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The Servant Songs of

Isaiah 42-53—Part 4: :13-53:12

Introduction

- Fourth of what are called the “Servant Songs” in Isaiah; poems or songs that told the Israelites some details of the coming .

- First was in :1-9: He is “My Servant,” a quiet and patient demeanor, He will comfort for the weak and oppressed, He will bring truth and justice, the Messiah will be a light to the , He will open mankind’s eyes, His advent is sure.

- The second servant song is in :1-13: the Messiah will come in human form, He will be an effective teacher, He will glorify the Father, sent to save , he will be rejected, He will save all mankind, Those who despised Him will one day worship Him (prophecy of His second coming), and He represents a covenant to all people.

- In the third servant song, :4-9, we read prophecies that the Messiah would be obedient in speaking and teaching, in listening to the Father, in His suffering, and in accomplishing His purpose.

- Throughout the servant songs, we have run into a characteristic of the Messiah that the Israelites found hard to accept: that He would be a light to the gentiles. Expecting a Messiah that would free them from foreign domination and reinforce their rigid legalistic practices, the people who heard Isaiah learned instead that their Messiah would come to save all people, and His message would not be one of political and national dominance, but one of restoration to the Father and righteous thinking and living.

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- The fourth servant song in Isaiah, found in Isaiah 52:13- 53:12, describes the Messiah as the Suffering Servant. It is perhaps the best known of the servant songs.

- Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12

The Suffering Servant

1. The exalted destiny of the Servant (52:13-15)

A. “Behold, My Servant shall . . .” (NIV: “See My Servant . . .”)

1) This song opens with the Lord calling special attention—look at, fix your eyes on, or observe with care and understanding. Same emphasis as in John 1:29, when John the Baptist saw approaching him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

B. “He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high”

1) A prophecy mainly of His first and second advent.

2) He is exalted now; after His resurrection and ascension, He is now at the right hand of the Father.

C. Nothing about His physical appearance would cause people to exalt Him.

1) His appearance would be marred (14; disfigured); could refer to both His physical stature and appearance, but more likely to His appearance at the crucifixion (verse 14: “And His form more [marred] than the sons of men”).

2) His disfigured appearance would be notable. (Verse 14: “Just as many were astonished at You [the boldness and impact of His teachings?], So His visage was

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marred”; i.e., His marred appearance just as astonishing as His bold teaching).

3) This is a prophecy of His first advent: before He is exalted, He will suffer.

D. “So shall He sprinkle many nations” (15)

1) Refers to salvation the Messiah would bring for all mankind.

2) The “sprinkling” refers to the sprinkling of blood on the door posts and lentil on the night in when the Lord spared the firstborn of the Israelites (Exodus12).

3) It is the blood of Christ, His death on the cross in payment for our sin, that enables all mankind to enter into communion with the Father.

4) There is one other similar biblical tradition to which this sprinkling may refer.

a. Leviticus 14 describes the ceremonial cleansing of a person healed of infectious disease, a ceremony in which the priest sprinkles water on the healed person to pronounce him or her clean.

b. In this sense, the sprinkling of the Messiah over many nations would be consistent with His second advent and rule over the nations, which He will cleanse from their sin.

E. At His second advent, governments (kings) will not resist; “kings shall shut their mouths” because they will understand and submit to His rule.

2. The Life of the Servant (53:1-3)

A. These verses are a brief summary of the Messiah’s life.

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B. “Who has believed our report (message)? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

1) Implication: in spite of these and other prophecies, few would recognize the Messiah, although the prophecies clearly describe Him and his life and purpose.

C. Verse 2: “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant” (lit. “tender shoot”)

1) :1 (NIV): “A shoot will come up from the stump of , from his roots, a branch will bear fruit.”

2) The term refers to the growth that sprouts from the stump of a tree after it has been cut down or died. (My example)

3) A good description of how things were when Jesus first came to earth: a dark time in history for the Israelites . . . dark time spiritually . . . politically with centuries of foreign dominance and occupation . . . a time of poverty . . . the nation of Israel all but dead.

D. But then came the Messiah, in humble circumstances and with no particular personal charisma or especially pleasant or appealing physical stature (read verse 2).

1) He was born to a poor, working family and probably had an average appearance

2) There was nothing special in His circumstances or appearance that would tend to set Him apart as a leader or .

E. Even in adulthood, when He taught as the Son of God, He was despised and rejected (read verse 3).

1) Rejected by the religious leaders, cursed, falsely accused, hated

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2) Although a few saw Him for Who He is, most “did not esteem Him.”

3. His suffering for our sin (53:4-9) (Read 4-9)

A. The Messiah as substitutionary atonement for our sin; one of the most intense passages in the Bible.

1) Christ was our substitute in receiving the judgment due for our sin.

2) Note how this is emphasized in this passage (He has borne our griefs, etc. read 4-6,7 with the emphasis)

3) He paid the price for us, so that we would not have to and so that we could live in communion with the Father.

B. This doctrine of the atonement for our sin is repeated often in the New Testament:

1) “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV).

2) “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13, NIV).

3) “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18, NIV).

C. He suffered and died in without protest (7-9)

D. Verse 9: His grave with the wicked and the rich (died with criminals, buried in a rich man’s tomb, Matthew 27:57- 60). A prophetic detail that literally occurred.

4. His ultimate victory (10-12)

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A. The Messiah’s ministry on earth did not end with His death.

1) Even His death was victorious: He defeated death in His resurrection and now is at the right hand of the Father.

a. Romans 6:9 (NIV): “For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.”

2) And He is coming again. (Read verses 10-12)

a. “He shall see His seed”: lit. “gaze at” (emphasizing being present with)

b. “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied” (be filled, content, even “enriched” in our presence)

c. “Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong”: He will return to rule, and we will rule with Him.

B. “And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors”: a concluding reminder of the substitutionary atonement that has made it all possible . . . our communion with the Father, the Messiah’s future return to rule with us.

Conclusion

- The Lord’s words opening this song are “Behold, My Servant.” He has given us a good look at our Savior in this servant song.

- I read a story a long time ago that so very well illustrates what God is trying to do for us in giving us these glimpses of the Messiah in the servant songs in Isaiah.

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- Lincoln shot, train back to Illinois stopped in many towns for people to view the casket; in one town, a black woman held her son high above the crowd, so he could see and said, “Take a long look, son. He died for you.”

- That’s what these servant songs are all about.

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