Isaiah continued the sheep metaphor but applied it to the Servant to contrast sinful people and their innocent substitute. Here it is not the sheep's tendency to get lost but its nondefensive nature that is the characteristic feature. The prophet stressed the Servant's submissiveness, His innocence, and the injustice that others would deal Him.
53:7 In spite of God's punishment for sin, the Servant would bear it without defending Himself (cf. 42:2-3; 49:4-9; 50:5-7; Jer. 11:18-20; 12:1-3; Matt. 26:63; 27:12-14; Mark 14:61; 15:5; Luke 23:9; John 19:9). He would allow others to "fleece"Him and even to kill him without even protesting (cf. Acts 8:32-33; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).585He would not be a helpless victim but one who knowingly and willingly submitted to death (cf. Luke 9:51).586The sheep metaphor is apt because the Israelites used lambs as sacrificial animals to cover their sins (cf. Gen. 22:7-8; Exod. 12:3, 5; Lev. 5:7; John 1:29).
"The servant . . . does nothing and says nothing but lets everything happen to him."587
"All the references in the New Testament to the Lamb of God (with which the corresponding allusions to the passover are interwoven) spring from this passage in the book of Isaiah."588
53:8 The Servant's treatment at the hands of others would be unjust from start to finish. Oppressive legal treatment and twisted justice would result in His being taken away to suffer and die (cf. Matt. 26:59-61; Luke 23:2-4, 13-16).589However, it was for the transgressions of the prophet's people that He would suffer a fatal blow (cf. Gen. 9:11; Exod. 12:15; Dan. 9:26; Phil. 2:5-8; Col. 1:13-14, 19-20).590Miscarried justice would be only the means to that end.
It is quite clear that the Servant did not just die for the Israelites. Some of what Isaiah wrote about "my people"might lead the reader to this conclusion. However, the testimony of Scripture, including Isaiah, is that the Servant paid for the sins of all humanity (e.g., 1 John 2:2).
Those of the Servant's generation who observed Him dying would not appreciate that He was dying a substitute death (cf. vv. 1-3). The Hebrew of this verse may point to a meaning beyond this. The Hebrew word dor, translated "generation,"also means "line."If that is the meaning (or one of the meanings) of this word here, Isaiah may also have meant that no one would consider that the Servant died childless. Childlessness in His culture suggested a futile existence and a curse from God. People would conclude that He died cursed by God rather than as a substitute sacrifice.
". . . the language of the fourth song certainly allows for the servant's suffering to be vicarious (note exp. he will justify many'). but it does not demand such an interpretation in and of itself. The full import of the language awaits clarification by subsequent revelation . . ."591
53:9 The final insult to the Servant would be that people would bury Him among the wicked, implying His own wickedness. Likewise burial among the rich instead of among the humble would cast doubt on His righteousness since the rich were often oppressors of the poor (cf. Ps. 49:5-6; 52:7; Prov. 18:23; 28:6, 20; Jer. 17:11; Mic. 6:12). Isaiah seems to have meant that somehow wicked people and a rich man would be involved in the Servant's burial (cf. Matt. 27:57-60). This is somewhat paradoxical.
". . . without the commentary supplied by the fulfilment [sic], it would be impossible to understand ver. 9aat all."592
"Like the other enigmas of this Song, this too is written so that when the turn of events provides the explanation we shall know for certain that we stand in the presence of the Servant of the Lord."593
The Servant would not defend Himself (v. 7), but neither would He be guilty of anything worthy of death (cf. 1 Pet. 2:22). Lack of "violence"and "deceit"represents total guiltlessness. The Servant would always speak the truth. Truly, the Servant would have to be more than a sinful human (cf. John 8:29; 2 Cor. 5:21).
Those who suffer as God's servants should do so willingly knowing that they are fulfilling their calling.
