A Man of Sorrows
Isaiah 53.
This unexpected and astonishing turn of events speaks of a new idea concerning the Messiah-- the Prophet-Priest-King-- that Hewould be the Suffering Sacrifice of Atonement.
"6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the Death of the Cross"
(Philippians 2:6-8). Isaiah presents the Messiah in this altogether different setting:
(1) vulnerable, unexpected, undesirable, "touched with the feeling of our infirmities"
(Hebrews 4:15), pedestrianly human, i.e., "For He [i.e., the Messiah] shall grow up before Him [i.e., the LORD] as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him"
(Isaiah 53:2),
(2) despised, rejected, as by our and Peter's denial, i.e., "I know not the Man"
(Matthew 26:74), sorrowful, grief-stricken, unesteemed, i.e., "He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not"
(Isaiah 53:3),
(3) bearing and carrying "our sins in His Own Body on the Tree"
(1Peter 2:24), stricken, smitten, afflicted, i.e., "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted"
(Isaiah 53:4),
(4) wounded, bruised, chastened, yet as the "Sun of Righteousness... with healing in His wings"
(Malachi 4:2), i.e., "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His Stripes we are healed"
(Isaiah 53:5),
(5) bearing "our sicknesses"
(Matthew 8:17) and our iniquities, i.e., "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all"
(Isaiah 53:6),
(6) afflicted but quietly knowing the wisdom of holding His peace--
"12 And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.
13 Then said Pilate unto Him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?
14 And He answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly"
(Matthew 27:12-14)-- i.e.,
"He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth"
(Isaiah 53:7),
(7) cut off when "all forsook Him and fled"
(Mark 14:50), i.e., "He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people was He stricken"
(Isaiah 53:8),
(8) numbered with the wicked, when "two thieves [were] crucified with Him, one on the right hand, and another on the left"
(Matthew 27:38), yet buried in a new tomb provided by the rich-but-believing-rulers Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus
(John 19:38-41), i.e., "And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His Death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth"
(Isaiah 53:9),
(9) though oppressed, afflicted, cut off, the Messiah "for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross"
(Hebrews 12:2), i.e.,
"10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His Knowledge shall My Righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities"
(Isaiah 53:10-11), and
(10) bearing the sins of many, "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make Intercession for them"
(Hebrews 7:25), i.e.,
"Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto Death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors"
(Isaiah 53:12). Most emphatically, therefore, the Messiah must be characterized by His Suffering to bear the sins of many.