October 1, 2003, Vol.2, No.19.

 The Suffering Servant

Keith Sharp

Recently I studied with a young woman who had no real religious background. She wasn’t sure that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I read with her Acts 2:22-36 and showed her the three lines of evidence the apostle Peter used on the day of Pentecost to convince 3000 Jews, many of whom had less than two months previously taken part in crucifying Jesus, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The young woman was convinced and is now a Christian.

Please look at just one stone (albeit a large one) in one of those three paths that converge in faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. The path is fulfilled prophecy; the stone is Isaiah 52:13 - 53:13, the marvelous passage about the suffering Servant of God. I have long been convinced that, if I were only able to study one passage with an unbeliever, it would be the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.

Four passages in Isaiah discuss the Servant of God (42:1-7; 49:1-7; 50:4-10; and 52:13 - 53:13). Who is this Servant?

Some unbelieving scholars claim the passages refer to the nation of Israel. But the Servant "was not rebellious" (Isaiah 50:5,10), whereas, in this very context, the Lord charges Israel with rebellion (Isaiah 50:1). Furthermore, the Servant was afflicted for the sins of others (Isaiah 53:4-6), and these people were Isaiah’s people (verse 8), Israel. Israel itself was sinful in Isaiah’s day (Isaiah 6:5). The Servant could not be Israel.

Others claim Isaiah referred to himself when he wrote of the Servant. But the Servant’s lips were pure (Isaiah 53:9), whereas Isaiah confessed himself to be "a man of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5).

Dr Aaron Judah Kligerman, himself a Jew who believed in Jesus Christ, wrote thus:

Mr. Ernest Gordon in an editorial in The Sunday School Times on "Who Was the Suffering Servant?" begins with this statement: ‘The early Jewish tradition regarding the fifty-third of Isaiah was Messianic. It was their controversy with Christianity which led the Jews to abandon this interpretation.’ Mr. Gordon is right. Strange as it may seem to the modern Jew, our conclusion that ‘My Servant’ meant Jesus of Nazareth, is borne out, supported and emphasized by the greatest writers of Talmudic and Medrashic literature. These ancient worthies conclude, without the shadow of a doubt, that the Messiah must suffer much for humanity’s sake and that as a result of such suffering He shall be exalted and shall become King of kings and Lord of lords (Kligerman. 88).

But the following quote is even more remarkable:

... Dr. Pinchas Lapide, one of only four orthodox Jewish scholars in the world who is also a New Testament scholar has stated in a debate with Dr. Walter Kaiser on the John Ankerberg Show: ‘I fully agree with Dr. Kaiser that Isaiah 53 lends itself in many startling similarities to the life, career and death of Jesus of Nazareth...’ (Ankerberg. 59-60).

What did Isaiah prophesy of the Servant that so compelling leads even an unbelieving scholar to acknowledge that the passage seems to point to Jesus of Nazareth? The passage is a song comprised of five stanzas: The Exaltation of the Servant (52:13-15), His Acquaintance with Grief (53:1-3), The Servants Suffering for Others (53:4-6), The Total Submission of the Servant (53:7-9), and His Victory and Reward (53:10-12) (Hailey. 434-41). In the passage the prophet foretold (1) that the Servant would be rejected by men (53:3); (2) that He would suffer for the sins of others (53:4-6); (3) that He would be quiet and unprotesting as He suffered (53:7); (4) that His suffering would be the result of unjust judgment (53:8, New American Standard Bible); (5) that He would die (53:8); (6) that, though His persecutors intended that He suffer the ignominy of being buried with sinners, His grave would be with the rich (53:9; NASB); (7) that His life would be an offering for sin (53:10); (8) and that He would live again in victory (53:10-12).

How does this compare with the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth? (1) He most certainly was rejected, when the Jewish people clamored for the release of "a notorious prisoner called Barabbas" and the crucifixion of "Jesus who is called Christ" (Matthew 27:15-23). (2) Jesus died for our sins (1 Peter 2:24). (3) Those who condemned Jesus were amazed that He said nothing in His own defense (Matthew 27:12-14; Luke 23:8-9). (4) Never was there a more striking example of the miscarriage of justice than in the condemnation of Jesus (Mark 1:46-65; 15:1-15; Matthew 27:17-25). (5) Indeed Jesus died (John 19:16-34). He was buried in the new tomb of the rich man Joseph of Arimathea (John 19:38-42). But on the third day He triumphed over Satan and death and was raised from the dead (Acts 2:32; 10:40-41).

Who else but Jesus Christ ever claimed He was the Messiah (Mt. 26:63-65; Jn. 4:25,26), claimed His blood was poured out for many for the remission of sins (Mt. 26:28, cf. Isa. 53:12), and rose again from the grave (Lk. 24:45,46, cf. Isa. 53:10,11) to validate His claims? (Dr. Walter Kaiser, as quoted by Ankerberg. 52).

Over seven centuries before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet Isaiah foretold both the major events and the significance of the life of the promised Jewish Messiah. Jesus fulfilled in startling detail every point of the prophecy. Jesus therefore is what He claimed to be, the Christ the Son of the living God.

Ankerberg, John. The Case for Jesus the Messiah

Hailey, Homer. A Commentary on Isaiah

Kligerman, Aaron Judah. Messianic Prophecy in the Old Testament