DAY 210: Isaiah 49–53

Welcome to 5-Minute Bible, your daily guide for your daily reading. Today's July the 29th, and we'll be looking at Isaiah 49 -53. Now, yesterday the historical narrative reminded us that the Lord can destroy Assyria in a single night.

The Suffering Servant and God’s Promised Restoration

Well, the Psalms taught Israel to trust and to pray for restoration and to reject the powerless idols. Well, today Isaiah reaches the theological heart of the promised restoration. God has promised a new exodus, a renewed Zion, and salvation that's going to reach the nations.

But there's one enormous problem that still remains. Israel herself is sinful. The servant nation is blind and rebellious. And in that way, Isaiah 49 -53 reveals God's character. Because a faithful servant, capital S, is going to restore Israel, the unfaithful servant.

And it's going to become light to the nations, and he's going to cause them to obey where Israel failed. He's going to suffer willingly. He's going to bear his people's sin, and through his wounds, he's going to bring them peace.

Isaiah 49–51: The Servant’s Mission and Israel’s Hope

And in that way, Isaiah 49 introduces the servant called from the womb. His mission is not merely to restore the tribes of Jacob. The Lord declares that that's way too small of a thing. He is going to be the one who becomes a light to the nations, so that God's salvation is going to reach the ends of the earth.

Zion fears that she's been forgotten, but the Lord answers that a nursing mother might forget her child, but he will never forget his people. Zion's children will return. Isaiah 50 contrasts Israel's rebellion with the servant of the Lord's obedience.

The servant has the tongue of the disciple. He listens to Yahweh. He gives his back to those who strike him, and he doesn't hide his face from shame and spitting, which is an astounding passage. Then chapter 51 calls God's people to remember Abraham, to trust their creator.

The redeemed will return with joy, and the cup of wrath will be removed from Jerusalem. Isaiah 52 announces the good news. Your God reigns. The Lord is going to bear his holy arm before the nations, and all the ends of the earth is going to see his salvation.

Isaiah 53: The Servant’s Suffering and Atoning Death

And then the servant appears again. He will act wisely, and ultimately he will be exalted, but first, his appearance is going to be marred. He's going to be despised and rejected by his people. He's going to be a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and Isaiah 53 then explains to us why.

Because he's the one who will be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and punished so that we may have peace. The Lord is going to lay upon him the iniquity of us all. He's going to be led like a lamb to the slaughter.

He's going to die. He's going to be buried with the rich man, and afterward, he's going to see the fruit of his suffering and justify many. So as you read today, I want you to ask the following question.

Substitution: How God Restores the Guilty

How can a holy God restore a sinful people without ignoring their guilt? And Isaiah 49 -53 is going to answer that question, and it's going to answer it through substitution. The servant doesn't merely teach Israel and inspire Israel or defeat Israel's political enemies, and he certainly doesn't turn a blind eye to their sin.

He actually stands in their place. He stands in the place of the guilty, bearing what they deserve, being punished for their sins, giving them the righteousness and the peace that they could never produce that he himself earned.

He gives them his life, and he takes upon them his death. He gives them his righteousness, and he takes upon them their sin. He gives them his blessings, and he takes upon himself their curse. He exchanges himself with them, which is the way that God deals with the problem of sin.

He doesn't ignore it. He doesn't forfeit his justice, but he also doesn't turn a blind eye to his people either. In Christ who suffers for them, he's able to save them. And in that way, the central tension in this passage is victory through suffering.

Victory Through Suffering

Everything in us expects that salvation is going to arrive through visible strength. We expect the Deliverer to crush his enemies, seize the throne, display irresistible power. But Isaiah says the servant will indeed be exalted that way, but first he's going to be rejected.

He's going to win by being wounded. He's going to conquer by being crushed. He's going to save life by losing his life. And that's not an accidental tragedy. Isaiah says the Lord lays our iniquity upon him, and that gives the passage its devastating and personal force.

The great problem in the world is not Assyria and Babylon or even human enemies. The problem is our sin. The suffering servant suffers because of our transgressions. Isaiah does not permit us to stand at a safe distance criticizing ancient Israel.

He says all of us like sheep have gone astray. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. Every sinner has turned his own way, and the Lord places the guilt of us upon his faithful servant. And yet the servant's suffering does not end in defeat.

He will see his offspring. He will prolong his days. God's purpose will prosper in his hand, which means that even death cannot stop this one from being alive and from accomplishing redemption. The cross is not the collapse of God's plan.

It actually is the center of it. And in that way, Isaiah 49 through 53 points extraordinarily to Jesus Christ. He's the faithful servant that Israel failed to be. Israel was called by God to carry the light to the nations, but they became blind.

Jesus Christ Fulfills the Servant’s Suffering

Christ is the one who obeys it perfectly. He fulfills Isaiah 50 by setting his face toward suffering and submitting to shame without turning back. He fulfills Isaiah 52 by bringing the good news that God reigns, and he fulfills Isaiah 53 through his crucifixion.

He bears sins, remains silent before his accusers, is numbered with the transgressors, does die among the wicked, is buried in a rich man's tomb, and yet resurrection follows his humiliation. He's the servant who sees his offspring because he rises and he awakens all those who are in him by his spirit.

Salvation isn't limited to repairing one broken Judean kingdom. The servant becomes the light to the nations. Kings are going to be astonished, and the ends of the earth are going to see the salvation of our God.

The cross creates Isaiah's promised kingdom. Christ doesn't conquer the nations by imitating Assyria or by bloodshed and battles. He conquers by shedding his blood, by forgiving his enemies, raising the dead, and sending the gospel outward until the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth as the water covers the sea.

The Restoration Produced by the Suffering Servant

So as you read Isaiah 49 through 53, I want you to notice that every promise of restoration rests upon the suffering servant. And tomorrow, Isaiah is going to show us what his suffering actually produces.

The barren woman will sing. Zion will enlarge her tent. The thirsty will be invited freely to the waters. Foreigners will join themselves to the Lord, and true worship will bear the fruit that empty religion never could.

And with that, read your Bible carefully, devotionally, and joyfully. May the Lord use his word to sanctify you completely, and we will continue our journey tomorrow. God bless you.