Isa 52:13-15 | KingComments | STEP | Here begins a totally new section. The division into chapters is not well done here. Isaiah 53 must begin with of this chapter. The last three verses of Isaiah 52 and whole Isaiah 53 contain one great theme: the suffering, rejected, atoning and exalted Servant of the LORD. This whole section forms the heart of the second great part of the book of Isaiah. It is right in the middle of it. We can say that in this section we enter, as it were, the holy of holies. This makes it even more necessary than otherwise to approach this section with great reverence and deep awe and take it in (cf. ; ). In the heart of this section the LORD reveals His heart. And Who else is the heart of God other than the Lord Jesus, Who was and is always in the bosom of the Father? The Lord Jesus has come to declare Him in grace to sinful people ( ). In this section it is about Christ and His work and its glorious consequences, both for God and for us. This is also the fourth and last song or the last prophecy about the Servant of the LORD. In the previous three songs or prophecies we have seen that the Servant is the Chosen One of God ( ), the Rejected One of Israel ( ) and the dependent and obedient Servant ( ). Now the covering is taken away from Israel ( ) and the arm of the LORD is revealed. The chosen and rejected Servant, obedient to the death of the cross, turns out to be the Guilt Offering for Israel! He dies as the substitute offering for Israel. His blood is the blood of the new covenant. What Israel meant for evil with the rejection of Christ, the LORD has turned for the better. The Servant appears to have been sent by God “to preserve many people alive” ( ). Joseph’s brothers did not realize that the mighty viceroy of Egypt and their rejected brother are one and the same person. Thus, Israel does not recognize that the bare, mighty arm of the LORD and the rejected Jesus of Nazareth are one and the same Person. So blind are they as the servant of the LORD. A veil lies over their faces. But the perfect Servant has come to heal the blind servant, to remove the veil from their faces. Just as Joseph reveals himself to his brothers in holy seclusion without strangers ( ), so the Servant will make Himself known to the faithful remnant. Like Thomas, a picture of the remnant, they will recognize Him by His wounds and bow down before Him and declare: “My Lord and my God!” ( ). The fifteen verses of this section have been written in the form of a poem, consisting of five stanzas of three verses each. These five stanzas are written in a so-called chiasm, a mirror technique to emphasize the middle part: 1. the glorification of the Servant ( ). ---2. the suffering of the Servant ( ) ------3. the atonement by the Servant ( ) ---4 the suffering of the Servant ( ) 5. the glorification of the Servant ( ) a. stanzas 1 and 5 are about the glorification of the Servant; b. stanzas 2 and 4 are about the suffering of the Servant; c. the middle stanza (3) is about the atonement by the Servant. The LORD begins with the words “behold, My servant” ( ). All attention is directed toward Him (cf. ). It is not about Israel, but about the Messiah. The connection with what immediately preceded this is striking, even if it is in the form of a great contrast. In the foregoing, the deliverance from Babylonian exile is in the foreground, with the future and final deliverance behind it. Deliverance, however, can only be effected by the servant of the LORD, regardless of whether it concerns the Jew or the heathen. No fulfillment of any prophecy is possible without the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross. That is why God calls upon us to look at Him, first in His prosperous action and then in His exalted position ( ). After that, there is a brief mention of His humiliation in anticipation of the coming revelation in power and glory ( ). This is all, in a compact form, the theme on which after this introduction will be elaborated in the next twelve verses. “Behold, My servant will prosper” ( ). There are two meanings of the word “prosper”. The first is wisdom – a characteristic of which is prudence – and the second is prosperity or success. A complete representation of the text can be: ‘Will act wisely, resulting in prosperity.’ This describes in a compact way His life on earth up to and including the cross, in everything He says and does, with the prosperous consequences that are inextricably connected to it. He maintains His testimony without surrendering His life until the appointed hour is there. Never is there greater prosperity attached to any action than to the surrendering of His life as a willing and atoning sacrifice (cf. ). “He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted” ( ). The consequence of His wise and prosperous action is that God has exalted Him greatly. There are three stages in that exaltation: His resurrection, His ascension and His glorification at God’s right hand ( ; ; ). In the form of a speaking about changes into a speaking to and then again into a speaking about . The cause of amazement and dismay is the fact of His being marred. This determines us by the atrocities that have been inflicted on Him after His capture. His face and His body have been marred in an unparalleled gruesome way. The soldiers struck Him with a fake scepter on His face and on His forehead crowned with spines, until He was no longer recognizable. The inflicted flogging ripped the flesh from both His back and His chest. This was the Lord Jesus as He was brought out by Pilate and shown to the people to arouse their pity and to work that they would not ask for more of His blood. It was in vain. It made their disgust of Him and the call for His blood even greater. His appearance was so completely different from what they had expected from the Messiah, that they looked at Him with dismay. So they stared at Him ( ). While Israel in this way rejected Him, in the coming day the contempt of the nations through Pilate will turn into amazement and dismay at His power and glory. The “thus” of corresponds to the “just” of . The amazement will be so great that kings will be overwhelmed by speechlessness, dumbfounded by what they see and of what they have never heard. The dismay at His suffering will be far surpassed by the dismay at His glorification. The “sprinkling” of “many nations” refers to the blessing that comes from His humiliation. These verses twice express great amazement and dismay: first about the horrible humiliation of the Messiah, then about His awe-inspiring glorification. Now those in power still have their mouths full of boasting ( ). Then they will hear the reality and meaning of this amazing revelation. They will see that the people plagued and oppressed by them are the people chosen and loved by God under a King Who has laid His glory on those people. When they will see and hear it, they will also believe with all their heart. However, this verse does not only refer to the future. Paul applies it to the preaching of the gospel in the time between the cross and the second coming, that is the period in which we live now. He quotes this verse to make the gospel known in ever more distant places and to extend his missionary journeys to areas where the gospel has not yet been preached ( ).

‏ Isaiah 52:13-15

High and Lifted Up

Here begins a totally new section. The division into chapters is not well done here. Isaiah 53 must begin with Isa 52:13 of this chapter. The last three verses of Isaiah 52 and whole Isaiah 53 contain one great theme: the suffering, rejected, atoning and exalted Servant of the LORD. This whole section forms the heart of the second great part of the book of Isaiah. It is right in the middle of it.

We can say that in this section we enter, as it were, the holy of holies. This makes it even more necessary than otherwise to approach this section with great reverence and deep awe and take it in (cf. Exo 3:5; Jos 5:15). In the heart of this section the LORD reveals His heart. And Who else is the heart of God other than the Lord Jesus, Who was and is always in the bosom of the Father? The Lord Jesus has come to declare Him in grace to sinful people (Jn 1:18). In this section it is about Christ and His work and its glorious consequences, both for God and for us.

This is also the fourth and last song or the last prophecy about the Servant of the LORD. In the previous three songs or prophecies we have seen that the Servant is the Chosen One of God (Isa 42:1-9), the Rejected One of Israel (Isa 49:1-13) and the dependent and obedient Servant (Isa 50:1-11). Now the covering is taken away from Israel (2Cor 3:16) and the arm of the LORD is revealed.

The chosen and rejected Servant, obedient to the death of the cross, turns out to be the Guilt Offering for Israel! He dies as the substitute offering for Israel. His blood is the blood of the new covenant. What Israel meant for evil with the rejection of Christ, the LORD has turned for the better. The Servant appears to have been sent by God “to preserve many people alive” (Gen 50:20).

Joseph’s brothers did not realize that the mighty viceroy of Egypt and their rejected brother are one and the same person. Thus, Israel does not recognize that the bare, mighty arm of the LORD and the rejected Jesus of Nazareth are one and the same Person. So blind are they as the servant of the LORD. A veil lies over their faces. But the perfect Servant has come to heal the blind servant, to remove the veil from their faces.

Just as Joseph reveals himself to his brothers in holy seclusion without strangers (Gen 45:1), so the Servant will make Himself known to the faithful remnant. Like Thomas, a picture of the remnant, they will recognize Him by His wounds and bow down before Him and declare: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28).

The fifteen verses of this section have been written in the form of a poem, consisting of five stanzas of three verses each. These five stanzas are written in a so-called chiasm, a mirror technique to emphasize the middle part:

1. the glorification of the Servant (Isa 52:13-15).

---2. the suffering of the Servant (Isa 53:1-3)

------3. the atonement by the Servant (Isa 53:4-6)

---4 the suffering of the Servant (Isa 53:7-9)

5. the glorification of the Servant (Isa 53:10-12)

a. stanzas 1 and 5 are about the glorification of the Servant;

b. stanzas 2 and 4 are about the suffering of the Servant;

c. the middle stanza (3) is about the atonement by the Servant.

The LORD begins with the words “behold, My servant” (Isa 52:13). All attention is directed toward Him (cf. Mt 25:6). It is not about Israel, but about the Messiah. The connection with what immediately preceded this is striking, even if it is in the form of a great contrast. In the foregoing, the deliverance from Babylonian exile is in the foreground, with the future and final deliverance behind it. Deliverance, however, can only be effected by the servant of the LORD, regardless of whether it concerns the Jew or the heathen. No fulfillment of any prophecy is possible without the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross.

That is why God calls upon us to look at Him, first in His prosperous action and then in His exalted position (Isa 52:13). After that, there is a brief mention of His humiliation in anticipation of the coming revelation in power and glory (Isa 52:14-15). This is all, in a compact form, the theme on which after this introduction will be elaborated in the next twelve verses.

“Behold, My servant will prosper” (Isa 52:13a). There are two meanings of the word “prosper”. The first is wisdom – a characteristic of which is prudence – and the second is prosperity or success. A complete representation of the text can be: ‘Will act wisely, resulting in prosperity.’ This describes in a compact way His life on earth up to and including the cross, in everything He says and does, with the prosperous consequences that are inextricably connected to it. He maintains His testimony without surrendering His life until the appointed hour is there. Never is there greater prosperity attached to any action than to the surrendering of His life as a willing and atoning sacrifice (cf. Isa 53:10).

“He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted” (Isa 52:13b). The consequence of His wise and prosperous action is that God has exalted Him greatly. There are three stages in that exaltation: His resurrection, His ascension and His glorification at God’s right hand (Acts 2:33; Phil 2:9; Heb 1:3 ; 13).

In Isa 52:14 the form of a speaking about changes into a speaking to and then again into a speaking about. The cause of amazement and dismay is the fact of His being marred. This determines us by the atrocities that have been inflicted on Him after His capture. His face and His body have been marred in an unparalleled gruesome way. The soldiers struck Him with a fake scepter on His face and on His forehead crowned with spines, until He was no longer recognizable. The inflicted flogging ripped the flesh from both His back and His chest.

This was the Lord Jesus as He was brought out by Pilate and shown to the people to arouse their pity and to work that they would not ask for more of His blood. It was in vain. It made their disgust of Him and the call for His blood even greater. His appearance was so completely different from what they had expected from the Messiah, that they looked at Him with dismay. So they stared at Him (Psa 22:17b).

While Israel in this way rejected Him, in the coming day the contempt of the nations through Pilate will turn into amazement and dismay at His power and glory. The “thus” of Isa 52:15 corresponds to the “just” of Isa 52:14. The amazement will be so great that kings will be overwhelmed by speechlessness, dumbfounded by what they see and of what they have never heard. The dismay at His suffering will be far surpassed by the dismay at His glorification. The “sprinkling” of “many nations” refers to the blessing that comes from His humiliation.

These verses twice express great amazement and dismay: first about the horrible humiliation of the Messiah, then about His awe-inspiring glorification. Now those in power still have their mouths full of boasting (Psa 2:1-3). Then they will hear the reality and meaning of this amazing revelation. They will see that the people plagued and oppressed by them are the people chosen and loved by God under a King Who has laid His glory on those people. When they will see and hear it, they will also believe with all their heart.

However, this verse does not only refer to the future. Paul applies it to the preaching of the gospel in the time between the cross and the second coming, that is the period in which we live now. He quotes this verse to make the gospel known in ever more distant places and to extend his missionary journeys to areas where the gospel has not yet been preached (Rom 15:20-21).