Isaiah 53:10-12 THE TRUIUMPHANT VICTOR The first stanza of this suffering song introduces us to the “what” of the subject. The subject is the Servant of God, or as is often said, “The Servant of Jehovah.” The second stanza tells us “who” this Person is and how he is identified. The third stanza tells us “why” the Perfect Servant of Jehovah endured all that He went through. That is where so many of us can identify ourselves with Him who was willing to identify Himself with us. The fourth stanza tells us “how” the Servant accomplished the full redemption that was needed, and what He endured in His suffering. The fifth and last stanza of the song gives us the “results” of all the Servant accomplished when He “made His soul an offering for sin.”
Our Lord Jesus suffered in His body when every known wound was inflicted upon Him. He said regarding the suffering of His soul, “Now is my soul troubled, and what can I say? Father save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” When Jesus foretold His betrayal by Judas, He suffered when He was troubled in spirit. Then, just before going to Gethsemane, He said to His disciples, and to us, “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” The soul suffering of the Lord is mentioned three times in this last stanza. Perhaps the best way to put the first phrase is, “When His soul shall make an offering for sin.” There was no area of our great need that He did not face and deal with in full. “The travail of His soul,” will bring satisfaction to Him, and He will be forever glorified by those He saved. “He poured out His soul unto death,” indicates there was nothing left that could ever be done or added to the work He accomplished. He laid down His own life for those He loved, and He took it again by resurrection. We are justified by that work He accomplished.
The Suffering Servant has provided redemption for us, and in doing so has triumphed over all our foes: sin, death and hell. God had appointed Him, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the offering for our sin. This has resulted in millions of people becoming born-again Christians who are His children by faith in Him. A result of His triumph is “He shall see His seed.” There is, and will forever be, a whole spiritual family, a posterity, because of the sacrifice He made. Also, “He shall prolong His days.” Because He died, we live, and will be alive for evermore with Him. “The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” The on-going work of God through His people will bring millions of people into the kingdom of God by His saving grace. Even the nation of Israel will be saved as He promised, because of His great victory on the cross. “By His knowledge shall My Righteous Servant justify many,” tells us that by Him knowing us, and we coming to know Him; we are given eternal life and are made fit for the kingdom of God having been justified by His grace.
The death, burial and resurrection of Christ for us, is certainly the good news of the Gospel. His days are forever “prolonged,” and that assures us that because He lives, we shall live also for Him, and with Him. That “Light of life” is the lasting triumph by our Savior who is the Righteous One, God’s Servant, who has justified us righteously by His resurrection from among the dead. He redeemed us and that brought perfect satisfaction to the righteous claims of justice God demanded. What He experimentally gained by personal knowledge, has made possible the true knowledge of God for us. Because of Him, many are declared righteous. The great God and Strong Servant, shares the spoils of His great victory with His own people. There will be millions, maybe even billions, of people in God’s family because they have been brought into God’s family, cleansed and justified because of the sacrifice of Christ when His soul was poured out unto death for us who were transgressors.
In looking back over the words of this song of suffering: v.3, He was despised; v.5, He was wounded, He was bruised; v.7, He was oppressed, He was afflicted; v.8, He was taken from prison and from judgment, He was cut off; v.12, He was numbered with the transgressors and bare the sin of many. Each verse of Isaiah 53 identifies the Suffering Servant in some specific way. In verse 1, He is the Strong One; verse 2, the Sensitive One; verse 3, the Sorrowing One; verse 4, the Smitten One; verse 5, the suffering One; verse 6,the Sin-bearing One; verse 7, the Silent One; verse 8, the Stricken One; verse 9, the Sincere One; verse 10, the Submissive One; verse 11, the Satisfied One; verse 12, The Successful One.