v1-3: The rejection of the Saviour

v1: Men do not believe what we say about Jesus Christ.

v2: He was a root out of dry ground; John 1.46 (Nazareth), John 7.52 (Galilee). He had no physical attractiveness, no means by which men should be naturally attracted to Him. The gospels are striking it that there is no physical description of Christ. Yet this is the Servant of God, perfect in every way. We need to turn to Rev 1 for a physical description, of Christ in His glory, for we do not know Him "according to the flesh" (2 Cor 5.16).

v3: Men see no beauty in Him, for He does not meet their human, worldly standards of greatness; they therefore reject and despise Him; they reject all aspects of His character and work.

Even His own people did not receive Him; His life was characterised by trials and suffering, He was mistreated and misunderstood.

v4-6: The suffering of the Saviour

v4: He bore our grief and sorrow, Matt 8.17, speaking of His life. We should consider that He suffered in life as well as in death; hinted at in Heb 5.7. He was "acquainted with grief" (familiar with sufferings, in another version), again speaking of His life.

His life of trials, and His death, was God's plan, v10. From before creation itself, 1 Pet 1.20, He was ordained to give His life. The wonderful salvation plan preceded the fall.

'The loneliness and the separation from all comfort and comforters were experienced by Jesus, who stands in the middle of all time and history as the most afflicted One, the One most separated from comfort. And - He did it so that we would never be separated from the comfort of God as we come to God through this One.' (Edith Schaeffer, Affliction)

Some have suggested that the word 'stricken' is used outside the scriptures in relaiton to leprosy. Roy Hession describes leprosy; 'it is a subtle disease, but ends up as a ravaging monster, turning its suffered into a repulsive eyesore, before finally killing him.' (We Would See Jesus) He comments that Jesus took the place of the 'moral leper,' such was His love for us. Roy Hession says; 'Therefore, Jesus hanging on the cross outside the camp as a moral leper, is a declaration of my condition. If I did not know I was one in any other way, I can now know it by contemplating the place that Jesus had to take for me.'

v5: He bore our transgressions and iniquities, bringing us peace, esp. peace with God. This refers esp. to His death.

The word translated 'iniquity' is vert strong, meaning crooked or perverse. Christ died not only for our acts of wrong-doing (transgressions) but also our perverse nature.

v6: All of mankind are like lost sheep, aimless but also wilful in disobedience. We are responsible for our sins, and for their consequences. Although mankind was made upright, we have "sought out many schemes" (Eccl 7.29).

The Lord God laid on Him our sin; this was indeed the divine plan, with divine judgment. We may marvel at the depth of His suffering, but we must marvel at the glory of salvation. The cup had to be drunk; He did set His face to go up to Jerusalem, knowing He would die there. All the sin, of all God's people, laid on Him.

v7-9: The example of the Saviour

Jesus Christ did not grumble when ill-treated; when reviled He did not revile in return; yet we grumble at the slightest things; a powerful lesson here. Here is true meekness; silence in the face of cruelty, yet no hint of anger nor revenge; He prayed: "forgive them."

There are detailed and accurate prophecies here about Christ's death and burial.

v10-12: The fruitfulness of the Saviour

v10: The plan of God to bruise His Servant; God set Him forth to be a propitiation, making His soul an offering for sin. The glorious eternal fruit is as a result of His suffering.

There is "His seed," the church, which will prosper in His hand; there will be a harvest for Israel too.

v11: Satisfaction for the Saviour, in a work completed, salvation accomplished, justification for His people.

v12: Like Phinehas (Num 25), He stood in the gap, making atonement for the people, Ezek 23.20. He came for transgressors and died for them.

This chapter may have found some echo on Isaiah's own life, which brought him suffering. But its inescapable subject is Jesus Christ; the immense consequences of His death. He did not die in vain; and there is fruit, eternal fruit from His death.