Meditation on Isaiah 53:7-12

He Was Pierced for our Transgressions–Part Two

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture.

1.         Here now we have the last part of the Servant Song, which began in Isaiah 52:13. The Prophet Isaiah sets out in such a memorable manner the ministry of the Lamb of God.

2.         Isaiah speaks as though the events he foresees have already been completed as we see in the phrase, “He was oppressed.”

3.         The first message here now is the Lamb is quietly and without resistance being “led to the slaughter.”

4.         This killing is one of oppression, and is carried out unlawfully. Yet, the Lamb yields to the unjust circumstances.

5.         The reason the Lamb is “cut off,” is because of the “transgression of my people?” And we note the question mark, which indicates the cutting off is a shocking event, even something that no one can grasp.

6.         Incredibly, after the death of the Lamb, He is somehow buried with both the wicked and the rich. This incredible prophecy we find fulfilled in Matthew 27:57-60.

7.         The Lamb is innocent in Himself, and His death, His “crushing” is the “will” of the LORD. For those of Isaiah’s day, this would have been completely inexplicable.

8.         And this “will” of the LORD shall result is the utmost prosperity. Indeed, as a result of the work of the “righteous one, my servant,” many will be cleansed of their iniquities. Thus God brings triumph out of tragedy.

9.         As the last servant song comes to a conclusion, we have a retelling of the central motif of Isaiah’s prophecy: by the willful pouring out of His life unto death and thus being numbered with the transgressors, He yet bares the sin of “many”—and we note the “many” and not the all.