<title>Isaiah 53 Messianic Prophecy</title>
Christians often point to Isaiah 53 and say that it is about Jesus.
The Christian claim is that Isaiah 53 is a slam-dunk prophecy regarding Jesus which illustrates many of the details regarding Jesus as depicted in the New Testament. A partial list of points would be something like
As we can see, the Christian claim is that Isaiah 53 clearly refers to Jesus in it's entirety – that literally every line speaks about Jesus.
The Christian will often present several supporting arguments in addition to the above (to be included here).
Often given as a quote from Maimonides, such as follows. Response below.
Maimonides (1135-1204), perhaps the most famous rabbi of all time, in a letter to Jacob Alfajumi, stated:
“What is to be the manner of Messiah’s advent, and where will be the place of His first appearance? … And Isaiah speaks similarly of the time when he will appear…He came up as a sucker before him, and as a root out of dry earth, … in the words of Isaiah, when describing the manner in which the kings will hearken to him, at him the kings will shut their mouth; for that which had not been told them they have seen, and that which they had not heard they have perceived.”
In this quote, Maimonides applied Isaiah 52:15 and Isaiah 53:2 to the Messiah.
Response: It is not actually true that Maimonides applies these verses to the messiah, but in his own words 'of (to) the time when he will appear'. Assuming Maimonides means this refers directly to the messiah or to assume that he states this is about 'Jesus' is jumping the gun; see the “messianic times” response for a more complete answer.
The Tovia singer response is as found in his book “Let's Get Biblical”, is to go line by line in Isaiah 53 and show how the servant represents Israel. Some of the other supporting verses he brings are relevant to Isaiah 53:1;
15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them[e] marvelous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf;Micah 7:15-16 (ESV)
11 Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.Isaiah 41:11 (ESV)
19 O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.
20 Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!”Jeremiah 16:19-20 (ESV)
While these verses certainly do speak to the point, I find a more proactive approach to be conclusive.
The first kind of response accepts that this is a messianic passage, but that the name Jesus does not appear anywhere in this passage. Therefore, the question can be posed that despite the fact that we can agree this is a messianic passage (ex. see “Maimonides Agrees” and “Maimonides Agrees Response”) it does not necessarily refer to Jesus. This is a weak response because it allows for the possibility that it could possibly be referring to Jesus. As we will see, this view represents a lack of understanding of the text.
We have saved the best for last; speaking on this subject directly is the Torah itself: The reason why this passage cannot refer to Jesus is because the servant is Israel. This is a clear and present meaning in the text, which repeats this point so many times it is impossible to reach any other conclusion. Enough times that it is difficult if not impractical to find and list every instance casually. Here we will attempt to present as many examples as we can find of ways in which the text explains that the servant is Israel.
It is important to note that many of these statements predate Isaiah, clarifying that Israel is often referred to as God's Servant in Torah and prophecy.
Furthermore, Isaiah not only continues this typecast of Israel but specifies directly and indirectly over a dozen times. Here are (some) direct and implied statements from the book of Isaiah:
If the question is asked, why did Isaiah refer to Israel as God's servant, it is because such an idea was prevalent in the literature of the time (i.e. the other prophets and writings of the bible). How did this get started? Perhaps it is not so unusual that someone may be “God's servant” as we see in Genesis; “and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.” (Gen 18:3) Later, in Exodus Moses says to God, * “13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants,…” and the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of regarding the Golden Calf.
There are many. Here are some from Jeremiah.
From 52:10 to 53:1 we see the nations ask the key question: “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” This question and context is absolutely key to understanding Isaiah 53.
the salvation of our God. 11 Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Isaiah 52:10 uses a special theological term, “bared his holy arm”, a term which is only used in reference to the Exodus:
Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.Exodus 6:6 (ESV)
(Many others! ex. Exodus 3:19–20, 15:16, 32:11, over a dozen times more in Deuteronomy than shown below, also Jeremiah 27:5, 32:17,21, Ezekiel 20:33–34…)
As we see, this typology clearly and solely refers to the Exodus (and to the return of the exiles, where it is mentioned to compare the magnitude of the event to the exodus; this is in fact the very event which is being discussed here! see Isaiah 11:11 which confirms this is the only other event in which the Lord will reveal his arm:
11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,[a] from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.Isaiah 11:11
I.E. the first baring was the Exodus, and the second (and presumably last known reveal) will be the actual return of the lost 10 tribes in the Messianic era. Therefore it is assumed Isaiah 53:1 refers to this event, during which all the nations of the world will suddenly realize “to whom, the arm of the lord has been revealed” (i.e. Israel). There is no other implication from the text; Isaiah's intent is clear.
(And what is this? The next verse states…)
Thus, the following description becomes a tacit justification of why it was so difficult to believe. In any case it is the intention of Isaiah here to describe the covenant nation of Israel in messianic times; see Leviticus 26:14 and on if one does not believe Israel would not be set to suffer in the eyes of the nations so that they may say “it is because they did not keep the commandments”! All of this is completely in line with the modus operandi of Israel being a light to the nations; this is the method by which God will illustrate that title.
In the sight of their enemies:
Also see Deu 4:6-8, and others ex. Jeremiah 16:11, Psalm 78:10, Psalm 106:35-41, Jeremiah 22:9 and others. There are many.