The first thing to be mentioned here is that when we speak of Isaiah 53, we are using shorthand. What is actually being discussed is the complete unit as found in Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. Chapter and verse divisions of the Bible that came along much later than when the books first appeared have been helpful, but not always fully accurate.
And the second thing to say is that Is. 53 is just one of four commonly recognised servant songs found in Isaiah: 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12. Thirdly, identifying the servant(s) is still a matter of discussion, ranging from seeing Israel in view to Jesus the Messiah, and combinations thereof.
Here I offer a brief reading list for those who want to take this further. I then offer a few choice quotes to ponder.
Recommended reading
There are many books out there on the servant songs in general, and Is. 53 in particular. Here I offer just a dozen helpful volumes that explore biblical, theological and historical aspects of the chapter. Most are newer works, but at least one slightly older volume is included.
Bellinger Jr. William and William Farmer, eds., Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins. Trinity Press International, 1998.
Blocher, Henri, Songs of the Servant: Isaiah’s Good News. Regent College, 2005.
Bock, Darrell and Mitch Glaser, The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Encountering the Suffering Servant in Jewish and Christian Theology. Kregel, 2012.
Glaser, Mitch, Isaiah 53 Explained. Chosen People Productions, 2009.
Harmon, Matthew, The Servant of the Lord and His Servant People. IVP, 2020.
Lindsey, F. Duane, The Servant Songs: A Study in Isaiah. Moody, 1985.
MacArthur, John, The Gospel According to God: Rediscovering the Most Remarkable Chapter in the Old Testament. Crossway, 2018.
MacLeod, David, The Suffering Servant of the Lord, A Prophecy of Jesus Christ, 2nd ed., Wipf & Stock, 2016, 2019.
McConville, J. Gordon, The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 For the Life of the Church. Baker, 2023.
Russell, Brian, Behold My Servant: The Servant Songs of Isaiah. Christian Focus, 2017.
Swanson, Kyle, Isaiah’s Great Light: The Salvation of God in the Servant Songs. Kress, 2023.
Zimmerli, W. and J. Jeremias, The Servant of God. SCM Press, 1952, 1957.
The New Testament contains numerous references and allusions to Isaiah 53 and its fulfillment in the person and work of the Messiah. It is clear that the New Testament writers understood that Jesus was both a historical person, born in lowliness (Matt. 2:1; Luke 1-2), as well as divine (e.g., Rom. 9:5; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 1:8). Just as Isaiah prophesied, the New Testament writers record that Jesus was innocent (John 8:6), despised and rejected by men, and unjustly executed as a felon (Luke 23;13-15). They emphasize that he suffered voluntarily (John 10 :11; Gal. 2:20) and in obedience, humility, and silence (Matt. 27:12, 14; Phil. 2:8; 1 Pet. 2:23).
The New Testament writers allude to Isaiah in explaining the motivations of Jesus’ suffering: out of love for others (Luke 23:24); in order to fulfill the divine plan and will (Eph. 3:1-6); and to provide a redemptive intervention leading to the justification of the evildoer from his sin (1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). Jesus’ suffering was vicarious (1 Pet. 2:24), and like Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, Jesus suffered to the point of death (Matt. 27:50), which gave way to his resurrection (1 Cor. 15:4) and ascension to Heaven. Now he is highly exalted, sitting at the right hand of God (Phil. 2:9-11).
It should be clear that all the difficulties associated with alternative interpretations disappear when the passage is applied to Jesus of Nazareth, for he (and he alone) fulfils all the details of this magnificent prophetic psalm. (p. 231)
Kaiser in Bock and Glaser
There is no doubt that the Servant is addressed as “Israel” (in some texts such as Isa. 49:3) and that Israel best fits all the plural references to the “servants” in Isaiah 54-66. This has led some to conclude that the Servant as a whole group is also personified as such in the singular references alluded to already. This group-view has a number of different sub-categories such as (1) representing all the Jewish people, (2) representing the righteous remnant of Israel, (3) representing the Davidic dynasty, (4) representing the priestly order, or (5) representing an ideal Israel that impersonates the whole nation.
When this collective view is seen in light of the Old Testament phenomenon of “corporate solidarity,” in which there is an oscillation from the one (who represents the whole group) to the many (which are all part of the group), the one comes closest to the use of this term “servant” in this passage in Isaiah 53. This one Servant is the sin-bearer of not only the whole nation but the sins of the world. In my judgment, this final shaping of the collective solidarity view has the best chance of capturing what the prophet Isaiah was trying to accomplish, so long as the one and the many are also seen to be clearly distinguished as well as being represented by the one. (pp. 93-94)
MacArthur
Chapter 53 may be more familiar to Christian readers than other parts of Isaiah, but the entire book has significant implications for the Christian faith. Many doctrines essential to Christianity are illuminated by passages in Isaiah.
The book of Isaiah is sometimes called the “fifth Gospel.” It’s really more than that. It contains in microcosm the whole range of redemptive truth. It is like a miniature compendium of the Bible. In fact, there are some interesting parallels between how the book of Isaiah is laid out and the arrangement on the Bible as a whole….
The fourth and final Servant Song is the text we are most concerned with in this volume: Isaiah 52:13-53:12. This passage reveals precise details of the servant’s mission that could not have been known to anyone but God. Here it becomes clear that the servant is more than merely someone chosen by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit, learning obedience through humiliation and suffering. He is the Messiah, the one who will bring justice and salvation to the world—and he will die as a sacrifice for sin.
His full glory would not be revealed until after he suffered. That fact alone was astonishing, unexpected, and baffling to most Jewish readers. They found it impossible to imagine that the Lord’s Anointed One would be a suffering slave before he would appear as a conquering king.
Even more scandalous was the idea that the servant of the Lord would suffer not for any evil he had done, but for the sins of others. He would be a substitute, dying as a surrogate for others who (unlike him) deserved the fate he would suffer…. (pp. 16-17)
The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 for the Life of the Church (A Biblical Commentary & Exposition of Isaiah 53) (Touchstone Texts)by J. Gordon McConville (Author), Chapman, Stephen B. (Series Editor)
McConville
There is wonder too at the servant’s willing, silent acceptance of his affliction, to which God set no limit, not even death. All this was somehow “the will of the LORD” (53:10).
This is not to say that the servant’s anguish is somehow only instrumental, to be passed over lightly on the way to the good news at the end. On the contrary, the “man of sorrows” motif has been rightly taken up as an icon of the perennial subjection of the human to the most callous horrors imaginable. But what is special about Isaiah 53 is that the presence of God is somehow woven into the story, and that the whole tragedy is conceived as a pathway to the unlimited good of “many.” This thought carries dangers with it. It should not be taken to mean that God has created evil in order that good might come. Christian theology has always avoided this step, and we must not draw inferences from Isaiah 53 that the text does not warrant. Equally to be avoided is the idea that God was subject to some kind of necessity in order to bring about his ultimate good purposes, as if God could be constrained by anything outside himself. More modestly, the text may hint that the experience of suffering and evil can lead to deeper and richer outcomes than there might otherwise have been. But even that thought needs caution, since many situations are simply unbearable and unrelieved. Often we can say only that God is always in and with the suffering, and simultaneously declare that suffering is not the final word.
There is inevitably, therefore, an eschatological dimension to our reading of the servant-poem. Wedged into the ongoing and unfinished story unfolded by the book of Isaiah, the poem points beyond itself. Its truth concerns the deepest relations between God, humanity, and the world and is therefore a token of all that the Bible conveys to us of God’s ways. This is the message of the cross and resurrection of Christ. (pp. 184-185)
Swanson
We are venturing into Isaiah’s magnum opus. Scripture has revealed several mountain-top passages, words that tower over the rest of Scripture in their majesty and expression, And Isaiah’s fourth song is no exception. Though this song is quite a bit longer and richer in theological expression than the previous songs, all four are necessary and significant. This song, though, is the culmination of the story. The song expresses for us the conclusion to the saga of the Servant, including His rejection, His suffering, His death, and His glorious resurrection from the grave. We are left with the everlasting results of His ministry which will carry the torch of God’s glory throughout the ages of eternity future.
The song presents itself in 5 different musical strophes or poetic sections. Each strophe has a purpose and a theme, similar to the structure of our most beloved hymns. The sections contain triplets of verses, loaded with beautiful parallelism, heart-wrenching lyrics, and themes that build on one another. The song itself is structured as what is known as a chiasm, meaning that all the lines somewhat mirror each other in content and effect from beginning to end. The beginning strophe mirrors the last, the second mirrors the fourth, and all are pointing to the mountain peak of the third strophe, in which the Servant accomplishes the goal for which He was sent. (p. 99)
Thanks Bill.
Isaiah 53 (properly 52:13-53:12) is crucial to our understanding of our Lord, His mission, His atoning death, His resurrection, and the New Testament as a whole. When we consider how this passage is woven into Christ’s own statements, and the apostolic commentary and preaching, only then can we understand how the passage is not merely important, but integral to the Christian confession and articles of faith. consider:
Luke 22:37, quoting Isa 53:12, where Jesus cites this passage as being fulfilled in Him.
John 12:38, quoting Isa 53:1
Acts 4:27, which identifies Jesus as “God’s holy Servant, whom He anointed”
Acts 8:32-35, where the Ethiopian, on reading this passage, asks, “Of whom does the prophet say this?” Philip then, from this passage, preaches Christ to him.
Phil 2:6,9, where Paul displays Christ as taking the form of a servant (“the servant of the LORD”), and that God has highly exalted Him, cf. Isa 52:13.
1 Peter 2:21-25, where Peter describes Christ’s sufferings with strong allusions to Isa 53.
More passages could be cited, but my point is this: that Jesus is the suffering Servant is not merely a viewpoint or even a theological position; it is an essential article of faith. Two of the earliest confessions of the church are that “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor 12:3), and that “Jesus is the Christ (Messiah)” (1 John 2:22). Isa 53 is integral to that latter confession, such that anyone who denies it has the spirit of antichrist (1 John 2:22). In our day there have been a plethora of erstwhile Christians—and theologians—who have denied this confession, and have joined with Jews and unbelievers in general to deny that this passage, and Messianic prophecy more generally, has anything to with our Lord Jesus. I remember from my student days one professor who denied that Jesus ever quoted Isa 53 in reference to Himself. When a student had the temerity to refer the good professor to Luke 22:37, the latter became very testy indeed. In such a denial he was, I believe, expressing the spirit of antichrist.
So then, Let us be bold, and declare that the suffering Servant is our Lord Jesus, and that this is an integral part of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
Thanks Bill.
Isaiah 53 (properly 52:13-53:12) is crucial to our understanding of our Lord, His mission, His atoning death, His resurrection, and the New Testament as a whole. When we consider how this passage is woven into Christ’s own statements, and the apostolic commentary and preaching, only then can we understand how the passage is not merely important, but integral to the Christian confession and articles of faith. consider:
Luke 22:37, quoting Isa 53:12, where Jesus cites this passage as being fulfilled in Him.
John 12:38, quoting Isa 53:1
Acts 4:27, which identifies Jesus as “God’s holy Servant, whom He anointed”
Acts 8:32-35, where the Ethiopian, on reading this passage, asks, “Of whom does the prophet say this?” Philip then, from this passage, preaches Christ to him.
Phil 2:6,9, where Paul displays Christ as taking the form of a servant (“the servant of the LORD”), and that God has highly exalted Him, cf. Isa 52:13.
1 Peter 2:21-25, where Peter describes Christ’s sufferings with strong allusions to Isa 53.
More passages could be cited, but my point is this: that Jesus is the suffering Servant is not merely a viewpoint or even a theological position; it is an essential article of faith. Two of the earliest confessions of the church are that “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor 12:3), and that “Jesus is the Christ (Messiah)” (1 John 2:22). Isa 53 is integral to that latter confession, such that anyone who denies it has the spirit of antichrist (1 John 2:22). In our day there have been a plethora of erstwhile Christians—and theologians—who have denied this confession, and have joined with Jews and unbelievers in general to deny that this passage, and Messianic prophecy more generally, has anything to with our Lord Jesus. I remember from my student days one professor who denied that Jesus ever quoted Isa 53 in reference to Himself. When a student had the temerity to refer the good professor to Luke 22:37, the latter became very testy indeed. In such a denial he was, I believe, expressing the spirit of antichrist.
So then, Let us be bold, and declare that the suffering Servant is our Lord Jesus, and that this is an integral part of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
Yes correct Murray.