”Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.“
Isaiah 53:1-12 NLT
This passage, written several generations before Jesus, shows a primary aspect of the Messiah. Whereas in Daniel, he appears as the triumphant Son of Man, here he appears as the Suffering Servant. This messianic figure is a man of constant sorrow. He is a soldier who is falsely accused, but chooses to bear the judgment and full weight of it, knowing that he will one day be vindicated. It is a conscious choice on his part because he has a hope of the future that he clings to. He believes that he will, not only be personally vindicated, but that he will also be able to open the door for the people he loves to be vindicated as well. He is an innocent man, made guilty, for the sake of those he loves. This is the character of God’s champion. He is the one who will be worthy to take the scroll in Revelation. This is the context of the passion of the Christ. It is the forgotten lore of his personhood. He is not an enigmatic and ethereal figure. He would be a man of deep thought and profound actions that flowed from a stalwart heart that was more intent on loving God and others than himself.
