Isaiah 53

Tanakh or Old Testament

Isaiah 50:6
I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.

Isaiah 52:13 The Suffering and Glory of the Servant. See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness- so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

COMMENTARY:

Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of all mankind, was whipped, beaten and nailed to the cross for our sins. His blood alone could pay for our sins against God.

New Testament

Matthew 26:67
They spit in his face and struck him with their fists.

John 5:24
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

John 19:18-20
Here they crucified him, and with him two others–one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.

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Tanakh or Old Testament

Isaiah 53
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

COMMENTARY:

Jesus didn’t come as a king or a mighty warrior, but as a humble servant and teacher or rabbi.

New Testament

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Philippians 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!

Tanakh or Old Testament

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

COMMENTARY:

Jesus Christ was pierced or nailed to the cross. We are all sinners in need of the forgiveness that is extended to us through the simple belief that God loves us and sent His one and only Son to die in our place on the cross, as payment for all the wrong that we’ve done.

From Matthew 26:26 we read that on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread Jesus told his disciples, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ” While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Take notice that Jesus called the Unleavened Bread his “body”…now take a close look at the unleavened bread used during the Passover meal (Seder) today, and read Isaiah 53 again. His body was pierced (like the Matzoh bread) and we are healed by his stripes (wounds). Its no coincidence that the Matzoh cracker is both pierced and striped.

Jesus is the Lamb of God. The perfect sacrifice, unlike any other. He literally died on the cross and his body was laid to rest in a tomb. On the 3rd day Jesus rose from the dead, having conquered death. 50 days later he ascended to heaven, where he now sits on the throne at the right hand of God.

New Testament

John 19:41-42
At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there

Tanakh or Old Testament

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

COMMENTARY:

Isaiah describes this suffering servant as a literal sacrifice or guilt offering acceptable to the Lord. Nowhere else in the history of the Bible has a man been a sacrifice for God.

Those who know Jesus through faith that he is who he said he was, the Son of God, will be justified.

Jesus will share his inheritance from God, everlasting Life in Heaven, with those who trust in Him.
The only way to God the Father is through the Son, Jesus Christ.