Isaiah 53:7-9
Read Isaiah 53:7-9
Helpful Background Information:
Isaiah lived during the decline of Israel’s kingdom period, speaking the word of God to Israel and Judah’s leaders. God gave Isaiah a hard job, as his earnest warning to the people would actually end up hardening their hearts rather than softening them (6:9-10). By this point in time, Israel was unwilling to listen and receive God’s warnings through the prophet. For that reason, they would have to reap the consequences of their sin. With the warnings of the judgment to come, however, there was also a message of hope. Isaiah said that things would get worse before they got better, but that there would certainly come a day when God would fulfill all of His covenant promises.
Toward the end of the book, in chapters 49-55, we’re introduced to a figure called a “servant” who would fulfill God’s mission and do what Israel had failed to do. This servant would come to restore the people back to God and to be a “light to the nations.” What’s surprising is the way that Isaiah says the servant will accomplish this. In chapter 53, we’re told that the servant will be rejected, beaten, and ultimately killed by his own people despite being innocent (v.9b). What would become clear later is that his death would actually be the necessary sacrifice of atonement for the sin and rebellion of the people.
Reflection Questions:
Read our primary text for this week from Mark 15 alongside Isaiah 53. In what ways do you see Jesus fulfilling the servant’s role described by Isaiah?
Most scholars agree that Isaiah’s words were written at least 700 years before Jesus was crucified. How would you imagine the time between the promise and its fulfillment affected the people? What effect does waiting tend to have on our trust in God?
Isaiah’s words give us assurance that despite how hopeless the situation looked when Jesus was rejected and killed, things were actually going according to plan. In your own words, explain why it was necessary for the death of Jesus to be part of God’s saving plan?