Isaiah 53:8, commentary and pictures

It foretells that he would be seized unjustly and condemned without justice and cut off from the land of the living in death. It is a plain prophecy of the sufferings, rejection and death of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God and the world's Redeemer, fulfilled exactly in how he was treated by his own people. He was stricken not for himself but for the transgression of God's people, bearing their iniquity and punishment in their place as their substitute, so that his sacrifice makes atonement, justification, healing and salvation possible. The sufferer it describes is Jesus, and beginning at this Scripture his servants preach Jesus from it, leading honest seekers who believe with all the heart to confess him as the Son of God, be baptized and go on rejoicing. Its question of declaring his generation lays on every believer the work of declaring what God has done to save, by denying self, taking up the cross and following in his footsteps as partakers of his suffering.

Unjust Death Foretold

He was seized unjustly and condemned, taken from prison and from judgment with judgment taken away from him, and cut off out of the land of the living with his life taken from the earth, which is his death. He was stricken not for himself but for the transgression of God's people, and with no generation to declare him he suffered death for others in their place as their substitute under divine justice to fulfill the divine purpose. His humiliation was that of the despised and rejected man of sorrows who bore griefs, was wounded for transgressions and bruised for iniquities, lived a lowly self-denying life, and went silent as a lamb led to slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers.

It is an unmistakably plain prophecy of the sufferings, rejection, and death of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the great Sacrifice for sin, and the world's Redeemer, showing that Christ must suffer, and history accords with the prophetic vision of his whole experience. Reading the chapter convinces seekers that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah and Son of God. The prophecy was perfectly fulfilled in the way he was treated: though innocent he was sentenced to death by the Jewish tribunal and crucified by his own people who slew the prophets of old, rejected and slain by those who should have first recognized him as the Promised One, with every specification fulfilled with remarkable vividness in what disciples and eyewitnesses saw.

It belongs to his first appearing as the suffering Messiah, not to his coming in glory as a temporal ruler, prince, or king to defeat earthly enemies such as Rome and reign on David's throne in this world. He came in humility and poverty to be rejected, despised, condemned, put to death, and slain, contrary to expectations of only wonderful elevation for the Jewish nation. Misreading prophecies of his second coming as descriptions of his first, and trusting teachers who applied this prophecy to glory, led people to expect the wrong kind of Messiah, to misapply it, and to refuse and reject him, thus doing what Scripture had foretold through failure to recognize the time and manner of his coming.

All he passed through was ordained in the councils between the Father and the Son and foretold by prophets and men inspired by the Holy Spirit. He himself knew it: at twelve years old on his first visit to the temple at Jerusalem what he saw and heard lifted the veil on his mission and work, and he knew he was to be its fulfillment as the great Sacrifice for sin. In the school connected with the temple he presented it to the leading rabbis and asked its meaning, opening deep truths long obscured yet vital to salvation, exposing how narrow and superficial was the wisdom of the wise men, putting truth in a new aspect, and setting his suffering and death against expectation. After his resurrection he opened these Scriptures step by step to show his kingdom was spiritual and not a temporal kingdom in this world, and that he would be refused and rejected, humiliated, suffer and die in his own person to secure salvation, and rise again on the third day. His life was cut short, ending his in-person work of teaching and preaching the saving gospel, which believers then carried on in word and work.

Stricken for Others

He was stricken for the transgression of God's people, condemned and put to death for their sins. Though innocent, He bore their iniquity, grief, and punishment in their place, suffering not for Himself but for others. Under divine justice this suffering fulfilled the divine purpose, for He stood as their substitute.

As Sin-bearer He suffered and shed His blood on behalf of sinners. His death as their substitute, bearing their sins and suffering the penalty they deserved, opened hope for fallen humanity by making atonement and redemption possible and securing salvation. His perfect obedience and sacrifice and His righteous service justify many, so that His righteousness can be counted to the repentant sinner who believes and comes to Him, giving power to save.

His wounding brings healing and peace through the chastisement He bore. He gave Himself to stand at the head of humanity and become Mediator between God and man, redeeming the human family at infinite cost as humanity's only hope of receiving a life that measures with the life of God, which is made possible to obtain by following in His footsteps. He foresaw that through His humiliation, betrayal, trial, and death people would receive pardon and everlasting life, be restored to God's image with character shaped after His own, and praise Him through eternity. Seeing the redeemed and their happiness He was satisfied, was sustained, and endured the cross for the joy ahead.

Preaching and Following Jesus

The sufferer is Jesus, the Son of God, the Crucified One, humiliated with judgment taken away and life taken from the earth, silent as a sheep led to slaughter and as a lamb before its shearers. The Ethiopian official read this in his chariot without understanding whether the prophet spoke of himself or of some other man. Beginning at that same Scripture, Philip preached Jesus from it as the Son of God. Its meaning is not understood without a guide, but when explained it reveals Jesus. Angels took notice of the honest seeker for light, and the Spirit directed Philip to go near, join him, hear the question, and teach him, for God brings light to seekers through appointed human agencies with angels working behind them. Through such preaching the light of truth shines even to the higher classes, and workers are to be on watch and ready to guide and help every seeking case that comes to their notice.

Believed with all the heart, this truth leads to confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, to baptism by going down into water upon that confession, and to going on the way rejoicing. Reading the chapter convinces seekers that Jesus is the promised Messiah and Son of God, as in the case of Wolff, who was convinced by reading it that the innocent One sentenced to death and killed was the Messiah. The question about declaring his generation is addressed to every person as a solemn responsibility.

To declare his generation means to declare his work and tell what God has done in order to save, advocating that he left the royal courts of heaven and came in humanity so humanity might embrace humanity and divinity might lay hold of divinity, though little esteemed, because God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so believers should not perish but have everlasting life. Every believer is to do this work so he shall not have died in vain. Reading it exposes the shame of shunning the cross and refusing risk, and it demands denying self, making a covenant with him, walking in his footsteps, and becoming a partaker with him of suffering rather than through timidity or fear of reproach siding with transgressors and imperiling the soul. His suffering for others and not for himself, bearing grief and punishment, makes self-sacrifice the pattern for his servants and makes it possible to obtain by following in his footsteps a life that measures with the life of God, with his wounding bringing healing.

It rebukes independence toward his claims, love of supremacy, self-exaltation, and crooked ways among responsible men. It calls all who have had great light to put away self and become as little children, to press close to his side to learn his work, to take up God-given responsibilities in his Spirit, and to awaken to duty in publishing, sanitarium, and church work. Those willing to share his self-sacrifice will share his glory when the Deliverer comes.