Isaiah's Prophecy of the Messiah
The prophet Isaiah lived 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, but God allowed him to see into the future. Through this prophetic vision, Isaiah described a man who would come into the world and who would be like no other man who ever lived.
Isaiah gave prophetic witness to events that would alter the course of history. The implications of this prophecy are still changing lives today.
As you read line by line through Isaiah’s prophecy, ask yourself, “what does this mean for me?”
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? (Is. 53:1)
Most men have no trouble believing that there is a God but the God they believe in has little influence on their day-to-day lives. The prophet begins his prophecy by expressing frustration that very few men seek out or hear God’s word.
Who has believed the word of the Lord, he asks? For 2,000 years, evangelists have gone out into all the world seeking men who will turn to Christ. They have gone from house to house and town to town, warning, pleading, but as of yet, very few have turned to the Lord in truth. The world goes on in its sin and rebellion against God.
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. (Is. 53:2)
God revealed things to Isaiah about his Son that we find nowhere else in scripture. None of the gospel accounts record anything about Jesus’ physical appearance. We learn these facts from a man who lived many centuries before Jesus was born.
The Lord did not have anything outward that would attract man to him. To see the beauty in Christ, men would have to hear him.
And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? (Luke 4:22)
When they heard his words, some saw the wonders of this God-man who was dwelling among them.….Never man spake like this man. (John 7:46 (b))
He spoke ‘gracious words’ that gave them hope and helped them peer into the mind of God. His words cut through the hypocrisy and corruption that they heard from their own religious leaders. His words caused them to see their holy heritage in a fresh and living way.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)
Isaiah also gives us some spiritual insight to the time of Christ’s birth.
He is described as a root out of dry ground because the nation of Israel in the time of Christ was spiritually dead and dry. They were lifeless. The Jews had turned the truth of God into ritualism and formalism. They did not have a living relationship with their God. What about you? Do you have a relationship with the living God?
We hear that ‘Jesus was born in a manger.’ That’s not what scripture says. The Bible says three times that people found the baby Jesus ‘lying in a manger.’
Most people think that a manger is a small building that is used to keep sheep or cows, but a manger is a feeding trough. Christ was lying in the trough that sheep or cattle ate from. That’s the best this world could come up with for the son of God.
The kings of this world have sumptuous beds and palaces, but the holy king of heaven had no such pleasant surroundings.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)
Jesus was despised by many, even as a boy. In an earlier prophecy, Isaiah had foretold of a Messiah who would be born of a virgin (Is. 7:14). But the Jews of Jesus' day believed that Jesus was the child of an immoral relationship.
When they said to him, "We be not born of fornication," they did not completely finish the thought, but the implication was clear. (Jn. 8:41)
He was despised by his own nation and in his own home.
His own family questioned his statements.
For neither did his brethren believe in him. (John 7:5)
Those closest to him thought he had lost his mind.
And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself. (Mark 3:21)
During his brief ministry, his own people tried to stone him. They tried to push him off the brow of the hill in his hometown. They conspired against him. And for what?
He laid bare their sin and we do not like to have our sin exposed. (John 3:19)
But he didn't just show them their spiritual nakedness, he offered them the hope of eternal salvation. To lay claim to that hope, they would simply have to accept Him for who He is. Most refused to do that. Most still do.
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24)
By the time of his crucifixion, all had fled from him and turned away from him, including Peter who denied him three times in front of the world. Truly, he was despised and rejected. The prophet told us before he came on this earth that he would be ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.’
Jesus told us of his agony of mind and heart over his own nation and their hard-hearted rejection of their God. He did not grieve for himself. His grief was not the self-pity we see in small people.
He grieved for those around him, those who refused to receive him as savior. He knew their eternal fate. Perhaps that describes you.
Isaiah said that we ‘hid…our faces from him.’ Men are still turning their face away from Christ.
This world had no appreciation for the son of God. They did not esteem him in his day and they do not esteem him today. For most people living in this world, everything is more important to them than what Jesus Christ did on their behalf.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Is. 53:4)
From the point of view of his own people, he suffered because he was a blasphemer. They accused him of making himself equal with God and he agreed with them. (John 5:18)
For that reason, the Jews believed, he was smitten of God. They believed that God had taken vengeance on him for his blasphemies, and they were all too happy to see him gone.
All of these prophecies about Christ’s demeanor, appearance and coming to earth bring us to the very reason he came. The sweetest part of this entire prophecy is found in the next verse. This is the doctrine that sets Christ apart from every other pretender who has ever offered himself to the world as a savior.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Is. 53:5)
All of our sins are forgiven the minute we take him as our own.
Isaiah said that the chastisement of our peace was upon him. What does that mean? It means that the rod of discipline and judgment that should have fallen on us fell on Christ. This makes it possible for us to have peace with God through Him.
What King would stoop to die for his subjects? What Creator would give his life for his creation? What righteous person would suffer for the wicked?
Only Jesus Christ has ever claimed this! Do we even realize how much he humbled himself for each one of us? As he was bearing the lash of that horrible whip, he was laying his life down for his friends. We are healed by his stripes, which are symbolic of his suffering and death.
All of us have done things that we are ashamed of. All of us have sins that we wish we had never committed. Every person has secrets that they hope no other person ever finds out.
All the things that we keep hidden are open and known to God.
Isaiah said that Jesus Christ was wounded for those very things. His crucifixion and death was payment for our sins.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Is. 53:6)
Does this not perfectly describe us? We are like sheep that have left their shepherd. That is a very unnatural thing for sheep to do. Sheep know their shepherd and they will follow as he leads. Not us.
We are rebellious and wicked sheep that go away from our caretaker. We go away from the one that feeds us. We flee our own mercy and help. Some men live every day of their lives with little or no thought for God.
We think we can take care of ourselves. We have turned to our own ways, and our own ways are futile. Our ways lead us down dark and confusing paths where there is no light to light our way.
But even as we are going away from the good shepherd, the Lord has taken our sins on Himself. He is calling for us to come back to Him and be forgiven.
Even though Isaiah lived centuries before Christ, he was given special insight into the events of the crucifixion. He tells us how Christ faced his accusers.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Is. 53:7)
It is interesting that Isaiah describes us a sheep that have gone astray, and in the very next verse describes Jesus as a lamb that was taken to slaughter. He became like us so that he could carry our sin.
Isaiah said that he went to the slaughter quietly and without argument. Isaiah’s prophecy is in perfect agreement with eyewitness accounts from the day of his crucifixion.
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. (John 19:1-9)
His silence in the face of these accusations amazed his captors.
And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled. (Mark 15:3-5)
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (Is. 53:8)
Pilate, the man with all the power in the world to either condemn him or deliver him out of their hands, said “I find no fault in him.”
He was guiltless. But he was taken from judgment to the crucifixion. He was cut off from the land of the living.
Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. (John 19:10-18)
Christ will never come into this world again as a man. He came only once to walk and talk and eat with us. To instruct us.
We treated him worse than we treat any criminal. Barabbas, the murderer and rabble-rouser, was deemed better company for wicked men than Jesus was. (Matt. 27:20)
We would rather have a Barabbas dwelling among us than God.
So, with vile human hands, we took the one innocent man who ever walked this earth and crucified him.
They say that crucifixion is one of the most horrible deaths you can die. For six hours, Christ was on the cross in horrible agony. Because of the way he was hanging, with huge spikes through his hands and feet, he would have to shift up and down just to draw breath.
As he moved, those horrible wounds on his back would be pressed against that rough, splintered wood. Before his crucifixion he was beaten to a bloody pulp by the Romans and the Jews.
And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands. (Mark 14:65)
Isaiah 52:14 tell us that he was so beaten that he was almost unrecognizable…. “his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:”
And then they gave him a crown of thorns and a purple robe, symbols of their mockery. Those thorns dug deep into his brow as they beat him and mocked him. They did this to the very son of God!
And while they were doing it, God held his peace. That is one of the most amazing aspects of the entire crucifixion: That God in his righteousness, goodness and holiness, had to look down on his beloved son in agony and witness the crimes perpetrated against him by wicked men.
The guilt we bear is incredible. Even if we did not personally take part in the act of crucifying Jesus, our sins are the reason he endured that excruciating death. Our sins sent him to the cross and, therefore, all of us are culpable in his death.
God could have sent legions of angels to rescue his beloved son from the spite and hatred that was poured out on him, but he held his peace that we might be saved.
When the Jews and Romans took him to the cross, God literally turned away from his own son. We hear jeering of the crowd, but God the Father is silent.
And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mt. 27:39-46)
As we see, Christ endured the taunts of wicked man, but the most painful part for Him was separation from the Father. The father forsook him, but just for a moment.
And then he died, and what a scene when he died.
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. (Mt. 27:50-54)
The heavenly Father had held his peace during the crucifixion, but immediately after he died, He caused His creation to erupt. The earth quaked and rolled and the heavy veil of the temple was torn in two. The dead stood up in testimony to the fact that we had crucified the very Son of God.
After these things, they took him down from the cross for his burial. Isaiah saw that, too.
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Is. 53:9-11)
The way men treated Christ on this earth is the way men would treat God in heaven if we could. The world hated Christ, but they hated his Father first.
If it were possible, the rulers of this wicked world would reach up into heaven and pull God down from his throne and crucify him, too.
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. (Ps. 2:1-3)
In spite of that God continues to show mercy to men.
Verse 11 tells us that Christ will bear the iniquities of those who know him. Do you know him?
The final verse of Isaiah 53 tells us that Christ will be glorified for his submission to the Father. In that day, Christ will conquer his enemies and assume His rightful place.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Is. 53:12)
That is the entire prophecy of Isaiah 53. Written in amazing detail, giving a prophetic view of exactly what happened with men crucified the savior of the world.
While it is true that the Father will never again turn his back on the Son, sinful men turn their back on Him every single day.
It doesn’t have to be that way for you. He has come in order that we might have life. He stretches out his hand of mercy to all who will own him as their King and Savior.
Our filthiest sins are known to God, and yet, he offers forgiveness and mercy by offering his own Son in payment for your sin.
Why was Christ crucified? He was crucified for you. Will you receive him today?
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)