardon. He sent His son to bear YOUR griefs and carry YOUR sorrows; Jesus was pierced for YOUR transgressions; He was crushed for YOUR iniquities; God laid on Jesus YOUR iniquity so you could have YOU peace, and so your life could be healed. Remember... that prophecy was written 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. That prophecy declared what God intended to do for us through Jesus.
This sermon series is called “What are the odds?” So, what are the “ODDS” that God would do that for you and me? The Bible says that while you and I were still God’s enemies and while we were still “children of wrath” Jesus died for you and me. That doesn't make sense, does it? But that’s exactly what God did!
There’s website -showed a video of a Christian talking to various Jews in Israel. The interviewer asked each person if they’d ever heard of the “forbidden chapter” of Isaiah; then he would read the chapter to those men and women and ask them to give their view of what they’d heard. Remember these are Jews in Israel… hearing this passage for the first time.
• One of them said “He took all of the pain, all of the suffering, and all of the diseases upon Himself. And in spite of that, they rejected Him.”
• “He did good to us, and basically we repaid Him with evil.”
• “He suffered because of us. Basically, because of our transgressions that we commit – He suffered that pain.”
• “He gave of Himself for us, suffered for us, took our disease and all our sins upon Himself.”
• “So basically, they blamed Him for things He didn’t do, and He was punished for it… Interesting.”
• “He died, but not an honorable death.”
• “I got it. According to the verses, He will absorb our sickness and evil, and that will heal us. He will basically be a person who is punished, He will take upon Himself all of the… (pause) Ok”
(https://www.christianlearning.com/forbidden-chapter-in-the-hebrew-bible-jews-acknowledge-jesus-as-the-messiah/)
According to that website many of the Jews they talked with decided to follow Jesus after hearing Isaiah 53.
Did you know that sometimes… that’s all we need to do with folks? Just read what the Bible has to say about Jesus to people and just see what happens. Hebrews 4:12 The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Essentially, all we need to do is read the Bible to people. Read what Scripture says about Jesus. Read what prophecy said He would be like… and then just watch as it works on the souls and spirits to turn their hearts around.
A famous preacher named Spurgeon once scoffed: “Defend the Bible? I would just as soon defend a lion. Just turn the Bible loose. It will defend itself.”
CLOSE: There’s a story from the book of Acts that tells about a man whose life was changed because he read this very chapter (Isaiah 53). If you have your Bible with you today… turn with me and read along Acts 8:26-39
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."
And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water - Philip and the eunuch - and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
You see what happened there? A man (Ethiopian Eunuch) read about Jesus in Isaiah 53 and then he asked a Christian to explain it to him. All it took was reading about Jesus to make a difference in this man’s life. And Philip knew enough about that prophecy to tell the Ethiopian what it meant and to talk to him about becoming a Christian. We’re not told much about that conversation, but it’s obvious Philip talked about FAITH in Jesus and being BAPTIZED INTO Jesus.
The Eunuch sees water and says, “What prohibits ME from being baptized?” Essentially: “What’s to stop me from having JESUS give me peace and have Him heal the sinfulness in my life?” And they stepped right into the water and Philip buried the Eunuch with Jesus.
I challenge you this week ask them if they've heard of the "forbidden chapter" of the Bible that the Jews won't read in their synagogues (that will catch their attention) then ask if they'd like to see it. Show it to them and ask them what they think it says it says, and then what it tells us about – how He died for THEM so that they could have peace of mind and forgiveness of their sins. Who knows? You may intrigue them enough that they'll want to follow Jesus too... then you can baptized THEM into Christ!
INVITATION
