People ridiculed him, just as occurred to Christ (vs. 6-7): "But I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me . . ." The description of suffering in verses 14-17 is medically accurate for someone undergoing crucifixion. Yet, this form of execution was unknown in Judea at the time David wrote (c. 1030 B.C.). Stoning was the traditional method of execution among the Jews, with crucifixion and/or impalement being the method of capital punishment for the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks (especially by Alexander the Great), and Romans, who all rose to power in later centuries. Only by supernatural inspiration could David have described the agonies of dying in a way totally unknown in his culture. Finally, like Christ, David describes his clothes being gambled for by his persecutors (verse 18). Part of Psalm 22:16 has long been controversial because Jews use a different reading which avoids its obvious application to the sufferings of Christ: "They pierced my hands and my feet." The Hebrew (Masoretic) text has "like a lion" in place of "they pierced," which produces this unlikely reading: "like a lion my hands and feet." Since these two readings are based upon changing one similarly shaped final consonant for another in the Hebrew word in question, evidently some long ago scribe mistakenly took one for another. Importantly, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, made some time before Jesus was born (c. 250-100 B.C.), does contain the reading "they pierced." Along with the witness of the Syriac and Latin translations of the Old Testament, this shows "they pierced" was the original text, not "like a lion." The Suffering of Isaiah 52-53 points to an individual, not Israel Undeniably, the most specific prophecy of Jesus' first coming is Isaiah 52:13-53:12. This passage, the fourth of Isaiah's "servant songs," describes the "mournful Messiah" who died for the sins of others in a vicarious, substitutionary atonement. Notice Isaiah 53:4-5, 10, 11: "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him . . . But the Eternal was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering. . . . My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities." Notice that the Servant does not just suffer because of others directly attacking or injuring Him (verse 7), but He takes on their sins and bears them in their place. Just as an animal sacrificed in a guilt offering bore symbolically the sin of the individual human in question, although it (the animal) had done nothing wrong, so does the Suffering Servant, who (verse 8) "had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth," yet He died for others. Nowadays Jews normally maintain that this section of Scripture speaks of Israel. But this view didn't become widespread among them until the thirteenth century A.D., such as due to the influence of the eleventh-century rabbi called RASHI. Anciently, as attested by Jewish writings such as more than one Targum (paraphrases of the Old Testament), the Talmud (the encyclopedic collection of Jewish law and tradition completed by the fifth century A.D.), and the Midrashim (commentaries on the Old Testament), this part of Isaiah was seen as Messianic. The ancient Jewish viewpoint was correct, since the language of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is very personal and singular in its references to the Servant by its use of "he," "him," etc. Very importantly, the servant is distinguished from Israel when Isaiah writes that the "iniquity of US [Isaiah's nation] all [fell] on HIM" (verse 6). Then notice this (verse 8): "HE was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of MY PEOPLE to whom the stroke was due." When carefully examined, calling this section of Isaiah a parabolic description of Israel simply isn't persuasive. The Seventy Weeks Prophecy shows the Messiah came by the First Century Finally, let's notice the Seventy Weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27. While it is difficult to interpret with full certainty, the fact remains that it proves the Messiah had to appear by the first century A.D. By using the day-for-a-year principle (Numbers 14:33-34; Ezekiel 4:4-6), we know that the 7 weeks and the 62 weeks amount to 483 years (verse 25) "from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince." Counting 483 years from the time king Artaxerxes of Persia issued a decree (457 B.C.), while skipping the year "0" since there was no such thing, comes out to A.D. 27. This last year was the first year of Jesus' public ministry, since He was crucified in A.D. 31 after a ministry of three and a half years. While one can argue and dispute about the exact year of Jesus' birth (such as whether it was 4 B.C. or 2 B.C.) or death (A.D. 30, 31, 33), or which decree by which Persian king to start from (Cyrus, 537 B.C. ; Darius, c. 519 B.C. ; etc.), the fact remains that Daniel has the Messiah appearing by the first century. To maintain the Messiah is still only in the future, centuries and centuries after the 69 weeks have expired, is simply absurd, when using one part of the Bible to interpret another part by the day-for-a-year principle. The Old Testament clearly prophesies of a "mournful messiah"--predictions fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth in the first century A.D. We must not let the Old Testament images of the Conquering Messiah who ushers in utopia blind us to how the Messiah also came to die for humanity's sins. The Messianic prophecies simply were not going to be fulfilled all at once, since this would involve manifest contradictions. Scripture portrays the Messiah in two very different ways, as both exalted and humble. In the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a), one rabbi attempted to explain how the Messiah would appear in the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13) yet also be "poor and riding upon a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). He said if Israel was worthy, it would be the former, but if unworthy, the latter! Hence, early in Jesus' ministry, He quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2 (in Luke 4:18-19), but suddenly stopped quoting Isaiah where it would not be fulfilled until the second coming (verse 2): "the day of vengeance of our God." May we not emphasize the Conquering Messiah so much that we forget the Mournful Messiah who died for our sins! Rachmiel Frydland, What the Rabbis Know About the Messiah (Cincinnati, OH: Messianic Publishing Co., 1993). Moishe Rosen, Y'shua: The Jewish Way to Say Jesus (Chicago: Moody Press, 1982). James Smith, What the Bible Teaches About the Promised Messiah (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993). Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Volume 1: Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith (San Bernardino, CA: Here's Life Publishers, 1979), pp. 141-177. |
