Thoughts on the greatest chapter in the Old Testament!
Dear Friends,
What is the greatest chapter in the Old Testament? Today’s devotional will tell you and give you some good thoughts regarding it. God bless you.
Because of Calvary,
John Janney
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (ESV)
He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions
13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;[a]
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle[b] many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?[c]
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected[d] by men,
a man of sorrows[e] and acquainted with[f] grief;[g]
and as one from whom men hide their faces[h]
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;[i]
when his soul makes[j] an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see[k] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,[l]
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,[m]
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
“This chapter….actually begins in 52:13 where the prophet tells us that the Servant suffered for doing God’s will and yet was highly exalted by the Lord. Humiliation and exaltation, suffering and glory, are key themes in this prophecy.
“Consider the humiliation of His birth and life (vv. 1-3) as well as the humiliation of His trial and His sufferings and death (vv. 4-9). Consider the glory of the salvation He purchased for you on the cross (vv. 10-12). The Father was pleased, not that His Son suffered, but that His sacrifice accomplished eternal salvation. God’s justice was satisfied, and believing sinners can be justified (v. 11; Rom. 3:21-31).
“Consider the pictures of the Savior: a beaten servant (52:13-14), a root (53:2), an innocent lamb (53:7), an offering for sin (53:10), a woman in travail giving birth to spiritual ‘seed’ (53:10-11), and a victorious general (53:12)….
“Yet people still do not believe in Him (v. 1). Instead they despise and reject Him (v. 2) and laugh at the message of the Cross (1 Cor. 1:18-25). But heaven praises the Lamb of God (Rev. 5), and His people on earth glory in His cross (Gal 6:14). Are you among them?”
[Warren W. Wiersbe, With the Word: A Devotional Commentary, (Nashville: Oliver Nelson, 1991), p. 484-485]
