This is one of the Chapter s that lie at the very heart of the Scriptures. It is the very Holy of holies of Divine Writ. Let us, therefore, put off our shoes from our feet, for the place whereon we stand is especially holy ground. This fifty-third of Isaiah is a Bible in miniature. It is the condensed essence of the gospel. I thought that our beloved friend, Mr. Moody, answered with extreme wisdom a question that was put to him when he came to London some years ago. A number of ministers had come together to meet Mr. Moody, and they began to discuss various points, and to ask what were the evangelist's views upon certain doctrines. At last, one brother said, «Would Mr. Moody kindly give us his creed? Is it in print?» In a moment the good man replied, «Certainly; my creed is in print, it is the 53 rd of Isaiah.» It was a splendid reply. How could a man come closer to the very essentials of the faith than by saying, «My creed is in the 53 rd of Isaiah»? I trust that many of you, dear friends can not only say, «This is my creed,» but also, «This is the foundation upon which I have built all my hopes for time and for eternity; this is the source of my sweetest consolation; this is the sun that makes my day, and the star that gilds my night.» In these twelve verses there is everything that we need to teach us the way of salvation; God, the infinitely-wise Teacher, has revealed to us, within this short compass, all that is necessary to bring peace to troubled Spirits. First, the prophets speak:
Isaiah 53:1. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
This is a cause for sorrow upon sorrow, for the prophets to have God's message to deliver, and yet for men to reject it, for them to have to tell it, but to tell it in vain. Yet, dear friends, this has been the lot of some of God's most faithful servants in all ages, and we must not complain if it should be our lot also. I should not have voluntarily chosen to be Jeremiah, the weeping prophet; yet, methinks, no one of God's servants deserves greater honour than he does, for he continued bravely to deliver his Master's message even when none believed him, and all rejected his testimony. Isaiah links himself with all the other prophets who had been rejected, and he says, «Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?»
Isaiah 53:2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:
This is why Christ was not received by those to whom he came, and why the testimony of the prophets concerning Christ was rejected by those to whom it was delivered, because he was not revealed to them as a towering palm-tree or widely-spreading cedar: but, like the humble yet fruitful vine, he was «as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground.»
Isaiah 53:2. He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
To carnal eyes, there was no beauty apparent in Christ, nothing of the aesthetic, as men call it, and nothing of the pompous, nothing outwardly attractive. He came here in the utmost simplicity. Remember the angels' message to the shepherds: «And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.» There was nothing of pomp or show about him: «no form nor comeliness.» He made no display of scholarship, no presence of deep philosophy, nothing that the carnal mind hunts after; but the all-glorious Deity, revealed in human form, spake simple but sublime truth, and therefore men rejected him.
Isaiah 53:3. He is despised and rejected of men;
This was written long before he came to earth: «He is despised and rejected of men,» and, truly, though he is now in heaven, I need not alter the tense of the verb. I do not say, «He was despised,» though that would be true; for, alas! it is still true, «He is despised and rejected of men;»
Isaiah 53:3. A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
What a wonderful expression that is! Our blessed Lord had made the acquaintance of grief, he knew it, understood it, was familiar with it, slept with it, rose up with it, walked the livelong day with it; and, hence, my brother or my sister, he knows your grief, and he can meet it; he is such a master Comforter because he was such a mighty Sufferer.
Isaiah 53:3. And we hid as it were our faces from him;
Shame upon us that we, who have been redeemed by him, we, whom he has loved from eternity, we, who now delight in him, «we hid as it were our faces from him;»
Isaiah 53:3. He was despised, and we esteemed him not,
Even we, to whom now he is all our salvation, and all our desire, we, unto whom he is now most precious, «we esteemed him not.»
Isaiah 53:4. Surely he hath borne our griefs,
Can all of you say this? Can every one of us unite in the reading of this sentence, «Surely, he hath borne our griefs»? If you have truly learned that he bore your griefs, you may indeed bless his name, for it is the best news that ever reached your ears. Go and tell it to your fellow sufferers: «Surely he hath borne our griefs,»
Isaiah 53:4. And carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
They thought that God had smitten him, and so he had; but they wrongly supposed that there was something of sin in him that caused God to smite him, whereas he was «holy, harmless, undefiled;» and he was only stricken and smitten because he was bearing the sins of his people.
Isaiah 53:5. But 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.
Milton, Shakespeare, Cowper, and the whole of the poets that ever were or are, all put together, could not write four sentences like those in this verse. There is more meaning, more deep philosophy, more music, more to charm and satisfy the human heart, in those four sentences, than in the sweetest of merely human language. Let me read them again; and as I do so, let every one of us take each line to himself: «But 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 53:6-7. 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. 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.
These words have been the means of the conversion of multitudes. You recollect, in the Acts of the Apostles, what that rich Ethiopian said to Philip when he read these words: «I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?» If we read this chapter over and over again, and so read it as to find Christ there, it will indeed be a blessed thing for us.
Isaiah 53:8-9. 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. 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.
All that he suffered was not because he was guilty, but because he was innocent. The only crime which I have ever heard rightly laid to his charge is that which the poet sweetly describes as «found guilty of excess of love.» It was indeed so. He loved us beyond all measure, and because of that love he died for us.
Isaiah 53:10. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief:
The Lord was at the back of it all. Not Pilate, nor Herod, nor Judas, nor Jew, nor Roman, but Jehovah bruised him.
Isaiah 53:10. 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.
Here the strain changes altogether. From the depths of woe, we begin to rise with hopes of a glad result of all the suffering and sorrow and shame. Glory be to the name of Christ, he has a mighty right hand, into which God has placed that work which is according to his own good pleasure, even the work of saving guilty men, and that work, in his prolonged days, until the end of time, shall prosper in the hand of the Christ of God.
Isaiah 53:11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:
Christ did not die at haphazard, as some seem to think. A sure and glorious result must come of «the travail of his soul.» Such precious blood as his could not fall to the ground at a peradventure. Whatever the design of his gross was, it shall be accomplished. I could imagine failures in creation, if so it pleased God; but never in redemption.
Isaiah 53:11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
That is the top and bottom of it all: «He shall bear their iniquities,» The red line of substitution runs through the whole chapter.
Isaiah 53:12. 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.