Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12 at Biblegateway.org

Interpreting the Passage

One of the characteristic sets of passages in Isaiah 40-55 are the so-called servant songs, poems that speak of the Lord’s servant.  The servant is introduced in 42:1-4, and then is described further in 49:1-6, 50:4-9.  For Christian theology, though, the most significant passage has been that in, 52:13-53:12.  Here the servant is described as one who suffers for the sake of the Lord’s will to redeem his people.  This vision of redemptive suffering that has long been associated with the passion of Jesus Christ for the sake of atonement for the world.

There is a good bit of debate over what the original passage in Isaiah meant when it was first written.  Some have argued that the “servant” is a metaphor for the whole community of God’s people in exile, while others have identified it with a single person, either named or more often, anonymous.  Others have chosen to view the passage as referring solely to the work of Jesus, being completely predictive in nature.  While that debate will be ongoing, another option has been to read the text as multivalent, referring both to circumstances contemporary with its author and also describing the work of God in Jesus.  Whichever of these conclusions we reach, there are several things that must be said about this text and which are ultimately more important than identifying the particular historical intent of the author in this case.

1. The text contains a stunning vision of sacrifice.  The poetic beauty of this passage may lose its grip on our imaginations because of its familiarity, but this servant song speaks vividly of one who at great personal costs intercedes for his people, even though they fail to regard him as worthy.  It is a song about obedience, and glory earned through sacrifice.  It is written from the perspective of someone who has benefited from the servant’s actions and who insists that the community recognize what has happened.    It is one of the post passionate parts of Isaiah, and shifts our perspective towards gratitude towards the sufferer.

2.  The church has long understood this passage to describe the work of Jesus.  The early disciples proclaimed that Jesus’ passion was an act of redemptive suffering that fulfilled what is written in Isaiah.  His death, interpreted as a voluntary atoning sacrifice, gave this passage an intensity of meaning, and in return the passage provided an interpretation of Jesus’ death.   The passion and the passage would be tied together to be mutually interpretive, each providing insight into the other.

3.  On of the major ways this passage interprets the passion of Jesus is to indicate that the suffering of Jesus was a consequence of our actions.  This central theme of Christian theology is inescapable and powerful when we connect Isaiah 53 with the death of Jesus.  This element provokes discussion and thought, but more importantly, those thoughts and discussions have to lead us to feel the meaning of this text.  This is a heart text more than it is a head or hands text, although there are certainly implications for the cognitive and behavioral parts of our lives as well.

4.  Like much of Isaiah, this text also stresses God’s sovereignty.  The suffering of the servant is not an accident, but is part of God’s plan to redeem his people.  The servant obediently complies with God’s desires, and it is the aggression of others that brings about the suffering, but all of this happens for the sake of God’s will be fulfilled.  This passage affirms that even when it seems unlikely, it is indeed the Lord who is in control.

Teaching the Text

Hearing the Text

With a poetic piece of scripture like this, one of the best things you can put thought into beforehand is how you can prepare the class to actually hear the text and feel it’s impact.  Take some time to think about how you will introduce the text, and how you’re going to do the reading.  Are you going to have somebody else read it as a whole, are you going to break it into pieces, or perhaps you can create an environment of hyper-attention by changing the lighting in the room.  Maybe you can have everyone stand, or perhaps ask them, for a change of pace, to not follow along in their Bibles, but rather intently listen to what is read. Maybe you can frame the reading with silence on either side of it, or prayer.  The key though, is to think through what the moment is going to be like when the class physically meets this text, whether by hearing aloud or reading it with their own eyes.  The best moment for that to happen with full impact might be at the beginning of class, or maybe not until the very end, or maybe both.

Discussion Directions

Accent the emotional content of this text by asking different class members to just react to the text, asking which parts of the poetry they find most striking.  What imagery best captures the feel of the text for them?  What phrases do they hear in the text that haunt them a little bit, or give them more insight into what it meant to be Jesus?

There are several themes that appear in different parts of the text.  Ask the class where in the text they see the following themes:

• Physical violence and suffering
• Shame
• Rejection
• Obedience
• Glory
• Purpose

What other themes jump out as you hear the text?


What is the perspective of the author (or narration) of this poetry?  The passage has an interesting use of the first person (I, My, We, Our).  It seems as if some of the things that  the author says or claims are thing we don’t really want to claim (he was crushed for our iniquities), but the author doesn’t allow that possibility.  What is the hardest thing in this text to claim as something from you?  When in your life did your own role in this story become clear to you?

How does this passage underline both the abundance of God’s grace and the seriousness of our own sin?  Why is it important to understand both of these?

What kind of emotional response does this passage elicit?  How can that emotional response lead us to think and act differently than we normally do?