As we study Chapter 53 we see how Isaiah's prophecy regarding the one known as the Lord's "Servant" corresponds with what happened to Jesus Christ.
"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) Jesus was arrested after dark in the garden of Gethsemane and taken to the high priest's house where an unlawful trial was held in the middle of the night. As morning was breaking He was taken to the residence of Pontius Pilate where He was accused before the Roman governor. These things were done during the night and very early in the morning to avoid the majority of the people learning about it, for many believed He was the Messiah and even a lot of those who didn't consider Him the Messiah thought He was a prophet. A riot of protest could have occurred if these people realized what was happening; Jesus' enemies didn't want anything to interfere with their plans.
Jesus Himself didn't protest His unlawful trial. He didn't want anything to interfere with His enemies' plans either because it was His intention to go to the cross to carry out God the Father's plan of salvation. He didn't say or do anything that could have prevented His death, thus foregoing putting on a defense before the Roman governor who was the only one who could have set Him free. (Mark 15:2-5) In addition, He didn't call upon the hosts of heaven to supernaturally rescue Him. He stated that the Father would have heard His prayers to be rescued, sending Him twelve legions of angels if He prayed to be rescued. (Matthew 26:53) This clearly demonstrates that Jesus went to the cross of His own free will and that He was in control of the situation the whole time. Nobody could have nailed Him to the cross if He didn't want to go to the cross.
"By oppression and judgment He was taken away. Yet who of His generation protested? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was punished." (Isaiah 53:8) Judgment was passed against Him, though Pilate stated that Jesus had done nothing wrong. (Luke 23:4, John 19:4) The word translated as "taken" means "seized, taken hold of, captured", which depicts the way the Lord Jesus was arrested in the garden and taken by force first to the high priest and then to the governor. He was sentenced to death by Pilate, though Pilate declared Him innocent by wrongdoing, and He was taken by force to the cross where He was put to death: "cut off from the land of the living". Why was an innocent man put to death? Why did Jesus allow Himself to be treated this way? It was for the transgressions of human beings, as Isaiah states in our text above. He did it for you and for me! He was punished not for His own transgressions (He didn't commit any) but for our transgressions!
Who else has loved us like this? Even though there might be fellow human beings who would be willing to die in our place, their death couldn't save us from our sins. Their death couldn't pay for our transgressions because all of our fellow human beings are transgressors themselves. Jesus endured the insults and the false charges against Him even though He never did anything wrong in His life. Most human beings cannot endure such things; we want to clear our names. Most human beings cannot endure the physical abuse He endured before being nailed to the cross and after He was nailed to the cross; many a person has turned on their loved ones under pressure less intense than this---that is why torture is such an effective interrogation method. But Jesus never denied us! He never will! If we have made Him the Lord of our lives, He is our defender forever!
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