“‘Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?’ (Isa 53:1) Isaiah foretold of the the suffering of the Lord Jesus. In the twelfth chapter of his Gospel, the evangelist John quotes the first verse of this chapter to indicate that the unbelief of the Jews in the days of the Lord Jesus proves the truth of this verse and fulfills it (Jn 12:37-38). By the way, God’s Word proves here in the clearest way that the LORD of Whom Isaiah speaks is the same as the Lord Jesus. John begins the quotation with: ‘LORD, WHO …?’” (G. de Koning)
It was foretold that Jesus would "grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground.” (Isa 53:2a) “What is the ‘dry ground’ here? ‘This refers to a corrupt age and nation, and the arid soil of mankind.’ [OCli] Both the nation of Israel and all of the nations of the pre-Christian Gentile world were at this time judicially hardened by God Himself." (B Coffman)
“He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isa 53:2b) "No splendid physique, no well trimmed comeliness, no splendid clothing, no gorgeous apparel. No one will watch Him go by with admiration for His outward appearance... Surely this cannot be the Arm of Yahweh? Can any good thing come out of tiny Nazareth? (John 7:41-42). Can a prophet come from despised Galilee? (John 7:52)." (Pett)
“‘He is despised and rejected of men.’ The English word ‘despised’ carries strong emotional overtones, but its Hebrew source means to be considered worthless and unworthy of attention.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) "Rejected of men" literally means "ceased from men." They all forsook Him in the hour of need. "‘A man of sorrows’; whose whole life was filled with, and in a manner made up of, an uninterrupted succession of sorrows and sufferings ‘acquainted with grief’; who had constant experience of and familiar converse with grievous afflictions; for knowledge is oft taken practically, or for experience, as Genesis 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21, and elsewhere. ‘We hid as it were our faces from him’; we scorned and loathed to look upon him… 'He was despised, and we esteemed him not’ (Isa 53:3)..” (Matthew Poole)
Is this the arm of the LORD? "Such a one as this can hardly be the one who can set us free from that most pervasive of all human bondages: sin, and all its consequences.” (Oswalt)
“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet [to the natural eye] we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted..” (Isa 53:4) If we had the eyes to see, He would have been our all in all, taking away all of our griefs and sorrows. But "all that the human eye saw and the human mind apprehended was added up the result was zero." (Motyer) “Jehovah Tsidkenu (The LORD my righteousness) was nothing to me.” (Robert Murray M'Cheyne)
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Isa 53:5)
“But He was wounded... he was bruised..... literally "pierced through" and "crushed"- a multiplying of words that signify destroyed. "Both words refer to the death which crowned the sufferings of the Servant” (C. J. Ellicott)— “for our transgressions… for our iniquities," that is, for our sins. "'Transgressions' are willful and rebellious sins[deserving immediate death], and 'iniquities' are sins that result from the perverted quality of human nature due to the continuing effects of the Fall [from which we might be saved from if warned by a brother or sister].” (Thomas B. Constable) It is not true that some sins are greater and some lessor but rather that some are through ignorance. Both lead death as a final punishment after the Judgment..
"The chastisement for our peace—i.e., the punishment which leads to peace..." (C. J. Ellicot) " The Hebrew word for “chastise” is musar may be "corporal or verbal; it may be instruction, discipline, rebuke or punishment." (How Chastisement Became Peace by Jeff Doles) It "was upon Him," as our substitute. Death for death. And this fact ”is one that has served to our peace – the Hebrew word for peace, shalom, is summarizing, and describes not only a peaceful state, but a welfare in general, prosperity and well-being and inner peace and rest.” (G. de Koning)
"’And by His stripes we are healed.’— Stand advised— "The belief that Christ’s physical suffering somehow guarantees our physical healing in this life isn’t merely an abuse of Scripture—it’s a form of mental and spiritual torture to those who sit under such false teaching. It’s a lie that has left many churchgoers disappointed with the gospel. Rather than longing for their heavenly home, they are gripped by unrealized expectations in the here and now. The sickness they struggle with leaves them feeling like failures who lack the necessary faith to claim the healing that’s rightfully theirs….. The fact that everyone still dies should be proof enough that on this side of eternity all people are still subject to Adam’s curse. Sickness is a very real part of life in this fallen world, and no amount of claiming divine health is going to change that.”
(Are We Physically Healed by Jesus' Stripes? by Cameron Buettel)]
"'And by His stripes we are healed.'- Jesus tells a parable of a master going away and returning to find out that some of his servants were disobedient in his absence, some willfully and other ignorantly. Stripes were administered accordingly to guilt. (Luke 12:46-49) Stripes were for offenses not deserving of immediate death. "The Jews never inflicted more than forty stripes for one offence, Deuteronomy 25:3. For smaller offences they inflicted only four, five, six, etc., according to the nature of the crime... Forty signifies the full measure of judgment (cp. Gen. 7:12; Num. 14:33-34); but the son of Israel was not to be lashed like a slave at the mercy of another." (Albert Barnes) So the judge was always to be present to see that the offender was beaten relative to guilt and to restrain the severity of the individual blows of the one executing the decree to avoid humiliation... and perhaps death. The hope was repentance. Moreover, the proceedings as well as execution of sentence was public. "Paul claimed the privilege of a Roman citizen in regard to the infliction of stripes ( Acts 16:37 Acts 16:38 ; 22:25-29). Our Lord was beaten with stripes ( Mat 27:26 )." (Easton's Bible Dict.) Jesus received this punishment for our unknown sins to allowed us to be healed and to get on the path of life.
The church is also to distinguish between these degrees of guilt based on knowledge.
"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.“ (Mat 18:17-20) And Paul expounds that when the guilty will not listen, the church is told: “Expel the wicked man from among you...” (1 Cor 5:13), which is a death sentence with hope of repentance before execution thereof.
That Jesus' stripes were exceeding harsh is not supported by the Bible. That takes the focus off the meaning. That He was innocent is biblical truth. And symbolically, as stated by Barnes, a full measure is meant to represent the approach to a full measure of guilt. No criminal was to receive stripes along with a death sentence. So Jesus' punishments covers all. We are to seek the prize of immortality. "’And by His stripes we are healed.’ Abide in the Vine and let His Word abide in you and achieve the better resurrection, wherein you will receive with your new spiritual body that is incorruptible, glorious, powerful and spiritual. (see 1 Cor 15:42b-44)
Jesus was "the Suffering Servant." And in the context of suffering slaves or servants, Paul admonishes them to be “submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.” (1 Peter 2:18) These slaves are believers in Jesus and are being asked to endure in their current state. Do likewise in yours, whatever it is!!! The most important thing is your testimony. —
“For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” (1 Pet 2:20-25)
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