1. Common Misinterpretation of Isaiah 53

2. Isaiah 53:11
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

3. Who is the Servant of Isaiah 53?
This has been a controversial question for centuries.
As members of the Lord’s Church, we believe this to be without question in reference to Jesus Christ.
What is a common misinterpretation of Isaiah 53?

5. Opinion of the Early Rabbis
The ancient Jewish rabbis clearly thought the passage referred to an individual servant, the Messiah.
No alternative interpretation was presented until the Middle Ages when a Jewish rabbi named Rashi popularized a new view – the nation of Israel

6. Opinion during the Middle Ages
Rashi taught that the suffering servant actually referred to the collective fate of the Jewish nation.
Other well-known rabbis agreed with this view, while others refused to abandon the Messianic viewpoint

7. Opinion from the 14th Century
The nation of Israel as the servant interpretation: “distorts the passage from its natural meaning” and “was given of God as a description of the Messiah, whereby, when any should claim to be the Messiah, to judge by the resemblance or non- resemblance to it whether he were the Messiah or not.” Rabbi Moshe Kohen Iben Crispin

8. Opinion of the Current Jews
Many still quote Rashi as the definitive word
Others agree that the suffering servant is an individual, and have offered the following as possible suggestions:
Cyrus
Hezekiah
Josiah
Job
Ezekiel
Jeremiah
Moses
Others

9. Problems with this Viewpoint
Personal Pronouns
Isaiah 53:2 vs Isaiah 53:8

10. Isaiah 53:2
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

11. Isaiah 53:8
He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
Obviously, the individual servant is set in contrast to the people of the nation of Israel.

12. Problems with this Viewpoint
2) The Servant Suffered Passively Isaiah 53:7

13. Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
From thousands of years of history, we know that the Jewish nation has never accepted affliction without retaliation.

14. So why the confusion?
A closer study of Isaiah will show that the title “Servant” is used some 20 times.
At times, it is clear that the “Servant” is in reference to the nation of Israel.
It becomes clear that Isaiah is contrasting two separate servants – The Righteous Servant (Messiah) and the Unrighteous Servant (Nation of Israel)

15. The Servant in question is the Messiah
Isaiah 53:11
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
The Servant in question is the Messiah

16. The Servant in question is the nation of Israel!
Isaiah 41:8-9
“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. 9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
The Servant in question is the nation of Israel!

17. Contrast the Two Servants
(Isaiah 53:11) He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
(Isaiah 46:12)
“Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, Who are far from righteousness

18. Contrast the Two Servants
(Isaiah 50:4) “... He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned.
(Isaiah 42:19)
Who is blind but My servant, Or deaf as My messenger 
whom I send?

19. Contrast the Two Servants
(Isaiah 50:5) The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away.
(Isaiah 48:8)
Surely you did not hear, Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, And were called a transgressor from the womb.

20. The Purpose of the Servant
To study the purpose of the servant should help to clear up this misinterpretation.

21. Isaiah 42:1-7
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

22. Isaiah 42:1-7
5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

23. Isaiah 49:5-7
“And now the Lord says, Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, So that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, And My God shall be My strength), 6 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

24. The Purpose of the Servant
To study the purpose of the servant should help to clear up this misinterpretation.
The purpose of the servant was to restore the spiritual nation of Israel as well as bring forth salvation to the Gentiles. This could only be done by the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

25. Q: Can we be sure that Isaiah 53 is in reference to Jesus?
A: If we accept the authority of the New Testament writers, we can arrive at no other conclusion!

26. Acts 8:30-35
So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

27. Preaching of Isaiah 53 = Preaching Jesus
Acts 8:30-35
33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
Preaching of Isaiah 53 = Preaching Jesus

28. Direct Quotations from Isaiah 53 in the New Testament
John 12:37-38
Matthew 8:16-17
Mark 15:27-32
Acts 8:26-36
Romans 10:16-17
1 Peter 2:21-25
There are many other allusions that clearly link Jesus Christ to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.

29. Does it make any difference?
Yes! Isaiah 53 is a beautiful yet disturbing picture of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is through His sacrifice that the entire concept of Christianity is based upon. To ascribe the meaning of the servant in Isaiah 53 to the nation of Israel is paramount to blasphemy.

30. Philippians 2:5-11
 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

31. Jesus is the Servant of Isaiah 53!
Philippians 2:5-11
 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is the Servant of Isaiah 53!