Earlier in the book of Isaiah we found him speaking of the one called "the Servant". This is not just any servant but is the Servant: the one who will perfectly keep all the commandments and laws and statutes of God---the one who will completely fulfill the will of God.
It is God Himself who speaks these words: "See, My Servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted." (Isaiah 52:13)
Although mere human beings who love the Lord can be called the servants of the Lord, and although those who love the Lord generally act more wisely than those who reject Him, this Servant will be more than a mere human. This Servant will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted in a manner different from someone who is only a human. This Servant is going to be rewarded above all. As the Apostle Paul worded the glorification of this Servant: "God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name." (Philippians 2:9)
But before this faithful Servant is exalted, He will suffer. He will suffer because He is fully obedient to the will of God in carrying out the plan of salvation. He did this by "Taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death---even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:8) This next segment begins to describe the suffering the Servant endured as He obediently did what was necessary to carry out the Lord's will and to offer us redemption.
"Just as there were many who were appalled at Him---His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and His form beyond any human likeness---so He will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand." (Isaiah 52:14-15)
In the gospel accounts we learn that Jesus was viciously abused during His trial by the high priest's soldiers and by the soldiers of Pontius Pilate. They mocked Him and struck Him repeatedly in the face, causing bleeding and bruising and swelling. They grabbed His beard in their hands and pulled the hair out by the roots. They whipped Him many times across the back with the Roman flagrum, a whip made of multiple leather cords in which were tied sharp pieces of bone; this type of whip literally shredded the skin. A crown of thorns was pressed down roughly upon His head, making puncture wounds from which blood ran in streaks. I'm not saying these things to be graphic but to point out how accurate Isaiah was when he stated that the Servant was rendered unrecognizable by what He endured.
We also talk about this horrific suffering to remind ourselves that He endured these things for our sake. By the sacrifice He made for us, He has "sprinkled many nations" as Isaiah said: He has made the blood offering that cleanses us of all unrighteousness by our faith in what He did for us. People from all over the world have placed their faith in Christ, which is why Isaiah said "man nations" would be sprinkled by the blood of this holy sacrifice. The Lord promised Abraham many centuries earlier that through one of his offspring (one of his descendants) all nations would be blessed. (Genesis 22:18) The suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ was the fulfillment of this promise, for by these things the Lord offered salvation to every nation and every race upon the earth.
Some years back I did one of those ancestry DNA tests. Nothing was especially surprising about the results because I knew my family tree pretty far back. I am mainly of English, Irish, and Scottish heritage, with small amounts of Norwegian and Swedish heritage. This ancestry means that my forefathers and foremothers were heathen idolaters in ancient times. If the Lord's plan of salvation had not been a plan for "many nations", I would have been without hope. But the Lord, thanks be to His name, didn't make the offer of redemption only to the descendants of Abraham. He wanted to bless all nations. He wanted to save people from every country under the sun. That is why you and I can be the children of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ---in the Servant who paid the ultimate price in order to offer us eternal life with Him.
We will be talking about this subject for the next several days as we conclude Chapter 52 and move on into Chapter 53. We will clearly see that the words spoken in this passage of Scripture describe no one other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
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