ISAIAH LESSON 22

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GOD’S RIGHTEOUS SERVANT

Isaiah 52:13–53:12
Memorise God’s Word for the week: Isaiah 53:4-5.

Discuss review questions from the previous lesson.

DAY 1: ISAIAH 52:13-15—GOD’S HONOURED SERVANT

1. From 52:13, what does Isaiah say will happen to God’s servant?

2. The Hebrew words for “high and lifted up” used in 52:13 are the same ones as in 6:1. What insight
does this give you into the exaltation that will come to this servant?

3. Why would “many” be “astonished” at the servant?

4. According to Isaiah 52:15, what would God’s servant do for many nations?

DAYS 2 AND 3: ISAIAH 53:1-6—THE SUFFERING OF GOD’S SERVANT

5. What questions did Isaiah ask, according to 53:1?

6. From Isaiah 53:2-3, describe God’s servant in your own words. How would people respond to Him?

7. How would you describe the difference between what people thought was happening to the servant
(53:3-4) and what was actually happening (53:5-6)?

8. What part did we play in the servant’s suffering (Isaiah 53:6; see also 1 Peter 2:24-25)? What is
your personal response to this truth about our part in it?

Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV®. Copyright© 2001
by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 ISAIA
HOME STUDY QUESTIONS FOR LESSON 22 2 H

DAY 4: ISAIAH 53:7-9—THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF GOD’S SERVANT

9. The New Testament writers referred to prophecies in Isaiah 53:7-9 that were fulfilled in Jesus’ trial,
crucifixion, and burial. Using the chart that follows, connect the details from Isaiah’s prophecies
with their fulfillment in Matthew 27:12-60 by writing (in the right column) what happened to Jesus.
Isaiah’s Prophecy Matthew’s Account
Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was Matthew 27: 12-14
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; ... like a
sheep that before its shearers is silent.”

Isaiah 53:8: “By oppression and judgement he Matthew 27:21-26

was taken away.”

Isaiah 53:7-8: “Like a lamb that is led to the Matthew 27:28-31

slaughter, ... [He was] stricken for the transgres-
sion of my people.”

Isaiah 53:9: “They made his grave with the Matthew 27:38
wicked.”

Isaiah 53:9: “They made his grave ... with a rich Matthew 27:57-60
man in his death.”

10. How does seeing all of this fulfilled prophecy support your faith?

DAY 5: ISAIAH 53:10-12—THE COMPLETED WORK OF GOD’S SERVANT

11. From 53:10, what two things do you learn about “the will of the LORD”?

12. Why was it God’s will for Jesus to suffer and die (Isaiah 53:10-11; see also John 3:16; Romans 5:6-11)?

13. What did God mean when He said that the righteous servant would “make many to be accounted
right-eous” (Isaiah 53:11)?

14. The servant’s suffering is not the end of the story. How would you describe the future that awaits Him
(Isaiah 53:10-12; see also Philippians 2:7-11)?

DAY 6: PARTICIPATE IN CLASS

APPLY what you have learned. Isaiah 53:6 begins and ends with the same word: all. Because
we’ve all strayed like sheep and gone our own way, God laid on Jesus all our sins. Psalm 53:3
shares the same thought: “They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is
none who does good, not even one.” Each one of us is guilty! So Jesus died for us ... and for our
neighbour ... and for our neighbour’s neighbour. It’s a message we all need to hear. Most of us
hear it more clearly when we hear it from another person. Whom do you know who needs the story
of the Saviour’s payment for their sin?

 ISAIAH 3 COMMENTARY FOR LESSON 22

DAY 7: GOD’S RIGHTEOUS SERVANT

Isaiah 52:13–53:12
THE SERVANT’S WORK (ISAIAH 52:13–53:2) The promise of the servant’s exaltation (see 52:13) is
followed by a description of His humiliation: “Many were astonished at you.” The Hebrew text reads
“appalled at you.” Grammatically, it can be understood as referring to Israel. Historically, many
people were horrified at the Israelites’ captivity. But probably the best understanding of this verse
points to the similarity between the God’s chosen nation exiled and the Lord’s Servant killed. How-
ever, Israel would suffer for sin, whereas the servant would be sinless.
Two questions highlight the difficulty of believing in God’s servant: “Who has believed what he has
heard from us?” and “To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (53:1). “The arm of the LORD”
alludes to God’s rescuing power (see 51:9; 52:10-12). In the context of 53:1, the servant himself can also
be seen as the Lord’s arm or God’s power embodied. This strong servant would grow like a tender plant
“before him,” in the presence of God and in dependence on Him. Jesus fits this description, because,
throughout His life, He maintained an intimate relationship with the Father. Jesus said, “My food is to do
the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34).

THE SERVANT’S SUFFERING (ISAIAH 53:3-6) Although many acclaimed Jesus for a time during His
earthly ministry, Israel’s religious leaders and many of the people belittled and denounced Him. The
statement “And we esteemed him not” emphasises that the people would reject God’s chosen
servant.
The servant would bear “our griefs and [carry] our sorrows” (verse 4). The verse contrasts what the
servant would do with what people would think of it. Many, including the disciples, misunderstood
Jesus’s death, thinking He was a condemned man under God’s judgment. Many still reject God’s
chosen servant’s wise action (see 52:13) of dying on the cross.
The servant’s physical suffering would be related to “our transgressions” and “iniquities” (53:5).
“Pierced” and “crushed,” the servant would endure the “chastisement” sinners deserve so that they
may have “peace.” This servant, of course, is Jesus, Messiah. He bore our grief and carried our
sorrow. He suffered and was punished for our sin and rebellion. And He was be wounded for our
healing.
The Hebrew word for “healed” comes from the root word rapha, which is used to describe God’s
mercy toward various kinds of suffering. When Jesus healed and delivered the multitudes, He
fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy: “‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases’” (Matthew 8:17;
compare to Isaiah 53:4-5).
The apostle Peter quoted Isaiah 53 in the context of forgiveness of sin—spiritual healing. The Messi-ah
cares about every pain or sorrow. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to
sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but
have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:24-25).

The analogy of straying sheep aptly illustrates our inclination to ignore God to follow our own de-
sires. Once we refuse the Shepherd’s good leading, we end up lost, trapped in briars, or threatened by
wolves. But because of His love for the people whom He had created, God would cause the punish-
ment for their “iniquity” to fall on the suffering servant, our Good Shepherd.
THE SERVANT’S DEATH AND BURIAL (ISAIAH 53:7-9) The prophesied servant “opened not his mouth.” All
four Gospels recount Jesus’s silence before accusers (see Matthew 27:12-14; Mark 15:5; Luke 23:9; John
19:9). How appropriate to compare the servant to a lamb to be slaughtered or a sheep to be sheared: John
the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). Peter called Christ “a lamb without blemish or
spot” (1 Peter 1:19). The idea of a substitute sacrifice would have been familiar to
Isaiah’s audience. They were used to offering God lambs as atonement for their sins.

 COMMENTARY FOR LESSON 22 4 ISAIAH

THINK ABOUT the power of Scripture—even a small portion of it. Acts 8:26-40 tells us that an Ethiopian
official was reading what we now know as Isaiah 53:7-8 when the Lord sent Philip to him. After Philip
explained that this passage refers to Jesus, the official wanted to be baptised. Philip baptised him and
then disappeared, and the official “went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39). The Ethiopian probably told
many people in his nation about Jesus, all because the Holy Spirit enabled him to understand the truth of
just a couple of verses.

Another statement connects the servant to Jesus: “They made his grave with the wicked and with a
rich man in his death” (Isaiah 53:9). In the original language, “the wicked” is plural. Jesus’s burial
fulfilled the unusual circumstances prophesied of the servant’s burial. Jesus, crucified with two
thieves, normally would have been buried beside them in a common grave or perhaps even left un-
buried according to Roman custom. But Jesus was not buried in the grave assigned to evildoers,
because Joseph, “a rich man from Arimathea ... asked for the body of Jesus” (Matthew 27:57-58) and
buried Him “in his own new tomb” (Matthew 27:60). The servant who would die in this way “had
done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9). Jesus exhibited a flawless
character during His earthly life.
THINK ABOUT how Jesus suffered at the very hands of those He came to save. Yet, He forgave them
and asked His Father to do the same (see Luke 23:34). God would have Christ’s followers “forgiving one
another, as God in Christ forgave [them]” (Ephesians 4:32). When you have trouble forgiving someone,
tell God why you are struggling. Pour out your feelings and thoughts to Him, and then receive His
perspective, insight, and care. What you can’t do alone, you can do “through him who strengthens [you]”
(Philippians 4:13).

THE SERVANT’S MISSION FULFILLED (ISAIAH 53:10-12) A shocking statement is in the description of
the servant’s humiliation: “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him.” And why? Because “his
soul makes an offering for guilt.” This servant’s sacrifice would be substitutionary. His voluntarily
giving himself as a ransom would fulfil the Old Testament sacrificial system.
Having given his life to “make many ... righteous,” the righteous servant would live again. By
providing atonement for sin, the servant would defeat the enemy’s power and then share this victory
with others. Jesus has triumphed over the enemy. The gospel turns people from Satan’s power to
God’s. By faith in Jesus, they are forgiven and sanctified (see Acts 26:18).
And, like the servant of Isaiah 53:12, Jesus “makes intercession for the transgressors.” Romans
8:34 says that Jesus continues interceding for us as His children.
PERSONALISE this lesson. If we engage with the passage from this lesson at all, we realise it demands a
practical response. While there are theological truths here, the words also speak to us personally about Jesus. If
we have accepted His atoning sacrifice for our sins, reading of “the anguish of His soul” is like read-ing of the
suffering of a loved one or a family member. If we have not accepted His atoning work on our behalf, this passage
brings the question front and centre: Since this is what He’s done for you, how will you respond? Read this lesson’s
passage again, slowly. This time, take in the words and let them affect you. Then talk to God about how they affect
you.

REVIEW: GOD’S RIGHTEOUS SERVANT

15. What new insights have you had about Jesus’s death on the cross?