THE DISCERNMENT SERIES

The Proper Exegesis of Isaiah 53

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Unless you are a pastor, theologian or former Bible Student, you may wonder what “exegesis” means. The goal of Biblical exegesis is to explore the meaning of the Biblical text which then leads to discovering its significance or relevance. Another word associated with this term is Hermeneutics which is the science of interpretation of the Scriptures and deals with the principles of Biblical exegesis. If I’ve lost you, here’s another explanation. Hermeneutics and exegesis are simply the practices of accurately discerning the meaning of scripture based on study and research which leads to determining how the scripture can be applied to living a life dedicated to God.

 

We know that the Bible has been used to justify all sorts of evil and false teaching at times. This is because the persons interpreting the Bible for their own purposes or the purposes of the Evil One ignore godly rules and guidelines for interpreting scripture. We also know that Christians at times can unknowingly misinterpret scripture to justify their beliefs or actions. This leads to errors in determining what the scriptures are really saying which affects how it is applied to the lives of followers of Christ. My purpose in mentioning this is the fact that many Christians misinterpret Isaiah 53 which can cause “wrong-thinking” about what it is saying and this affects how they apply Isaiah 53 to their lives.

 

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) share about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but Isaiah 53 and Psalms 22 describe in graphic detail what took place as well as the spiritually significant purpose for the death of our Savior. So let’s explore Isaiah 53 and see if we can discover its true meaning and therefore its accurate application to our lives today. Isaiah 53 is all about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. While Isaiah 53 references how the Messiah would minister physically to people, most of its emphasis is on the Messiah’s provision for the forgiveness of sins through His death.

 

Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah begins this chapter with the question that most prophets asked themselves, their listeners and sometimes even God, “Who will believe the message that God has given me to share.” Isaiah is implying that the message he gives in Isaiah 53 will not be believed by everyone even though it is given with the authority of the Most High God.

 

Isaiah 53:2 “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” This verse is a prophecy of Christ’s first coming and of His meager social standing and common appearance. This verse sets the scene that the “tender shoot,” the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would spring from an ancient family, a divine holy lineage that was ordained by God to produce the Savior through miraculous means. At the time of Jesus’ birth, the nation of Israel was essentially a dry and lifeless ground because spiritually it was dead and entrapped by Pharisaical legalism. This verse also tells us that there would be nothing in Jesus’ external appearance that would attract special attention. This does not mean that Jesus was ugly or deformed, just very common in appearance.

 

Isaiah 53:3 “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Verse 3 verifies the life Jesus lived here on the earth. He was despised by the Pharisees because He threatened their greed for power over the people. He was rejected by those who refused to recognize their need for salvation. He was a man of sorrows for he felt the pain people endured. He understood their difficult struggles and empathized with their sufferings. He strove to heal and minister to them because of His love for them. But despite His love and concern for the wounded, disabled and disease-ridden, He was despised and given no respect of any sort. Here Isaiah states that the Messiah would be treated as if He were disgusting to look at because people would hide their faces from Him.

 

Isaiah 53:4 “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.” Here in verse 4 we see a reference to Jesus’ physical ministry, which is a reflection of His spiritual ministry regarding the payment for sin in His death. This verse describes His ministry to those in physical and emotional distress. The Messiah was not only to die for the sins of mankind He also would minister practically and compassionately while upon the earth. Jesus divinely healed people of their diseases responding in love with compassion to their needs. These healings provided suffering people relief from their sorrows associated with their diseases and infirmities. So in essence Jesus took very personally, the sicknesses and diseases of those afflicted and He healed them because of His compassion. This relieved their emotional anxieties and thus ministered to their souls as well. Isaiah 53:4 is quoted in Matthew 8:17, where Jesus has just healed the Centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, healed many who were ill and cast out demons from those who were possessed, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the Messiah. Yet even though Jesus reached out in love to minister in these ways, people rejected Him, criticized His intent, degraded His character and considered Him worthy of being crucified as a heretic and thief. The Pharisees and others thought His ministry an insult to God and encouraged His crucifixion as a correct punishment for such a person.

 

Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Now in verse 5 we come to a very controversial passage in Isaiah 53. Some claim that we are guaranteed physical healing because of Christ’s work on the cross and view the portion of verse 5 that says, “by His wounds we are healed” as verifying that there is physical healing as well as spiritual healing in the crucifixion of Christ. This confusion arises probably from previous statements in Isaiah and other portions of Scripture where Christ heals people miraculously as part of His ministry upon the earth. A key point in properly translating and interpreting scripture passages is to interpret a verse by the verses that surround it, the verses that surround it in regards to the chapter, the chapter in regards to the entire book of the Bible and the book of the Bible in regards to the entire Biblical doctrine of the Christian faith. If we are not careful we can rip scriptures out of context and substantiate any belief or thought we might wish to dream up or believe. Discernment and wisdom must be applied to properly exegete a scripture passage’s true meaning so that it can be accurately applied to daily living.

 

Christ’s ministry included healing of diseases, comforting the suffering and ministering to those in torment. But Christ’s main mission was to provide a perfect sinless sacrifice for the sins of Mankind so that men and women could be saved. Verse 5 tells us that He was literally pierced for our transgressions and sins. He was crushed in spirit because of our iniquities and wickedness. The punishment he accepted willingly and bore upon His body brought us peace and salvation from our sins. The portion of this verse that states, “by His wounds we are healed” is in reference to spiritual healing of our souls and our standing before God spiritually. It is not in reference to physical healing. Yes God does heal physical maladies and sickness, but the purpose of the cross of Christ was to make men and women whole again by providing a path to reconciliation through the payment of sins by God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. This is not to say that people cannot be miraculously healed by God today, but we cannot claim that Christ’s death on the cross guarantees healing of anyone of any disease or infirmity. But we can say that Christ’s death on the cross does guarantee the forgiveness of sins for those who accept it as payment for their sin. A key verse which is quoted by Peter in the New Testament verifies the meaning of Isaiah 53:5. 1 Peter 2:23-25 states, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” Peter here helps us interpret this verse in Isaiah for he directly connects it to spiritual salvation when he states, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” The Hebrew word for heal in Isaiah 53:5 (rapha) and the Greek word for heal in 1 Peter 2 (iaomai) mean to cure, heal or make whole. While these words can be applied to physical or spiritual healing, the context of Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 2 both focus on spiritual healing through the forgiveness of sins, not the physical healing of diseases. We must understand that while God is greatly concerned about our physical ailments which are earthly and temporary, He is much more concerned about our spiritual disease of sin and its eternal consequences. Again the focus of Isaiah 53:5 is on Jesus being lethally wounded for payment for our sins so that we might have eternal life. The next verse further emphasizes the context of the crucifixion and purpose for which Christ was crucified.

 

Isaiah 53:6 “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Verse 6 verifies again the main theme of this chapter. It uses the illustration of wayward sheep who wander off from their shepherd to illustrate how all of us have gone astray, in other words we sin from the day we are born. We are rebellious against God because it is in our sinful fleshly nature to do so and we go our own way because by nature we prefer it until we are transformed by God’s Spirit.

 

Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Verse 7 describes the afflictions of Christ and the physical as well as spiritual abuse He endured to bring us our precious salvation. He took it as a godly man and a loving God because He was both. He died willingly for our sins.

 

Isaiah 53:8 “By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.” Verse 8 tells us more of the judgment that fell on Him because of our sin. He had no physical descendents which counters the false teachings of some cults that He married and had children. He was cut off from the land of the living because He truly and absolutely died. He was struck down because of our sin and He willingly endured the penalty for our sins because of His love.

 

Isaiah 53:9 “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” Verse 9 tells us of the plans to bury Him with the wicked. But it also tells us of being laid to rest among the rich which Joseph of Arimathea made possible in providing his own tomb.

 

Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.” Verse 10 states that it was the will of God that Jesus be crushed and caused to suffer for us. Jesus’ life was a guilt offering and we see the result of Jesus’ sacrifice in this verse. Christ does have spiritual offspring in the thousands and millions of those who accept Him as Lord and Savior and join in His inheritance as part of the family of God. The will of God was accomplished in the life and death of Jesus. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection is the most dramatic and world-changing event in the history of all of creation.

 

Isaiah 53:11 “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” Verse 11 continues to offer evidence of the main theme of His death. Jesus rose from the grave and was satisfied in what His sacrifice made possible. He justifies all those who accept Him as Savior before the Heavenly Father because He bore their sins and iniquities.

 

Isaiah 53:12 “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah ends this chapter with a final comment of the main purpose for God sending His Son to die on the cross and why He is given honor and praise and glory for His work. He bore the sins of many and made intercession for us, the transgressors, to heal us of our sin and make us whole again. He also was without sin and so was a perfect sacrifice. He did not “become sin” as some false teachers claim, but simply paid for our sin with His death. Praise God Jesus chose to come and willing die for us as payment for our sins. He is absolutely worthy of us dedicating all we are and have to His service.