The third verse of Isaiah states:
"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. "
The noun "sorrows" in Isaiah 53:3 is Strong's Concordance # 4341, mak'owb, mak-obe and means to feel pain, anguish, affliction. According to Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon when applied to the this passage of Isaiah 53, both physical and mental pain are meant.
Isaiah 53:3 confirms a previous prophecy in Isaiah 49:7:
"Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, to the despised One, to the One abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers, kings will see and arise, princes will also bow down, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."
A New Testament fulfillment of Isaiah 53:3 can be found in Luke 18:31-33:
"Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked, and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again."
These verses affirm that Jesus Himself knew He was and is the Messiah.
Isaiah 53:4 finds fulfillment in the New Testament in Matthew 8:17:
"This was to fulfill what was spoken though Isaiah the prophet: 'He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.'"
Since Isaiah 53:5 contains the core meaning of this chapter it has been divided into four pieces. The entire verse reads:
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5, KJV).
The Amplified Bible renders this verse:
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole."
1) "But he was wounded for our transgressions"
The word transgressions is Strong's Concordance # 6588, pesha peh'-shah; a revolt (national, moral or religious)-- rebellion, sin, transgression, trespass. This verse clearly tell us that us that Jesus died for every national, moral and/or religious sin ever committed throughout the entire panorama of human history.
John 19:34 tells us more about the wounds Jesus suffered:
"But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out."
See also Psalms 22:16 and Zechariah 12:10.
2) "He was bruised for our iniquities"
The word bruised Strong's Concordance # 1792, is daka' or daw-kaw, means to crumble, bruise, to beat to pieces, crush, destroy, humble or oppress. The word translated iniquities means perversity of the moral kind, mischief, punishment (of iniquity) and sin. See also Romans 4:25 and 1 Corinthians 15:3.
3) "The chastisement for our peace was upon him"
Chastisement (#4148 in Strong's Concordance) means to chastise literally with blows. Hebrews 12 tells us why God chastens or corrects:
"And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, my son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him; for those whom the lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." (Hebrews 12:5-8, 10-11)
Jesus was chastened or disciplined, not because He deserved it, but to reconcile us to God the Father. See also Hebrews 5:8.
4) "With his stripes we are healed and made whole"
Other Bible verses help us understand the 'stripes' or abuse Jesus endured for our sakes:
" I gave My back to those who strike Me, and my cheeks to those whose pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting." (Isaiah 50:6)
"Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped [margin: beat Him with rods] Him,
and said, 'Prophesy to us, You Christ, who is the one who hit You?' " (Matthew 26:67-68)
"and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." (1 Peter 2:24)
Note that Peter asserts that our "healing" has already been accomplished.
Isaiah 53:6 has its fulfillment in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Isaiah 53:7 reads:
"He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth."
This scripture is quoted in the New Testament where we find the Ethiopian eunuch reading:
"Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: 'He was led as a sheep to slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearers is silent, so He does not open His mouth.' " (Acts 8:32)
Isaiah 53:8 finds its fulfillment in Matthew 27:
"Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And Jesus said to him, "It is as you say." And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"
"But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death.
But the governor said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." PIlate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Crucify Him!" An he said, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they kept shouting all the more, saying, "crucify Him!"
"When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this Man's blood; see to that yourselves." And all the people said, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!" Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified." (Matthew 27:11-13, 20-26)
The word death in Isaiah 53:9 is in the intensive tense in the Greek, which means that Jesus died many deaths. Isaiah 53:9 is also fulfilled in Matthew 27:
"When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away." (Matthew 27:57-60)
Isaiah 53:10 is summed up in Romans 3:25:
"whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation [margin: a propitiatory sacrifice] in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God, He passed over the sins previously committed. "
In Isaiah 53:11 the word translated anguish means toilsome labor. Other scriptures relevant to this passage are John 10:14-18, Philippians 2:8 and Romans 5:1-19.
Isaiah 53:12 includes the phrase, "And He was numbered with the transgressors" which leads us to the New Testament scripture where Jesus attests that this prophesy is fulfilled in Him:
"For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, 'and he was numbered with transgressors'; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment." (Luke 22:37)
The perfect sacrifice of Jesus, which words can never adequately describe, must ever be the one unifier in our walk for Him.
Written By: Tommy West
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