Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Isaiah 53:10 | Date: March 2, 2025 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53. Planning to read the entire chapter, and actually I was planning to finish the chapter this evening. I don’t think that will happen now, otherwise we would go late. So let’s look at verses 10 through 12 this evening. Remember in verses seven to nine, we saw last time the sufferings that were unjustly inflicted on the servant, and yet he was submissive. There was no protest, no rebuke. He took it all as something he had determined to take on. And now we come to another explanation as to why those sufferings came. Verse 10:

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide with him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Now in verse 10, we pick it up there this evening, here he highlights God’s involvement, the Lord’s involvement in the servant’s suffering. And that comes to the fore here, verse 10: “It was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief.” So the servant’s sufferings that we have heard of, they were introduced to us back in Isaiah 49, again in Isaiah 50, and now again in chapter 53 at some length, and here we find it is God’s doing.

Now that’s something we find picked up in the New Testament in many different passages; that theme is echoed. One prominent one that you might remember is when in Luke’s account of the passion, we read the Son of Man goes—Jesus says this—the Son of Man goes as it was determined. So here he heads off into his suffering and Jesus says himself that he’s going as it was determined. Well, who determined it? Of course, it was God who determined it. We find the same, of course, in 1 Peter 1, echoing Isaiah 53, that Jesus was the redeeming lamb foreknown before the foundation of the world. So through all of the evil intents and all of the injustices of evil men that were inflicted on the servant unjustly, He was accomplishing the Father’s will. He was accomplishing God’s will. You might remember that’s how the book of Acts picks up on this theme twice, where we find the early church confessing this faith that in all that they did to the Lord Jesus by evil hands and with wicked intents, they accomplished exactly what God had ordered to be accomplished. That’s both Acts 2:23 and Acts 4:24 and following.

So here he says, it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. Now the word he uses here is “crush.” It was the will of the Lord to crush him. The idea means just that—to crush, to beat into pieces. The word is used in the Old Testament almost only metaphorically, almost always of people. It’s not used of crushing a piece of pottery or something like that, but it’s used metaphorically of people. Often it’s spoken of God crushing his enemies. But here, he crushes his servant. It was the will of the Lord to crush his servant.

So we have here a horrible and yet a wonderful irony. It was the will of the Lord to crush his righteous servant. He tells us that in verse 11, he is the righteous servant. And yet, God, it is his will to crush him. The next part of the verse: “he has put him to grief.” Now it seems unjust then. Why would you crush someone who’s righteous? Why would you inflict this on someone who himself doesn’t deserve it? It seems unjust until you recall back what we’ve already seen earlier in the chapter. Verse five: “he was crushed for our iniquities.” Verse six: “the Lord has laid our iniquities on him.” So we have this transaction that our sin is given to the servant; God punishes him for our sins, and in turn, of course, we receive his righteousness. And so this is the term that Isaiah has used to describe the—how do we say this?—the unjust treatment of the servant accomplishing the justice of God in punishing him as the people’s substitute. He stands as the sinner’s substitute, and so although he does not deserve this, he is crushed because he bears our iniquities. We see that again later in this passage as well.

So it’s the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. If he is to be the substitute, if he’s to be the sin bearer, bearing the sin of God’s people, then he must answer to the demands of justice against God’s people because of their sin. This is our number one problem. The number one problem that the gospel faces is not how to make us happy and how to solve our problems. The number one problem is our sin. How does that square in the face of a righteous God? The question is not, first of all, will you receive him? The first question is, how in the world can a righteous God receive us? And the answer here he’s giving to us is that our sin is placed on the servant. He is crushed for our sins and judged of God in our place.

All of this recalls what we saw then in verses four and following with regard to Israel’s confession, their mistaken thinking that they’ve confessed. We thought he was being punished of God. We thought this was God doing it to him. Of course, the implication is he’s getting what’s coming to him. And what we saw then back when we were in those verses, verses four to six, is that they were right in assuming that this was God doing it. They were wrong in thinking that he was doing it because he got what he deserved. He didn’t get what he deserved; he got what we deserve. That’s the point of it. And so our iniquity is laid on him, verse six. Verse five: he’s pierced for our transgression, he’s crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. The song that we sing: “He took the blame, he bore the wrath.” This is Romans 3 verse 25. God has put him forth to be a propitiation for our sins. So the Father then sends his Son, or in the language of Isaiah, the Lord sends his servant. The servant comes to bring justice to the nations. In order to do that, he stands in the sinner’s place and takes the punishment of our sin.

So when the Lord Jesus was put to death, it was at the same time the crime of history—injustice, if ever there was an injustice. And yet at the same time, in that same event, this was the righteous demands of God being met in that he stood as the sinner’s substitute bearing our sins. And so when the prophet affirms here in verse 10 that this is the Lord’s doing—”it was the will of the Lord to crush him”—he intends for us to see a couple of things. One, just on the superficial level, this is a lesson in divine sovereignty: that here is the Lord accomplishing his will through the sinful acts of sinful men. An amazing thing; it’s a striking providence to see God accomplishing his holy will through the sinful actions and the sinful intents of sinful men. That’s just scratching the surface here. What he’s getting at is to make us think more deeply, and that is what a remarkable grace this is, that in this injustice, God is carrying out his saving purpose to save his people by means of the servant who stood in their place. And so we’re led to see here in Isaiah 53 and verse 10, the Lord Jesus going to the cross, carrying all of his people as it were on his shoulders. He answers the demands of God against their sin, and the Lord crushes him in place of his people.

Well, then we find the next expression in verse 10 that emphasizes it further: “His soul,” or his life, “makes an offering for guilt.” This expression here, this “offering for guilt,” is simply the word that’s typically used in the book of Leviticus to describe the guilt offering—the asham, the offering that is offered for the guilt of the people. Now don’t misunderstand this guilt. I found this confusion that comes up often when I speak of guilt. Make sure we understand this. There is guilt that you feel. You feel guilty, you feel ashamed. Well, that’s part of it, but that’s not what this is. This is objective guilt. This is legal guilt. You stand guilty, condemned by the law of God. It’s objective guilt. Now, because of that objective guilt, you feel guilty. But the point here is the objective guilt that we have.

And what it is saying here is just as in the book of Leviticus, when this guilt offering was offered, this sacrificial lamb was offered on behalf of the people. And it bore the penalty of their sin as it is offered in their place. The judgment falls on that victim, that animal. And as it falls on them, the curse and judgment of their sin is transferred to it symbolically, and they go free. That’s the expression we find, if you like, in Leviticus chapter five, and you have that qualifying phrase, “if anyone sins.” If anyone sins in this way or that, then he should bring to the Lord—and the word that the ESV uses—he should bring to the Lord as his compensation. And that’s this word: guilt offering. As this offering that is offered for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering and the priest shall make atonement for him and his sin. Verse 10 of Leviticus 5: “the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed and he shall be forgiven.”

So the idea is that by their sin, if any man sins, by their sin they’ve incurred guilt—legal, judicial guilt before God. They’re objectively guilty. They stand condemned. Sin demands death. And so instead of their bearing the judgment themselves, they bring this animal. It is offered in their place. Payment is offered to God. And the animal is crushed. The animal is slaughtered in their place. We come to the New Testament, of course, we find particularly in Hebrews 9 and 10, we find it all through the New Testament where that language is picked up over and over again. But particularly in Hebrews 9 and 10, it’s expounded at length that all of this that we see in the old covenant where this guilt offering is offered, all of that is prospective. What it does for us, and through those centuries of offering those guilt offerings, what it was doing was establishing the structures by which we can understand the significance of Jesus’ death. What did his death mean? What’s the significance of the death of Jesus? And these are the structures that are established so that we can understand it. The meaning of the death of Jesus says he was offered as a guilt offering for our sins. Just as in the old covenant they would bring this animal to be slaughtered in their place, so the Lord Jesus stands in the place of his people and bears the penalty of their sin. And that, of course, is every Christian’s only hope, and that is exactly why, precisely why Paul will say, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus.”

This was God’s doing. By the way, say this here before I move on—I’ve said it before—don’t fall into the confusion that is often reflected in popular Christian talk, and sometimes in some of our hymnody as well. It reflects almost the idea that God the Father is unwilling, and that the Son sort of forces his hand by standing in the place, taking judgment, and now the Father who wants to condemn can’t and doesn’t. The emphasis throughout is that God sent forth his Son. This is all his initiative from the beginning. It was the will of the Lord to crush him. He is putting him to grief to make this atonement for the sins of his people. All of this is prophesied 700 years ahead.

Five Stated Results Of His Death

Now we come to the next part of verse 10 and then into verse 11. And here we read of the success of the servant in his work. “When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

Now, notice here there are five stated results of his death that are indicated here.

He Shall See His Offspring

First of all, in verse 10, when his soul makes an offering for guilt, one: “he shall see his offspring.” That is, those sinners in whose place he stood as he bore the judgment of God, he will see them. That is to say, his death will be successful in securing their salvation. It’s the effectiveness of Jesus’ death in view. Jesus did not die in hopes that maybe someone would be saved if they find their way to it. What we see here is Christ dying with a certainty that in his death, he secures the redemption of his people.

One of the joys of old age is to see not only your children as they grow older, but then their children as well. You see grandkids, and then if you live long enough, great-grandkids as well. That’s the kind of imagery that’s being used here, where those whom Jesus saves by his death are spoken of as his seed, his offspring, his children, his grandchildren. And what it affirms for us is that one day the Lord Jesus will see all of his children for whom he died safely in the fold.

Interesting note here, I’ve mentioned for you before that in Isaiah we read of the servant quite often in chapters 41 and following. Many times the servant is Israel. And then there’s this servant par excellence, who’s this representative from within Israel, who represents Israel and does the work for Israel. In Isaiah 41 all the way through Isaiah 43, we have many mentions of the servant, but they are always in the singular. After chapter 53, we find “my servants,” plural. It seems that the point of it is, by the work of his servant in Isaiah 53, many faithful servants will arise. That’s the point here: he shall see his seed.

Because he’ll see them. How is it that this one who, in the words of Isaiah here, was cut off from the land of the living, how is it he will see them? So here he dies, and yet it says he will see the results of his work. Well, that brings us to the next affirmation here.

He Shall Prolong His Days

The stated results of his death: number one, he’ll see his offspring. Number two, verse 10: “he shall prolong his days.” Well, it’s an amazing thing. Though he gives himself as a guilt offering, and he dies, and though in verse eight, he’s cut off from the land of the living, yet it says his days will be prolonged. He’ll live a long time. How do you have both of those? How do you put that together? I don’t know how in the world this could have been understood before the fact. But after the Lord’s resurrection, of course, all of this makes perfect sense. It’s subtle. Don’t know how you would have figured that before the fact, but after the fact you can look back and say, what else could he have had in mind? The servant in his death will see his seed. God will prolong his days. Even though he was put to death, he’ll prolong his days and he will see his seed.

The Will Of The Lord Shall Prosper In His Hand

The third statement: number one, he’ll see his offspring. Number two, he’ll prolong his days. Number three, verse 10 again: “the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” This is marvelous. The will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. Now notice, first of all, verse 10 as a whole. You’ll notice the verse, verse 10, is framed by this expression, “the will of the Lord,” at the beginning and at the end. Verse 10: “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” So two times in this verse, “the will of the Lord.”

The second one—”the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand”—tells us that the servant shall accomplish the will of the Lord. The first one—”it was the will of the Lord to crush him”—tells us how the will of the Lord will succeed, how he will accomplish the will of the Lord. He accomplishes the will of the Lord, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand precisely by his suffering and death. The Lord puts his servant to grief and thereby the will of the Lord prospers in the hands of the servant.

Well, now what is the will of the Lord then in this verse? What is the purpose of God in the servant’s substitutional death? Well, this takes us back before the foundation of the world. God chose a people whom he would save. He gave them to his Son. Says, “Go save them.” And the Son says, “I’ll take them. I’ll go save them.” And he comes on this mission of rescue. The Gospel of John picks this up in great detail. And he offers himself for them. All of that is told us here in Isaiah 53. It was the will of the Lord to secure redemption for his people.

We find in Isaiah 42, in the earlier servant song, the first one, and then in Isaiah 49 as well, that the servant will embody the new covenant. He’ll bring about every promise that was blessed, every promised blessing for God’s people. He’ll secure it for them. Isaiah 42, verses six and seven, God says to the servant, “I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness.” And then Isaiah 49 and verse six: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation shall reach to the end of the earth.”

So it is the will of God, it is the purpose of God to save the nations. And Isaiah 53 now in verse 10 assures us that this will, this global saving purpose of the Lord, will prosper in the hands of his servant. He’ll accomplish it. You can’t miss the note of certainty with it. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He will not fail. He’ll suffer. He’ll die. But he won’t be defeated. Or to change the metaphor, in his defeat, he will succeed. By his defeat, he will triumph. In his death, he secures the people of God for himself from every nation and tribe and tongue. God has a saving purpose, he said, to bring back his people, not just the tribes of Judah and Israel, and the nations around the world to save a people for himself. That’s the will of the Lord. And that will will prosper in the hands of his servant. Having given his servant for his people, the servant now will not be disappointed. And every last person for whom he died will be saved. There’ll be no empty seats at the marriage supper of the Lamb. All of them will be there.

And that is the purpose of this age. The purpose of this age is to fulfill the saving will of God, the saving purpose of God for the nations. The servant stands as the mediator for the people of God, for all of God’s people. He sends his Spirit, brings them in one by one. One day in 1964, a long time back, a servant looked down and he said, “That little boy, he’s mine. I gave myself for him. You promised him for me. I want him.” And he sends his Spirit. And he drew my young heart in faith to Christ. And that is what he has done over and over and over again throughout this age. The will of the Lord prospers in his hand. He secures what he has come to secure. Despite all the opposition that comes to the gospel, despite all of the contrariness of the human heart, the will of the Lord prospers in the hands of the servant. God’s kingdom progresses right on schedule.

And now there’s more and I can’t finish so I will do that next time, but we’ll pick up the next two affirmations about the death of the servant here in verse 11: “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.” What will he see? Then: “by his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make many to be accounted righteous.” We’ll explore that then next time.

All right, let’s stand and be dismissed in prayer. Pastor Greg, would you pray for us please?