Lesson 367 - Senior

Memory Verse

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:  and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3).

Cross References

 

I Prophecies of Christ

1. The Lord came to the Jews, but their unbelief blinded their eyes, and they did not receive Him as their Messiah, [ISA:53:1]; [JHN:12:38]; [ROM:10:16].

2. The meek and lowly appearance of Jesus caused many people not to be attracted to Him, [ISA:53:2]; [ISA:52:14].

3. He is despised and treated with contempt, [ISA:53:3]; [ISA:50:6]; [MAT:26:67]; [MAT:27:30-31].

4. He suffered for sins, not His own; and our iniquities were laid on Him, [ISA:53:4-6]; [MAT:8:17]; [1CO:15:3]; [HEB:5:8]; [1PE:2:24].

5. With meek and placid submission, He suffered a violent and unjust death, [ISA:53:7-8]; [MAT:26:62-63]; [MAT:27:11-12]; [ACT:8:32-33].

6. He died with the wicked and made His grave with the rich, [ISA:53:9]; [MAT:27:57-60].

7. Because of His atonement, death, resurrection, and intercession, He will procure pardon for multitudes and will ultimately triumph over all His foes, [ISA:53:10-12]; [LUK:22:37]; [ACT:13:38]; [ROM:3:25]; [ROM:5:15], [ROM:5:18].

8. Philip took the text, [ISA:53:7-8], and preached Jesus unto the eunuch, [ACT:8:26-35]; [LUK:24:27]; [ACT:18:28]. 

Notes

 

This Fifty-third chapter of Isaiah is one of the best loved chapters in all the Bible. Everyone should memorise it. That it refers to Jesus was clearly understood by the disciples. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading this chapter when Philip met him. Philip said to him, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" The eunuch answered, "How can I, except some man should guide me?" "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."

Unbelief of the People

The Prophet pictures the suffering Saviour as vividly as if he stood at the foot of the cross and saw all that took place.

When he looked ahead and saw the rejection of the Messiah by the disbelieving Jews, he exclaimed, "Who hath believed our report?" There were two reasons why they should have believed. One reason was that the prophets from Moses on had prophesied concerning the coming of the Just One. But their trouble was that they had expected some personage to appear with all the pomp and splendour of a king. They could not believe that one so meek and lowly as the Nazarene could be their Messiah.

The second reason why they should have believed was the signs and wonders that followed His ministry. "The arm of the LORD" was "revealed" in curing the incurable. The dead were raised, the lepers were cleansed, blinded eyes were opened, deaf ears were unstopped. There was no disease that did not vanish under His mighty power.

Jesus said to the people one day: "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake" [JHN:14:11]). No man ever did the miracles He did. Yet their hearts were full of unbelief.

When we think of the many times the arm of the Lord has been revealed in our own day in this Latter Rain Gospel, how all manner of diseases have been healed and miracle after miracle has been wrought, we, too, stand amazed at the unbelief of the people. The veil that was over the eyes of the Jews seems to have fallen over the eyes of the Gentiles.

Sorrow and Grief

Sorrows and grieves had left their imprint on Him until His visage was marred more than any man. There was no physical attractiveness to draw men to Him. No one before Him or after Him was able to carry the load of suffering humanity that He bore. In the Garden He cried out, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." He carried the heavy burden on His way to Calvary. He died of a broken heart. The Jews thought He was an impostor and for that reason He was smitten of God. Unbelief blinded their eyes.

The Atonement

The Atonement made on Calvary was a complete atonement for soul and body. He bore our grieves and carried our sorrows. Sorrows possibly refer to those of heart and mind -" our sins. He bore them in His own body on the tree. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that our iniquities might be taken away.

Grieves include our bodily afflictions. He took on Himself the form of man that he might be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. And with His stripes we are healed.

Sickness is the result of sin, either directly or indirectly. Had there been no sin in the beginning there would have been no sickness. The Atonement covers both. While the sacrifice was complete and unlimited, being sufficient to save every person who has been or ever will be born into this world, yet the Atonement for sin is limited or provisional upon the repentance of man. God offers mercy, but man must accept that mercy to receive the pardon.

Substitution

"The chastisement of our peace was upon him." Parents chastise their children for wrongdoings, to keep them in the path of rectitude. He was smitten for our wrongdoings. He who knew no sin, never did anything that was wrong, was smitten of God for our sins, that we might have peace with God. He became a substitute for us, His life for our lives, that our lives might yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness.

An Unfair Trial

"In his humiliation his judgment was taken away." He was treated as an impostor, and a fair trial was denied Him. "Crucify him, crucify him" was the cry of the maddened throng. He was not given one witness to testify in His behalf. He bore it meekly, humbly. As a sheep dumb before his shearers, He opened not His mouth. An outstanding feature on the part of Jesus was His silence. "And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly" [MAT:27:12-14]).

His Grave with the Rich

By crucifying Him with two thieves it was intended that He should have His grave with the wicked. To be denied an honourable burial was a great ignominy. A rich man, Joseph of Arimathæa, went to Pilate and begged for the body of Jesus. Another rich man, Nicodemus, a ruler of the synagogue, brought sweet spices, and together they laid the body of Jesus in a new tomb wherein was never man yet laid. Thus Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled.

The Gate to Life

"All we like sheep have gone astray." We wandered from the fold, driven headlong to destruction by our sinful nature -" lost, eternally lost! But the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Jesus is the way back to life, the open door whereby we can enter in and be saved. Cruel the Cross, deep the suffering, but He bore it all without a murmur that we might find the way back to God. No longer do we stand on the brink of a most eternity and peer into its darkness and say, "There is no hope." Jesus spanned the mighty gulf. He takes us on His shoulders and brings us back to God [LUK:15:5]).

"Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan!

Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!

Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary!

Mercy thee was great, and grace was free;

Pardon there was multiplied to me;

There my burdened soul found liberty,

At Calvary."

The innocent was punished as if guilty, that the guilty might be rewarded as if innocent.

His Seed

"He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand." Although He was cut of from the land of the living, His seed -" the Christians -" are numerous. Many have washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb and have been born into the Kingdom of God. John saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, with white robes, and palms in their hands. Are you numbered with the unbelieving Jews? Or is your name written down in the Lamb's Book of life?

The Eye of Prophecy

Isaiah, through the eye of prophecy, looked ahead and pictured the life of Christ as vividly (although more concisely) as did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who walked beside Him in His life here on earth. He saw Jesus, prophetically, from His childhood days on through the days when He had compassion on the multitudes and healed their sick; and down through the days of His humiliation and judgment when he made His death with the wicked and His grave with the rich.

The Prophet even saw Him after the resurrection. He saw the Blood-bought Church, and the Lord's final triumph when He will divide the spoil with the strong.

What a life! What a Saviour! What a wonderful Gospel, that was conceived in the heart of God to bring Adam's fallen race back into favour with God! 

Questions

 

1. About whom is the Prophet speaking in this Fifty-third chapter of Isaiah?

2. If sin has brought sorrow to our hearts, what effect has it had on our bodies?

3. What is meant by being brought as a lamb to the slaughter?

4. How many witnesses testified for Jesus at His trial?

5. What does the Atonement cover?

6. Who buried Jesus?

7. Who are Jesus' seed?

8. What is meant by dividing the spoil with the strong?

9. In what way was Jesus' death a substitute for us?