Isaiah 53:4-6, Acts 8:32-35, Matthew 8:17
The Most Astonishing Prophecy
When the Ethiopian official was reading Isaiah 53 in his chariot and Philip asked "Do you understand what you are reading?", the official replied: "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" (Acts 8:34). It is the right question — and Philip's answer was Jesus.
Isaiah 53 is the fourth and climactic Servant Song in Isaiah 40-55. It describes a figure whose suffering accomplishes something the sacrificial system could not: the actual bearing away of sin and the justification of many. Written approximately 700 BC, it is the most detailed prophetic portrait of the crucifixion in existence.
The Passage — Key Verses
His rejection: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (53:3). The welcome of Palm Sunday; the rejection of Good Friday.
Substitution: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows... But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." (53:4-5). Substitutionary atonement — His suffering for ours — stated with unmistakable clarity.
The scapegoat: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (53:6). The universal scope of human sin and the single point at which it is concentrated and dealt with.
Silence before accusers: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." (53:7). Fulfilled at the trial before Pilate (Matthew 27:12-14).
Burial with the rich: "And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death." (53:9). Crucified between criminals; buried in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb.
Resurrection: "Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days." (53:10). Death is not the end — the Servant lives.
The New Testament's Use
Isaiah 53 is quoted or alluded to more than any other Old Testament passage in the New Testament. The early church recognised it as the key that unlocked the meaning of the cross.