Prophecy – Isaiah 51-55

It is again hard to read today’s passage without thinking about how Christ suffered for us and how He made himself lowly like a servant, just to bring Salvation to us.

Bible Passage:  Isaiah 51-55

There is a lot to take away from this passage but we would just focus on the Suffering Servant – Jesus.

Look at Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Anyone who reads this passage and compares them with the accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus in the Gospels cannot but help see the amazing correspondence.  Clearly Isaiah was talking about a suffering Messiah – a concept that was perhaps unthinkable during the days of Isaiah but easily understood today in retrospect.

When I read Isaiah 53:5 again, I wonder, “To what extent am I willing to ever sacrifice for someone?”

Sacrifice can mean giving up something you really want in order for someone else to have it.

But an even greater sacrifice involves taking on something you do not really want to so that someone else will not have to bear it.

And that is exactly what Jesus did.  He was “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities”.  He took on Himself the “chastisement” or “punishement” that we deserved for our sins so that we would not have to bear it.

He did not want to suffer, but He submitted to suffering because of His great love.

Underline the following parts of today’s passage and see how hundreds of years after Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus fulfilled all the remarkable details of how the Messiah would suffer for us. I have just listed down several below.

• He would be exalted (Is 52:13 -> Philippians 2:9)
• He would be disfigured by His suffering (Is 52:14; 53:2 -> Mark 15:17,19)
• He would make a blood atonement (Is 52:15 -> 1 Pet 1:2)
• He would be widely rejected (Is 53:1,3 -> John 12:37-38)
• He would bear our sins and sorrows (Is 53:4-5 -> Rom 4:25; 1 Pet 2:24-25)
• He would be our substitute (Is 53:6,8 -> 2 Cor 5:21)
• He would voluntarily accept our guilt and punishment (Is 53:7-8 -> John 10:11; 19:30)
• He would be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Is 53:9 -> John 19:38-42)
• He would save those who believe in Him (Is 53:10-11 -> John 3:16l Acts 16:31)
• He would die on behalf of trangressors (Is 53:12 -> Mark 15:27-28; Luke 22:37)

So many examples of Jesus’ servanthood for us to follow – even if it involves suffering.  How about us today?