Year 9, Day 37: Isaiah 53

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Isaiah 53 is a neat passage through which Christians can read the work of God.  It is next to impossible to read these verses and not hear Christ.  These verses find an absolute fulfilment in Christ, His coming to Earth, His teaching, His rejection, His death, and His resurrection.  Each and every verse has a very intentional meaning into the life and work of Christ.  This lens for Christ is an exceptionally important – likely the most important - lens for these words.

It is not the only lens for these words, just the most obvious for Christians.  It is possible to ask the question: To whom is Isaiah literally referring in his own day?  Sure, from the Christian lens these words find their ultimately fulfilment in Christ.  But to whom goes the first fulfilment?  Who is the servant of the Lord in Isaiah’s day about whom Isaiah pens these words?

Many people say that these words are designating a collect servant.  In Isaiah, there are four main “servant passages.”  They are Isaiah 42:1-9, Isaiah 49:1-13, Isaiah 50:4-11, and Isaiah 52:13 – Isaiah 53:12.  These passages collectively seem to indicate all of the Hebrew people – or at the very least, a righteous remnant within the Hebrew people – as God’s servant.  The Hebrew people were the ones called to do God’s work, therefore they are His servant.

This should make sense.  Abraham was called by God to be in relationship with God.  In effect, he was the father of all who are in relationship with Him.  Moses, the bringer of the Law, was called God’s servant.  Hebrew kings were called God’s servant, specifically David.  More generically, we know that the people of God in general bear the responsibility of revealing God to the rest of the world!  God came to the Hebrew people so the world might come to know Him through them.  In effect, that brings us back to Christ and His disciples and the people of God who have followed them.

When we think about it that way, this becomes a very important reading of this passage for Christians.  Yes, this passage certainly points us to Christ, who died for our sake so that we might know the grace and redemption from God.  But this chapter is a call for all of us, not just Christ.  We all can be God’s servant.  We all can know the rejection of the world.  We can all know what it is like to be bruised for His sake.  We know what it feels like to be pierced by the sinfulness of the world.  We can continue going on with these comparisons.  This chapter is a calling for each of us, beginning with the Hebrew people themselves, to bear our God out to the world.

Keep in mind, though, that the ultimate fulfilment still lies in Christ.  Only He can take away the sins of the world.  Only He can be the perfect sacrifice.  But we are called to be like Him, that is a theme throughout the New Testament.  This chapter lays the framework for that very thought.  God wants us to be the bearers of His will to the world, much like Christ bore His ultimate will for us to see.

<><