9/28/25 Weekly Bible Lesson: How Do You Spell Relief?

Isaiah 53:1-7 NASB 

Background of Text — This magnificent passage is the last of the four suffering servant songs in Isaiah. The song offers a sign of hope and redemption for those in Babylonian exile. The suffering servant symbolizes how God would redeem and restore His people. 

Ultimately, the passage points to the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus. Perhaps no Old Testament passage foreshadows His work more clearly than Isaiah 53. For this reason, many refer to this passage as the fifth gospel. 

Verses 1-3 — When we study Isaiah, it’s hard not to think about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The inspired New Testament writers specifically confirm so many of the prophecies of Isaiah as being fulfilled in Jesus Christ! Perhaps then the most intriguing question about Isaiah 53 is: If the New Testament is so clear about its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, why did most Jews not see and understand it? 

In answer to that question, several reasons are given. Some Jewish writers say the servant of Isaiah 53 is fulfilled in the physical nation of Israel. Some say the pious remnant of the true Israel. Still others say the collective body of the prophets. Finally, there are those who say it refers to a specific individual. Even when Jesus asked the disciples, “who do people say that the Son of Man is?” they said, “Some say John the Baptist, and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 

The Jews could not comprehend Jesus as the suffering servant for a variety of reasons. He was born in Bethlehem and of poor parentage. He grew up in Nazareth, which was in Galilee, a town looked down upon. As Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). That the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord, should come from a carpenter’s family would be unthinkable in Jewish theology! Thus, the overall reaction of the nation to Jesus’s claims of being the Son of God was scoffing, mockery, rejection, and persecution. 

Discussion questions: What reasons do people offer today for rejecting Jesus? How are we preparing ourselves to respond to these reasons? 

Verses 4-7 — In light of New Testament teaching, there is no doubt that the identity of the Suffering Servant is Jesus. In Isaiah 53, Isaiah wrote specifically about Jesus of Nazareth. Shortly after midnight, on the day Jesus would be crucified, He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane where He had been praying after the Last Supper. He asked His disciples to keep watch while He prayed. Jesus was in deep distress, but despite His own anguish, He submitted to God’s will. He was taken to Annas, the patriarchal High Priest the Jews recognized, for His first trial. He was then taken to the house of Caiaphas, whom the Romans recognized as the High Priest to stand before the Sanhedrin (Pharisees and Sadducees), for His second trial. Both trials were at nighttime and were at the residences of the High Priests, which were not legitimate locations for a trial. Even though these first two trials were illegal, they condemned Jesus to death. The third trial was held at dawn, most likely before sunrise, but it was held at the proper place for trials, the Hall of Hewn Stones. 

The Jews did not want to be accused of killing Jesus, so they had to convince Pilate to do it for them. They took Jesus to him, but Pilate found nothing to condemn Him to death, so he sent Jesus to Herod. 

Although Herod found no wrong in Him, his guards beat and mocked Him and sent Him back to Pilate. Jesus was before Pilate the second time and sentenced to death. At mid-morning, Jesus was led to Calvary, carrying His own cross. 

At the third hour Jewish time (9:00 am for us) Jesus was crucified. At approximately 10:00 am, Jesus was mocked and insulted. At approximately 11:00 am, Jesus talked to Mary, his mother, and John. At the sixth hour Jewish time (12:00 pm for us), Jesus died. At that very moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. In Mark 15:42-46 we read, “and when evening had come, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, bought a linen shroud, and took the body of Jesus down from the cross.” 

Let’s move forward to the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts  2. There were Jews living in and visiting Jerusalem. The text in Acts 2 says there were devout men from every nation under heaven. Peter, with the eleven other apostles, used the keys to open the kingdom of Heaven. He proclaimed to them that Jesus of Nazareth, the man they nailed to a cross and put to death, God had raised Him up from the dead! 

On that memorable Pentecost, we know there were “added three thousand souls that day.” We must wonder if those 3,000 believing, penitent Jews, after their baptism, reflected on their scoffing, mockery, rejection, persecution, and their blindness of the man from Nazareth, a carpenter’s son? 

Discussion question: How thankful are we that the Suffering Servant Jesus was wounded for our transgressions? How can we more adequately express our thanks?