Jesus: The Biography of Our King
Isaiah 53:1-12
Seven hundred years before the Lord Jesus Christ was born, Isaiah the prophet wrote a biography of Jesus.
The Birth of Jesus Christ
The “arm of the LORD” is a person. “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground” (Isaiah 53:1-2a).
Isaiah knew about the Virgin Birth. (Read Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6.) If Jesus had not been born of a virgin, He could not have been sinless. (See 1 Corinthians 15:22.) Had He not been sinless, He could not have offered blood atonement. No atonement, no forgiveness, no hope of Heaven.
Jesus is not the Son of God because He was born of a virgin; He was born of a virgin because He is the Son of God.
The Life of Jesus Christ
“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus did not step out of Heaven in royal robes, with angels preceding Him. He walked in sandaled feet, doing good. Why?
God wants faith. God could prove Himself to us. We would fall on our faces and say, “He is God!” But that would not be faith—only a reaction to what we have seen.
Faith is a response to the character of God. When your heart is right, you will look at Jesus in Scripture and find your heart turning to Him in faith like the eye responds to light.
The Death of Jesus Christ
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
Jesus prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me!” (See Matthew 26:39). In that cup was all the sin of all the centuries. Jesus knew that when that sin was laid on Him, He would become the object of God’s loathing.
He was put to death by a mock trial. But Jesus did not say anything. (See Isaiah 53:7; Mark 15:3-5.) Why was He silent? He could not have justified Himself without condemning us.
He died alone. (See Isaiah 53:8.) God the Father turned His back on Jesus. He was bearing what we will, if we are not saved: eternal separation from God. (See Matthew 27:46.) But Jesus paid it all, for all His people. (Read Hebrews 10:1-10.)
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Isaiah 53:9 speaks of Christ’s grave “at His death.” In the original language, “death” here is a plural intensive—“His deaths.” Think of it as, “He died a thousand deaths.”
“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10).
Wait…wasn’t He dead? How can a dead man do God’s pleasure? “He shall see His seed…” How can a dead man have descendants?
He is not dead—He lives! Isaiah is talking about the God-Man who was dead, and is now living.
The Reign of Jesus Christ, King of Kings
Jesus is King!
“He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11).
Do you know Jesus the King? Not, do you know about Him. Do you know Him? Are you saved? Isaiah 53:11 looks forward to His coming to rule and reign. Your only hope is the coming of Jesus Christ the King.