Messianic Prophesy—Interpreting Isaiah 53

This passage is one of the most obvious sections of messianic prophesy in the Old Testament. It contains the entire gospel message. It starts out with the characteristics of Jesus, the messiah: “no stately form or majesty,” unattractive (v. 2), “despised and forsaken…acquainted with grief” (v. 3). It was prophesied that he would bear the weight of our sin (v. 4, 5, 8 ) which is suffering and death (Rom 6.23) and that through His suffering, we would be “healed” from our sins (v. 5). The mercy of God is presented in verse 6; none deserve to be saved, but still Jesus died for us. Jesus did the will of God even though in flesh he did not want to (v. 7). This parallels the emotions of Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane. He would suffer the death of a criminal, crucifixion, even though He did not deserve it (v. 9). Verse 10 parallels John 3.16 in that God loved mankind so much that He was willing to humble Himself; to suffer life on earth and death on the cross for us. Verse 11 outlines atonement, that God was pleased by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in order to pay the wage for sins. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we will receive an inheritance in the kingdom of God (v. 12).

This is just a brief outline of the ideas in this passage. It is exactly the way that it was understood by Philip, Peter and Jesus Himself. (See Mark 10:45, Acts 8:30–35, and 1 Peter 2:21–25)

There are two applications to take away from this.

1. The OT is completely consistent with the NT. As Paul wrote, “All scripture is God breathed…” (2 Tim 3.16). This passage is a strengthening of faith for Christians because it so accurately parallels the Gospel account and therefore is true biblical prophesy.

2. We can use this passage for evangelism just like Philip did in Acts 8.30-35. It is useful today to explaining the nature of sacrifice and the sufficient payment for sins that was provided by Jesus’ death on the cross.

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