The Gospel According to Isaiah, Part 3, ...And Many are Astonished

The Gospel According to Isaiah

Part 3: …And Many Were Astonished

Isaiah 52:14-15

Matthew 27:27-31

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Transcript

The Gospel According to Isaiah

Part 3 …And Many are Astonished

In our last study together, we looked at the identity of the Suffering Servant as He is revealed in the book of Isaiah, and specifically in chapters fifty-two and fifty-three.

We explored how the Suffering Servant was to act wisely in His future kingdom.

We then saw how the Suffering Servant is high and lifted up and exalted, not by man alone but also, and most importantly, by God the Father.

As we discovered, Isaiah is not talking about the nation of Israel, as so many people in the time of the prophet thought, but he was talking about the coming Messiah, revealed in the person Jesus of Nazareth.

Today, we are going to look at the response of the world to the revealing of the Suffering Servant.

How did the people respond to Jesus when He was revealed as both the Suffering Servant and the Messiah, or if you prefer the Greek term, Christ?

So, I invite you to get your Bible and turn, once again, to Isaiah chapter fifty-two.

We will be studying verses fourteen and fifteen today.

I would also invite you to get a notebook and pen or pencil because today’s study has a lot of information in it and will, hopefully, be a blessing to you.

Let us read our Scripture for today.

Isaiah 52:14  As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 

Isaiah 52:15  so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. 

Let us pray.

Father God, reveal to us the truth of Your Word. Help us to be hungry for more of You and more of Your Truth. Lead us by Your Spirit so we may better know and understand You and Your Son. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

As we begin to look at our verses today, we can see that verse fourteen is a stark contrast to verse thirteen that we looked at in our last study. 

Last time we were talking about Jesus being high and lifted up and exalted by God the Father and now we are going to look at something in a complete opposite direction from that lofty status.

Let us start by reading verse fourteen again.

Isaiah 52:14  As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 

The first thing we notice is that many were astonished by Jesus, but not by His teaching or His wisdom or His lofty status.

Instead, they were astonished by His appearance. 

Why does Isaiah make such a big deal about how Jesus looks?

Because this is a vision of the beating that Jesus will take before He goes to the cross.

When we read the Gospel accounts of what happened when Jesus was with Pilate and Herod, we see that He was flogged and beaten, He was mocked and slapped in the face, and a crown of thorns was forced onto His head.

These things were done, not only to inflict pain, but also as a way of humiliating Jesus.

When a person was flogged or whipped with a cat-of-nine-tails, the flesh was pulled away from the body, often chunks of muscle were removed because of how deep the pieces of shrapnel that were woven into the whip would pierce into the body. 

The tendrils of the whip would wrap around the body and then be pulled, or rather ripped, away from the body by the person doing the whipping.

This was only one of the beatings that Jesus endured.

Matthew tells us that He was beaten with a reed on the head.

Consider this part of His humiliation from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 27:27  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 

Matthew 27:28  And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 

Matthew 27:29  and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 

Matthew 27:30  And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 

Matthew 27:31  And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. 

The soldiers had put a reed in His right hand to mock Him.

The reed in the right hand was symbolic of the scepter that a king holds when he sits on his throne.

Just as the crown of thorns and the scarlet robe were to mock Jesus, this reed was part of His humiliation as well. 

Then the soldiers took that reed and beat Jesus over the head with it.

Remember, this is after the questioning in front of the Sanhedrin where they had spent some time slapping Jesus and even the guards of the Temple took delight in covering His face and hitting Him.

After that much torture, the human body will begin to swell, especially the face and head.

If you have ever hit your head on a cabinet, you know that it doesn’t take very long for a knot to form where your head and the cabinet had their collision.

Now imagine that Jesus has been standing still for hours allowing people of various strengths to strike Him over the head and in the face without any sign of defending Himself.

He would have been virtually unrecognizable as a human being. 

In fact, that is what Isaiah is saying to us. 

Look at verse fourteen again.

Isaiah 52:14  As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 

His body was shredded from the whipping, His face was swollen beyond recognition from the slapping and beatings, and then they forced a crown of thorns on His head, ripping the skin around His head as it was shoved into its final place.

I believe Isaiah uses the most accurate description for any person’s reaction to what they may have seen that day: astonished.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word astonished means “very surprised.”

However, in this case, this is not the kind of surprise that you would express at receiving a gift that was unexpected.

This type of surprise is the kind of surprise that means to be taken aback by something. 

It is the feeling of both surprise and shame at the same time.

It is the surprise that we feel that any human could survive such a thing.

It is the shame that we feel that He endured that beating, and more, for us.

It is the shame I feel that the He endured those things for me, a sinner deserving of His wrath, yet He endured all that torture and even death so that I can be reconciled to Him.

Yes, when I consider what Jesus had to face, even before the cross, I am astonished that He was able to face any of it.

I am astonished that He was able to pray those most difficult words ever uttered, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”

I am astonished that He did not call upon the legions of angels to save Him.

I am astonished that He allowed Himself to be humiliated, beaten, and crucified.

Most of all I am astonished that He endured all of those things for a sinner like me and that He would call me to Himself and give to me the gift of salvation.

I wonder if you are astonished by the same thing in your own life.

I wonder if you are one who would be surprised and shamed if you were to look upon Jesus on the cross, or if you would be one who would smile that He is there because He represents everything you want to destroy.

Which one are you?

Do you find yourself weeping at the foot of the cross?

Do you find yourself crying out to have Jesus put on the cross?

Let us look at verse fifteen before I really start preaching.

Isaiah 52:15  so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. 

Here is where there is some controversy over the interpretation of the word “sprinkle.”

Because I am the kind of person that I am, I am going to give you the three most common interpretations, I will tell you which one I lean towards, and I will let you make up your mind on your own as to which one you want to follow.

I don’t have enough time in this study to go into all of the reasons for these interpretations, but I will give you some highlights.

The first common interpretation is that sprinkle means to literally sprinkle a liquid.

This makes sense if you consider the Levitical priesthood and the act of sprinkling that they performed with the blood of the animals to purify the altar and other articles in the Tabernacle.

In this case “sprinkle” would mean to purify, or rather it is part of the purification process.

The second common interpretation is that sprinkle refers to baptism.

This one is a bit of a stretch if you believe, like I do, that baptism is done by immersion in water, but there are some out there who adhere to the baptism interpretation of sprinkle in Isaiah 52:15.

The third most common interpretation, and the one I believe is correct, is that the word is actually mistranslated in the English, at least in our modern understanding of the word sprinkle.

Let me share some notes from the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges to help us all understand this a little better.

“To reach a satisfactory sense it is only necessary to assume that the Hebrew verb had a wider range of meaning than is represented in the Old Testament. It might be causative of a verb (found in Arabic) meaning to “spring” or “leap,” just as the English “sprinkle” is perhaps etymologically the causative of “spring.” We may thus render with Revised Version margins so will he startle many nations, i.e., “cause them to spring” in surprise, or (better) “cause them to rise up suddenly” in reverential admiration.”

If we then replace “sprinkle” with “startle,” understanding that it means to “cause them to rise up suddenly in reverential admiration,” it would make perfect sense in the context of what is going on in verses thirteen, fourteen, and even the rest of fifteen.

In other words, because of what Jesus has done, nations will take notice and they will be reverent towards our Savior.

Or to put it in New Testament terms, “every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Not only the people who live in those nations, but the kings and rulers also.

The kings and rulers of nations will be silent when they realize what Jesus has done.

Verse fifteen is one of those verses that is being fulfilled before our eyes even today. 

As people continue to be drawn to Jesus for salvation, they see what they have not been told about and they understand what they have not heard. 

As long as the Holy Spirit continues to move in the lives of people and salvation and sanctification are accomplished, verse fifteen is being fulfilled. 

This verse applies to everyone, from the lowliest to the highest, we are all sinners in need of a Savior.

That Savior is Jesus Christ, the One to whom these verses point.

This is why I am calling this series the Gospel according to Isaiah, because it is the very good news that points to our salvation.

If you are listening to this today and you are not sure if you are saved, I want you to make sure.

Confess your sins before God, you do not have to go to a priest or anyone else.

You have access directly to the throne of God because of what Jesus endured for you.

The Bible tells us to repent of our sins, confess Jesus as Lord, and we shall be saved.

It is really that simple.

If you feel that pull from the Holy Spirit, do not ignore what He is trying to do in your life.

I do not make that appeal very often on this podcast, maybe I should, but today it felt most appropriate.

Let us pray.

Father God, we thank You once again for Your Word. We are humbled and astonished by what we have seen today, and we are thankful that Jesus was willing to endure those things for us. We thank You for Your love and Your mercy. Please continue to move in our lives and make Your Word alive to us through the Holy Spirit. We ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Before you go, I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.

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Thank you all and may God bless you.