Yahweh's Servant: Isiah 52:13-53:12

Introduction

We come now to what might be called the pinnacle or mountain top of prophetic promises. We come to Isaiah’s song of the suffering servant who Christians by God’s grace have rightly understood to be Christ the Lord. Isaiah was a prophet in the 8th century BC. He prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel. His task according to chapter 6 was to preach. The result of his ministry would not be their salvation, but hardening and judgement. He proclaims of Israel’s rebellion and calls them to repentance. He tells them to trust Yahweh and not pagans. He declares promises of judgement against the nations. Out of judgement will come salvation. The Holy God revealed in Isaiah is both judge and savior. Isaiah refers to the instrument of God’s salvation as Yahweh’s servant. Yahweh’s servant is Yahweh Himself coming to redeem His people (43:3). The big idea of our text is “Behold Yahweh’s servant.” Before beholding Yahweh’s servant as He is described in our text, consider my summary of the three prior servant songs. Behold Yahweh’s servant who (1) saves the rebellious (), (2) enlightens the nations (), and (3) obeys the LORD (). To Isaiah, his original audience, and even us there is a great deal of mystery about the servant. This should cause us not to worry, for much about God is gloriously mysterious. Instead it should move us to contemplation, meditation, and worship. With that said, what does this servant song teach us about about Yahweh’s servant? Well, it teaches us at the very least to Behold Him, but it also gives us five descriptions of Him. Consider each with me now.

Behold Yahweh’s servant who saves the lost ()

Behold Yahweh’s servant who enlightens the nations ()

Behold Yahweh’s servant who obeys the LORD ()

Body

I. Behold Yahweh’s shocking Servant ()

Yahweh’s servant is shocking. He is not what people might have expected the deliver to be. He is in the end victorious and exalted, but how He gets to that point is appalling. The Servant reaches exaltation through humiliation. Would it not be more expected for the promised deliver of God to first come and extinguish His enemies in violent power and glory. Read verse 13, “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.” The Servant will act wisely. He will accomplish the will of Yahweh decisively. As a result, He will be high, lifted up, and exalted. These things belong to God alone. Is this Servant of Yahweh, Yahweh Himself? There is mystery here. What will bring about the exaltation of the servant? A glimpse is given us in verses 14-15. Look there, “As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.” There are two responses to the servant: one by many and another by rulers. The many are astonished because of what they see happen to Him. The servant is marred beyond human semblance and his form is altered to the degree that his humanity is questioned. When seeing Him they wouldn’t ask if He was the messiah, they would ask if He was human. His suffering would result in the sprinkling of the nations. What would He sprinkle them with? We aren’t told here. The rulers are silenced by Him for they will see what they had never been told and understand what they had never heard. What will they see and understand? The answer is given in the next 12 verses. For now though it is clear that there is something about this servant that is shocking, it includes His suffering and His victory. Though He shall be marred, He shall also be exalted. Though He will be shocking, His suffering will result in the cleansing of the nations. Behold Yahweh’s shocking Servant.

II. Behold Yahweh’s scorned Servant ()

Isaiah speaks here for Israel by asking some questions. Read verse 1: “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Will God’s covenant people receive this Servant? Not initially. Who could have believed that this humiliated servant who comes form humble origins is the arm or power of God in accomplishing redemption? Who has it been revealed too? After posing these questions the prophet begins to describe the work of the Servant and why it is that He might be rejected as not being God’s holy arm. Look at verse 2, “For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” The young plant is the Servant. The dry ground is the nation of Israel. This Servant wouldn’t grow up in majesty. He would be born in a stable in the Roman Empire. He would come from an unlikely place. This one who is the arm of Yahweh, so Yahweh Himself, is at the same time distinguished from Him. He is human and divine. This sounds like someone we talk about often. How would He be treated? Read verse 3, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” The servant would be rejected for His humility. He would be ignored. He would be despised. He would be deemed worthless. We might say He would be scorned. In our time in the gospel of Mark, we have witnessed the Lord Jesus treated in this way. Behold, Yahweh’s shocking and scorned Servant.

III. Behold Yahweh’s suffering Servant ()

We come now to the center portion of our text. The Servant alone undergoes the awful task of being a substitute for us, His people. Read verse 4-5, “Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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.” In suffering in our place, bearing our griefs, carrying our sorrows, being stricken, smitten, and afflicted, He brings us peace and healing. He gets the punishment of our sins and in doing so brings us peace and salvation with God. In verse, 6 we get mentioned in the text. Look there, “All we like sheep have astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way.” That is us, sheep who go astray and the ones who go our own way. Continue to the end of verse 6, “and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The servant came to represent His sinful people and undergo the punishment owed them for their sins. Does this not sound like what Paul says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (). You and I, desperately need salvation. We desperately need one who can bear our punishment. We need a redeemer. Yahweh’s shocking, scorned, and suffering Servant is that redeemer. Behold Him.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” ().

IV. Behold Yahweh’s slaughtered Servant ()

The servant comes to be a substitute. He becomes one of us and voluntarily gives His life as a ransom for His people. Look at verse 7, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” Two things I want you to note here: 1. The Servant is identified with us as a sheep. He becomes one of us! 2. The Servant voluntarily comes to the slaughter. Verse 8 speaks of the Servants trial and execution. Read it with me. “By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?” He would die willingly as a substitute at the hands of corrupt powers and no sympathy or understanding would be shown by his generation. The servant would be buried like a criminal in the grave of a rich man. He was sinless and truthful, yet He is slandered even in His death. This much is stated in verse 9; take a look. “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” The Servant is a sinless man who gives His life for His people. Is this not what our Lord said His purpose was, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (). Those of us who have read the Gospels know the identity of the servant. Yahweh’s shocking, scorned, suffering, and slaughtered Servant is quite a figure, but does Isaiah leave us with the impression that Servant remains dead? If He merely died for the sins of His people, how would that save anyone from death? Take care, Isaiah’s song isn’t over yet.

V. Behold Yahweh’s successful Servant ()

In verse 10 we get insight into God’s will, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief.” The Servant came to do the LORD’s will and this included crushing Him. Yet there seems to be an allusion to the fact that the Servant after death will live again. Read the rest of verse 10. “when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” The servant is fit for the task of substitution. He dies in the place of His people making the exact payment required for their sins, like a guilt offering of the ceremonial law. He will see His offspring, those for whom He died; His days will be prolonged. He has made the payment in His death. He will gather His people in His resurrection. His humiliation leads to exaltation. Read verse 11, “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteousness, and he shall bear their iniquities.” The Servant knows what is required for the salvation of sinners. He in giving Himself for them will make them righteous in the sight of God. Knowing and seeing this brings Him great joy. Now look at the final verse. “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” The servant will be given all “the many.” That is the people for whom He died. The strong shall be at his disposal. That is the kings mentioned in 52:14. They are silent at Him because they behold the true King of kings and the Lord of lords, who redeems sinners in His life, death, burial, and resurrection. He gains His people and supremacy over kings through His death, identification with His people, His substitution, and His mediation between God and man. The salvation of sinners like you and me is wholly dependent on Yahweh’s Servant. He, as the great mediator between God and man, is able to save to the uttermost. He is King of kings. He is Risen Lord. Behold Yahweh’s shocking, scorned, suffering, slaughtered, and successful servant.

Conclusion

How does a people who have been separated from God by their sin get back to Him? This is the question, isn’t it? Adam our first Father failed to reach God’s glory through disobedience. We failed in Him and perpetuate His failure in our own sin. We cannot get to God’s glory for we are sinners like our father Adam. So how do we get there. How do we cross the infinite chasm between our sinfulness and God’s holiness, our unrighteousness and God’s righteousness? The greatest problem before humanity today is not COVID-19, it is we are sinners and God is holy. The answer to that problem is Yahweh’s servant, His shocking, scorned, suffering, slaughtered, and successful Servant. The identity of this Servant is Jesus, the Son of God incarnate, the serpent slaying, nation blessing, and ever-reigning seed. His humiliation of His birth, life, and death and His exaltation of His resurrection, ascension, and return are shocking. His scorning is seen in His rejection by his own people. His suffering is seen in His substitutionary death. His slaughtering is seen in His burial. His success is seen in His resurrection. Jesus is Yahweh’s servant who saves rebels, enlightens nations, obeys His Father, and, as we have seen here, suffers as a substitute for His people.

Christian, behold, trust, and worship your God and Savior Jesus Christ. He is your hope in life and in death. He took the punishment of your sins upon Himself and gives you His perfect righteousness. He underwent judgement for your salvation to God’s glory and praise. He rose again on what we now call the Lord’s Day. A day where the new creation broke into the old and stands as sign of the things to come. You will die like Him, but you will raise like Him to never die again. When He comes back, all will be made new. There will be no more pain, virus, death, or sin. Behold Yahweh’s Servant, your God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Unbelieving sinner, like Adam your father you are sinner. You are separated from God and condemned. By your own merits all that you will earn is eternity in hell. No sin goes unpunished. There is one of two options before you today. Bear the punishment of your sins or trust in Jesus. Trust in Jesus who died in the place of all who trust in Him. Trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, righteousness before God, and eternal life. What do you choose? Come to Yahweh’s servant and He will not cast you out. Come to Yahweh’s servant and He will give you rest. Come to Yahweh’s Servant and He will save you from your sins.

To all of you. Let us behold Yahweh’s Servant. Let us come to Him and worship. Let us holdfast to our confession of Christ Jesus, who is our hope in life and death. Let’s pray to our God and Father in and through Him now.