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Occasional Meditations.
#3.
The redemption of Christ.
Isaiah 53:
pp. 158, 159
"Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto
him--Jesus" (Acts 8: 35). May this be the Divine key-note of all our meditations, and
particularly so in connection with this chapter of Isaiah. The word "arm" in verse 1
means "that which sows" or "the seed corn"--so that the passage could be translated, if
the N.T. did not settle it for us, "the seed corn of the Lord". In John 12: 38 we read:
"That the saying of Esaias might be fulfilled . . . . . And to whom hath the arm of the Lord
revealed?" The connection between this quotation and John 12: 24 is worthy of notice.
The same truth as is expressed in John 12: 24 is found in verse 10 of Isa. 53:: "He shall
see His seed."
A literal rendering of verse 5 would read:
"And He was being wounded because of our transgressions, He was being crushed
because of our iniquities, the discipline connected with our peace--upon Him, and in His
bruises there is a healing to us."
His perfect sinlessness is declared in verse 9. Yet a righteous God is pleased to bruise
Him (verse 10). Why is this? The answer is that His soul was made "an offering for
sin". Sin, not being in Him, was laid upon Him (verse 6). In other words, the One "Who
knew no sin was made a sin-offering in the place of us, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him".
Verses 11 and 12 give further light:
"Out of the travail of His soul He shall see and shall be satisfied. In His knowing (and
feeling--the same word as `acquainted' in verse 3) He shall cause a righteousness, the
Righteous One, My Servant, for the many; and their iniquities as a burden He shall
bear."
In this verse we have: (1) The Lord as perfectly righteous, (2) His obedience as a
Servant, so "making righteousness",
(3) "the many"--those for whom that
substitutionary suffering was endured, and (4) the "bearing" of their sins.
In verse 12 we read:
"With a view to that which is fixed, I will evenly divide for Him among the many, and
with strong ones He shall evenly divided the spoil; on account of which He poured out to
death His soul, and with transgressors He was numbered, and the sin of many He bore as
a sin-offering, and for transgressors He made a meeting" (or mercy seat).