Isaiah’s prophecy, made centuries before the vicarious sacrificial atonement of the Servant was spelled out in such remarkable detail, as we have seen. Isaiah now predicts the Servant’s victory:
After he has suffered, he will see the fruit of his suffering and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)
Jews could not accept that Messiah could die. But death could not hold this Servant of Israel. And the outcomes were absolutely unexpected. The Lord God of the Jews, the God of Abraham, the God of Moses, is the God of surprises, time and time again acting in ways never dreamed of by his people but made known to his prophets, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Zechariah ……
The slain Servant will see the results of his suffering –Isaiah wrote in the future tense. To see the results of his suffering means he will come back to life. Yes, he walked out of the grave, he rose from death. YHWH would not allow his holy one to see corruption! (Psalm 16:8-11).
Isaiah foretold the servant’s sacrifice would mean justification for many, and he will bear their iniquities. This is in the Old Testament, not just the New Testament! It is in the Book of the prophet Isaiah! So the Jewish, Messianic believer, Saul of Tarsus (Paul), the former Pharisee, the former persecutor of the disciples of Jesus, writing with eyes wide open, says …
just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19)
Isaiah continued to prophesy what the results of his suffering would be:
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great and he will divide the spoils with the numerous. Isaiah 53:12a
Again we read Saul in his Letter to the Phillipian believers:
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:9-11. And all this! Why? Because …
because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12b
He said to his disciples just before his suffering: It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’ and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfilment.” Lu 22:36-37
You will recall he was crucified between two criminals—numbered with the transgressors. Can’t you see how extraordinary this all is?
If you have any ears to hear with, then hear for God’s sake! Do not just sit there and harden your heart.
More! Matthew (26:28) records the suffering servant before his ordeal saying . … my blood is poured out for many. No doubt this was said at the third cup taken after supper (the cup of redemption) at the Passover feast with his disciples. Of course this Passover meal would coincide with the night of his arrest by the religious leaders and his sacrifice on the tree with the Temple sacrifices of Pesach. What does Pesach stand for?
The sacrificial lamb dies
Those who obey Yahweh are saved
There is protection from judgment
There is deliverance
Finally, to cap everything off, Isaiah has the miraculous prophetic foresight to declare in the Holy Spirit what he would never appreciate until the new world:
For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12c
Note this is in the past tense! This is all extraordinary, amazing, totally surprising.
Look, reader, you just have to believe in the suffering servant of Israel who the writers of the New Testament had met, touched, heard, learned of him, watched him die and saw him raised from death.
The time you have left is very short. Today if you will hear his voice do not harden your heart.
Ian Thomson 