A recent
blog post on the MDI site takes issue with viewing Isaiah 53 as a prophecy
of the person and work of the Messiah, particularly His vicarious sacrifice and
triumphant resurrection. According to the unnamed author, since the apostles
did not expect Jesus to die and rise again before the events came to pass, they
did not understand Isaiah 53 in the way Christians do today. Moreover, as the
author further points out, no one else prior to the crucifixion understood from
this passage what Christians understand it to teach.
However, far
from being an insuperable objection to the Christian interpretation, an
interpretation the disciples heard from Jesus and later came to understand and
believe consequent upon Jesus rising from the dead, the MDI author’s observations
unknowingly confirm that the passage was completely fulfilled, not only what it
says about the Messiah dying and rising again, but even what it says about the
fact that the generality of people would not recognize that the crucified one
was the promised Messiah who came to die for the sins of His people and rise
again for their justification. Indeed, the passage begins with a rhetorical
question, which points up the incredulity of Israel to the prophetic word
spoken by Isaiah, and continues to strike the same cord about Israel’s spiritual
blindness to the reality of what God’s Servant, the Messiah, was going to do.
WHO HAS
BELIEVED OUR MESSAGE?
And to whom
has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He grew up
before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a
root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
THAT WE SHOULD
LOOK UPON HIM,
Nor appearance
THAT WE SHOULD BE ATTRACTED TO HIM.
He was DESPISED
AND FORSAKEN OF MEN,
A man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief;
AND LIKE ONE
FROM WHOM MEN HIDE THEIR FACE
HE WAS
DESPISED, AND WE DID NOT ESTEEM HIM.
Surely our
griefs He Himself bore,
And our
sorrows He carried;
YE WE
OURSELVES ESTEEMED HIM STRICKEN,
SMITTEN OF
GOD, AND AFFLICTED.
But He was
pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed
for our iniquities;
The chastening
for our well-being fell upon
Him,
And by His
scourging we are healed.
All of us like
sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has
turned to his own way;
But the Lord
has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on
Him.
He was
oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not
open His mouth;
Like a lamb
that is led to slaughter,
And like a
sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not
open His mouth.
By oppression
and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His
generation, WHO CONSIDERED
THAT HE WAS
CUT OFF OUT OF THE LAND OF THE LIVING
FOR THE
TRANSGRESSION OF MY PEOPLE, to whom the stroke was due?
His grave was
assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was
with a rich man in His death,
Because He had
done no violence,
Nor was there
any deceit in His mouth.
But the Lord
was pleased
To crush Him,
putting Him to grief;
If He would
render Himself as a guilt
offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will
prolong His days,
And the good
pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
As a result of
the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His
knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant,
will justify the many,
As He will bear
their iniquities.
Therefore, I
will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will
divide the booty with the strong;
Because He
poured out Himself to death,
And was
numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself
bore the sin of many,
And interceded
for the transgressors.
It might be an
understatement to say this MDI author missed the obvious, but certainly we
can’t say anything less than that. Interestingly enough, this shows that
someone can miss something even if it is clear in itself. This is
because an objective source of light is only of benefit to subjects that have
eyes to see. Prior to the resurrection, the dying and rising of the Messiah was
hidden from the eyes of the disciples just like it is still hidden from the
eyes of Muslims. Only a supernatural work of divine grace can overcome the
blindness of the natural man. Let us pray that this writer for MDI and that Muslims
the world over will be recipients of this grace and that God will cause the
light of the Gospel of Christ to shine in their hearts.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:3-6)
