It’s easy for me to mention Isaiah 7:14 on Christmas. There’s the statement “This the season, this the reason!” The picture has a wreath on one side and a crown of thorns on the other. One way for me to keep calm during the worldliness of Christmas is to think that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. The purpose of Jesus’ birth was so He could also die for sin. Isaiah 7:14 prophecies the virgin birth. Isaiah 53 highlights the suffering of Christ, prophesied, 700 years (most likely an estimate) before Jesus was born. Isaiah prophesied not only the birth but also the redemptive death of Jesus. Psalm 22 also has David seeing the crucifixion of Jesus. David was in a very bad situation and he saw that the greater David would suffer even worse.
It should be interesting that in Acts 8:32, we would read that the Ethiopian eunuch was quoting Isaiah. Please take note that Isaiah was just one long narrative back when the eunuch was reading it. The Ethiopian was reading from Isaiah 53:7-8. Jesus Himself quoted from Isaiah 52 in John 12:28 before fulfilling the prophecy. Paul quotes the same chapter from Romans 10:16. There’s no doubt that Isaiah 53 talks about Jesus. Everything goes full circle. Isaiah prophesies. Jesus, the fulfillment of the prophecy quotes from Isaiah and fulfills the prophecy of His birth, death, and resurrection, and will fulfill His Kingdom soon. Paul quotes from Isaiah to prove that he wasn’t making things up.
Describing a man of sorrows
The first three verses are introduced by the verse that Jesus and later Paul, would quote from. The question implied is, that only a few would recognize God’s Son and Servant. Israel didn’t welcome Him at all (John 1:9-11, 12:38). Jesus came unto His own and His own received Him not.
Verse 2 says that Jesus grew up before Him like a young plant and a root out of dry ground. Going back to Isaiah 11:1, we read the stump out of Jesse. David’s name isn’t mentioned. It’s because the Davidic Dynasty wasn’t restored at that time. It’s not restored yet. There’s no Kingdom of David restored yet until the Millennial Kingdom. Israel was already under Roman rule. The Romans were known for their debauchery and hedonism. Paganism had become the norm. The Herods ruled Israel under the authority of Rome. Rome controlled almost every part of Jewish life.
Now, I’d like to address verse 2 also saying, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.” Does this mean Jesus was plain-looking or even ugly during His incarnation? The late J. Vernon McGee disagrees and says that this was fulfilled during the crucifixion. Just reading about the torture condemned criminals undergo before crucifixion can be daunting. If people were flogged heavily before a crucifixion, you can expect a bloody sight. The suffering was excruciating and demeaning and it would deform anyone. On the cross, the ugly image of the Savior showed the heinousness of sin
We move forward to Jesus as a man of sorrows. Jesus came unto His own and His own received Him not. God’s prophets suffered a lot of rejection. My favorite example has to be Jeremiah. Jeremiah spent many years warning the people but he was ignored. Jeremiah was in the midst of a hard-headed crowd. Jesus came and faced a hardheaded crowd. Jeremiah can be viewed as a type of Jesus. The prophets are not honored (Mark 6:4). some people believe Isaiah was later cut asunder, though I think it’s not as verified as Paul’s beheading and Peter’s crucifixion. Paul and Peter would also suffer the same way for Jesus’ sake.
The vicarious suffering of Jesus
Verses 4-12 talk about the substitutionary atonement. What amazes me is that Catholicism teaches Jesus died for our sins but put only the satisfaction view. I firmly believe in the penal substitution view. God the Father can’t be satisfied until there’s that penal substitution. Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. All things in the Old Testament sacrifices are purged with blood. It was more than just a downpayment. It was the entire payment for sin. The eucharistic rite or the sacrament of communion should be a symbolic memorial, not an ongoing sacrifice for sins. It’s a memorial for sins. In the Millennial Kingdom, animal sacrifices will be done as a reminder for sin.
Jesus borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet he was esteemed as someone punished by God. Jesus’ sufferings are the result of our transgressions and iniquities. Now, we need to look at the differences of these two types of sin:
Transgression refers to presumptuous sin. To transgress is to choose to intentionally disobey; transgression is willful trespassing. Samson intentionally broke his Nazirite vow by touching a dead lion (Numbers 6:1–5; Judges 14:8–9) and allowing his hair to be cut (Judges 16:17); in doing so he was committing a transgression. David was referring to this kind of sin when he wrote, “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (Psalm 32:1). When we knowingly run a stop sign, tell a lie, or blatantly disregard an authority, we are transgressing.
Iniquity is more deeply rooted. Iniquity refers to a premeditated choice; to commit iniquity is to continue without repentance. David’s sin with Bathsheba that led to the killing of her husband, Uriah, was iniquity (2 Samuel 11:3–4; 2 Samuel 12:9). Micah 2:1 says, “Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.” In David’s psalm of repentance, he cries out to God, saying, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2).
Basically, transgression is willful trespassing or taking the wrong turn. In short, Jesus didn’t only die for the bigger sins (iniquities) such as murder and adultery. Jesus also died for the little sins. No one can live a lawful life, die in a traffic accident for taking the wrong turn, and say, “Lord, I didn’t do any big sins. I did only little sins.” It doesn’t matter how many check marks are on the record of that person, one single cross mark is more than enough to damn a person to Hell (Romans 3:10-19, James 2:10-11). It required Jesus to die for every small sin and big sin because all sin is mortal sin. That makes the doctrine of Purgatory so wrong. Purgatory teaches that people must burn there for their little sins. The idea that a person must spend time in Purgatory if they died in God’s grace, for little sins like jaywalking, diminishes the fullness of Christ’s sacrifice.
It’s because Jesus dealt with every sin big or small, that power over sin is guaranteed. Victory is assured in the Spirit, not in the flesh. When it comes to talking about healing the stripes, we’re to talk about sin. This isn’t a promise that all diseases will be cured. Right now, saved and unsaved people can still fall victim to this and that. Some saved people have died of diseases. I remember a child of my late grandmother in the faith, who went ahead of her. The person was a Christian and his salvation did nothing to save him from leptospirosis in the physical sense. However, the moment he died from leptospirosis, the person woke up in Heaven and joined his father there. When his mother died, it was so great to wake up in a young body. When my auntie in the faith died of cancer, it would be great to be in a cancer-free body in Heaven. I would choose to look at these healing in the glorified body, that takes over this wretched body of flesh. We get sick, we grow old, we die, all because of sin. There will be no old people in Heaven because every old person who died in Christ will be glorified. I can’t imagine the shock that an old person will have, waking up in Heaven, and finding themselves in a young body.
We think about people as sheep gone astray. I used to say spiritual rebirth is required for the goats to become sheep. A goat is born a goat and a sheep is born a sheep. However, I think sheep and goats refer to elect and non-elect. “We” may be better interpreted as the elect. The shepherd looks for the sheep. Nobody ever heard of the sheep looking for the shepherd. That’s a beautiful picture of the doctrine of election. God the Father laid all the iniquity of the sheep upon Jesus.
Okay, I’m about to get hungry for a Middle Eastern mutton meal. With Passover coming, I do want to eat a Passover meal every Good Friday. It’s not just to celebrate my freedom in Christ, freedom from silly rules that the Pharisees of Rome had made. We read the expression that Jesus was like a lamb led unto slaughter. Jesus was oppressed and afflicted, and He remained silent. I heard that lambs will cry over the death of their fellow lamb. However, the lamb is submissive when it gets its turn to be slain. I admit that I love mutton meals. I would go an Indian or Persian restaurant to get their mutton and eat it with some unleavened bread. Jesus was in full compliance to the Father. There are many times I took a mutton meal for granted. What I fail to realize is that while I’m enjoying my mutton, the meal was submissive before it became my meal. Jesus became submissive like that lamb that was killed for my lamb kebab.
Jesus was taken away by oppression and judgment. Everything on that day went terribly wrong. Pontius Pilate was a spineless leader. Many times, I hear the anecdote that the government is Pilate and the Pope is Caiaphas. Today, Catholicism indulges in Caiaphas-like inducements of trying to make the government bend to their desires. Pontius Pilate should’ve known better than to break protocol. Why even scourge an innocent man to appease a godless crowd? However, Jesus willfully submitted Himself to all these unjustness. Jesus was getting falsely accused of sins that He never did. The scapegoat and the Passover lamb had the sins of others imputed unto them. Since it was Passover, Jesus’ submission to the Father’s will, to be hit by godless men, was so well-timed. Nobody can beat God’s timing. Jesus was stricken even for the little sins of the people. Jesus was stricken not just for big sins but also for sins like jaywalking, illegal parking, and making the wrong turn.
Crucified criminals were usually thrown to the dumps. However, something was getting fulfilled. Jesus died in between two thieves. However, one thief repented and the other didn’t. Jesus granted eternal life to one and the other went to Hell. Jesus died a death only reserved for the worse of the worst. The repentant thief’s body was most likely thrown into Gehenna, or that dump. Crucified people usually don’t get honorable burials. However, we read in Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:50-53, and John 19:39-40, the amazing thing. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus both asked for an honorable burial. Some Christians become secret followers for a few years. However, as a tree goes, it will bear roots, and then it will bear fruit. These two would’ve had a case of a nagging conscience. Both Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took the risk not just to become unclean for Passover, and the Sabbath, but also ostracization. The Pharisees hated Jesus and would want Him out of their lives.
Why did all of that happen? It’s summarized as it’s Gods will that it happened. the details is that God the Father willed to crush the Son and tob ecome a sin offering. This is where the penal substitition leads to satisfaction. The prophecy of being counted righteous in Christ is said in verse 11. It was paying for all sins, big or small, because all sin is mortal in the spiritual sense. Both sins, both that can lead to physical death and not to physical death, are atoned for. Jesus completed everything in the Gospels. Isaiah 53 proves this that in order to appreciate the New Testament, one must further dig into the Old Testament.
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