Isaías 53

Isaías 53

Vernon McGee comments that Isaiah 53 is so to speak "A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE CROSS. Those who are acquainted with God’s Word realize that the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and the 22nd Psalm give us a more vivid account of the crucifixion of Christ than is found elsewhere in the Bible. This may be a shock to many who are accustomed to think that the four Gospels alone describe the sad episode of the horrible death of the Son of God. If you will examine carefully the Gospel account, you will make the discovery that only a few unrelated events connected with the crucifixion are given and that the actual crucifixion is passed over with reverent restraint. The Holy Spirit has drawn the veil of silence over that cross, and none of the lurid details are set forth for the curious mob to gaze and leer upon. It is said of the brutal crowd who murdered Him, that they sat down and watched Him. You and I are not permitted to join that crowd. Even they did not see all, for God placed over His Son’s agony the mantle of darkness. Some sensational speakers gather to themselves a bit of notoriety by painting, with picturesque speech, the minutest details of what they think took place at the crucifixion of Christ. Art has given us the account of His death in ghastly reality. You and I will probably never know, even in eternity, the extent of His suffering. (Commentary on Isaiah 53) None of the ransomed ever knew How deep were the waters crossed, Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed Ere He found His sheep that was lost. William Kelly says that the “The more modern writers, who dread the ancient application of the prophecy to the Messiah by their fathers, have invented a double means of escape, either by applying it to some distinguished man like Josiah or Jeremiah, or to the Jewish people elsewhere styled "My servant" in the prophecy. But in vain. This section is so punctually and exclusively applicable to our Lord that these efforts only prove the will of unbelief and its failure. In the beginning of chap. 49. we have already seen Christ, the Servant substituted for Israel who had been altogether wanting. We have seen in chap. 1. that the godly Jews are exhorted to obey the voice of this Servant of Jehovah, humbled though He has been among men, but vindicated of God, and indeed He Himself is God. (Commentary) David Thompson - What is most interesting is something that Drs. Keil and Delitsch picked up on, and that is, even those Jewish rabbis who believed it did refer to the Messiah yet to come, missed the fact that He already did come (Isaiah, Vol. 7, p. 303). Jonathan Ben Uziel says in his Jewish commentary that he thought that this section referred to the Messiah yet to come (F. C. Jennings, Studies in Isaiah, p. 612). So even those, who believe this does refer to the Messiah, can’t seem to realize God’s Messiah did come to Jerusalem and was crucified there. Most modern day Jewish teachers totally disregard this text as referring to the Messiah and do not teach it to the people of Israel. The effect is that most in the nation Israel are blind concerning Jesus Christ. However, any honest exegetical approach to this text clearly shows that this is an amazing prediction of precisely what would happen to Jesus Christ. As Keil and Delitsch say it is like Isaiah is writing this sitting “beneath the cross upon Golgotha”. (Sermon) Augustine on Isaiah 53 - “It is not a prophecy, it is a gospel.” Polycarp on Isaiah 53 - “The Golden Passional of the Old Testament. Martin Luther said of Isaiah 52:13-53:12, “Every Christian ought to be able to repeat it by heart.” (Are you as convicted as I am? I have only memorzed two verses and they are "hazy!") (See Memorize the Word) An anonymous German scholar wrote of Isaiah 53 - “It looks as if it had been written beneath the cross of Golgotha....Many an Israelite has had it melt the crust of his heart (ED: PROBABLY A REASON RABBIS DO NOT ALLOW IT TO BE READ IN THE SYNAGOGUE! cf Heb 4:12-13+) ....This chapter is the most central, the deepest and the loftiest thing that Old Testament prophecy outstripping itself has ever achieved." David