The Gospel of Isaiah: Chs. 52-53, The Fourth Servant Song… the Suffering Servant

The Gospel of Isaiah: Chapters 52-53, The Fourth Servant Song… the Suffering Servant.

WANTED: An imaginative scribe who can write exquisite poetry. A faithful, articulate believer in Yahweh who can switch from one extreme to another at the Lord’s command… from a sublime vision of God’s glory, to a ridiculous demonstration of shameful nakedness; from confronting the people over their sinfulness, to comforting people with hopefulness; from being an outspoken messenger one minute, to a living object lesson the next; from having one foot in the immediate surroundings one minute, to one foot in the future messianic realm the next. Must be adaptable, thick-skinned, and extraordinarily brave. Person who answers, “Here I am. Send me!” will be especially considered. (from The Jerusalem Post, 740 BC).

The Fourth Servant Song: The Suffering Servant, Isaiah 52:13-53:12…

“See how my servant will succeed! He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored!

Just as many were appalled at him, because he was so disfigured that he didn’t even seem human

and simply no longer looked like a man,

so now he will startle many nations; because of him, kings will be shocked speechless.

For they will see what they had not been told, they will ponder things they had never heard… (52:13-15);

 

Who truly believes our revelation? To whom will the Lord reveal His might arm?

For before Him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground.

He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us.

People despised and avoided him, a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief and suffering.

Like someone from whom people turn their faces, he was despised, we did not value him... (53:1-3);

 

In fact, it was our diseases he bore, and endured the torment of our sufferings,

yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God.

But he was pierced because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins;

he endured the punishment that made us completely whole, and by his bruises we are healed... (53:4-5);

 

We, like sheep, have all gone astray; we turned, each one, to his own way;

yet the Lord laid on him the guilt of all of us.

Though oppressed and mistreated, he was humbly submissive, he refused to defend himself.

Like a gentle lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth.

After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was taken away;

And none of his generation protested his being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people,

who deserved the punishment themselves.

He was given a grave among the wicked, in his death he was with a rich man… (53:6-9a);

 

Although he had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, yet it pleased the Lord to crush him with illness,

to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering.

If he does, he will see his offspring, and he will prolong his days,

and at his hand the Lord’s desire will be accomplished. 

After this ordeal, after his great anguish, he will be fully satisfied.

By his knowing pain and sacrifice, my righteous servant makes many righteous;

it is for their sins that he suffers, it is their sins that he carried away.

Therefore I will assign him a portion among a great multitude,

He will divide the spoils of victory with the mighty ones,

for having exposed himself to death and being counted among the sinners,

while actually bearing the burdens of sin for many and interceding for the rebellious offenders.” (53:9b-12).

An Astounding Prophecy. Could one find in the Hebrew Bible a more precise anticipation of what actually happened 700 years later? Is there a more convincing proof of Christ’s role as Messiah? Centuries of scrutiny have not derailed this passage in any way that so directly points to Jesus of Nazareth. After seriously considering these inspired words of Isaiah, believing in Christ is more a matter of common sense and logic than any leap in the dark. He indeed was highly exalted, but not before innocently experiencing intense suffering. His life and ministry did in fact startle the world, and it still does. He was in fact despised and rejected, particularly by the religious authorities who were threatened and envious of Him, blind to His biblical identity. He was beaten and spit upon and mocked and scorned. He was hideously disfigured and unrecognizable after His torture chamber of the crucifixion. He was executed despite doing nothing that deserved it. He was killed between two lawbreakers, and while on the Cross interceded for all those who had persecuted Him. He was buried in a rich man’s tomb, Joseph of Arimathea. He was submissive and silent during the ordeal of appearing before one accuser after another. He did offer Himself as the fulfillment of the Mosaic guilt offering, a spotless sacrificial lamb, a substitute for each of us, knowing that we were the ones who deserved to suffer the consequences of our sinfulness, that we were the rebellious sheep who had wandered away. We are spiritually healed because of His standing in our place, an innocent and pure substitute. And as a consequence of His death and resurrection, His righteousness has in fact made us righteous in the eyes of God. The Suffering Servant literally fleshed out a central truth of the universe… there can be no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood.

The Leper Messiah. It’s interesting that all the rabbinic authorities up until the Middle Ages considered the Suffering Servant passage to be messianic. The rabbis firmly believed that it pointed to a specific person, the messiah to come. During the medieval period of history it became more acceptable in Jewish circles to think of this passage as referring to the nation of Israel. But back in the day, there was no controversy, the Suffering Servant was all about the messiah, period. Those early Jewish sages even had a particular term they used, taken from their version of Isaiah 53:4, “Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God and afflicted.” In Jewish tradition, there was no more powerful image of suffering and rejection than that of the leper. So they conceived of the “leper messiah” as a symbol of the servant who was an outcast, despised, forced to live apart. The leper was someone who suffered God’s punishment and was thus considered unclean and impure. So what better picture could they design to represent Israel’s suffering and pain and need for redemption? They believed the leper messiah would be called to carry the people’s sin and sickness and be the substitute sacrifice in the eyes of Yahweh. Come to think of it, Jesus was treated like a leper, wasn’t He?

The Resounding Silence of Christ. “He, the Suffering Servant, was tortured and treated harshly, He was oppressed and afflicted, but He didn’t say a word. Like a lamb led to slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, He opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7).

06. Messiah – Behold the Lamb of God

Choosing to be Speechless. Many times during His ministry, Jesus chose to be verbal, sometimes downright wordy. He spent a lot of His time teaching about the Kingdom; He commanded many a demon out of those helplessly possessed; He silenced the religious  authorities countless times with clever wordplay and quoting Scriptures; He angrily shouted out the Temple moneychangers and backed it up with physical action; He endlessly excoriated the Pharisees in Matthew 23; He tenderly spoke words of comfort, encouragement and forgiveness when needed. So it wasn’t that Jesus was highly reticent and shy about speaking a word in due season. He was in full control of His speech. As Job asked after being silenced by God’s greatness: “If God chooses to remain silent, who is fit to raise his voice against Him or criticize Him?” (Job 34:29). Our wise God perfectly discerns when to speak and when to remain silent. Jesus unerringly picked His spots:

1. Silent before the Soldiers Beating Him: ‘Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him as they beat Him. They also blindfolded Him and kept asking Him, ‘Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?’ And they said many other things against Him, blaspheming Him. (Luke 22:63-65);
2. Silent before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. “Those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. All the chief priests and the Sanhedrin council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put Him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against Jesus, but their testimonies did not agree. The high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it these men testify against you?’ But Jesus remained silent and made no answer.” (Matthew 26:57-63; Mark 14:53-61).
3. Silent before Pontius Pilate. “Now Jesus stood before the governor Pilate, and the governor asked Him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered him, ‘You have said so.’ But when Jesus was accused by the chief priests and elders, He gave no answer. So Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?’ But Jesus gave no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was filled with wonder, marveling in complete amazement (“thaumazo”). (Matthew 27:11-14). [“Thaumazo” is a strong Greek word that means… marveled at, astonished by; amazed at; filled with wonder to the point of being bewildered; being awestruck in admiration. There were forty-four “thaumazo” passages in the gospels in which people marveled at Jesus, were greatly amazed by Jesus, astonished to the point of being awed by Him].
4. Silent before the Governor’s Soldiers Tormenting Him. “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion of 600 soldiers before Him. They stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on Him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and put a reed in His right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on Him and took the reed and struck Him in the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own clothes on Him and led Him away to crucify Him.” (Matthew 27:27-31).
5. Silent before Herod, the Ruler of Galilee. “When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see Him, because he had heard about Jesus, and he was hoping to see some miracle or sign done by Him. So he questioned Jesus at some length, but Jesus made no answer. And Herod with his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt and mocked Him. Then, arraying Him in splendid clothing to mock His claim to kingship, Herod sent Him back to Pilate.” (Luke 22:6-11).
6. Silent before the Lynch Mob. “They all cried out together, ‘Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!’ Pilate addressed the crowd once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ They were urgent, demanding with loud cries that Jesus should be crucified. And their voices prevailed… And Pilate delivered Jesus over to their will.” (Luke 23:18-25).
7. Silent on the Cross before the Scoffers. “Those who passed by Jesus on the cross derided Him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘You who would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!’ So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked Him, saying, ‘He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! He is the King of Israel, so let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe Him! He trusts in God, so let God deliver Him now!” (Matthew 27:39-45; Luke 23:35-37).

Now Behold The Lamb | Times Square Worship

The Silence of the Lamb. How can one describe the silence of Jesus during His Passion? His was an unflappable silence, not a nervous one; a clear-headed silence, not a confused one; a purposeful silence, not an uncertain one. Jesus did not offer much by way of self-defense, thus we see the ironic case of the Word being speechless. For the most part, Jesus chose to suffer in silence. He refused to offer a logical answer to illogical questions, or reasonable responses to unreasonable demands… Perhaps He didn’t want others to take these kangaroo courts seriously; maybe He didn’t see the point of offering honest answers in the midst of dishonest proceedings; perhaps He secretly liked tweaking their noses and irritating the questioners just a little bit; maybe He realized that the simple truth wouldn’t be honored anyway during the false testimonies; perhaps silence was the best way to communicate His disrespect for the authorities; maybe His calm silence was intended to cool down the temperature in the room; perhaps He thought it was an effective strategy to keep some control of the narrative; certainly Jesus was well aware of Isaiah’s messianic prophecy about the lamb being silent while led to slaughter.  Most importantly, Jesus was certain that His silence would inevitably lead to His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, and the only way He was going to be allowed to complete His mission of redeeming the world.