730_The exaltation of the suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
Isaiah 53:4-6 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
There is a marvelous tapestry displayed in one of the famous museums of the world. If you stand behind it, all you see is a tangled mess of knots, loose threads, and confusing colors. It appears to have no design at all. But when you walk around to the front, everything changes. The threads form a breathtaking picture. What seemed like chaos was actually part of a carefully crafted masterpiece.
Many people today see the life and death of Jesus only from the back side. They saw a unique teacher who began life as the son of a poor carpenter from Nazareth, who was eventually rejected by His own people, betrayed to his enemies, condemned as a criminal, hanging on a Roman cross. To them, His life seems like a shocking tragedy. But more than seven hundred years before Christ was born, Isaiah was shown the true meaning of his suffering and his coming glory. The prophet shows us God’s side of the picture.
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 is the fourth and final Servant Song in Isaiah, each song adding its touch to the masterpiece that is the portrait of God’s Servant. In chapter 42, He is the righteous Servant who establishes justice but does not break the bruised reed nor quench the faintly burning wick. In chapter 49, He is the compassionate Servant who comforts His people and says, “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” In chapter 50, He is the obedient Servant whose ear is awakened morning by morning to hear His Father’s voice. Because He listens perfectly, He obeys perfectly, even when it leads to suffering. Now, in chapter 53, that obedience reaches its climax as the Servant willingly lays down His life for sinners.
This song begins, not with suffering, but with victory. God declares, “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted” (Isaiah 52:13, ESV). These words describe the highest possible honor. Earlier in Isaiah, similar language was used of the Lord Himself seated upon His heavenly throne. The Servant who humbles Himself will share in God’s glory.
Yet the path to that glory passes through unimaginable suffering. Isaiah describes His appearance as “marred, beyond human semblance” (Isaiah 52:14). But His suffering would not be meaningless. Isaiah says, “So shall he sprinkle many nations” (Isaiah 52:15). Like a priest sprinkling sacrificial blood for cleansing, the Servant’s sacrifice would bring forgiveness to people from every nation. One day even kings who once ignored Him will kneel, speechless, before His glory.
Then Isaiah takes us back to His earthly life. “Who has believed what he has heard from us?” (Isaiah 53:1). There was plenty of evidence that Christ was the Servant of God; but it was rejected because of the lack of faith. The Servant came “like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground.” There was nothing outwardly impressive about Him. People expected a mighty conqueror. God sent a humble Servant. They looked for political power. God revealed spiritual power, to heal, to teach, to call to repentance. They longed for earthly greatness. God displayed heavenly meekness.
The result was that “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). The One who welcomed sinners, healed the sick, touched lepers, comforted the brokenhearted, and washed His disciples’ feet was Himself rejected. As John’s Gospel simply says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11).
Yet, the world’s verdict was wrong. God’s verdict was always, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” For in this song we discover the very heart of the gospel. Isaiah corrects humanity’s greatest misunderstanding. Christ did not suffer as a result of the judgment of his own sin. Isaiah reveals the astonishing truth: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). Listen to the repeated emphasis: our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions, our iniquities, our peace. Everything that weighed us down and burdened us was laid on him.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities… and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Here, centuries before the cross, Isaiah explains what it means God did not ignore justice. He set forth his atoning sacrifice. The peace that mankind longed for could never have been earned by their efforts. Rather, it was purchased through the suffering of God’s Son.
Every one of us is described in the words: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Sheep naturally wander. So do human hearts. We choose independence instead of submission. Yet God, in astonishing grace, “has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The burden was laid on him so that His righteousness might become our hope.
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). His silence was not weakness. It was willing submission to His Father’s will. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, He accepted the path laid before Him. During His trials before the Jewish leaders, before Pilate, and before Herod, he remained silent. He could have summoned angels. He could have condemned His accusers with a single word of appeal to the justice of God. Instead, He remained silent for our redemption.
The prophet even predicts his burial in the borrowed tomb of a rich man, despite having been executed among criminals, He was buried in the tomb of a rich man. Isaiah reminds us that “he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”
Was His suffering worth it? Isaiah answers with a triumphant yes. “It was the will of the LORD to crush him… when his soul makes an offering for guilt” (Isaiah 53:10). The Father did not delight in His Son’s pain; He delighted in the salvation His Son would accomplish.
For the Cross was not the end. “He shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days.” Death could not hold Him. The risen Christ gathers his children from every tribe, language, people, and nation. Isaiah adds, “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11). Every sinner forgiven, every prodigal restored, every believer transformed into Christ’s likeness brings joy to the heart of our Savior. The cross was costly, but the harvest is glorious.
The chapter closes where it began—with exaltation – because “he poured out his soul to death.” The crown came through the cross. Even today He “makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12) as our High Priest, risen from the dead to save to the uttermost every one who believes on him.
And the risen Christ still bears the scars. When Thomas saw them, he no longer doubted. They are not reminders of defeat but everlasting trophies of redeeming love.
One day the Servant who was despised will return in dazzling splendour, to take his rightful throne over all the earth and rule in righteousness. For God has exalted him above every name, so that “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11).
He calls all the earth to come to Him in repentance and faith. If He bore our sins, there is no reason to continue carrying the burden. All we have to do is trust him, and follow His example of humble obedience. The road of discipleship may include hardship, but it is the only path to life.
Let us never judge God’s work by immediate appearances. The cross looked like defeat, but unknown to Satan, it was his comprehensive victory. The paths of human glory lead only to the grave. But the suffering of God’s Servant led to his eternal exaltation far above every other name.
The tangled threads that seem to fill our lives are just the other side of the tapestry that God is working on. And we who follow him bow willingly before his will, secure in the eternal and righteous purposes of God. God bless.