Taking a Closer Look at Isaiah 53 - Christ's Crucifixion Foretold - Part 1

      The record of Isaiah 53 is very moving to me.  It's hard to believe that this book was written about 700 years before Christ was even born.  The details given here are phenomenal when compared to the actual events portrayed in the Gospels. 

A friend climbing a nearby mountain

       Verse 1 of this chapter says:  Who has believed our report?/ And to whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed?"  In chapter 49 of the Life-Study of Isaiah Witness Lee says that Jesus is the arm of Jehovah mentioned here. He was the tender plant growing up before God in verse 2.  And He didn't choose to be good looking either.

    

      Isaiah even foretold that Jesus wouldn't have a life of ease just because He was God.  I'm glad that the Lord was willing to be a man of sorrows so that He could relate with us on every level.  I really love that verse in Hebrews 4:15 that says we don't have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but One who has been tried in all respects like us yet without sin.  We see a lot of these sufferings from the way the scribes and Pharisees treated Jesus--even going so far as to plot to kill Him. It's hard to believe that the hearts of the Jewish leaders were so hard.

     Probably the part  of Isaiah 53 that touches me the most are verses 4-6 where Isaiah tells us:  Surely He has borne our sicknesses, And carried our sorrows; Yet we ourselves esteemed  Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded because of our transgression; He was crushed because of our iniquities; And the chastening of our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we have been healed. We all like sheep have gone astray; Each of us has turned to his own way, and Jehovah has the caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon Him.

     Many years ago I read this article by a physician about the physiological affect of the Lord's crucifixion on His body.  I had never considered before that when the Lord was beaten by the Roman guards they most likely used a cat-o-nine whip that ripped the skin off of His back.  So when He was nailed to the cross, which probably wasn't sanded, He had to scrape His back up and down on that rough beam to catch a breath. Think about it--this process was excruciating for Him!  But He was willing to bear the smiting, wounding, crushing, and chastening that Isaiah speaks about on OUR behalf. Isaiah saw that Jesus would come like John the Baptist said in John 1:29 as the Lamb of God who would TAKE AWAY the sin of the world. 



Reaching the summit!

     What I see here in Isaiah 53 is the depths of God's great love for us.  He wasn't willing to let man go, so He became incarnated. He knew that fallen man needed a sin offering that wouldn't just cover his sins but one that would heal man from the inside out.  And He was willing to take our place to accomplish that.   Now that deserves a hallelujah!







 You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of Isaiah on Life Study of the Bible  with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of Isaiah and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

Other posts on the Major Prophets 


Life-Study of Isaiah:

How Can the Son in Isaiah 7:14 & 9:6 Be the Mighty God?
Seeing Christ as the Great Light in Isaiah 9:2
Why is Christ  Called the Cornerstone in Isaiah 28:26?
Taking a Closer Look at Isaiah 53 - Christ's Crucifixion Foretold - Part 1 

Taking a Closer Look at Isaiah 53 - Christ's Resurrection &Ascension Foretold - Part 2 of 2