Isaiah Chapter 53 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Isaiah 53:1
Who believes our report? To whom is the arm of ADONAI revealed?
Once again we see the Hebrew word translated as arm but speaking about the son of God and we see the question of who has believed that Yeshua Messiah is the son of God.
Isaiah 53:2
For before him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us.
We see that the suffering servant that is the Messiah came to the earth as a child but the earth was not expecting that kind of arrival. On the outside, this baby was nothing special to look at but he was still the promised Messiah.
Isaiah 53:3
People despised and avoided him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, he was despised; we did not value him.
The people rejected Messiah and showed contempt for him because he did not look like a king. Messiah would see the sickness and sin of the people and it would cause him pain.
Isaiah 53:4–6
In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed. We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet ADONAI laid on him the guilt of all of us.
Although Yeshua Messiah did not sin, he bore the consequences of the sins of Israel as well as all of the sins of the peoples of the world. The punishment for all of the sin of the world fell upon Messiah as all men turned away from following God and followed our own ways.
Isaiah 53:7
Though mistreated, he was submissive - he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth.
This verse speaks to the fact that Messiah was willing to suffer on behalf of the people of the world. He could have called down a host of angels or he could have tried to defend his actions but he did not as he willingly surrendered to the affliction and humiliation.
Isaiah 53:8
After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was taken away; and none of his generation protested his being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment themselves.
We see that the people of Israel did not understand the significance of what was happening with the putting to death of the Messiah. He suffered and died in the place the people of Israel as well as for all of humanity.
Isaiah 53:9–10
He was given a grave among the wicked; in his death he was with a rich man. Although he had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, yet it pleased ADONAI to crush him with illness, to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering. If he does, he will see his offspring; and he will prolong his days; and at his hand ADONAI's desire will be accomplished.
Like other people that die, Messiah was placed in a tomb and it was the tomb of a rich man. We are reminded that this death was not a punishment for his own sin but it was a guilt offering for the people. The result of this guilt offering is the extension of life which is the will of God.
Isaiah 53:11–12
After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction. "By his knowing, my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers. Therefore I will assign him a share with the great, he will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders."
In this passage we see that the guilt offering of Messiah on the cross was sufficient payment for all of the sin and nothing else is required for salvation. We see that it is by knowing and accepting this sacrifice on our behalf that we are made righteous. His righteousness was shared with those who accept his sacrifice.