At Alliance for the Peace of Jerusalem, we affirm Jesus as the promised Jewish Messiah who lived in the land of Israel, which is a necessary, important, and critical part of the gospel narrative. We also affirm the importance of proclaiming this good news to Jewish people, Arabs, and all people groups.[1] One of the ways we can articulate the gospel message is by showing how Jesus fulfills prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures, especially the suffering servant passage of Isaiah 53.
This passage, more than any other in the Hebrew Bible, describes the rejection, suffering, atoning death, and resurrection of the Jewish Messiah. It is the only chapter in the entire Hebrew Scriptures to tie together the death of the Messiah and atonement in the same passage.
In this article, we present the gospel according to Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53 in the New Testament
Isaiah is the most-quoted prophet in the New Testament. In Acts chapter 8, Jesus told Philip to approach the chariot of an Ethiopian eunuch. When Philip drew near, he heard the eunuch reading the scroll of Isaiah:
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? (Isa 53:7–8)
Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The eunuch replied “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me? . . . Please tell me, of whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, of himself or of someone else?” (Acts 8:30–31, 34). Philip then walked him through this portion of the scroll of Isaiah and showed him how it prophesied of Jesus.[2]
So, how did Isaiah prophesy about Jesus?
The Gospel According to Isaiah 53
Isaiah portrayed the Messiah in this passage as a righteous servant who would be rejected by his own people, Israel, and destined to suffer and die vicariously for his people’s sins, rise from the dead, and bring the knowledge of the God of Israel to the Gentile nations. Let’s look at these various gospel elements in Isaiah 53:
Righteous. Isaiah called the servant “the righteous one” (Isa 53:11) and described him as having “done no violence” and without “any deceit in His mouth” (v. 9).
Rejected. Isaiah said this servant would be rejected by his own people, Israel: “He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried;
yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” (v. 3–4). Notice Isaiah, the speaker, says “we,” meaning his people would reject this servant.
Vicarious suffering. This servant would suffer for his people’s sins, and in turn, bring them healing and righteousness by bearing the guilt of their sins upon himself:
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. . . . By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. (vv. 5–6, 11)
Vicarious death. This servant would not only suffer but die for his people’s sins: “He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?” (v. 8).
Resurrection. This servant would not stay dead, but he would rise to see the fruit of his suffering and his spiritual “offspring”: “If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand” (v. 10).
Sprinkle many nations. This servant would not only suffer for Israel’s sins, but also for the sins of the world, resulting in the promotion of the gospel message to the Gentile nations: “Thus He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.” (Isa 52:15). The sprinkling here refers to blood atonement; the Jewish priests would sprinkle the blood of animals on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant to atone for sin. Here, the servant atones even for the sins of Gentile kings and nations through his blood and brings the knowledge of the God of Israel to them.
Jesus, the promised Messiah of the Jewish people, was the only righteous, sinless man in all of history. He came first for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24) and a number of them received him, including his disciples, many zealous for the law (Acts 21:20), and Pharisees like Paul and Nicodemus. He was also rejected by many of His own people (Isa 53:1), suffered Roman scourging, died by crucifixion as an atonement for sin, and rose from the dead. The future will see all of Israel accept their Messiah (Romans 11:26) as they call on him with the words, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:35). And it is also through Jesus’ name the knowledge of the one true God—the God of Israel—has spread throughout the world, leading millions of Gentiles to faith.
To read more about Isaiah 53 and learn answers to counter-arguments, check out the free book, Isaiah 53, by Mitch Glaser.
by Jennifer Miles
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[1] Affirmation #3 and #6, “Our Hope for Peace: A Statement on Israel, the Nations and the Gospel,” Alliance for the Peace of Jerusalem, accessed May 20, 2024, https://allianceforthepeaceofjerusalem.com/statement.
[2] During this time period, there were no chapters and verses, i.e., Isaiah 53; such breaks were added later.
