The Servant’s Substitutionary Suffering

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:4-6

Chapter 53 is the heart of the great prophecy of Isaiah, and the heart of chapter 53 consists of these three verses. Everything we need is offered in this passage: peace, healing, righteousness, justification, forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

These verses tell us that the suffering of the servant of God was vicarious: He did not suffer for his own sins, but in place of elect sinners, for their eternal benefit. We want to consider the person and work of this suffering servant through the eyes of three persons: a sinner, God the Father, and a believer.

A Sinner’s Accounting

First, we will examine a sinner’s accounting of the suffering servant. What does a sinner say when he looks upon the cross?

Very early the Scriptures declare that a sinner must die: “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). But Adam and Eve did eat, and in spite of assurances by the serpent to the contrary, they died. All the descendants of Adam are, therefore, fallen. They are born with a sinful nature, and they can only sin. So David says in Psalm 14:3, “All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Sin is the universal condition of mankind.

The prophet Ezekiel said, “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). This is the principle Job’s friends applied to Job. His children had been killed, his wealth and his home were gone, his wife hated him, and he himself was afflicted with a horrible disease. So Job’s friends made the following evaluation: “Job has sinned grievously; therefore, God has punished him for his sins.” Likewise, the disciples asked Jesus concerning a blind man: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:1). They wondered if the man had sinned in his mother’s womb, or if his parents sinned before he was born. The idea is that suffering is always due to personal sin.

In the Mosaic law we read, “If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree . . . be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deuteronomy 21:22,23). Thus, when the people looked at Jesus on the cross, even some of the elect drew the wrong conclusion: This one is a great sinner. He is a blasphemer. He is under God’s curse, and that is why he was crucified. He suffered and died for the guilt of his own most horrible sins, for his own transgressions of God’s law, for his own iniquity, for his own deliberate perversion of God’s holy standard, for his own turning away from God’s path of righteousness. That was their estimation of this crucified Jesus. That is the estimation of all unbelievers.

So we read in Isaiah 53:3-4, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. . . . We considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.” This is every unbeliever’s estimation of Jesus, that he is a failure, a nothing.

Matthew 27 tells us what people said, including the religious people, while Jesus was hanging on the cross: “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!'” (vv. 39-40). The idea is, “You said you were the Son of God, but you are not. You blasphemed!”

“In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel!'” (vv. 41-42). Again, they were mocking: “You are no King of Israel! You just said you are the King of Israel.”

“‘Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God.”‘ In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him” (vv. 42-44).

This is the way unbelievers of the world treat Jesus even today-with utter contempt.

Divine Accounting

Second, let us consider the Father’s estimation of his servant. The suffering experienced by this servant is unique and is not to be interpreted in the common way; to interpret the person and work of this servant correctly, one needs divine revelation. It was only by the heavenly Father’s revelation that Peter confessed to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Likewise, every Christian confesses “Jesus is Lord” only by the Holy Spirit.

Even so, in verses 4-6 we are given a divine revelation regarding the suffering of the servant. Contrary to the common explanation, this One is not suffering because of his sins. He is innocent! He suffers because of our sins. We sinned; he suffers. We deserved death; therefore, he died in our place.

Verse 4 begins with the word, “Surely,” which, in Hebrew, is akên. It is an interesting word which means the human estimation is false, and the true, amazing truth is about to be given. What is this amazing truth? “He took up our infirmities.” The pronouns “he” and “our” are written in separately in order to emphasize them. We see that also in the New Testament. When Paul said, “I am chief of sinners,” he wrote out “am.” He didn’t have to write it, but he did so to emphasize that he is the chief of sinners. Here Isaiah emphasizes “he” and “our” because he wants us to understand this surprising and unexpected contrast.

Verse 3 says this servant is “a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.” How so? The explanation is given in verse 4: “He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” Without this divine explanation, people would assume he suffered his own personal sorrows and griefs. But the Hebrew text says he took up our sicknesses and carried our pains-physical, mental and spiritual.

This is divine revelation coming to us from the prophet Isaiah. Don’t misunderstand this servant or his work. The transgression and iniquity were ours. We revolted against God’s rule in our lives and refused to submit to him. We said, “We will not have this King to rule over us!” We perverted God’s law in defiance of him. He said, “You shall not have any other gods,” and we said, “We shall have other gods.” He said, “Do not commit adultery,” and we said, “We will commit adultery.” He said, “You should not lie”; we said, “We will lie.” He said, “Do not murder”; we said, “We will murder.”

Because we are perverted, we twisted God’s laws and did the opposite of what he said. We all like sheep turned from God’s way and walked in our own autonomous way. God said, “This is the way to go,” and we said, “I am not going to go that way.” We turned away from God’s straight path of hope and life and peace.

Ours was the transgression, ours was the iniquity, ours was the sin. Rather than please God, we pleased ourselves. Therefore, we are guilty and we deserve to be punished. But, amazingly, we are not punished! We are standing aloof, looking at one who is being punished in our stead, one who suffers the eternal consequences of our sin.

The Manner of His Death

1. It was violent. Verse 5 says, “He was pierced for our transgressions.” The idea is “pierced through, resulting in death.” Isaiah is speaking about crucifixion. In the New Testament we read that his hands, feet, and side was pierced. Not only so, but he was pulverized, trampled to death, crushed for our iniquities. He suffered a violent death as we looked on.
2. It was atoning. The suffering servant took from our shoulders all our pains, sicknesses, transgressions, iniquities and sins, and put them upon himself. He did so freely. That is what “he took up” means. Before, it was all on our own heads, but he came and took it all, and put it upon himself. He who knew no sin became sin for us.

   All the spiritual and eternal consequences of our sins have been taken off our shoulders. That which wearied us and made us restless is not upon us anymore. Ours was the iniquity, but God the Father laid on him all the iniquity of all his people. Thus judicial punishment was meted out. Death was inflicted on him as justice, not for his sins, but for ours. His death atoned our sins.

3. It was voluntary. The servant gave himself for us. He freely and voluntarily laid down his life in our place.
4. It was lonely. He suffered alone while we were looking on. His own disciples fled from him; everybody fled from him. Even his own Father turned his face away from him. The Son experienced total abandonment and utter loneliness. He suffered alone, and he alone suffered-we do not suffer for the sins we committed or for this sin nature we inherited from Adam.
5. It was penal. He suffered the punishment that was justly due us. We committed the crime against God, but the punishment that secured peace for us was put upon the servant.
6. It was substitutionary. This chapter is full of the language of substitution: “Hetook up our infirmities . . . He carried our sorrows . . . He was pierced for our transgressions . . . He was crushed for our iniquities.. . . The punishment that brought us peace was upon him . . . By his wounds we are healed . . . The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all . . . For the transgression of my people,he was stricken (v. 8) . . . The Lord makes his life a guilt offering [in our place](v. 10) . . . He will bear their iniquities (v. 11) . . . He bore the sin of many (v. 12).”

   He/we! His/our! Him/us! He alone suffered, one in place of many, for the eternal benefit of the people of God.

7. It was sacrificial. Neither the sacrificial nor the substitutionary idea is a new one. It is part of the Mosaic sacrificial system given as a divine provision for sinful men. We read in Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” Hebrews 9:22 tells us, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”

Leviticus 16:21-22 speaks about the ritual performed by the high priest on the Day of Atonement: “He is to lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites-all their sins.” These sins of all Israel symbolically come through the hands of the high priest to the head of another, the goat. He shall send the goat away into the desert, and then we are told, “The goat will carry on itself all their sins.”

This is substitution and sacrifice. But the question is, how can an animal substitute for a sinful human being? The Bible clearly tells us it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Through the substitutionary sacrificial system, God was pointing to a perfect human substitute who one day would come to die in our place as our substitute.

Perfect God, Perfect Man

This substitute is perfect man and perfect God. John the Baptist looked at him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” If you can find a perfect man, he may atone for the sin of one sinner. But here is one who will take away, not only the sin of one sinner, but the sin of the whole world! The Scripture says that he is not only perfect man, but he was also perfect God. His merit is infinite to forgive the sins of the elect people of the whole world.

There are countless verses which describe the substitutionary, sacrificial suffering of this God/man to save his elect people. Paul tells us in Romans 8:3, “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.” In Romans 8:32 we read, “He . . . did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.” In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul again tells us, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In Galatians 3:13-14 we read, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Peter also tells us, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

In Isaiah chapter 6 we find Isaiah coming to grips with his own sin and uncleanness. He pronounces himself to be guilty: “Woe unto me! I am undone! I am a sinner meriting God’s wrath.” In verse 6 we read, “Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.” The altar there stands for the substitutionary sacrificial suffering that Isaiah will speak about in the fifty-third chapter. “With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.'” This is the application of redemption to the life of this sinful prophet. Verse 10 continues: “Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” When we understand the gospel, we will be healed, because it is speaking about the divine human substitute sacrificing his life in our place for our salvation.

The Believer’s Accounting

Third, we want to examine the believer’s estimation of this suffering servant’s person and work. It is important to understand that nobody can accept divine revelation in the word of God unless it is also revealed in the interior of that person’s heart by the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Bible is God’s word and we must read it, but no one will be saved only by reading the Bible. The truth of the Bible must be applied to our hearts by the mighty operation of the Holy Spirit of God. Then we will say with Peter, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Then we will say, “Christ died for my sins!”

“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (53:1). Because the arm of the Lord has been revealed to us objectively in the Scriptures and subjectively in our hearts through the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit, we no longer consider the Messiah a sinful man who deserved to be crucified or estimate him as a big zero. We now realize that the suffering servant is Immanuel, the Son of God, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the atonement, the redeemer of his people, the divinely given mediator and substitute. We have a new appreciation of his person and his atoning work. His suffering tells us that every sin is against God, and every sin has serious eternal consequences.

Whatever happened to sin? Nobody even uses the word “sin” in modern parlance. It has been taken away from the marketplace of ideas. Nobody wants to speak about sin. We reduce it and say it was mere “mistakes” and “shortcomings,” nothing to worry about. Well, that is not God’s view. Sin is crime against God, rebellion against God’s sovereignty, enmity against God. So every sinner must experience the just wrath of God. The cross reveals the extreme wickedness of every sin. It is so serious that God pierced his own Son through and crushed him to death that his laws might be upheld.

The Father turned away from his Son and permitted him experience our hell. The Son became sin and a curse in our place. (PGM) Never consider sin as nothing. Every sin is the sinner’s attempt to destroy the Creator God for his own independence.

We are told the punishment that secured our peace was upon him. When you read the Hebrew, it says “by the price of the wounds we are healed.” The wounds inflicted on the Son provided healing for our souls and bodies.

Verses 4 through 6 are a confession of the believer having realized the truth: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” We now confess this truth, which is divine revelation. And we have peace with God.

Isaiah 48:18 speaks about this peace: “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” The alternate reality is described in verse 22: “‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.'”

Peace means there is right order. We are rightly related to God and rightly related to society; therefore, there is peace. The right order is established when we are restored to God. That was the messianic function described in Isaiah 49:5-6: the Messiah, the suffering servant, will restore Israel and the Gentiles back to God. “There is therefore no condemnation.” There is peace like a river. We are reconciled and we have access to God. We can come into the very presence of God in the name of Jesus Christ and he accepts us. He is our heavenly Father. The wrath of God is removed forever. The suffering servant was beaten, stricken, afflicted, pierced, and crushed so that we will not be. Now, we have fellowship with God; now we have peace.

Divine Transactions

In this life we are not exempt from certain temporal effects of our sins and we may not always experience physical healing. But one thing is certain: The suffering servant, our Lord Jesus Christ, suffered in place of us and suffered the eternal consequences of our sins, so we shall never experience his wrath. God the Father caused his Son to suffer for every sin of every believer-past, present, and future. When you read it in the Hebrew, you can picture it this way: Punishment of every sin is seen as an arrow in the hand of God the Father. The Father took each arrow of our transgression and threw it at his Son, and each arrow hit its mark. It was the Father’s action. The Son suffered for our every sin, so we are spared. We have peace and rest. We have healing and eternal life. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.

Not only did Jesus take all our sins from us and suffer in our place, but there was another transaction: his perfect, divine righteousness was put into our account. So in verse 11 we read, “By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many.” Miracle of miracles, the wicked are justified! Not only is there forgiveness of sins, but the perfect righteousness of God has been granted to us, gratis. We are righteous before God, now and forevermore. We are saved forever. One day our salvation will be complete, and we shall receive a Spirit-engineered body like unto the body of Christ-imperishable, glorious and powerful. Then and then only shall there be an end to all death, tears and pain (Revelation 21:4).

Let us rejoice in this new revelation to us of the person and work of the servant of God, the Lord Jesus Christ! Let us rejoice in this great confession of the truth: “Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification.” This is the gospel.

Do you believe in the person of Jesus? Do you believe that he died a substitutionary death, a lonely death, a penal death, a sacrificial death, a voluntary death, an atoning death? If you do believe, then you shall be saved. If you do not believe, your view of Jesus is contemptuous and criminal, and the wrath of God abides upon you.

But let us who believe praise God that we have a compassionate, merciful and faithful high priest in the person of our ascended Lord. The Bible tells us he is now seated at the right hand of God, crowned with glory and honor, and he helps us now and forever. He saved us, he healed us, he gave us peace, he justified us, and he gave us access to the Father. The writer to the Hebrews says that because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Jesus never fails to help us. Heaven and earth may pass away, but Jesus never fails.

You say that you are a broken reed? Yes, we are all broken reeds. You cannot lean on a bruised reed; it is useless and should be thrown away. That is what all sinners are-useless nothings. But the amazing mission of the Messiah is this: A bruised reed he will not break. He heals bruised reeds and makes us strong by putting the Holy Spirit into us.

You say that you are just a smoldering wick about to die? Let me offer to you the suffering servant, our Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns in glory and honor. He will not put you out. Rather, he will work a work in you, and you will shine brighter and brighter as you experience the operation of the mighty Holy Ghost in your life. That is what the Bible promises.

This passage, the heart of Isaiah, offers us healing, peace, righteousness, justification, eternal life, hope, resurrection, and forgiveness of sins. It is available to us because of a heaven-sent Another. What must you do to be saved? Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. You have to do nothing but believe. Lift up your empty hands to God in faith, and you will receive salvation. All your sins will be forgiven, now and forevermore. You will become children of God, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. Hopeless people will be given eternal hope. Dead people will be given everlasting life.

Heavenly Father, we pray that you help us to trust in you, that we may not treat you with contempt, for to do so is a criminal act against your Son. May we surrender and submit to you. Forgive us all our sins for Jesus’ sake and receive us as your children. Amen.