Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
so shall he sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
Sometimes called the “fifth Gospel” (cf. Psalm 22), this fourth “Servant Song” beautifully and movingly portrays a remnant vicariously suffering on behalf of others. Yet this remnant is narrowed down to one (see also notes on Isa. 42:1–17). He is an individual who is exalted through humiliation: his glory comes not through attractive physical appearance (52:14; 53:2–3), but by his willingness to experience the disgrace and judgment due to others (53:4–12). It was not for his sin, but for “our transgressions . . . our iniquities” that he suffered. He has “brought us peace” and by his pain “we are healed” (53:5). In a unique way, this coming servant would be “crushed” and would face “anguish” (53:10–11) in the process of offering himself as an atoning sacrifice, bearing the sins of others and making “intercession for the transgressors” (53:12; cf. Heb. 7:22–25).
Few passages in the Old Testament so clearly anticipate and give texture to the person and work of Jesus. These verses helped the apostles make sense of the significance of Jesus’ death: he was condemned with sinners so that we might be pardoned (cf. Isa. 53:12; Luke 22:37). God providentially used this passage (Isa. 53:7–8) to allow Philip to explain the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26–40) and encourage his baptism (cf. Isa. 52:15). Peter appears to apply the passage (53:5, 9) to Christ hanging on a tree: “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:22–24).
For both Isaiah and Peter, such grace transforms the receiver, so that having been healed, believers are called to “die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24).
Adapted from the Gospel Transformation Bible
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