01.04. IV. Prophecies Concerning Sufferings, Death,

IV. PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE SUFFERINGS, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF MESSIAH. An Examination of (1) Psalms 22:1-31; (2) Isaiah 53:1-12.

(1) Psalms 22:1-31 THE MIRACLE OF THE TWENTY-SECOND PSALM is this: Crucifixion was a Roman and a Grecian custom, unknown to the Jews until the days of their captivity (600 B.C.). The Jews executed their criminals by stoning. And yet, written one thousand years before the time of Christ, by a man who had never seen or heard of such a method of execution as crucifixion, Psalms 22:1-31 gives a graphic portrayal of death by crucifixion! The Messianic nature of this Psalm is almost universally admitted by devout students.

"Psalms 22:1-31," said D. M. Panton, "one of David’s Psalms, reveals someone-Messiah-dying an awful death, under very peculiar circumstances. The ancient document says, "The assembly of evil-doers have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all my bones; they look and stare upon Me" (Psalms 22:16). Crucifixion in David’s time was unknown among the Jews; yet the piercing of hands and feet together with the partial stripping-’telling all the bones’-obviously means crucifixion: the crucified are pierced only in their hands and feet, and stripped for expos­ure. WOULD A FALSE MESSIAH HAVE CHOSEN THIS PASSAGE FOR FULFILLMENT? This old document (Psalms 22:1-31) holds the very crucifixion cry, for the Psalm opens with it-’My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ (Psalms 22:1). Not a jot or tittle of this Psalm has miscarried: exactly as in His birth and in His ministry, so also in His death-but more so-the ancient document is a photograph of the fact, fulfilled in flawless detail." (Dawn Magazine). The Forsaken One

Christ on the cross identified Himself with the One spoken of in this Psalm by quoting its first verse: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46). This Psalm has been called "The Psalm of Sobs."* (*Bishop Alexander in. "Witness of the Psalms to Christ.")

"The Hebrew shows not one completed sentence in the opening verses, but a series of brief ejaculations, like the gasps of a dying man whose breath and strength are failing, and who can only utter a word or two at a time: ’My God-My God-why forsaken Me-far from helping Me-words of My roaring’-presenting a picture overwhelmingly pathetic: the suffering Saviour, forsaken by God, gasping for life, unable to articulate one continuous sentence. The writer thus forecasts the mystery of the cross which remained unsolved for a thousand years. It was like a dark cavern at the time, but when the Gospel narrative portrays Jesus as the Crucified One, it is like putting a lighted torch in the cavern."* (*A. T. Pierson, in "Living Oracles," p. 107.) Periods of Light and Darkness In Psalms 22:2 one sees alternate periods of light and darkness:

"O my God, I cry in the daytime but Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent" (Psalms 22:2). In the New Testament account of the crucifixion of Christ, We read:

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour" (Matthew 27:45).

Righteous-yet Forsaken by God In Psalms 22:3-5 we see a prophetic discussion of this strange anomaly: a truly Righteous One forsaken by God. It never happened so before in the history of the "fathers": they trusted, and were delivered; Messiah on the cross is for­saken. Christ on the Cross was forsaken by God and man.

They Mocked Him Psalms 22:6-8 tell of those who reproached and mocked Him:

They "laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lips, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him" (Psalms 22:6-8). The New Testament tells us how the people ridiculed and derided Christ on the cross (see Matthew 27:39-44), using almost the identical words the prophet used:

"Likewise also the chief priests mocking him said ... He trusted in God; let him deliver him now" (Matthew 27:41-43). His Weakness, Thirst and exposure to Public Scorn In the prophetic record, further startling details are given: The people "gaped upon Me ... I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax: it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death" (vs. Psalms 22:13-15).

Messiah’s exposure to public scorn-"they gaped upon Me" (Psalms 22:13)-was fulfilled in New Testament times, at the cross, when the people "sitting down . . . watched Him" (Matthew 27:36). His extreme weakness, perspiration and thirst, under the pitiless beating of the oriental sun, are predicted:

"I am poured out like water. . . my strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws" (Psalms 22:14-15). The forsaken Sufferer in the New Testament expressed in one simple statement His weakness and thirst:

"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst" (John 19:28).

He Died of a Broken Heart

One weeps in heart, thinking of Messiah’s horrible sufferings: such as the agony from dislocated bones, caused by the weight of the body suspended only by the nails in the hands and feet: "all my bones are out of joint" (Psalms 22:14). Add to that the mental and spiritual torture so great it literally broke His heart: "My heart is melted in the midst of my bowels" (Psalms 22:14). At last, His sufferings were ended by death: "Thou hast brought me into the dust of death" (Psalms 22:15).

There is evidence from the New Testament record that Christ died of a broken heart. When the Roman soldier "pierced His side" (John 19:34) "forthwith came there out blood and water," indicating that the heart had been ruptured (before it was pierced by the Roman spear), probably from the great emotional strain Christ had been under. The lymphatic fluid apparently had separated from the red blood, producing "blood and water." The word "lymph" comes from the Latin lympha, meaning water. See also 1 John 5:6. The Parting of His Garments "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture" (Psalms 22:18). For exquisite detail, dramatically fulfilled, this is the gem of all prophecy. The divinely inspired prophet, looking down through ten centuries of time, sees and records an incident connected with the crucifixion that seems so trivial and un­important one wonders why it is referred to at all-unless it be to let us know that Omniscience wrote the prophecy and Omnipotence fulfilled it. In the New Testament account of the crucifixion of Christ - when they "pierced His bands and His feet"-that addi­tional, "unimportant" detail about the disposition of Messiah’s garments is mentioned. Roman soldiers, ignorant of both God and prophecy, and knowing nothing of the sacred import of what they were doing, fulfilled to the letter that age-old prediction!

"Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves. Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots" (John 19:23-24). And so an obscure prophecy, hidden in the Old Testament for a thousand years, springs forth as a witness, a living mir­acle, proving again that GOD SPAKE in the Old Testament and GOD FULFILLED in the New Testament. This one prophecy is enough to convince the most skeptical, if he have an honest heart, that the predictions concerning Messiah in the Old Testament were fulfilled in the Christ of the Gospels, so giving a satisfying demonstration of the Divine origin of both Testaments. The Resurrection of Messiah This Messiah, so cruelly put to death, will be "helped" (Psalms 22:19), "delivered" (Psalms 22:20), "saved from the lion’s mouth" (Psalms 22:21). His prayer will be "answered" (Psalms 22:21 : "Thou hast answered Me," RV.) Psalms 22:21 is the end of a section. Psalms 22:22 begins a new section; and Messiah now gloriously delivered, resurrected, says:

"I will declare Thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congre­gation will I praise thee" (Psalms 22:22). The New Testament of course bears abundant evidence that though Christ died, forsaken by God and man, yet God raised Him from the dead on the third day.

"Ye have taken (Christ), and by wicked hands have crucified and slain (Him): Whom GOD HATH RAISED UP. Having loosed the pangs of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it" (Acts 2:23; Acts 2:24). A Summary

"The predictions concerning Christ in this chapter," writes Moses Margoliouth, "are so numerous and so minute that they could not possibly have been dictated by any but by Him to whom all things are naked and open, and who worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will. The most insignificant circumstances connected with our Lord’s death are set forth with as much accuracy as those which are most important . . . What could be more unlikely than that Messiah should be crucified when crucifixion was not a Jewish but a Roman punishment? And yet David in this Psalm predicted such would be the case centuries before Rome was founded" and ten centuries before the prophecy was fulfilled!

(2) Isaiah 53:1-12 THIS REMARKABLE PROPHECY of the sufferings and exaltation of Messiah was written 700 years before the time of Christ. It reads more like "an historical summary of the Gospel narrative of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, instead of a prophecy" (David Baron). With this agrees Augustine, who said, "Methinks Isaiah writes not a prophecy but a Gospel." And another commentator says, "It reads as if it had been written beneath the cross of Golgotha. It is the deepest and the loftiest thing that Old Testa­ment prophecy, outstripping itself, has ever achieved."

"This chapter," says A. T. Pierson*, (*Living Oracles, p.110) "is a bundle of paradoxes, or ap­parent contradictions, as numerous as the verses in the chapter. In fact, it was DESIGNED to present a prophetic enigma which only the Person (and work) of the Christ of the New Testament can solve. He is a root out of the dry ground-yet fruitful; He has no form nor beauty-yet He is the chosen Servant of God; He is despised and rejected of men-yet He is the appointed Saviour; He suffers unto death-yet He survives; He has no offspring-yet He has a numerous seed; men would make His grave with the wicked-yet He is buried with the rich; He suffers un­believable adversity-yet He enjoys prosperity; He is triumphed over-yet He" triumphs; He is condemned-yet He justifies the condemned. These paradoxes remained a problem until the cross was set up, the sepulchre burst open, and the Son of God who came to die went up to reign."

Unfortunately, the chapter division comes at the wrong place. It should begin with Isaiah 52:13, which starts with the words, "BEHOLD MY SERVANT" ... and that is the sub­ject of this entire section, Isaiah 52:13-15, Isaiah 53:1-12. It is a graphic portrayal of The Suffering Messiah... "Jehovah’s Servant" The first question to be answered is, "Of whom speaketh the prophet? of himself, or of some other?" (Acts 8:34). The only possible correct answer is. This prophecy speaks of an individual, MESSIAH,* and there is only One Person in the history of the world whom it fits: Christ of the New Testament. (*Some unbelievers have sought to interpret this chapter as referring to "Suffering Israel," the nation, rather than to the "Suffering Messiah." But these five facts prove the theme of Isaiah 53:1-12 to be MESSIAH, not the Jewish people. (1) This prophecy speaks of an INDIVIDUAL all the way through. It is "HE shall grow up" (Isaiah 53:2), "HE is despised ... a MAN of sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3), "HE was wounded" (Isaiah 53:4), and so all through the chapter.

(2) Verse 8 is conclusive: the Sufferer was stricken for the transgres­sions of "My people" (Israel); and so He is an individual who suffers vicariously FOR the people; hence, He cannot be "the people."

(3) He is an INNOCENT Sufferer (Isaiah 53:7; Isaiah 53:9). which could never be said of the nation Israel.

(4) He is a VOLUNTARY Sufferer, who willingly "pours out His soul unto death" (Isaiah 53:12)-again depicting the death of an individual, not a nation. Moreover, Israel as a nation has never suffered willingly, voluntarily or vicariously.

(5) He is an UNRESISTING Sufferer, who "opened not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7), which could never be said of the nation Israel. Words could not make the meaning more clear to those open to truth; Isaiah 53:1-12 describes a sinless, voluntary, unresisting INDIVIDUAL who suffers vicariously for God’s people Israel.)

"Let any one steep, his mind in the contents of this chapter," observes Professor James Orr, "and then read what is said about Jesus in the Gospels, and as he stands underneath the Cross, see if there is not the most perfect correspondence between the two. In Jesus of Nazareth alone in all history, but in Him perfectly, has this prophecy found fulfillment."

We wish now to call attention in more detail to some of the prophetic wonders, descriptions of Messiah’s rejection, sufferings, death, resurrection and exaltation, in this chapter. As we do so, we will call attention repeatedly to this bewildering phenomenon: When Jesus of Nazareth came 700 years later, and died on the cross, these predictions were fulfilled with a literalness that astonishes, and an exactness that parallels mathematical certainty.

(1) Messiah’s Astonishing EXALTATION, Isaiah 52:13

"Behold, my servant shall prosper; He shall be exalted, and shall be extolled, and shall be raised very high" (Lit. trans., Isaiah 52:13).

Before the depths of Messiah’s humiliation is presented in this section (Isaiah 52:13-15 - Isaiah 53:1-12), we are in the very beginning assured of His final VICTORY and GLORY. Franz Delitzsch calls attention to the progressive nature of the words "exalted . . . extolled . . . raised." He says,

"From these words we obtain this chain of thought: He will rise up. He will raise Himself still higher. He will stand on high." And Stier rightly connects this with the three principal steps in the fulfillment of the prediction in Jesus of Nazareth after His death: Namely, His RESURRECTION. His ASCENSION, and His sitting down in EXALTATION at the RIGHT HAND OF GOD.

Here then we are at once confronted with Messiah’s final end-to prepare us, as it were, for the shock of His temporary abasement: the "Servant of the Lord (after His sufferings) is seen rising from stage to stage; and at last He reaches an immeasurable height that towers above everything beside" (Delitzsch).* [*Quoted in "The Servant of the Lord." p. 58.] The New Testament makes very clear the final exaltation of Christ after His sufferings and death:

"Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins"-by His atoning death on the cross-" (He) sat down on the RIGHT HAND OF THE MAJESTY ON HIGH" (Hebrews 1:3).

"Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but ... He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

"WHEREFORE GOD ALSO HATH HIGHLY EXALTED HIM, and given Him a name which is above every name" (Php 2:6-11; see also Matthew 28:5; Matthew 28:6; Acts 1:3; Acts 1:9; Ephesians 1:20-23, etc.).

(2) Messiah’s shocking ABUSE, Isaiah 52:14

"Just as many were astonished at Him, for so disfigured was He that His appearance was not human, and His form was not like that of the children of men" (Trans, by Delitzsch).

If Messiah’s "exaltation" (Isaiah 52:13) is astonishingly "high," His sufferings are even more astonishing. The word (shamem) here rendered "astonished" by the RV means "startled, confused, as it were petrified by paralyzing astonishment" (David Baron).

During the terrible hours before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus was brutally manhandled, buffeted, scourged* and abused in other ways. And on the cross, the crown of thorns, the nails driven through His quivering flesh, and the consequent agony of crucifixion in which every nerve, every muscle became "a flame of torture," added to the excruciating mental agony and soul suffering, so affected Him that His features became so marred and distorted that He no longer resembled a man. This horrifying fact is well nigh unbelievable, but it is clearly revealed of Messiah in the Old Testament, and just as clearly given in the records concerning the sufferings and death of Jesus the Christ in the New Testament. (*The scourging itself was violent, inhuman. The scourge was often made of leather thongs, fastened to a handle. At the ends of the thongs, at times, were fastened bits of sharpened metal or rock, that cut and lacerated the flesh of the victim, and turned the back into a bleeding pulp.)

"Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on His head"** (John 19:1-2). [**We saw thorns in Bible lands having spines two to three inches long. When dried, they were very hard, pointed-and sharp as needles. Such a "crown" if pressed down on the brow, would puncture the skin in a score of places and cause both pain and a gory trickle of blood, which would result in matted, disheveled hair, presenting a horrible appearance.]

"Then they spit in His face, and buffeted (beat and manhandled Him); and others smote Him with the palms of their hands and they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head and mocked Him, and took the reed and smote Him on the head" (Matthew 26:67-68; Matthew 27:27-30).

God permitted, and Jesus endured, this horrible suffering not only to fulfill the prophetic picture, but to suffer in our stead. We ask-Who but the true Messiah would want to be a Messiah like that?

Before the cross, but leading up to it, His face was marred; on the cross, His form was marred, so the fulfillment of the prediction was complete. The bloody sweat, the traces of the crown of thorns, the spit on His face, and the result of the smiting on the head, disfigured His face; while the scourging, the buffeting, the nails driven through His hands and feet, the weight of the body, pulling it out of joint, and the final spear-thrust through His side, distorted His body. Add the extreme mental anguish and soul grief, and the result is. One so marred that He no longer resembled a man. How much He loved; how much He paid for our redemption! As we humbly contemplate the intensity of the dreadful sufferings of the Saviour, may our hearts be "bowed with shame and sorrow for the sin which was the cause of it all, and may we have a greater love and undying gratitude to Him who bore all this for us" (David Baron).

(3)    A Message that will STARTLE many Nations, Isaiah 52:15

"So shall He startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of Him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand" (Isaiah 52:15).

God has devised a unique way to catch the attention, win the souls and win the devotion, of men. He Himself, in the Person of His Son, suffered so violently, creating so ghastly a scene, that it has IMPRESSED ALL AGES. The memory of Calvary startles the most dormant, pricks the most calloused, stirs the most lethargic. Men now understand both the love of God and the wisdom of God: CALVARY reveals it. Men see both the grace of God, and how God righteously can give righteousness to sinners who believe: For "Him who knew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Gospel will STARTLE many into believing.

(4)A Message that will be DISBELIEVED by Israel, Isaiah 53:1 "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1).

Strange as it may seem, though the shocking message of a Suffering Messiah will startle many nations, yet it will find but few believers among Messiah’s own people, the Jews. In the New Testament we read of the fulfillment of this prediction.

"But though He (Jesus) had done so many signs before them, yet they believed not on Him: that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake. Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?" (John 12:37-38).

(5)Messiah’s Supernatural Birth and Spiritual Growth, Isaiah 53:2 a "For he shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground" (Isaiah 53:2 a).

Messiah’s supernatural birth is intimated in the phrase, "as a root out of a dry ground." A root growing out of dry ground is a miracle: one essential element (moisture) is missing. Messiah’s birth was to be a miracle-the miracle of the virgin birth.

Note also this paradox: His supernatural, and yet natural, growth: "He shall grow up" (normally, much as other children), and yet it will be "before HIM," i. e., Messiah shall grow up in Jehovah’s Presence and under His watchcare Here too He will owe nothing to natural surroundings, for Messiah shall be "a tender plant . . . out of a dry ground." That is, Messiah will be a precious, wholesome plant in His youth, growing up before the Heavenly Father’s watchful care, yet He will grow up in the midst of the universal spiritual dearth of the nation, in a desert of hardness, sin and unbelief. But it will be a normal process; He will "grow up." He will not "burst upon the world all at once, in a sudden splendour of daring and achievement: He will conform to God’s slow, silent law of growth" (James Culross).

Isn’t it amazing that God foretold the manner of His coming to earth, and the "growth" of His childhood, as well as the spirituality of His childhood? And, lo and behold, when Messiah came, all was fulfilled exactly as predicted. Messiah did NOT come as a full-grown king in His might, with dash and splendor; that is reserved for His second advent. In the New Testament, we read of the child Jesus:

"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40).

(6)    Messiah’s Generation will fail to see and appreciate His Greatness, Isaiah 53:2 :

"He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2). When Messiah came, the people, looking for a mighty king and a political reformer, were disappointed in Him. Men did not see His beauty-the beauty of holiness-nor did they understand His mission. "He did not answer to the worldly ideal; having misread the prophecies, they found nothing to charm or attract them in ’Jehovah’s Servant’ when He came." The work of Messiah in His first advent, to make His soul an "offering for sin" was foreign to their ideas of what Messiah should be; Hence, (7)He was DESPISED and REJECTED of Men, Isaiah 53:3

"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). . . . "We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4).

"Rejected of men," says David Baron, "means actually ’rejected by men of high rank’." That is He will have no men of high standing, no "important" men, few men of distinction, to support Him and His program with their authority and in­fluence. And so it proved to be in the life of Jesus the Christ. The following record from the New Testament reveals these facts: The Pharisees (speaking to certain officers) said, "Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?" (John 7:47-48; see context). Who but the infinite God, who knoweth the end from the beginning, would dare frame a prophecy like that, presenting Messiah as being without the support of the leaders of the people? But history fully confirmed the truthfulness of the prediction.

(8)    Messiah will be known as a MAN OF SORROWS, Smitten of God, Afflicted, Isaiah 53:3-4

". . . a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; ... we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, afflicted" (Isaiah 53:3-4). The point here emphasized, and true in its fulfillment, is that Messiah will be "a man of pains" (Heb.)-sorrow of heart in all its forms.

Jesus’ sorrow came, not only as He compassionately suffered with the ills of humanity, a sympathetic suffering, but also when He was repelled in His efforts to bless. His sorrow was overwhelming when the people rejected Him and continued in their lost estate. And this added to His sorrows, when men of rank and position turned from him-"hid their faces from Him." Instead of counting Him precious, "they esteemed Him not"-estimated Him "at nothing" (Luther).

"He came unto His own and His own received Him not" (John 1:11).

Worst of all, the people considered Him "smitten of God"- not realizing that He suffered to redeem them, and that He permitted Himself to be "made a curse" that He might save those He suffered for.

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written. Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:13).

(9) Messiah’s VICARIOUS SUFFERINGS

"Surely He hath borne OUR griefs and carried OUR sorrows" (Isaiah 53:4); "He was wounded for OUR transgressions. He was bruised for OUR iniquities: the chastisement of OUR peace was upon HIM, and with HIS stripes (Heb., wounds) we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5); "The Lord hath laid (Heb., caused to meet) on HIM the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6); "For the transgression of my people was He stricken" (Isaiah 53:8); "Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin" (Isaiah 53:10); "HE shall bear THEIR iniquities" (Isaiah 53:11); "He bare the sin of many" (Isaiah 53:12). (Quotations are from Isaiah 53:4-5, p, 8, 10, 11, 12)* [*"The Divine Author makes it impossible for any ingenuity or learn­ing to eliminate the doctrine of vicarious atonement from this passage by presenting it so often, and in forms so varied and still the same, that he who succeeds in expelling it in one place is compelled to meet it in another" (Dr. Alexander).] The outstanding fact of this chapter is the vicarious, substitutionary suffering of Messiah. "Marvelous chapter," comments A. T. Pierson, "containing only twelve verses, yet four­teen times announcing the doctrine of the vicarious sacrifice for all human sin." The whole section (Isaiah 52:13-15-53:1-12) overflows with this conception, and never was the mystery solved until the Lord Jesus was "made sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21) and "died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3).

Jehovah "hath caused to meet with overwhelming force in HIM the iniquity of us all" (Heb.). Messiah was the Divine Redeemer on whom fell "all the fiery rays of judgment which would have fallen on mankind" (Baron). How wonderful is God’s grace through Christ’s substitutionary atonement! So the cross became at once Christ’s deepest humiliation, yet His highest glory-and the appointed means of bringing salvation to men. When the Lord Jesus came. He fulfilled these Messianic predictions by His atoning death on the cross:

"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24).

(10)    Messiah will suffer WILLINGLY and without Complaining, Isaiah 53:7

"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).

Other sufferers usually register murmuring or complaining, especially when they are unjustly treated-but not so the suffering Messiah. He voluntarily submitted Himself to His appointed task of "bearing our sins" and went as a lamb to the slaughter. "In sublime and magnanimous silence Messiah will endure to the uttermost, because Jehovah wills it. . . . And here we look down into the unfathomed mystery of infinite love" (Culross). In the New Testament, when Jesus the Christ was beaten, falsely accused, mistreated, mocked, spat upon, persecuted, manhandled, scourged, and crucified, there was no flame of resentment, no incriminations against His executioners, no loud complaining, but a prayer for His persecutors:

After many false witnesses appeared against Him, Jesus "held His peace." And the high priest wondered about it and said, "Answerest thou nothing?’ (See Matthew 26:59-63). And here is Jesus’ prayer, while suffering the tortures of crucifixion: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). This whole procedure is so unusual, so contrary to nature and human experience, one cannot help but be struck, startled, by both the strange prophecy and its even more remarkable fulfillment.

(11)    When taken from Prison and Judgment, Messiah will have NO ADVOCATE to plead His Cause, no friend to declare His Innocence, Isaiah 53:8

"He was taken (Heb., snatched away, hurried away) from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation?" (Isaiah 53:8). An alternate reading of the last phrase is, "And who (among) His generation shall declare (His innocence)?" The Sanhedrin had the custom in "trials for life" to call on those who knew anything in favor of the accused to come forward and declare it.* This was not observed in the trial of Jesus of Nazareth, but rather, the proceedings at His hasty, mock, illegal trial before the Sanhedrin were in flagrant contradiction with their own regulations, and against all standards of right and fairness. (*David Baron in "The Servant of Jehovah." p. 106.)

Jesus had to appear alone, and undefended, before the corrupt Jewish hierarchy and the representatives of the greatest Gentile power on earth at that time. Not one person appeared to take His part. Judas betrayed Him; Peter denied Him, with oaths; and the other disciples "forsook Him and fled" (Matthew 26:56). And many of the women that had during His ministry "ministered unto Him," stood "beholding (from) afar off when He was crucified (Matthew 27:55). In the hour of His greatest need, humanly speaking, NOT ONE PERSON STOOD BY HIM. True, later on, after the weary hours of suffering had numbed His broken body, Mary His mother, a few faithful women, and John His beloved disciple, "stood by" at the cross; but during His trial and the early hours of His crucifixion He was left alone-absolutely alone. Never in the history of the world has anyone been so completely forsaken by friends and loved ones as Jesus was.

Jesus was arrested, NOT by proper officials, but by a mob, the rabble: "a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people" (Matthew 26:47). Even Jesus commented on the inconsistency of their approach-"Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple" . . . "but all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled" (Matthew 26:55-56).

"False witnesses" were suborned to witness against Him "to put Him to death" (Matthew 26:59). And He was tried at night, which was illegal. In the Roman court, when Pilate sought in vain for a cause to justly condemn Him, he asked the people, "What evil hath He done?" The only answers he got were the unreasonable shouts of the mob, edged on by their leaders, "let Him be crucified, let Him be crucified" (see Matthew 27:33). Then, when Pilate saw that words of reason and justice "prevailed nothing" and that a worse "tumult" was developing, he weakly washed his hands of the affair and turned Jesus over to them that they might crucify Him (see Matthew 27:24-26). This was the worst miscarriage of justice in the annals of all history. But Christ’s innocence was not only attested to by Pilate-"I find no fault in Him" (John 19:1)-but also by the Messianic prophet of old, "He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth" (Isaiah 53:9).

(12)    At the Moment of Death, Messiah’s Humiliation was to end; and though Men planned His Burial "with the Wicked," Providence Planned It "with the Rich," Isaiah 53:9

"They (men) appointed Him His grave with the wicked (but) He was with a rich man after His death" (Isaiah 53:9, Delitzsch).

"Dying as a criminal, ordinarily His body would have been flung over the wall to be burned like offal in the fires of Topheth (west of Jerusalem); but when His vicarious sufferings were finished no further indignity was permitted to His lifeless body" (A. T. Pierson). "And. this remarkable coincidence," wrote Franz Delitzsch, is truly wonderful "if we reflect that the Jewish rulers would have given to Jesus the same dishonorable burial as that given to the two thieves, but the Roman authorities handed over His body to Joseph the Arimathean, a ’rich man’ (Matthew 27:57) who placed it in his sepulchre in his own garden. And at once we see an agreement between the Gospel history and the prophetic words which could only be the work of the God of both prophecy and its fulfillment, inasmuch as no suspicion could possibly arise of there having been any human design of bringing the former into conform­ity with the latter." The reason assigned for His honorable burial, which was so different from what had been planned or "appointed" for Him by His enemies, is, "He hath done no violence, neither was any deceit found in His mouth"-another reiteration of the absolute INNOCENCE of the Divine Sufferer.

Re-read with rapt interest the New Testament account of Jesus’ burial, to find the perfect fulfillment:

"When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb" (Matthew 27:57-60).

(13)    After Messiah’s Soul and Body have been made an Offering for Sin. God will "Prolong His Days," his RESURRECTION; and He will see His Seed, the Fruits of His Travail, Isaiah 53:10

"When thou shalt make his soul a trespass offering for sin. he shall see seed, he shall prolong his days, and the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand" (Lit. trans., Isaiah 53:10).

After Messiah’s offering of Himself as a trespass offering, God will "prolong His days" in resurrection and He shall "see SEED"-saved souls-as the result of His sacrifice. The fulfillment of this paradox, as we have already pointed out, is in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, who

"Died for our sins according to the Scriptures . . . and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). This fact of Messiah’s resurrection is in accord with other Old Testament Scriptures, such as Psalms 16:10 :

"Thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol; neither will Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption."

Moreover, the will of God will "prosper" in Messiahs hand-Messiah will accomplish God’s will with zeal, and He will indeed bring salvation and righteousness to both Israel and the nations (see Isaiah 42:4). The New Testament not only tells as of the glorious resurrection of Christ, but also of the beginning of His ministry after His resurrection-working through His disciples-by which multitudes were saved:

Acts 2:41 : "Three thousand souls" were saved and added to the church.

Acts 4:4 : "And the number (of men) who believed was about five thousand."

During the last nineteen centuries of church history, multiplied millions have believed on Christ and have been saved. Christ indeed has seen SEED, and the will of God is prospering in His hand. The gospel of Christ will eventually, after His second advent, come to final and complete triumph, and then "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord" as the waters now cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9). Truly, the "Captain of our Salvation" is "bringing many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2:10)

(14) Not only will God be "Satisfied" with Messiah’s Sacrifice, but through Knowing Messiah, many shall be JUSTIFIED, Isaiah 53:11

"He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by His knowledge shall my righteous Servant make many righteous; for He shall bear their iniquities" (Isaiah 53:11).

Here we are given a forecast of the tremendous truth, so fully developed by Paul in the New Testament, of JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, salvation by Grace-because Christ died for our sins and purchased a full redemption for all. This truth of justification by faith is the grand, central truth of the New Testament.

"Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unto all them that believe being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:22-24).

"For by grace are ye saved through faith" (Eph :2:8-9). See also Romans 4:5-6; Romans 5:15-19; Titus 3:5, etc.

Lest we forget that ALL grace bestowed upon believers is based on Messiah’s sacrifice, we again are reminded that "He shall bear their iniquities." Dr. Alexander observes that there is an "antithesis here suggesting the idea of exchange or mu­tual substitution: they shall receive His righteousness, and He shall bear the heavy burden of their iniquities." This of course is consonant with the doctrine of the New Testament:

"For He (God) hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we (sinners) might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

(15) A Strange CIRCUMSTANCE of Messiah’s Death is given, Isaiah 53:12

"He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12).

Similar to the mention of the disposition of Messiah’s garments in Psalms 22:1-31, we here have a concomitant incident showing true DETAIL in prophecy, which marks it as genuine; for details in prophecy are the marks that immediately set it off as being of Divine origin-that is, if the fulfillment matches the prophecy. The point here is, in this prophecy (Isaiah 53:12), the word "transgressors" does not refer to ordinary sinners, but to "criminals" (Heb., poshim, criminals, open transgressors of the law of God and man). Furthermore, Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, Baron and others translate the reflexive verb used here: "He permitted Himself, voluntarily, to be numbered or ’reckoned’ with criminals," showing again Messiah’s willingness to suffer ALL that the Father had planned for Him.

It is of more than passing interest to recall that Christ Himself quoted this Scripture (Isaiah 53:12) just before His own crucifixion:

"This that is written must yet be accomplished in Me, And He was reckoned among the transgressors" (Luke 23:37). And so, as Delitzsch observed, this prediction and its fulfillment becomes "one of those remarkable coincidences which were brought about by Providence between the prophecies and our Saviour’s passion," that Christ should have been crucified between two thieves (literally, "robbers"). See Luke 23:39-43.

Much has already been said about the vicarious nature of Messiah’ sufferings as given in this chapter (Isaiah 53:1-12). In this the closing verse that fact again is stressed:

"He Himself bare the sin of many" (Lit. trans, Isaiah 53:12).

Those familiar with the New Testament will recall many Scriptures that set forth the substitutionary nature of the death of Christ. We quote but two:

"Now once in the end of the age hath He (Christ) appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ... So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many" (Hebrews 9:26-28).

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

Many volumes have been written that show the wonders of Messianic prophecy in this chapter (Isaiah 53:1-12), and the fulfillment in the atoning death of Jesus the Christ as described in the New Testament. We believe, in touching the high spots as we have, and so calling attention again to these phenomena, these miracles in print, that the faith of many will either be generated or confirmed in both the supernatural character of the prophecies and their fulfillment. This shows clearly that Scripture has upon it "the stamp of its Divine Author-the mark of Heaven-the impress of eternity." Therefore, it is "beyond even the wildest credulity to believe that the resemblance in every feature and minutest detail between this prophetic portraiture in Isaiah 53:1-12, drawn centuries before His advent, and the account of His life, death and glorious resurrection, as narrated in the Gospels, can be mere accident or for­tuitous coincidence" (David Baron).* (*In. The Servant of Jehovah, pp. VII, VIII.)