Isaiah 52:13-53:12

What's Happening?

God promised that he would save his people from exile and darkness and restore their calling as a light to the nations (Isaiah 51:3-4). God said he would accomplish this salvation through his chosen servant (Isaiah 52:1-2). The servant will do what Israel could not. He will fulfill God’s purpose to bless the world perfectly. He will act wisely, knowing and doing the will of God. And because of this, he will be “high and lifted up,” a phrase Isaiah uses only to describe God himself (Isaiah 52:13). This means that God himself will save his people through this servant. The servant is God.

But this seems almost impossible since the servant’s exaltation comes through suffering. They expected God’s power to be displayed in strength and majesty, not in a figure so marred that he no longer looked human (Isaiah 52:14). Isaiah then asks us to consider who will hear and believe this message (Isaiah 53:1). This message of salvation was revealed to those in exile, death, and darkness—those who, like the servant himself, suffer. This is Isaiah’s point. God’s mighty arm is not seen in keeping his people or his servant from suffering and death, but by being strong enough to rescue them even after they suffer and die.

But unlike Israel, the servant’s suffering is not because of his own sin. He bears the exile, wounds, and death of Israel. The language Isaiah uses to describe the servant’s suffering connects him to the sacrificial system in Leviticus. Just as the animals “bore” the sins of the people and “carried” them away, this servant carries the griefs and sorrows of God’s people away (Isaiah 53:4,5). The guilt, shame, and power of sin that led them astray and into exile, would be taken away by the servant’s sacrifice. Yet, unlike the animals that went unaware of what their fate would be, this servant submits to God’s will. He doesn’t resist or fight back but is led like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7-9). His suffering is a picture of complete submission and trust in God—something Israel failed to display in their history.

But this suffering was not outside of God’s control. Just as God ordained Israel’s exile to purify them, so too, he ordained the suffering of his servant to bring healing to the world (Isaiah 53:10). And this suffering will lead to rescue by God’s powerful arm. Because it was God’s will to crush the servant, it will also be God’s will to raise him. Suffering and death will not be the end of the servant. Instead, he will look back on his anguish and know that it led to many becoming righteous as Israel was meant to be (Isaiah 53:11-12). 

Where is the Gospel?

The stunning truth of Isaiah’s prophecy is that God himself becomes the suffering servant. To fulfill his sovereign will, he becomes lowly, despised, and rejected. This shows us that God’s power is not about preventing suffering but entering into it. His sovereignty shines brightest in his servanthood (Matthew 20:28).

That is why Jesus is the suffering servant. He carried away diseases and sent away unclean spirits from people in his healing ministry on earth (Matthew 8:17). Jesus also took our griefs, carried our sorrows, and was pierced for our transgressions on the cross. He became the sacrifice Leviticus prefigured and Isaiah promised—the sacrifice that would carry our sin, shame, guilt, and death away forever (2 Corinthians 5:21). Just as Isaiah prophesied, it was God’s will to crush him, which means it was also God’s will to raise him (Acts 2:23-24). 

Now, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, many are made righteous (Romans 5:19). Not only is our sin taken away from us so that we no longer bear the shame of its stains, but we are brought back into relationship with God so that we can fulfill our purpose (Ephesians 2:4-10). Jesus didn’t just rescue Israel; he fulfilled their mission to bring light to the nations. And because of his suffering, we who were once far from God can now be brought near, restored, and made whole (Ephesians 2:17-18). Now we can serve to the point of suffering and death for others, because we know it will lead to many becoming righteous as well. 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who willingly suffered and died for us. And may you see Jesus, the suffering servant who was high and lifted up, who took away our sin and brought us back to God.