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January 30, 2011 |
| Isaiah Sees the Messiah | ||
Many of us have heard the following quote from the Bible. "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." It comes from Isaiah 53; a chapter that Christians believe most clearly prophesies the Messiah. But most of us don't know the rest of the chapter. Today that changes.
As much as Christians champion this scripture, Jews deny it. Prior to the time of Jesus there doesn't seem to have been much effort to interpret this chapter. But since then Jews have gone out of their way to make sure this chapter is not interpreted as messianic.
The Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53 is that the person spoken of, who we believe is the Messiah, actually represents Israel and that the people who persecute that person are the other nations. "Isaiah 53 fits in seamlessly with its surrounding chapters which all clearly depict the nation of Israel as 'despised, afflicted' (54:6-11), and oppressed 'without cause' (52:4) at the hands of the gentile nations." "the systemic suffering of the Jews plays no essential role in Christian theology."1
One Jewish web site says, "Interestingly, the traditional [Christian] Church did not completely satisfy the Christian mind with their stock interpretation of Isaiah 53. There is, therefore, a consensus among many modern, liberal Christian commentators which is in accord with this prevailing rabbinic exegesis on this most debated chapter. […] Conservative Christians, on the other hand, strongly argue against the Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53 for a number of expected reasons."2
We will analyze this chapter with a special emphasis on three things:
1. Who is the speaker? This is important to understanding correctly.
2. Does the verses match what the New Testament says about Jesus?
3. Do the verses match what the Jewish rabbi's say?
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
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V. |
Speaker - Audience |
† Corroboration |
✡ Corroboration |
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1 |
† : Jesus to God about all people ✡: Gentiles to Gentiles about Israel |
Requires a different translation "'Who would have believed our report?' the kings will ask with their mouths wide open in amazement" |
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2 |
† : World He: Jesus Him: God ✡: Gentiles He: Israel Him: God |
Elsewhere Isaiah refers to Israel as a spiritual wilderness. That matches 'dry ground' here. The Bible does not give us any hint of Jesus' appearance |
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3 |
"despised and rejected", "man of suffering", "familiar with pain", "we held him in low esteem" all match the gospel accounts of Jesus |
"In the End of Days, however, the gentiles will discover what was, until then, unimaginable: The unwavering Jew was, in fact, all this time faithful to the true God. On the other hand, 'We despised and held him of no account'" |
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4 |
"he took up our pain", "and bore our suffering" all match. But in what way had "we considered him punished by God". Deu. 21:23) "anyone who is hung on a pole [tree] is under God's curse". His charge was the blasphemy of claiming to be God |
There is no support for a claim that the Jews bore the pain and suffering of any gentile. |
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5 |
"he was pierced for our transgressions" – crown of thorns, nails, and spear. "punishment that brought us peace was on him" and "by his wounds we are healed" are fundamental to Christianity. |
"The [Gentiles] will confess that Jewish suffering occurred as a direct result of [their] own iniquity, i.e., depraved Jew-hatred, rather than, as they previously thought, the stubborn blindness of the Jews" It's hard to see how any punishment of Israel could have brought peace or healed wounds, in a physical or spiritual sense. |
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6 |
"the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" is again fundamental |
The word "Iniquity" here means sin. The verse does not say that the world sinned in its treatment of Israel. It says the LORD placed our sins on him. It's hard to see how the sins of Gentiles should be placed on Israel and what the purpose would be. |
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7 |
The reference to "lamb" and to "slaughter" makes it clear Jesus was an atoning sacrifice. |
"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth." If someone else's sins were placed on Israel we expect there would be lots of open mouths |
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8 |
This is all a perfect description of Jesus' unjust trial and death. |
"By oppression and judgment he was taken away" and "cut off". Israel has seen oppression and judgment but there has always been a remnant. "who of his generation" seems to indicate a person rather than a people because a person has a generation |
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9 |
This is a fine description of the burial of Jesus. |
Israel as a whole was not buried, but perhaps it's a figurative reference. But It's hard to see how Israel would have been buried with the wicked and the rich Plenty of deceit has come out of the mouth of Israel |
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10 |
This makes it clear that Jesus' purpose was to suffer and die as an offering for sin. We Christians are his spiritual offspring and the prosperity in his hand We also see "LORD's will" which echoes Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to his crucifixion when he repeatedly said "Not my will, but yours" |
Nowhere else is Israel referred to as an "offering for sin" |
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11 |
This could be a reference to resurrection or to ascension. The word "satisfied" makes us think of Jesus last words "It is done." His mission was complete and so he was satisfied. |
In the Bible Israel is only infrequently righteous but there is no theology whereby Israel "will bear [the Gentiles] iniquities" |
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12 |
It's possible this shows a change of speaker (to God) but it's more likely this is a millennial kingdom reference. Additional support for this comes from the use of the past tense "bore". At this time he is no longer bearing. |
"because he poured out his life unto death". This phrase "he poured out his" shows an intention and choice. Israel's figurative deaths were never by their own choice. Nothing in theology makes Israel the bearer of "the sin of many" or an intercessor for the transgressors |
1 http://www.outreachjudaism.org/sin.html
2 http://www.outreachjudaism.org/sin.html and all further quotes from Judaism come from this source