The Astonishing Messiah

By S. Lewis Johnson, Jr.

Lewis Johnson served as a teaching elder and regularly ministered the Word at Believers Chapel in Dallas, Texas for more than thirty years. During his academic career he held professorships in New Testament and Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. At the time of his death in 2004 he was Professor Emeritus of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Dallas Seminary. Both MP3 files and printed notes of Dr. Johnson’s sermons and theological lectures may be downloaded from the website of the SLJ Institute «www.sljinstitute.net». His recordings may also be downloaded from the Believers Chapel website «www.believerschapeldallas.org/temp/online.htm».

An Exposition Of Isaiah 52:13-15 [1]

Introduction

The most critical problem of life is not the universal prevalence of war and nuclear armaments, nor the increasing violence of the age and its support now from world powers, such as Syria, Libya, and Russia, nor terrorism by militant Islamists, nor the rampant immorality and license of our sex-mad 21st century with its pornography, the AIDS problem, and divorce. It is not the economic problems of the day, such as the national debt, the chronic deficit, and energy shortages. And it is not even the drift to an almost totally consumeristic society, characterized by a pervasive avarice and greed. It is the age-old moral and spiritual problem: How can a just God declare sinful man righteous (cf. Job 9:2)?

The prophet Isaiah, the Old Testament evangelist in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the fourth of the Suffering Servant Songs, called “The Mount Everest of Messianic Prophecy” by a modern Old Testament professor [2] and “the Golden Passional of the Old Testament Evangelist” by an ancient church father (Polycarp), [3] provides a key to the problem. He finds the solution to the problem in the ministry of the Suffering Servant of Jehovah, whom the New Testament identifies as the Lord Jesus Christ.

This identification, however, is not undisputed. Mr. Spurgeon found no problem in seeing the Lord Jesus in the song. He said, “If the Man of Nazareth, the Son of God, be not right visible in these three verses (52:13-15), they are dark as midnight itself.” [4]

Modern scholarship, however, in its treatment of Isaiah follows in the spiritual path of its predecessors who, according to tradition, are said to have martyred Isaiah by sawing him asunder. They have sawn his prophecy asunder, tracing parts of it to another Isaiah, and still other parts to a third Isaiah. Their primary difficulty has to do with the identity of the Servant whose ministry is portrayed here. Not a few answers have been offered. In fact, one well-known Old Testament professor, Ernst Sellin, propounded four different interpretations in his teaching career. [5]

There are a number of well-known opinions regarding the identity of Servant. First, some students have identified the Servant with the nation Israel (cf. 41:8-9; 49:3 [cf. 44:1-2; 45:4; 49:31]). This is the view of many later rabbis, both circumcised and uncircumcised. But, if Israel is the Servant, then the following things must have been true. First, Israel must have been an innocent sufferer. That, of course, cannot be true (cf. 1:4; 42:19, 24; 50:4; 53:8). Second, Israel must have been a voluntary sufferer; but that, in the light of the exile, cannot be true. Third, Israel must have made a substitutionary offering for other nations. Substitution is found about twenty-one times in verses 4 through 8 and 10 through 12. And one might legitimately ask, why, then, has the synagogue in its regular reading omitted this passage? And, further, why is this prophecy called “The Torture Chamber of the Rabbis”?

Second, still others have identified the Servant with a man, with a leper, or a martyr, or with a man such as Isaiah the prophet. [6] Isaiah 6:5 seems to rule this view out, for how could such a sinner be a substitutionary sacrifice in atonement? Isaiah confesses there, “Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’”

We are left then with a third view, namely that the Servant is the Messiah, the God-Man, and ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ. There is strong support for this view. First, it was the view of the ancient rabbis; they thought of the passage as referring to the Messiah. And second, it is the view of the Targum, [7] which has, “my servant, the Messiah,” for the simple “Behold, my servant,” in verse 13 in the opening words of the first strophe of the prophecy. Many of the Midrashim [8] and many late rabbis also refer the passage to the Messiah. And third, it is the view of the New Testament, which applies Isaiah 53 solely to the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke, for example, has the Lord Jesus saying, “For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And he was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment” (Luke 22:37; cf. Isa. 53:12). Cf. John 12:37-38; Acts 8:32-33. We turn now to an exposition of the first strophe of the prophecy, or Isaiah 52:13-15.

Messiah’s Exaltation, Verse 13

Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.

In the preceding context the prophet pictured the departure of Israel from Babylon (cf. v. 12). Now he turns to the One who will make it possible.

A striking feature of the prophecy should be noted. This is the first of the five strophes of the prophecy, and it is the shortest. The strophes increase in length, as if the thought of the prophecy sweeps forward as it develops with fuller, more resistless volume.

The first words of each strophe summarize and entitle the main point. In the case of the initial strophe after the first word of exclamation “Behold,” the words “My Servant will prosper” form not only a summary of the first strophe, in which his exaltation is set forth, but also serve as a theme of the whole prophecy. [9]

The opening “Behold” is God’s “Ecce Homo,” introducing the hero of the prophecy, the One called “My Servant.” [10]

“My Servant” is a title as honorable as it is condescending. He conducts the affairs of the household of God. Thus the title indicates that the Servant is the representative of God, carrying out God’s purposes amid all the hindrances and roadblocks that the powers of evil and sinful man would throw up in the way of their accomplishment. However, since God is unfrustratable in his intentions, the storms and tempests of difficulties and trials that surround the church and its members serve only to illustrate the surpassing wisdom and power of our great Commander. [11]

According to the King James Version, Isaiah says that the Servant shall “deal prudently,” but the Hebrew verb in this context (שָׂכַל [śakal]) is better rendered by “shall prosper” (cf. Jer. 23:5). The point is that he shall deal so wisely that he shall succeed in his work. The sufferings that he endures have a glorious end, although the men of his day, and ours, are unaware of what is transpiring. They are confused, unconvinced, and spiritually blind. They do not see that his sufferings, regarded by them as justified misfortune, shall issue in his glory. The pain of the Suffering Servant is man’s perplexed abhorrence, the stumbling block of humanity, the puzzle of philosophers, and the sorest test of faith. As Paul said, “But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:23). It is only later that believers learn that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and that the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Nietzsche once said, “Success has always been the greatest liar.” [12] That is both true and false concerning the Messiah. In one sense it is true, for in the world’s eyes he was not a success, having died a criminal’s death on a Roman gibbet. However, God has said that the death of that “criminal” is the ground of the defeat of death and the forgiveness of sins for God’s people. In his case, success in his work issued in truth, not a lie. The Captain of our salvation triumphantly effected the new covenant of remission of sins in the blood of the cross. As he himself said, he finished the work that the Father had given him to do (cf. John 17:4).

The final clauses of verse 13 express the Servant’s future exaltation in very suggestive words. The prophet writes, “He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.” The words may be rendered literally something like this: “He shall be raised and lifted up, and be very high.” It is not surprising that commentators have referred the verbs to the Servant’s resurrection, ascension, and session at God’s right hand. It may be better to avoid dogmatism on the point. Ridderbos’ comment is more careful, “With good reason some interpreters have let these words bring to mind Christ’s resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of God.” [13]

Messiah’s Degradation, Verse 14

Just as many were astonished at you, My people, so His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men.

The Cause, Verse 14b

Men tend to think that suffering is misfortune, but for the Servant suffering is his wise action that issues in his glory. Isaiah writes, “His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men.” The appearance of the Servant was appalling to those who saw him. His physical form was disfigured and marred to such an extent that he no longer looked like a man. All human dignity seemed to have vanished.

Men find it difficult to realize that pain and suffering are often God’s means of bringing a deepening understanding of life. Smith has said some good things about this:

All along the history of the world the Sufferer has been the astonishment and stumbling-block of humanity. The barbarian gets rid of him; he is the first difficulty with which every young literature wrestles; to the end he remains the problem of philosophy and the sore test of faith. It is not native to men to see meaning or profit in the Sufferer; they are staggered by him, they see no reason or promise in him. So did men receive this unique Sufferer, this Servant of the Lord. [14]

It is one of the purposes of our Lord’s life to give men a more perceptive view of suffering. “The Marvelous Marring” has done that.

I take it that the marring was that which our Lord suffered in the last days of his passion, particularly in the hours just preceding the cross. A few interpreters have contended that the sufferings were his life sufferings that left him disfigured due to the intense sympathy with men and the intense revulsion that he felt over the sin of men. At any rate, they were the scars of the Warrior Christ, his glory, ironically highlighted by the crown that he wore, the crown of thorns, reminiscent both of his glory and of his bearing of the curse, which the thorns represented (cf. Gen. 3:17-19).

The Effect, Verse 14a

The exaltation is proportionate to his previous humiliation and degradation, producing the effect of which the prophet writes, “Just as many were astonished at you.” The word “astonished” (שָׁמַם [šāmam]) has the force of appalled. Many, seeing the horrible disfigurement of the Servant caused by the violent antipathy to his prophetic proclamation of the truth which reduced him to a figure almost unrecognizable as a man, shall be appalled at him.

They were appalled at his origin—the son of a carpenter, wearing the garments of a peasant. They were appalled at his friends—publicans and sinners. His preaching of sin and atonement through a cross appalled the doctors of his day. They would believe in him, they suggest, if he would come down from the cross; while we believe in him because he would not come down from the cross! We live only by the atonement of the Man with the marred visage, which is so beautiful to us. And as if to top it off, the Servant has sent simple and humble souls over the face of the globe to preach his gospel.

The world reacts in its typical pride. Spurgeon comments:

We would listen if the great minds of our day with dazzling arguments overcame our objections. We would listen if the philosophers in the soothing speech of sweet oratory should conquer our minds by compelling cogency of argument. They would hear Caesar if he would officiate in his purple, but they cannot endure Peter preaching in his fisherman’s coat. [15]

That is the voice of rebellious human pride. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Cor. 1:18).

Messiah’s Manifestation, Verse 15

So he shall startle many nations; Kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate (NRSV; cf. Darby, TEV, NET).

In verse 15 the prophet concludes the first of the five strophes of this fourth song of the Suffering Servant of Jehovah. The “so,” as one can see, is related to the “as” of verse 14. Just as many were appalled at him, so, or in the same manner, many nations shall be sprinkled (or startled) by him.

The meaning of the verb (נָזָה [nāzāh]) rendered by “sprinkle” in a number of translations (KJV, NASB, NIV, HCSB) is not settled. Many commentators prefer the sense of “to startle,” which is also supported by the rendering of the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. It fits the context very well. Many emendations of the text yielding a similar sense have been proposed. [16] Still other interpreters have argued from an Arabic root to an unattested Hebrew root meaning “to startle” or in another tense “to leap.” This would yield the sense, “many nations will leap to their feet (in respect).” [17]

If the meaning “to startle” is correct, then the sense of the text is this: Just as many were appalled at the Servant, so shall many nations be startled by him when he is manifested at his second coming. If the sense of “to sprinkle” is retained, then the reference is to the application of the atonement to many nations at his second advent. At that time many nations shall come to a saving knowledge of him and receive the cleansing from their sins, realizing their sin of past rejection of him.

With some hesitancy I prefer the sense of “to startle,” because the sudden reverential silence of the kings over the fact that they have seen things never told them and learned things they had never heard is in harmony with this meaning. As Mr. Spurgeon says, “O thorn-crowned King of Calvary, kings shall be thy courtiers yet!” [18] And the nations shall cry with the dying Julian the apostate, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!”

Conclusion

The first strophe of this last and most magnificent of the Songs of the Suffering Servant of Jehovah concludes then with the prophecy that they who stumbled at his first coming shall be startled at his second coming when they come to a realization of who he is and what he has accomplished. They shall see what was never told them, and they shall learn what they never heard. In one of the previous songs the prophet wrote, “Princes will also bow down” (cf. 49:7), and that suggests the question by way of application, And what about you, my reader? Have you “learned” what you have not until now heard? Have you seen now what has not been told you?

It would be difficult to find more compelling words than Spurgeon’s, and I will close with them:

Think how wonderful it is that God should become man to suffer in your stead. See if it be reasonable to disbelieve it or right to refuse to love the Savior. There are a thousand reasons why you should rush into his arms and say, “Incarnate Deity, how can I resist thee? Bleeding Omnipotence, how dare I doubt thee? Immortal love, crucified for my sins, I yield myself to thee! I would be thy servant for ever.” [19]

Notes

1. This is article seven in a twelve-part series, “Anticipations of the Messiah in the Old Testament.”
2. Kyle Yates, Preaching from the Prophets (Nashville: Broadman, 1942), 102.
3. Polycarp is quoted by Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, trans. James Martin (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1877; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 2:303.
4. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “The Sure Triumph of the Crucified One,” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit (reprint ed., Pasadena: Pilgrim Publications, 1971), 21:241.
5. Ernst Sellin supported four different interpretations of the prophecy during his Old Testament teaching career in Germany. If he had lived longer and had seen some of the modern ones, he probably would have added a few others to his list of prophetic speculations on this section of Isaiah. Cf. Edward J. Young, Isaiah Fifty-Three: A Devotional and Expository Study (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951), 63-64.
6. Harry Orlinsky is an example of a modern interpreter who has claimed that the Servant is Isaiah himself. See Harry M. Orlinsky, “The So-Called ‘Servant of the Lord’ and ‘Suffering Servant’ in Second Isaiah,” in Harry M. Orlinsky and Norman N. Snaith, Studies on the Second Part of the Book of Isaiah, VTSup 14 (Leiden: Brill, 1967): 92 and passim.
7. Ed. note: The Targum was an Aramaic translation or paraphrase of the Old Testament. After the Babylonian exile the synagogue reading of Scripture was followed by an oral translation into Aramaic for the benefit of those Jews who no longer understood the Hebrew.
8. Ed. note: The Midrashim were expositional and homiletical commentaries on the Scriptures which arose after the Babylonian exile.
9. George Adam Smith, The Book of Isaiah, rev. ed. (New York: Harper, 1927), 2:354.
10. David Baron, The Servant of Jehovah (New York: George H. Doran, 1921), 51.
11. Spurgeon, “The Sure Triumph of the Crucified One,” 245-46.
12. Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (New York: Carlton House, n.d.), 216 (§ 269).
13. J. Ridderbos, Isaiah, BSC, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985), 471. Delitzsch (Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, 2:305) is quite emphatic in defending the view that Isaiah here refers to the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Christ.
14. Smith, The Book of Isaiah, 2:363.
15. Spurgeon, “The Sure Triumph of the Crucified One,” 21:247.
16. R. N. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66, NCB (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 170.
17. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66, 170; cf. BDB, s.v. “נָזָה,” 633; HALOT, s.v. “נָזָה,” 1:683.
18. Spurgeon, “The Sure Triumph of the Crucified One,” 21:250.
19. Spurgeon, “The Sure Triumph of the Crucified One,” 21:251.