The Servant Song Part V

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 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.  Isaiah 53:10-12

          It is Good Friday, it is good because I am released from eternal death and given eternal life.  Not by anything that I have done or because I deserve it, simply because God is just that good.  Where I was guilty of sin and deserved death, Jesus removed the sting of death which is mercy.  And rather than giving me death, He gave me an abundant eternal life which is God’s grace.

          May you be blessed richly as we celebrate that Jesus took our place upon the cross and paid the penalty of death for us.  To celebrate the week of Christ’s passion, I have been going over the section of the Old Testament known as the Servant Song starting at the end of Isaiah 52 and through Isaiah 53.  The Servant Song is a gripping foretelling of Jesus.

          - Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief;

Ever since the beginning of time, God had a plan in motion.  He knew that soon after He made mankind, they would break relationship with Him.  From the very beginning, there was Jesus (John 1:1-5).  It was not the death of His Son that necessarily pleased God, it was the fruit of His death that pleased God.  In John 12:24 Jesus told a parable about a kernel of grain.  If the kernel of grain were not to go into the earth and die, the kernel would remain alone.  But if the kernel of grain went into the earth and died, the kernel of grain would bear much fruit.  Jesus is the kernel of grain and you dear reader, are part of that fruit!

Jesus faced great grief in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He knew His time was short and He would soon face intense suffering and death.  Jesus asked to have the cup removed from Him, if there was another way.  But Jesus submitted Himself to God’s will.  Still He knew it would not be easy, Jesus spent the next several minutes weeping and was in such grief that the biological phenomenon known as hematidrosis occurred (Luke 24:44).  When under intense pressure or fear the blood vessels around the sweat glands contract and then dilate violently, causing them to rupture. Blood then enters the glands and is secreted through the pores of the skin.

          - When His soul makes an offering for guilt He shall see His offspring;

In Leviticus 16:8,10, and 26 we are introduced to the Azazel or as it is often translated, scapegoat.  Two goats were brought before the Lord, the first goat was sacrificed to make atonement for the sins of the people.  The second goat was the scapegoat.  The priest was to lay both hands upon the scapegoat and symbolically place the guilt of the entire population of Israel upon the goat and the goat was set free.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the purpose of both goats.  He is the sacrifice that cleans our sins and all of our guilt was placed upon Him.

Hebrews 2:10 says, “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.”

          - 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;

40 days after the resurrection of Jesus, He was given the highest position in all of the universe, at the right hand of the Father.  And the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.  2 Peter 3:9 says that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.  God’s will is for all to come to repentance.  How many people in 2,000 years have come to repentance through the sacrifice of Jesus!

          - by His knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Through knowledge of the Servant, Jesus, many would be made righteous.  Abraham believed God and his faith was counted as righteousness (Romans 4).  Just as when Abraham believed God, when we believe in the message of the Servant, our faith is counted as righteousness. 

1 John 2:2 says that Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the world.  Propitiation means substitute sacrifice, in other words, He took all of the iniquities upon Himself.

          - Therefore I will divide 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;

Romans 8:38 says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  When an army conquered a city, they would take all the treasures for themselves and the rest would be devoted to destruction.  Through Him, we have overcome the world.  When He returns victorious, we shall have a share in His treasure, because He was not afraid to pour His soul out.

Luke 22:37 confirms that Jesus is the Servant who will pour out His soul to death, as Jesus said that He would be numbered with the transgressors. 

                ^- yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Intercession is prayer and petition on behalf of another.  Jesus is constantly speaking to and petitioning the Father on our behalf!

Romans 8:34 shows us that Jesus is interceding for us constantly.  Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus is able to save us to the uttermost because He always lives to make intercession for us!

Jesus has risen, He has risen indeed!  Blessings and peace to you.