Written by Paul J Bucknell on April, 25, 2022
MGL5 Isaiah 53:7-9 The Servant’s Attitude
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
“By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?” (Isaiah 53:8)
“His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth” (Isaiah 53:9).
An Introduction to Isaiah 53:7-9
Verses 7-9 give us special insight into Christ’s attitude toward suffering, further explanation of the righteous servant’s mysterious death, and expands our understanding of Christ’s sufferings. It’s for this reason this triad of verses plays such an essential part of our grasp of Christ’s death on the cross. But while we view these insights into the cross, let’s remember how it affects our Christian lives and ministries.
Isaiah 53, including these verses, significantly shaped Peter’s first epistle. Just before Peter partially quotes from here, he says, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
Modern man with his pursuit of liberty, peace, and ease has no place for suffering in their lives. And yet, the apostle reminds us that Jesus not only died on the cross to bring forgiveness but also to leave us an example for us to follow. We are to follow in His steps and should never compromise our lives to escape suffering. Instead, we determinedly follow Jesus’ own steps wherever they lead. Let’s now look at how Christ suffered for our sins.
1. Jesus willingly suffered (Isaiah 53:7)
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
Isaiah 53:7 provides such a wonderful glimpse into Jesus’ life perspective. It is one thing to say we believe, but it’s important to observe what happens when we are tested. The New Testament records Jesus’ attitude when he approached Jerusalem. “And it came about, when the days were approaching for His ascension, that He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). Troubles would assail Jesus’ well-being, but He nonetheless went on and endured the cross. Jesus, a lamb, walked wherever God led Him. He cared not for His own needs but for only for the Father’s will and the needs of others.
Silence Speaks
“The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But Jesus kept silent” (Matthew 26:62-63a; cf, 27:12-14). “Yet He did not open His mouth.” Peter says in 1 Peter 2:23, “And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” Matthew states that the high priest had to “adjure Him” to compel Jesus to testify (Mat 26:63).
Why didn’t Jesus open His mouth to protest? “Like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.” In John 5:22, Jesus says all judgment had been given to Him, and yet, He remains quiet, while made a victim of people’s jealousy. As we look at the Gospel records, we find that these Jewish trials were held illegally at night. They sought not righteous verdicts but accusations to satisfy their own unrighteous jealousies. If they were looking for the Words of Life, Jesus would gladly have told them, but under this pretense of a righteous court, He would not speak out unless they forced Him by law.
The image of a lamb being brought to a place where all its wool would be shaved speaks powerfully of the treatment of Jesus, including the mocking, shame, crown, spitting and beating. He was stretched out naked on the cross before them, innocently enduring the cross where He would suffer death. He acted as a lamb who didn’t know what would happen, and yet He did know. He knew He would not be rescued on this side of death. No one forced Jesus’ hand but willingly went where His Father directed. He didn’t protest His Father’s will, no matter how demanding but only confessed His willingness to entrust God with His life and obedience.
The Apostle Paul exemplified this attitude when he several times did not fully claim his rights. He was a Roman citizen and was not to be judged without proven guilt. And yet, he allowed himself to be judged without making known his full Roman privileges (Acts 16:23). When he did, it was because he was thinking of his brethren rather than himself.
If we need to suffer, do we do it with the right attitude or do we give ourselves to revenge or exerting our rights? Are we willing to suffer and entrust our lives to Him who judges righteously? We will be challenged to devote our lives to serving the Lord wherever He sends us—no matter the cost. People might think this is irrational, but we must remember that this is our Father who perfectly understands our circumstances. Can we trust Him? Why wouldn’t we trust Him?
When we have “died to ourselves,” we no longer live to carry out our own will but His. We have subjugated our wills to His. And though it seems that this is the most extreme and limited life, it is really where we begin to discover life. We were made to carry out God’s will. Our wills should be totally caught up in doing what our Father wants, even if it means walking under the shadows of betrayal, false accusations, and lies. Some of you are already doing that, finding rejection. Others endure physical affliction. But you have endured so that you can, like Christ, live fully devoted to the Lord. You are available.
2. He terribly suffered (Isaiah 53:8)
“By oppression and judgment He was taken away.” The hardest part of suffering, facing rejection, and the like, is not necessarily the pain or bruises. We do not deny the anguish of physical pain but are trying to grasp the emotional pain present. No one around Jesus appreciated His purpose. They did not understand why He died. Some mistakingly concluded it was because He was evil. They didn’t know how He was evil but concluded that only evil people die such a death. This verse spreads out these misunderstandings before us.
“By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?” (Isaiah 53:8)
Most remarkable is the disciples’ unwillingness or inability to comprehend Jesus’ death. “Who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people”? They were closest to Jesus, and yet, even they could not appreciate Jesus’ mission. Jesus told them over and over again what would happen, but they revolted from the idea. We don’t see them asking why He would die. They just shuddered from the idea, perhaps thinking Jesus spoke in allegorical form. Did anyone understand or appreciate what Jesus was doing? Remember Peter cutting off the soldier’s ear? This was like a last minute attempt to keep Jesus from His life’s mission. “Simon Peter therefore having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus” (John 18:10).
It is painful to know that nobody else understands all the good that one does. Without grasping the purpose of suffering, the pain really looks barren and bleak. Did anyone really appreciate the suffering that He went through? Did anyone compliment Jesus on how faithful He was? Not at all. Even those closest to Jesus did not appreciate His dedication.
Judas Iscariot, too, gave up all hope in Jesus to change the world. No one could grasp the purpose of Jesus’ death. Jesus’ whole life looked as a waste, when hanging on that tree. Oppressive-looking Roman soldiers took Jesus away.
Only Christ’s Father in heaven understood that He died “for the transgression of my people.” Matthew 1:21 reminds of Jesus’ calling, “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
People have various ideas of success and salvation, maybe like Joshua who bravely lead the Israelites into the land to conquer it. No one could grasp the point of Jesus’ death, even though Isaiah recorded the details hundreds of years earlier. They just couldn’t comprehend how victory could come through death. They couldn’t see Jesus as Joshua here, bravely leading His people forward (Jesus and Joshua share the same name, meaning Savior). Jesus died alone, very alone, and yet His Father was with Him (John 16:32).
We can endure many kinds of hardships, but it is excruciating to know that people do not know the reason we suffer. Gossip and backbiting are lesser forms of false testimony and rigged trials, but they both reflect the difficulty of being misunderstood and seen as evil—especially when you were doing the right thing!
It was very hard for Jesus to be totally misunderstood—all the false allegations—at the crowning of His ministry. We might go through such times of suffering too. Though doing what God wants, people scoff at us for the way we live or falsely accuse us, disguising one’s genuine obedience to God.
As long as we care much about what others think of us, we cannot do God’s will. God at times requires that we do things that people will not accept or understand, misconstruing our motives. In obedience, let’s carry out what He wants and endure people’s misunderstandings and ridicule. God is with us.
3. He innocently suffered (Isaiah 53:9)
“His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth” (Isaiah 53:9).
If Jesus died with the wicked, one would expect Him to be buried with them. “His grave was assigned with wicked men.” But he wasn’t! “Yet He was with a rich man in His death.” This is because He wasn’t like them. He had done no violence. Nor did He speak lies, half-lies or deceit.
1 Peter 2:22-23 says, “Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, he did not revile in return.” The righteous God saw to it that He had a significant burial. It seemed like the horror of the cross loomed over the whole situation, but God powerfully worked behind the scenes and timing.
The Lord controls the universe and easily able to influence circumstances. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.” When God thinks the misunderstanding has gone far enough, He stops it. God used His Servant, the Suffering One, to accomplish His great works. So although he died with the wicked, the Father appointed that he would be buried with the rich. God defended Him well, without us.
“And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given over to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock” (Matthew 27:57-60).
God prompted a rich believer to risk his life and reputation by asking and taking the body of Jesus and lying it in his own tomb. Looking back, we discover it was this sealed tomb that made it possible to verify Jesus’ resurrection. If He was in some mass unknown grave, there would not have been the necessary witnesses. God arranged the situation to record His Son’s resurrection in the historical books.
Notice the word “because” in verse 9. The scriptures clearly tell us why God appointed Jesus Christ to be buried with the rich. He wanted to establish Christ’s righteousness, “He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”
Although it might seem that the kingdom of God is being maligned and failing, we need to have the utmost confidence that God is there to correctly and timely straighten affairs. I assure you that to have a rich man to come forth and identify himself with this accused man was not easy. If God can do that, then He can do anything. We don’t need to make ourselves look acceptable before the political, social, and business leaders but to live out the law of love, conducting righteous lives without compromise, being polite and kind. But we dare not compromise the message or the way we live.
In the end, we see that we can always trust God to do what is right and needful. He can and will always turn our difficult situation into what glorifies His Name. Like “My Servant,” we are His servants. Sometimes He honors us with enduring sufferings like Christ. Let us be faithful and trust that He will make all things right in the end.
Summary of Isaiah 53:7-9
Throughout verses 7-9, we see the grievous and multitude of ways Jesus suffered. This fourth stanza rightly runs parallel in thought to 53:1-3. The physical and emotional trauma that Jesus suffered goes far beyond what we could ever suffer. It is crucial, however, not to let circumstances dictate our conclusions but the Word of God. This passage helps us rightly understand why God would have His Righteous One suffer and die. We profit not only from the work of Jesus on the cross but also His example. His pathway becomes the path for us.
God has equally designed our lives and ministries. Perhaps, we like to think our life would be better. Peter heard he was not going to have an easy end. In John 21:21, Peter asked Jesus what would happen to John. “What about this man?” Jesus essentially told Peter that it had nothing to do with him. “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
Once we look to what God is doing in another believer’s life, then we take our eyes off what He has for us. We only can be faithful if we follow Jesus’ advice, “Follow Me!” By deciding ahead that we will endure all for Him, our approach to life will significantly differ. We should not envy others, thinking that it is unfair that one is rich while another is poor; one suffers nothing while another dies. We only need to fix our eyes on Jesus. As a humble sheep, follow the Great Shepherd of the sheep where He leads you.
