Major Prophets · Chapter 53 of 66

Isaiah 53

Isaiah describes the suffering servant: despised and rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, from whom people hid their faces. Yet he bore our griefs and was wounded for our transgressions; by his stripes we are healed. Like straying sheep we went astray, and the Lord laid our iniquity on him. Silent as a lamb led to slaughter, he was cut off for his people, pouring out his soul to death and bearing the sin of many.

What happens in Isaiah 53

Isaiah asks who has believed the report, then unveils the servant's story. He grows up unremarkable, a tender plant from dry ground, with no beauty to attract, despised and rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. Isaiah confesses that observers misjudged him, thinking him struck by God, when in fact he bore their griefs and carried their sorrows. He was wounded for their transgressions and crushed for their iniquities; the punishment that brought them peace fell on him, and by his stripes they are healed.

All had gone astray like sheep, and the Lord laid on the servant the iniquity of them all. Oppressed and afflicted, he did not open his mouth, silent as a lamb led to slaughter. Cut off from the living for his people's transgression, buried with the rich though guiltless, it pleased the Lord to make his soul an offering for sin. Afterward he sees his offspring, is satisfied, justifies many, and intercedes for transgressors.

Isaiah 53 in context

This is the fourth and greatest of Isaiah's Servant Songs, written centuries before Jesus, describing a righteous servant who suffers and dies not for his own sins but for others, and is afterward vindicated. Its stunning detail led the early church, and Jesus himself, to read it as a portrait of the Messiah's atoning death.

It remains one of the clearest windows in the Old Testament onto the meaning of the cross.

Main themes of Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53 (KJV)

1Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2For 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. 3He 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. 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5But 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. 6All 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. 7He 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. 8He 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. 9And 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. 10Yet 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. 11He 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. 12Therefore 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.

Verses to carry from Isaiah 53

“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

“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.”Isaiah 53:5

“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.”Isaiah 53:6

Reflection

Read Isaiah 53 slowly and let its repeated words sink in: our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions, our iniquities. The servant's suffering was not for himself but for you. If you have carried guilt alone, hear that the Lord laid it on him. What he bore, you no longer have to carry.

A prayer from Isaiah 53