Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 53:1

Clarke's Commentary

CHAPTER LIII

This chapter foretells the sufferings of the Messiah, the end

for which he was to die, and the advantages resulting to

mankind from that illustrious event. It begins with a complaint

of the infidelity of the Jews, 1;

the offence they took at his mean and humble appearance, 2;

and the contempt with which they treated him, 3.

The prophet then shows that the Messiah was to suffer for sins

not his own; but that our iniquities were laid on him, and the

punishment of them exacted of him, which is the meritorious

cause of our obtaining pardon and salvation, 4-6.

He shows the meekness and placid submission with which he

suffered a violent and unjust death, with the circumstances of

his dying with the wicked, and being buried with the great, 7-9;

and that, in consequence of his atonement, death, resurrection,

and intercession, he should procure pardon and salvation to the

multitudes, insure increasing prosperity to his Church, and

ultimately triumph over all his foes, 10, 11.

This chapter contains a beautiful summary of the most peculiar

and distinguishing doctrines of Christianity.

NOTES ON CHAP. LIII

That this chapter speaks of none but JESUS must be evident to every unprejudiced reader who has ever heard the history of his sufferings and death. The Jews have endeavoured to apply it to their sufferings in captivity; but, alas for their cause! they can make nothing out in this way. Allowing that it belongs to our blessed Lord, (and the best men and the best scholars agree in this,) then who can read Isaiah 53:4-6; Isaiah 53:8; Isaiah 53:10, without being convinced that his death was a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of mankind? On the first and second verses of this chapter I have received the following remarks from an unknown hand.

"Verse Isaiah 53:1. Who hath believed our report? — The report of the prophets, of John the Baptist, and Christ's own report of himself. The Jews did not receive the report, and for this reason he was not manifested to them as the promised Messiah. 'He came unto his own, but his own received him not.' Before the FATHER he grew up as a tender plant: but to the JEWS he was as a root out of a dry ground. 'He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.'

"Verse Isaiah 53:2. For he shall grow up — Supposes something to have preceded; as it might be asked, what or who shall 'grow up before him,' c. As the translation now stands, no correct answer can be given to this question. The translation then is wrong, the connexion broken, and the sense obscured. זרוע zeroa, translated the arm, from the root zara.

1. To sow, or plant also seed, c.

2. The limb which reaches from the shoulder to the hand, called the arm or more properly beginning at the shoulder and ending at the elbow.

The translator has given the wrong sense of the word. It would be very improper to say, the arm of the Lord should grow up before him; but by taking the word in its former sense, the connexion and metaphor would be restored, and the true sense given to the text. זרע zera signifies, not only the seed of herbs, but children, offspring, or posterity. The same word we find Genesis 3:15, where CHRIST is the Seed promised. See also Genesis 22:17-18; Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:14. Hence the SEED of the woman, the SEED promised to the patriarchs is, according to Isaiah, the Seed of the Lord, the Child born, and the Son given; and according to St. John, 'the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' זרע then, in this place, should be understood to mean JESUS CHRIST, and him alone. To speak here of the manifestation of the arm or power of God would be irregular; but to suppose the text to speak of the manifestation of Jesus Christ would be very proper, as the whole of the chapter is written concerning him, particularly his humiliation and sufferings, and the reception he should meet with from the Jewish nation.

"The first verse of this chapter is quoted John 12:38, and the former part of the same verse Romans 10:16. But no objection of importance can be brought forward from either of these quotations against the above explanation, as they are quoted to show the unbelief of the Jews in not receiving Christ as the promised Messiah."

He hath no form nor comeliness - "He hath no form nor any beauty"]

Ουκ ειδος αυτῳ, ουδε αξιωμα, ἱνα ειδωμεν αυτον· ουδε θεωρια, ἱνα επιθυμωμεν αυτον.

He hath no form, nor any beauty, that we should regard him; nor is his countenance such that we should desire him."

Symmachus; the only one of the ancients that has translated it rightly.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The servant’s suffering and glory (52:13-53:12)

Just as people were startled at the sight of the servant’s great sufferings, so will they be startled at the sight of his great glory. They will be struck dumb, as it were, as they witness a sight more glorious than they or anyone else could ever have imagined (13-15).
Many people find it hard to believe that God will give his servant such power and magnificence, because when they look at the servant they see just an ordinary person of insignificant beginnings. They liken him to a small plant growing in dry and infertile ground - so different from the magnificent trees that stand majestically in the tall forests. They see nothing in his appearance that is impressive or attractive. On the contrary, when they see the extent of his sufferings they turn away from him in disgust, like people repelled by the sight of a diseased person (53:1-3).
At first those who see the servant’s intense suffering think that he is being punished by God for some wrong he has done. However, as they think further they realize that he is suffering not for his own sins, but for the sins of others; in fact, their sins. They are the ones who have turned away from God and they are the ones for whom the servant dies. It is for them that he bears God’s punishment (4-6).
The servant is treated cruelly, but he bears it silently. Those who judge him show neither mercy nor justice; they just send him off to be killed. His fellow citizens are just as heartless, and show no concern that he suffers death unjustly. Yet he bears all this for the sake of those who are sinners (7-8). Those who hate him leave him to die in disgrace like a criminal, but those who love him give him an honourable burial. They know he has done no wrong (9).
Despite the inhumanity of people, the servant’s death is according to God’s will. It is a sacrifice for the removal of sin. But beyond the sorrow of death is the joy of the resurrection. The servant is satisfied when he sees the fruits of his suffering, namely, a multitude of spiritual children who are forgiven their sins and accounted righteous before God because of his death (10-11). The sufferer becomes the conqueror and receives a conqueror’s reward. Because he willingly took the place of sinners and prayed for their forgiveness, he is now exalted to the highest place (12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE SECOND STANZA

"Who hath believed our message? and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not."

As Cheyne pointed out, there is a peculiarity in these three verses that one word in each of the three verses is quoted in the second half of each verse. "Thus: in (1), the word is `who,' `whom'; in (2) the word is `he'; and in (3) the word is `despised.'"T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, Vol. II, p. 42.

In this paragraph, the surpassing glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is hidden behind obscurity, poverty, humiliation, misery, and shame; and this is the great example that "God's thoughts and God's ways are as much higher than those of men as the heavens are higher than the earth," as Isaiah would more fully elaborate in Isaiah 55:8.

In Isaiah 53:1, the language suggests that "no one" believed the report, or hearkened to the Word of God; but the apostle Paul's word shows that the statements here are hyperbole; for he said, "Not all hearkened to the good tidings" (Romans 10:16). Those who hearkened were the apostles of the New Testament Church and those who followed their leadership. Nevertheless, the very small percentage of the Old Israel who believed and obeyed the Son of God fully justified the hyperbole. A similar use of this figure of speech is seen in Luke 7:29-30, as compared with Matthew 3:5.

"As a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground" Here are given the conditions of Jesus' earthly environment which seem to be revealed as the reason why he had no comeliness or beauty that would cause him to be desired by men.

We cannot believe that the physical unattractiveness or ugliness of the Son of God are meant by the lack of beauty or comeliness on his part. The tremendous attractiveness of Jesus for the great women of that era who knew him absolutely denies any denial of the power and magnetism of his personality (Luke 7:37-38; Luke 8:1-4, etc.) Likewise the appeal that Jesus had for the rugged fishermen of Galilee, and the authority of his strong right arm with the whips when he drove the money changers out of the temple; none of these facts will harmonize with an unattractive countenance or any form of personal "ugliness." No! What is meant is that none of the trappings of wealth, office, social status, or any other such things which are so honored among men, belonged to Jesus.

"As a root out of dry ground" What is the "dry ground" here? "This refers to a corrupt age and nation, and the arid soil of mankind."OCli, p. 294. Both the nation of Israel and all of the nations of the pre-Christian Gentile world were at this time judicially hardened by God Himself; and nothing could have seemed more impossible to the citizens of that dissolute age than the fact that God's Holy Messiah would be born to humble parents in some obscure village, and that the salvation of all the world would be available through that Child alone!

The lack of beauty and comeliness spoken of here has been the occasion of all kinds of derogatory statements about Christ. For example, Wardle stated that the passage means: "He was despised, pain-stricken and diseased, so that men turned away from him in revulsion."Peake's Commentary Series, p. 467. No word in all the Bible justifies such a statement as this. The emphasis upon the lack of beauty and comeliness refers not at all to the physical appearance of Jesus except during those terrible scenes of Holy Week, during which he was denied sleep, beaten unmercifully by a Roman chastisement, mocked some six times in all, crowned with a crown of thorns, tortured to death on the Cross, compelled to carry the cross till he fainted, being struck in the face with a reed, reviled and spit upon! This was the time when his visage was marred, and the last vestiges of his physical beauty perished under the venomous, inhuman treatment of Satan and his sons who put him to death.

"Despised and rejected of men" Archer rendered this as, "Lacking men of distinction as his supporters."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 646. This harmonizes with the fact that a tax collector and common fishermen were among his apostles, whereas distinguished persons like the rich young ruler turned away from him. "Men still persist in avoiding facing the `real Jesus,' preferring what they call `the historical Jesus' who would not trouble them with the Cross."Ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Who hath believed our report? - The main design of the prophet in all this portion of his prophecy is, undoubtedly, to state the fact that the Redeemer would be greatly exalted (see Isaiah 52:13; Isaiah 53:12). But in order to furnish a fair view of his exaltation, it was necessary also to exhibit the depth of his humiliation, and the intensity of his sorrows, and also the fact that he would be rejected by those to whom he was sent. He, therefore, in this verse, to use the language of Calvin, breaks in abruptly upon the order of his discourse, and exclaims that what he had said, and what he was about to say, would be scarcely credited by anyone. Prelimmary to his exaltation, and to the honors which would be conferred on him, he would be rejected and despised. The word ‘report’ (שׁמוּעה sh^emû‛âh) denotes properly that which is heard, tidings, message, news. Margin, ‘Hearing’ or ‘doctrine.’ The Septuagint renders it, Ἀκοή Akoē - ‘Rumour,’ ‘message.’ It refers to the annunciation, message, or communication which had been made respecting the Messiah. ‘The speaker here is Isaiah, and the word ‘our’ refers to the fact that the message of Isaiah and of the other prophets had been alike rejected. He groups himself with the other prophets, and says that the annunciation which they had made of the Redeemer had been disregarded The interrogative form is often assumed when it is designed to express a truth with emphasis; and the idea is, therefore, that the message in regard to the Messiah had been rejected, and that almost none had credited and embraced it.

And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? - The arm is that by which we execute a purpose, and is often used as the emblem of power (see the notes at Isaiah 33:2; Isaiah 40:10). Here it denotes the omnipotence or power of God, which would be exhibited through the Messiah. ‘The sense is, ‘Who has perceived the power evinced in the work of the Redeemer? To whom is that power manifested which is to be put forth through him, and in connection with his work?’ It refers not so much, as it seems to me, to his power in working miracles, as to the omnipotence evinced in rescuing sinners from destruction. In the New Testament, the gospel is not unfrequently called ‘the power of God’ Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18, for it is that by which God displays his power in saving people. The idea here is, that comparatively few would be brought under that power, and be benefited by it; that is, in the times, and under the preaching of the Messiah. It is to be remembered that the scene of this vision is laid in the midst of the work of the Redeemer. The prophet sees him a sufferer, despised and rejected. He sees that few come to him, and embrace him as their Saviour. He recalls the ‘report’ and the announcement which he and other prophets had made respecting him; he remembers the record which had been made centuries before respecting the Messiah; and he asks with deep emotion, as if present when the Redeemer lived and preached, who had credited what he and the other prophets had said of him. The mass had rejected it all. The passage, therefore, had its fulfillment in the events connected with the ministry of the Redeemer, and in the fact that he was rejected by so many. The Redeemer was more successful in his work as a preacher than is commonly supposed, but still it is true that by the mass of the nation he was despised, and that the announcement which had been made of his true character and work was rejected.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

1.Who will believe our report? This division, or rather dismemberment, of the chapter, ought to be disregarded; for it ought to have begun with the thirteenth verse of the former chapter, and these words ought to be connected with what goes before. ⁽⁵⁰⁾ Here the Prophet pauses, as it were, in the middle of his discourse; for, having formerly said that the name of Christ would be everywhere proclaimed, and would be revealed to unknown nations, and yet would have so mean an aspect that it might appear as if these things were fabulous, he breaks off his discourse, and exclaims that “Nobody will believe those things.” At the same time, he describes his grief, that men are so unbelieving as to reject their salvation.

Thus, it is a holy complaint made by one who wished that Christ should be known by all, and who, notwithstanding of this, sees that there are few who believe the Gospel, and therefore groans and cries out, “Who hath believed our report?“ Let us therefore groan and complain along with the Prophet, and let us be distressed with grief when we see that our labor is unprofitable, and let us complain before God; for godly ministers must be deeply affected, if they wish to perform their work faithfully. Isaiah declares that there will be few that submit to the Gospel of Christ; for, when he exclaims, “Who will believe the preaching?” he means that of those who hear the Gospel scarcely a hundredth person will be a believer.

Nor does he merely speak of himself alone, but like one who represents all teachers. Although therefore God gives many ministers, few will hold by their doctrine; and what then will happen when there are no ministers? Do we wonder that the greatest blindness reigns there? If cultivated ground is unfruitful, what shall we look for from a soil that is uncultivated and barren? And yet it does not detract anything from the Gospel of Christ, that there are few disciples who receive it; nor does the small number of believers lessen its authority or obscure its infinite glory; but, on the contrary, the loftiness of the mystery is a reason why it scarcely obtains credit in the world. It is reckoned to be folly, because it exceeds all human capacities.

To whom (literally, on whom) is the arm of Jehovah revealed? In this second clause he points out the reason why the number of believers will be so small. It is, because no man can come to God but by an extraordinary revelation of the Spirit. To suppose that by the word “Arm” Christ is meant, is, in my opinion, a mistake. It assigns the cause why there are so few that believe; and that is, that they cannot attain it by the sagacity of their own understanding. This is a remarkable passage, and is quoted by John and Paul for that purpose. “Though Jesus,” said John, “had performed many miracles in their presence, they believed not in him, that the saying of Isaiah the Prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake,

“Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”
(John 12:37)

And Paul says, “But they do not all believe the Gospel; for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?“ (Romans 10:16) Both of them declare that there will be no reason to wonder, if that which was long ago foretold shall happen; and they do so for the purpose of removing offense which might have arisen from the revolt of that nation, which ought to have acknowledged Christ, but obstinately resisted him.

Isaiah does not include merely the men of his own time, but all posterity to the end of the world; for, so long as the reign of Christ shall endure, this must be fulfilled; and therefore believers ought to be fortified by this passage against such a scandal. These words refute the ignorance of those who think that faith is in the power of every person, because preaching is common to all. Though it is sufficiently evident that all are called to salvation, yet the Prophet expressly states that the external voice is of no avail, if it be not accompanied by a special gift of the Spirit. And whence proceeds the difference, but from the secret election of God, the cause of which is hidden in himself?

(50) “While most modern writers detach the three preceding verses and prefix them to this chapter, Hitzig goes to the opposite extreme of saying that the writer here begins afresh, without any visible connection with the previous context. Ewald more reasonably makes this a direct continuation, but observes a change of tone, from that of joyous confidence to that of penitent confession, on the part of the believing Jews, in reference to their former incredulity.” ­ Alexander.

Smith's Bible Commentary

By Chuck Smith

When men made chapter and verse divisions, they did make mistakes. The Word of God is divinely inspired; it's inerrant. But men, for the sake of helping us to find scriptures and to memorize passages, divided the Bible into chapter and verses. And it's a very convenient way to reference. However, many times they made the divisions in the wrong place, and in our reading we are prone to read to an end of a chapter and then quit until the next reading. And sometimes the thought carries right through, so that in the dividing of the chapters, they should have ended chapter 52 with verse Isaiah 53:12 . And they should have started chapter 53 with verse Isaiah 52:13 , because the last three verses here definitely fit in with Isaiah 53:1-12 . And so that we might see the relationship with 53, we will begin our study of chapter 53 with verse Isaiah 52:13 of 52.

As God now speaks about His servant, His only begotten Son, "who was in the form of God, and thought it not something to be grasped to be equal with God: and yet He humbled Himself and took on the likeness of man or the form of man and came in likeness of man. And being humbled, He came as a servant" ( Philippians 2:6-8 ). And so Jesus said, "I came not to do My own will but the will of the One who sent Me" ( John 6:38 ). And in the garden He said, "Not My will, Thy will be done" ( Luke 22:42 ), as He submitted as a servant unto the Father.

Now Isaiah begins to prophesy here concerning God's servant that was to come.

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled ( Isaiah 52:13 ),

The Hebrew word extolled is the word lifted up. It is the very same word that Jesus used in the New Testament when talking to His disciples said, "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me" ( John 12:32 ). Now Jesus when He was referring to being lifted up was referring to the death that He was to die upon the cross, as He would be lifted up upon a cross. "And I, if I be lifted up." And the idea is being lifted up on a cross, I will draw all men unto Me. Now that scripture has been carelessly interpreted by many people as just lifting up Jesus. If you'll just lift up Jesus, He'll draw all men to Him, you see. So in your ministry, just lift up Jesus, and they even have choruses, "Let's lift Him higher, let's lift Him higher. That all the world may see." Well, whoever wrote that chorus doesn't have a real understanding of scripture, because they have taken it out of its context. In the context, the gospel writer said, "This said He signifying the manner of death that He was going to die" ( John 12:33 ). That is, signifying the cross, lifted up on a cross.

And so here the cross is predicted, prophesied in Isaiah. "He shall be exalted and lifted up, and be very high."

As many were astonished at thee; his visage [or face] was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men ( Isaiah 52:14 ):

In the Hebrew this reads more literally, "His face was so marred that He could not be recognized as a man or as a human being."

Now we are told in the gospel that they covered His face and they began to buffet Him. That is, with His face covered they began to hit Him. Now as a general rule our bodies have an automatic reflex kind of an action, when we see a blow coming we give with the blow so it cushions the blow. You don't get the full brunt of it. If you don't cushion the blow, a surprise blow that you don't see coming, that's where you get hurt. You guys that watch the Monday night football, you know that. When a quarterback gets blindsided, he's in trouble. If he can see the guy coming, you just sort of, you reflex action to it and you sort of go with it. And you may get bounced all over, but you're reacting and coordinating with it and thus it's a lot easier to take. But if you don't see that big tackle barreling in on you, and he hits you without your having any ability to defend yourself by the feigning that a person does, that's when you get the broken bones. And that's when you get laid out of the game. Those blindsides are the really thing that will put you out.

Now with Jesus as they covered His face and began to buffet Him, no way to feign or to give with the blow, and thus His face must have been horribly disfigured. Here Isaiah declares that it was so shocking. "As many as looked upon you was shocked when they saw how marred your face was. So marred that you could not be recognized as a man, as a human being."

So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them they shall see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. But who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: now he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him ( Isaiah 52:15 , Isaiah 53:1-2 ).

Interesting prophecies concerning Jesus Christ. He has no beautiful form or comeliness. There is no beauty there that we should desire. In other words, we'll not be attracted to Him by the physical beauty. So often we have in our minds sort of a mental picture of what a person may look like. And we sort of automatically do this even though we haven't seen a person.

I get this all the time where I go into areas where people have been listening on the radio. And I'll go into an area to speak and all they've heard is my voice. And it is interesting to watch their shocked expressions when they see me. Because they have envisioned usually something far different than what I look like. But somehow we always create sort of a mental image. It's an ambiguous kind of an image, but yet there is sort of a mental image of what the person must look like who has a voice like that. And it so often is very shocking when you see the person that you've been listening to. I was shocked when I first met Dr. McGee and I didn't think he would look like that at all with that southern voice. I expected to see some tall, Texan type of a guy, and it was just a surprise to me. And I suppose he was just as surprised to see me and to see what I look like.

So we have in our mind sort of a mental image of what Jesus is going to look like and we sort of imagine just being enthralled with the physical beauty of Christ. But as many as looked upon Him were astonished because really, there is no form or comeliness that is really attractive when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. It isn't for the beautiful form that we will be attracted. And I think that this is, I think that this is rather great that it will not be the beautiful form that we're attracted to. Because face it, the majority of the people are ugly. Very few beautiful people, really beautiful people. Most of us are in the category of we can get by. But it isn't our looks that really attract people.

Now if He were one of those beautiful persons, then it would be more difficult for us to identify with Him. But the fact that it isn't the beauty of His form that is attractive or draws us to Him means that each of us can identify with Him, because it is that spiritual beauty and the love that just draws us so much that we care not what the form may look like.

Now when John was in heaven and he saw the scroll in the right hand of Him who sits upon the throne, and he heard the angel proclaim with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to take the scroll and loose the seals?" And as he observed that no one was found worthy in heaven and earth to take the scroll or to loose the seals, he began to weep. And one of the elders said unto John, "Don't weep, John. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to take the scroll and to loose the seals." And John said, "And I turned and I saw Him as a lamb that hath been slaughtered" ( Revelation 5:2-6 ). No beauty that we should desire Him.

John's first glimpse of Christ in heaven, he saw Him as a lamb that had been slaughtered. Not as some tremendously physical, robust, handsome creature that we all sort of envision Jesus to be. But perhaps the Lord still bears the marks of His suffering for you. He did bear those marks after the resurrection. For you remember Thomas said, "Except I can put my fingers into His hand and thrust my hand into His side, I won't believe" ( John 20:25 ). And so the next time Jesus showed Himself to the disciples, Thomas being present, He said, "Okay, Thomas, go ahead. Put your finger in My hand. Put your hand in My side." The marks were still there. It said, "And they shall look on Him whom they have pierced" ( Zechariah 12:10 ). And they shall say unto Him, "What are the meaning of these wounds in Your hands?" Yet future, still bearing them; the marks of His love for you.

So as many as saw Him were astonished. "He has no form nor comeliness." That is, really an attractive, desirable or attracting feature. "When we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him."

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief ( Isaiah 53:3 ):

Now you probably have in your mind mental pictures of what Paul must have looked like. I read the epistles of Paul and I think of him as a giant. Surely he's a spiritual giant. I read in one of the apocrypha books, one of the early writings, a description of Paul the apostle. And it describes him as a skinny little runt about five feet tall with a horribly large hooked nose and eyes that were red, swollen and constantly running, and it gave this horrible... And I was upset because that's not how I pictured Paul at all. I'm in love with Paul. My, what this man has given to us of his great depth of understanding and background. And I so love the writings of Paul that I've been drawn to him. He is one of those that I'm looking forward to just really spending some time with in the future. And yet, without seeing the physical person, it is possible to be in love with an individual and yet not be physically attracted. And yet, it is interesting how so often today we only associate love with physical attraction, and not with the person themselves. And that's rather tragic. And that's why so many marriages are miserable, because the person has married the face but there's nothing behind the face. There's no depth of character. There's just the face and that's it.

One of the most miserable dates I ever had in my life was with a girl with a pretty face. Oh, I was excited. I thought, "Man alive, this is going to be great!" My sister worked with her sister, and as they talked... "My brother," "Oh, my sister... " "Well, my sister thinks your brother is cute," or something. And that's all I needed. So you call up and you make a date. Most miserable night. She had a beautiful face, but man, she was a dud. I mean, just a dull evening. No conversation, nothing. And people make mistakes many times in relationships because we relate on the physical, rather than upon the true nature of a person.

Now, "He is despised and rejected of men; He is a man of sorrows, He's acquainted with grief."

and we hid as it were our faces from him ( Isaiah 53:3 );

Perhaps in shock and in horror. Have you ever looked at something that was so shocking you couldn't look; you turned your face? You couldn't stand to look at it. It was so horrible. It may be that that will be your first response when you see the marks of the suffering that He bore for you. You look and you can't even... He doesn't even look like a human being. You just sort of cringe at it.

he was despised ( Isaiah 53:3 ),

He's rejected.

and we didn't esteem him ( Isaiah 53:3 ).

But surely in that suffering, in that death,

He bore our griefs, and he carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions ( Isaiah 53:4-5 ),

Now this is why it is so ridiculous to try to hold the Jews responsible for the death of Jesus Christ and to blame them and to persecute them as has been the history of the church; persecute them for the death of Jesus Christ. That's sheer unscriptural idiocy. They are no more responsible for the death of Jesus Christ than you or I. We are all equally responsible for His death. For He was wounded for our transgressions. It was my sin that put Him on the cross. It was my sin that brought Him that suffering and that beating and that shame and that reproach. I'm guilty! And we shouldn't seek to blame someone else for our own guilt and to persecute someone else for that for which we are ourselves responsible. Surely He hath borne our griefs, carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions.

he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed ( Isaiah 53:5 ).

So we are the ones responsible for the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ, because He suffered and died for me that He might bring me the forgiveness of my sins. That He might bring me into fellowship with God. You see, God created man in the beginning for fellowship. That was the purpose of God when He created man-that God might be able to fellowship with man. But when man turned his back upon God and sinned, fellowship with God was broken. And fellowship with God who is holy and righteous cannot be restored until something is done about my sin. And that is why Jesus came that He might take the guilt of my sin. That He might bear my iniquities, my transgressions, my guilt, die in my place in order that through His death I can now come to God and have fellowship with God.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Jesus Christ the iniquities of us all ( Isaiah 53:6 ).

You remember Jesus cried on the cross, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Crying out the twenty-second psalm, and in the verse Isaiah 53:3 the answer is given, "For Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Thy people." God forsook His Son when your sin was placed upon Him. For that's the effect of sin. It's being forsaken of God. Being separated from God. And when your sin was placed upon Jesus Christ, He was separated from the Father. And thus the cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" But He was forsaken of God in order that you won't have to be forsaken by God. "For God laid on Him the iniquities of us all."

He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth ( Isaiah 53:7 ):

You remember before Pilate, Pilate marvelled that He didn't answer. He said, "Answerest Thou not me? Don't You know that I have power to free Thee, the power to put Thee to death?" Jesus said, "You don't have any power except that which My Father gives you. But don't worry, those that turned Me over to you have the greater sin than you do. I know you're troubled, Pilate." He didn't know what he had on his hands and he did his best to free Him. But, "He opened not His mouth."

he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth ( Isaiah 53:7 ).

All of the accusations. "Hear not all these things they accuse Thee of? What do You say for Yourself?" Jesus didn't answer.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off ( Isaiah 53:8 )

You see, without any children, who's going to declare His generation?

He was cut off out of the land of the living ( Isaiah 53:8 ):

Now that's an interesting phrase, "Cut off out of the land of the living." You remember that Daniel prophesies, "From the time the commandment goes forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah the Prince will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens, three score and two sevens. And the wall shall be built again in troublous times, and after the three score and two sevens shall the Messiah be cut off. But not for Himself, but for the people" ( Daniel 9:25-26 ). For He's cut off. He'll be crucified. Out of the land of the living. And God cries out,

for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death ( Isaiah 53:8-9 );

You remember Joseph of Arimathaea, a very rich man, came and begged Pilate for the body of Jesus that he might bury it. And here it is. He's with the rich in His death.

because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when he shall make his soul an offering for sin ( Isaiah 53:9-10 ),

So Christ became the sin offering for us. According to the will of God because God loved us.

he shall see his seed, and prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied ( Isaiah 53:10-11 ):

That is, He travailed in order that you might be born again. And in seeing your redemption, in seeing you in fellowship with God, He's satisfied. He looks upon Him and says it was worth it all because of the redemption that He is able to offer to us. That fellowship that He can bring to us with the Father. And so, "He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied."

and by his knowledge ( Isaiah 53:11 )

That is, by the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

my righteous servant shall justify many ( Isaiah 53:11 );

So how many of us tonight have been justified before God through the knowledge of Jesus Christ? So God declares, "By his knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many."

for he shall bear their iniquities ( Isaiah 53:11 ).

Now all of this written 700 years before Christ was born. That is why when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and talked to the people who were involved in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he said unto them, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was proved to be of God by the signs and the wonders which He did while He was still living with you, whom you according to the predeterminate counsel and foreknowledge of God with your wicked hands have crucified and slain" ( Acts 2:22-23 ). But when he talks about the crucifixion, he speaks about the predetermined counsel and the foreknowledge of God. God knew it. God had planned it in order that He might demonstrate to you how much He loves you. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins" ( 1 John 4:10 ). Paul said, "For a righteous man some might dare to die: for a good man peradventure some would even give their lives. But herein is God's love manifested, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly" ( Romans 5:7-8 ). He bore your iniquities. He bore your sins.

Therefore [the Father says] will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong ( Isaiah 53:12 );

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and if sons, then heirs, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ" ( Romans 8:16-17 ), as He divides the spoil with the strong.

because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors ( Isaiah 53:12 );

Two thieves on either, one on either side. "He was numbered with the transgressors."

and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors ( Isaiah 53:11 ).

You remember even as they were nailing Him, He said, "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do" ( Luke 23:34 ). Interceding for the transgressors. All of these things prophesied in advance. All of them fulfilled through the death of Jesus Christ. Surely it sets Him alone in history as the only man who could ever qualify to be the Messiah, the suffering servant. If Jesus is not the Messiah, there is no Messiah. No other man can qualify. But Jesus has qualified in all 300 points of prophecy that spoke about His life, His ministry, His death. And here in Isaiah, outstanding example of clear-cut prophecy. And if it doesn't refer to Jesus Christ, it can't refer to any other person in history. He stands alone as the only One who has fulfilled these things. And to reject Him after the basis of this kind of evidence is to sin against your own conscience and to sin against the truth, which becomes even a greater evil. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Isaiah marveled at the message that the Lord had revealed to him, that he and the Israelites were to declare to the world as lights to the nations (Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 43:10-12; cf. Isaiah 53:3-6; Isaiah 16:6; Isaiah 24:16; Isaiah 42:24; Isaiah 52:15; Isaiah 64:5-6; John 12:38; Romans 10:16). It was almost unbelievable.

"It [the rhetorical question, "Who has believed our report?"] does not demand a negative answer, but is designed simply to call attention to the paucity of true believers in the world and especially among the Jews." [Note: Young, 3:340.]

The prophet also was amazed that the Lord had revealed His arm to His people. When the Lord would bare His arm to save humankind (Isaiah 51:9-10; Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 63:12), that manifestation of His strength was not at all impressive. We might say that when God rolled up His sleeve, the arm that He exposed was not the powerful arm of a weight lifter but a very ordinary looking arm. Nevertheless that arm would prove to be stronger than any other arm. The Arm of the Lord appears here as a person distinct from the Lord Himself, namely, the Servant of the Lord.

"When God made the universe, He used His fingers (Psalms 8:3), and when He delivered Israel from Egypt, it was by His strong hand (Exodus 13:3). But to save lost sinners, He had to bare His mighty arm!" [Note: Wiersbe, p. 60.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The Servant despised 53:1-3

Expositors have called this chapter the holy of holies of Isaiah. It is also the middle chapter in part two of the book (chs. 40-66). Most of the approximately 80 references to Isaiah in the New Testament come from this chapter. [Note: A. Martin, Christ in . . ., part 2, p. 12] It is the most quoted or alluded to Old Testament chapter in the New Testament.

"Beyond question, this chapter is the heart of the Hebrew prophetic writings." [Note: Baron, p. 4. For a history of the ancient and modern Jewish and the rationalistic Christian interpretations of this chapter, with rebuttals, see ibid., pp. 16-47, 143-58.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Who hath believed our report?.... Or "hearing" a. Not what we hear, but others hear from us; the doctrine of the Gospel, which is a report of the love, grace, and mercy of God in Christ; of Christ himself, his person, offices, obedience, sufferings, and death, and of free and full salvation by him: it is a good report, a true and faithful one, and to be believed, and yet there are always but few that give credit to it; there were but few in the times of the Prophet Isaiah that believed what he had before reported, or was about to report, concerning the Messiah; and but few in the times of Christ and his apostles, whom the prophet here represented; for to those times are the words applied,

John 12:38, the Jews had the report first made unto them, and saw the facts that were done, and yet believed not; when Gentile kings, and their subjects, listened with the most profound silence, and heard with the greatest attention and reverence, as in the latter part of the preceding chapter, to which some think this is opposed; wherefore some begin the text with the adversative particle "but". According to the Septuagint and Arabic versions, the words are directed to God the Father, for they render them, "Lord, who hath believed", c. and so they are quoted in the above places in the New Testament:

and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? meaning either the Gospel itself, the power of God unto salvation, hidden from the generality of men; for though externally, yet not internally revealed and made known; which to do is the Lord's work, and is owing to his special grace: or Christ, who is the power of God, by whom all the works of creation, providence, grace, and salvation, are wrought; and by whom the blessings of grace are dispensed; and by whom the Lord upholds all things, and supports his people; and who was not revealed but to a very few, as the true Messiah, as God's salvation, and in them the hope of glory: or else the powerful and efficacious grace of the Spirit, and the exertion and display of it, which is necessary to a true and spiritual believing the Gospel, and the report of it; which, unless it comes with the power and Spirit of God, is ineffectual.

a לשמעתנו, τη ακοη ημων, Sept.; "auditui nostro", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?   2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.   3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

      The prophet, in the close of the former chapter, had foreseen and foretold the kind reception which the gospel of Christ should find among the Gentiles, that nations and their kings should bid it welcome, that those who had not seen him should believe in him; and though they had not any prophecies among them of gospel grace, which might raise their expectations, and dispose them to entertain it, yet upon the first notice of it they should give it its due weight and consideration. Now here he foretels, with wonder, the unbelief of the Jews, notwithstanding the previous notices they had of the coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament and the opportunity they had of being personally acquainted with him. Observe here,

      I. The contempt they put upon the gospel of Christ, Isaiah 53:1; Isaiah 53:1. The unbelief of the Jews in our Saviour's time is expressly said to be the fulfilling of this word, John 12:38. And it is applied likewise to the little success which the apostles' preaching met with among Jews and Gentiles, Romans 10:16. Note, 1. Of the many that hear the report of the gospel there are few, very few, that believe it. It is reported openly and publicly, not whispered in a corner, or confined to the schools, but proclaimed to all; and it is so faithful a saying, and so well worthy of all acceptation, that one would think it should be universally received and believed. But it is quite otherwise; few believed the prophets who spoke before of Christ; when he came himself none of the rulers nor of the Pharisees followed him, and but here and there one of the common people; and, when the apostles carried this report all the world over, some in every place believed, but comparatively very few. To this day, of the many that profess to believe this report, there are few that cordially embrace it and submit to the power of it. 2. Therefore people believe not the report of the gospel, because the arm of the Lord is not revealed to them; they do not discern, nor will be brought to acknowledge, that divine power which goes along with the word. The arm of the Lord is made bare (as was said, Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 52:10) in the miracles that were wrought to confirm Christ's doctrine, in the wonderful success of it, and its energy upon the conscience; though it is a still voice, it is a strong one; but they do not perceive this, nor do they experience in themselves that working of the Spirit which makes the word effectual. They believe not the gospel because, by rebelling against the light they had, they had forfeited the grace of God, which therefore he justly denied them and withheld from them, and for want of that they believed not. 3. This is a thing we ought to be much affected with; it is to be wondered at, and greatly lamented, and ministers may go to God and complain of it to him, as the prophet here. What a pity is it that such rich grace should be received in vain, that precious souls should perish at the pool's side, because they will not step in and be healed!

      II. The contempt they put upon the person of Christ because of the meanness of his appearance, Isaiah 53:2; Isaiah 53:3. This seems to come in as a reason why they rejected his doctrine, because they were prejudiced against his person. When he was on earth many that heard him preach, and could not but approve of what they heard, would not give it any regard or entertainment, because it came from one that made so small a figure and had no external advantages to recommend him. Observe here,

      1. The low condition he submitted to, and how he abased and emptied himself. The entry he made into the world, and the character he wore in it, were no way agreeable to the ideas which the Jews had formed of the Messiah and their expectations concerning him, but quite the reverse. (1.) It was expected that his extraction would be very great and noble. He was to be the Son of David, of a family that had a name like to the names of the great men that were in the earth,2 Samuel 7:9. But he sprang out of this royal and illustrious family when it was reduced and sunk, and Joseph, that son of David, who was his supposed father, was but a poor carpenter, perhaps a ship-carpenter, for most of his relations were fishermen. This is here meant by his being a root out of a dry ground, his being born of a mean and despicable family, in the north, in Galilee, of a family out of which, like a dry and desert ground, nothing green, nothing great, was expected, in a country of such small repute that it was thought no good thing could come out of it. His mother, being a virgin, was as dry ground, yet from her he sprang who is not only fruit, but root. The seed on the stony ground had no root; but, though Christ grew out of a dry ground, he is both the root and the offspring of David, the root of the good olive. (2.) It was expected that he should make a public entry, and come in pomp and with observation; but, instead of that, he grew up before God, not before men. God had his eye upon him, but men regarded him not: He grew up as a tender plant, silently and insensibly, and without any noise, as the corn, that tender plant, grows up, we know not how,Mark 4:27. Christ rose as a tender plant, which, one would have thought, might easily be crushed, or might be nipped in one frosty night. The gospel of Christ, in its beginning, was as a grain of mustard-seed, so inconsiderable did it seem, Matthew 13:31; Matthew 13:32. (3.) It was expected that he should have some uncommon beauty in his face and person, which should charm the eye, attract the heart, and raise the expectations of all that saw him. But there was nothing of this kind in him; not that he was in the least deformed or misshapen, but he had no form nor comeliness, nothing extraordinary, which one might have thought to meet with in the countenance of an incarnate deity. Those who saw him could not see that there was any beauty in him that they should desire him, nothing in him more than in another beloved,Song of Solomon 5:9. Moses, when he was born, was exceedingly fair, to such a degree that it was looked upon as a happy presage, Acts 7:20; Hebrews 11:23. David, when he was anointed, was of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to,1 Samuel 16:12. But our Lord Jesus had nothing of that to recommend him. Or it may refer not so much to his person as to the manner of his appearing in the world, which had nothing in it of sensible glory. His gospel is preached, not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but with all plainness, agreeable to the subject. (4.) It was expected that he should live a pleasant life, and have a full enjoyment of all the delights of the sons and daughters of men, which would have invited all sorts to him; but, on the contrary, he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. It was not only his last scene that was tragical, but his whole life was so, not only mean, but miserable,

      Thus, being made sin for us, he underwent the sentence sin had subjected us to, that we should eat in sorrow all the days of our life (Genesis 3:17), and thereby relaxed much of the rigour and extremity of the sentence as to us. His condition was, upon many accounts, sorrowful. He was unsettled, had not where to lay his head, lived upon alms, was opposed and menaced, and endured the contradiction of sinners against himself. His spirit was tender, and he admitted the impressions of sorrow. We never read that he laughed, but often that he wept. Lentulus, in his epistle to the Roman senate concerning Jesus, says, "he was never seen to laugh;" and so worn and macerated was he with continual grief that when he was but a little above thirty years of age he was taken to be nearly fifty, John 8:57. Grief was his intimate acquaintance; for he acquainted himself with the grievances of others, and sympathized with them, and he never set his own at a distance; for in his transfiguration he talked of his own decease, and in his triumph he wept over Jerusalem. Let us look unto him and mourn.

      2. The low opinion that men had of him, upon this account. Being generally apt to judge of persons and things by the sight of the eye, and according to outward appearance, they saw no beauty in him that they should desire him. There was a great deal of true beauty in him, the beauty of holiness and the beauty of goodness, enough to render him the desire of all nations; but the far greater part of those among whom he lived, and conversed, saw none of this beauty, for it was spiritually discerned. Carnal hearts see no excellency in the Lord Jesus, nothing that should induce them to desire an acquaintance with him or interest in him. Nay, he is not only not desired, but he is despised and rejected, abandoned and abhorred, a reproach of men, an abject, one that men were shy of keeping company with and had not any esteem for, a worm and no man. He was despised as a mean man, rejected as a bad man. He was the stone which the builders refused; they would not have him to reign over them. Men, who should have had so much reason as to understand things better, so much tenderness as not to trample upon a man in misery--men whom he came to seek and save rejected him: "We hid as it were our faces from him, looked another way, and his sufferings were as nothing to us; though never sorrow was like unto his sorrow. Nay, we not only behaved as having no concern for him, but as loathing him, and having him in detestation." It may be read, He hid as it were his face from us, concealed the glory of his majesty, and drew a veil over it, and therefore he was despised and we esteemed him not, because we could not see through that veil. Christ having undertaken to make satisfaction to the justice of God for the injury man had done him in his honour by sin (and God cannot be injured except in his honour), he did it not only by divesting himself of the glories due to an incarnate deity, but by submitting himself to the disgraces due to the worst of men and malefactors; and thus by vilifying himself he glorified his Father: but this is a good reason why we should esteem him highly, and study to do him honour; let him be received by us whom men rejected.