Isa 53:7-12 | KingComments | STEP | . The fourth section or stanza, , describes, like the second section ( ), the suffering of the Servant, but adds His death and burial. He was “oppressed”, i.e. severely stricken and mistreated without sparing Him anything. It also refers to the driving or chasing of slaves or animals loaded with heavy loads ( ; ). The servant was such a ‘beast of burden’, but He did not open His mouth, He bowed under the burden, He suffered willingly and allowed them to abuse Him. Balaam’s beast of burden opened her mouth when Balaam struck her unjustly to drive her ( ; ). Jeremiah also compares himself to a lamb, but he did not keep his mouth shut and called for vengeance ( ). For the Lord Jesus the way to slaughter was many times worse. He knew perfectly where He was going, but He did not open His mouth. He knew everything that would come upon Him ( ). It says twice in this verse that He did not open His mouth, underlining the importance of the voluntary surrender of Christ. He did not remain silent out of weakness, as if He did not know what to say. He knew that with one word He could destroy all His enemies ( ). He did not remain silent out of powerlessness, but because He chose to remain silent. It was part of His obedience to the point of death, even death on a cross ( ). ‘Shearing’ is about taking away everything that is worthy of a human being. He did not protest against the inhuman and degrading treatment that was done to Him. Everything expresses His voluntary perseverance in a way in which He is unique. No one can be compared with Him. It is clearly in striking contrast with the going astray of man in the beginning of . . Of the unjust treatment and the unjust judicial verdict we are moved directly to Golgotha. “By oppression and judgment He was taken away” means that He was taken away “by an oppressive / humiliating / unjust judicial judgment” ( ; ). He did not receive a fair trial, but was utterly unjustly convicted by political conspiracy. He was “taken away” from the “legal treatise” and taken to the cross and hastily crucified there, so that this heinous crime could be finished before sabbath. This section is about the fact that none of His contemporaries had any awareness of, let alone thought about what Christ endured. He was cut off out of the land of the living and thus everything was over for His contemporaries. The expression “as for His generation” has to do with His descent. The meaning is: “Who shall mention His royal descent, His rights as the Son of David” ( )? The verse ends with the acknowledgment of the true cause of His suffering. The exclamation “for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke [was due]” not only comes from the mouth of the believing remnant of Israel, but also from the mouth of the God of Israel Himself. The word “stroke” (cf. ) emphasizes this once more, because the stroke is the doom that God Himself has sent. The eunuch, who is on his way back to his country from Jerusalem, reads just these verses when Philip joins him ( ). The eunuch does not find the explanation of what he is reading easy, but still he has thought about what he has read. He understands that the lamb he is reading about must be Someone, a Person. His question about this is a wonderful reason for Philip to preach “Jesus” to him. . This fourth section ( ), which describes the character of the Servant’s suffering and the manner in which He was killed, concludes with the mention of His burial. The first part of the verse reflects the intention of the sinners who wanted to let Him disappear into anonymity by burying Him in a kind of mass grave together with the two robbers who had been crucified with Him. But God had determined otherwise and provided an appropriate environment. Therefore, the Roman authorities allowed His body to be buried by and in the grave or tomb of “a rich man”, Joseph of Arimathea ( ). Normally, a tomb is used several times to decompose the dead body and then keep it in ossuary (bone box). Only an extraordinarily rich person can be buried in a new tomb. It was a tomb “where no one had ever lain” ( ). He Who came from a virgin mother’s womb could only be put in a ‘virgin’ tomb. The word “death” is plural and expresses the violent nature, not to say the aggregated nature, the comprehensiveness of His death. The fact of His complete being free from sin – “no sin done”, “no deceit … in His mouth” ( ) – made it fitting that He should have an honorable burial instead of being thrown into a murderer’s grave, as His enemies had in mind. He was given this grave of honor in view of the resurrection. The resurrection will be discussed in the next section.

‏ Isaiah 53:7-12

Suffering, Death and Burial

Isa 53:7. The fourth section or stanza, Isa 53:7-9, describes, like the second section (Isa 53:1-3), the suffering of the Servant, but adds His death and burial. He was “oppressed”, i.e. severely stricken and mistreated without sparing Him anything. It also refers to the driving or chasing of slaves or animals loaded with heavy loads (Exo 3:7; Job 39:7). The servant was such a ‘beast of burden’, but He did not open His mouth, He bowed under the burden, He suffered willingly and allowed them to abuse Him. Balaam’s beast of burden opened her mouth when Balaam struck her unjustly to drive her (Num 22:28; 2Pet 2:16). Jeremiah also compares himself to a lamb, but he did not keep his mouth shut and called for vengeance (Jer 11:19 ; 20 ; Jer 12:1-4).

For the Lord Jesus the way to slaughter was many times worse. He knew perfectly where He was going, but He did not open His mouth. He knew everything that would come upon Him (Jn 13:1 ; Jn 18:4). It says twice in this verse that He did not open His mouth, underlining the importance of the voluntary surrender of Christ. He did not remain silent out of weakness, as if He did not know what to say. He knew that with one word He could destroy all His enemies (Jn 18:6). He did not remain silent out of powerlessness, but because He chose to remain silent. It was part of His obedience to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8).

‘Shearing’ is about taking away everything that is worthy of a human being. He did not protest against the inhuman and degrading treatment that was done to Him. Everything expresses His voluntary perseverance in a way in which He is unique. No one can be compared with Him. It is clearly in striking contrast with the going astray of man in the beginning of Isa 53:6.

Isa 53:8. Of the unjust treatment and the unjust judicial verdict we are moved directly to Golgotha. “By oppression and judgment He was taken away” means that He was taken away “by an oppressive / humiliating / unjust judicial judgment” (Mt 26:66 ; Mt 27:22-31; Acts 8:33). He did not receive a fair trial, but was utterly unjustly convicted by political conspiracy.

He was “taken away” from the “legal treatise” and taken to the cross and hastily crucified there, so that this heinous crime could be finished before sabbath. This section is about the fact that none of His contemporaries had any awareness of, let alone thought about what Christ endured. He was cut off out of the land of the living and thus everything was over for His contemporaries. The expression “as for His generation” has to do with His descent. The meaning is: “Who shall mention His royal descent, His rights as the Son of David” (Mt 1:1)?

The verse ends with the acknowledgment of the true cause of His suffering. The exclamation “for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke [was due]” not only comes from the mouth of the believing remnant of Israel, but also from the mouth of the God of Israel Himself. The word “stroke” (cf. Isa 53:4) emphasizes this once more, because the stroke is the doom that God Himself has sent.

The eunuch, who is on his way back to his country from Jerusalem, reads just these verses when Philip joins him (Acts 8:30-35). The eunuch does not find the explanation of what he is reading easy, but still he has thought about what he has read. He understands that the lamb he is reading about must be Someone, a Person. His question about this is a wonderful reason for Philip to preach “Jesus” to him.

Isa 53:9. This fourth section (Isa 53:7-9), which describes the character of the Servant’s suffering and the manner in which He was killed, concludes with the mention of His burial. The first part of the verse reflects the intention of the sinners who wanted to let Him disappear into anonymity by burying Him in a kind of mass grave together with the two robbers who had been crucified with Him. But God had determined otherwise and provided an appropriate environment. Therefore, the Roman authorities allowed His body to be buried by and in the grave or tomb of “a rich man”, Joseph of Arimathea (Mt 27:57-60).

Normally, a tomb is used several times to decompose the dead body and then keep it in ossuary (bone box). Only an extraordinarily rich person can be buried in a new tomb. It was a tomb “where no one had ever lain” (Lk 23:53b). He Who came from a virgin mother’s womb could only be put in a ‘virgin’ tomb.

The word “death” is plural and expresses the violent nature, not to say the aggregated nature, the comprehensiveness of His death. The fact of His complete being free from sin – “no sin done”, “no deceit … in His mouth” (1Pet 2:22) – made it fitting that He should have an honorable burial instead of being thrown into a murderer’s grave, as His enemies had in mind. He was given this grave of honor in view of the resurrection. The resurrection will be discussed in the next section.

Results for the Servant

Isa 53:10. The last section of the chapter and also the last stanza gives a triple testimony concerning the experiences of His soul. We are brought into the inner sanctuary of His Being. So far we have seen especially the human and outer side of the Servant’s suffering. Now comes the Divine side of it. Isa 53:10 and Isa 53:12 speak of the acts of the LORD with Him, in a judicial sense with a view to His death and in a compensatory sense with a view to the reward. Isa 53:11 speaks of the result of His sacrifice to His own satisfaction and the justifying grace He grants to others.

The remnant must learn the lesson that the cross has two sides. The first side we have seen extensively, that is the side of man. Therein man in general and the Jews in particular are responsible for the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. This must penetrate to the heart and conscience of the remnant, which will happen fully when they see Him Whom they have pierced (Zec 12:10-14). The other side is the side of God. God has wanted to use this suffering for a higher purpose (cf. Gen 45:5; Acts 2:23).

If we are to understand, like the remnant, how God can justify sinners, we must understand God’s side of the Servant’s suffering. Only then we can have and experience peace with God.

The mention “the LORD was pleased to crush Him”, speaks of the firm purpose of the LORD to use man’s sin for the acts of His grace. He does this by adding the atoning suffering to the suffering of the sinless Servant on the cross. The pleasure of the LORD lies in the fact that through the crushing of His Son His good pleasure will be able to “prosper”. The verse begins and ends with it.

This ‘pleasure’ is about the removal, through judgment, of the sins that were laid upon Him Who Himself was without sin. It is about full satisfaction of the demands of the holy and righteous God with respect to the guilt brought about by sin. That full satisfaction is given to Him by the true Guilt Offering for sin (Isa 53:10), Who can pay the penalty for people’s guilt.

“Crush” is the terrible, destructive judgment on Him. He died not only because of what people did to Him, but because of what the LORD did to Him. It could be read in this way: It pleased the LORD not to leave the crushing of His Christ to men, but to execute it Himself. “Putting Him to grief”, literally “made Him sick”, is the indication for all the sorrows of the atoning suffering on the cross.

Rendering Himself as a guilt offering means that He offered Himself, His entire Being, as a victim to God to cleanse the sinner of his guilt. The guilt offering was brought in order to fulfill the demands of God’s righteousness. This is the first mention relating to His soul – “He” is literally “His soul”. This voluntary act of surrendering His life, a life that pleased God beyond compare, to fulfill God’s righteous demands in view of man’s guilt, has several results. They are results that Christ will see in the resurrection.

1. He will see offspring or seed (Psa 22:30). This is what the Israelite looked forward to as a great blessing (Gen 48:11; Psa 128:6). It seemed as if Christ had died. Here, however, we have an indication of the great joy of Christ when He sees the innumerable crowds of His spiritual offspring among Jews and Gentiles (Jn 12:24; Heb 2:13b).

2. He will prolong His days or have a long life. This is another blessing the Israelite particularly appreciated (Psa 91:16; Pro 3:2 ; 16). However, here it is a reference to the endless resurrection life of the Lord (Rev 1:18).

3. The proposed counsels will have their joyous realization. “In His hand” refers to His work as Advocate and High Priest and also to the exercise of His authority and power in His kingdom. It is the pleasure of the LORD to bless His creatures. That now finds its fulfillment through Christ.

4. Isa 53:11. All the glory that follows is seen by Him as the result of His laborious effort or suffering, a glory that will never disappear from before His attention as absolutely necessary and perfectly sufficient to satisfy His heart in the redemption of those who have become His property.

5. “The anguish of His soul” applies to everything that He has suffered internally to the bottom of His heart, all the struggles and sufferings that took place in Him, hidden from the eye of man. On this basis He will see it, which is the light of the resurrection, after the darkness of and His death on the cross. He will see it and “will be satisfied” (Psa 17:15).

6. There could be no justification of others, no imputing of righteousness, if He were not perfectly righteous, for only because of this He could willingly give Himself as an atoning offering. “By His knowledge” can mean “by the knowledge concerning or about Him” (objective) or “by the knowledge which is His own”, the knowledge which He Himself has (subjective). The second meaning has our preference. After all, the whole part is about Him and His excellencies.

7. The meaning of “will justify” can also be: He will teach many in righteousness. By the teaching He gives, there is spiritual growth. This spiritual growth manifests itself in becoming more and more like Him. He justifies all who come to God through Him, which can only be done by what follows: that He will bear their iniquities. Again we are brought back to the cross.

In summary, in this last point we find two aspects of the Lord’s work. First, in His life He taught many in righteousness, as in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Secondly, in His dying He has taken upon Himself and carried away the iniquities of those who believe.

Isa 53:12. There is another delightful consequence of His sacrificial death. What follows now resembles the triumphal march of the Romans after a victory. After the work of the Servant is finished, what He has done is now enumerated. What is written about His portion can be translated in two ways: The LORD will give Him a portion among many; or: He will receive the many as an inheritance: He will divide the powerful as a spoils, or better: He will share the booty with the strong, who are all connected with Him. With “the booty” we can think of the whole creation.

And again we are led to the reason, that is His atoning sacrifice. The establishment of His sovereign power on earth will rest on His accomplished work. All future glory is a consequence of and reward for what is described in four parts. He

1. poured out Himself, literally His soul – this is the third mention of His “soul” – to death (Jn 10:17 ; Jn 19:30),

2. was numbered with the transgressors (Lk 22:37),

3. bore the sin of many (Heb 9:28) and

4. interceded for the transgressors (Lk 23:34a).

The last two parts are placed in contrast to the first two. The first two parts refer to the unjust opinion of those who condemned Him and handed Him over to be killed. They were not aware that He, in what He suffered on the cross, was the Bearer of the sins “of many” – that is, not of all people, but only of the believers. The last part refers especially to His intercession for the transgressors, while He hung on the cross (Lk 23:34a).

Thus the details of this prophecy in this chapter in the last three verses reach their climax. Isaiah himself did not understand the scope of his prophecy (1Pet 1:10). But the Spirit of Christ brought him to great heights by having him paint in great detail the work of the Servant, which He accomplished vicariously as a Guilt Offering for others.

The chapter ends with the cross and the intercession of the Lord Jesus because that will be forever in our attention as the origin of all blessing.