Isaiah 53:4-12 (NRSV)
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Verse 4Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. Verse 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. Verse 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Verse 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Verse 8By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. Verse 9They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Verse 10Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Verse 11Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Verse 12Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Devotion
Who is this servant about whom Isaiah writes (vs. 11b)? Isaiah describes the servant at some length, but he does not clearly identify him. It would take several centuries before readers would offer another identification. “Wait a minute,” you say, “Isaiah is speaking in the past tense, which describes something that has already happened.” Good observation. However, when I studied Hebrew under Dr. Stensvaag sixty-eight years ago, he taught us that when the prophets spoke of something that God would do in the future, so confident were they that God would do what he promised, they used the Hebrew mood of the verb that describes completed action. In English, of course, completed action is described by the past tense of the verb. When followers of Jesus read these words from Isaiah, after the suffering, death, and resurrection of their Lord, they identified him as the Suffering Servant of God, of whom Isaish spoke.
Prayer
Holy Spirit of God: Lead us to see in Jesus, not only a savior, but also God, suffering with and for others. Grant that we who are believers walk as Jesus’ representatives for others. Amen.
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