'He Let Himself Be Afflicted

Was the Messiah willing to suffer and die?  Isaiah says: "He was hard pressed, and he was letting himself be afflicted; yet he would not open his mouth.  He was being brought just like a sheep to the slaughtering; and like a ewe that before her shearers has become mute, he also would not open his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) On the final night of his life, Jesus could have summoned "more than twelve legions of angels" to come to his aid. But he said: "In that case, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must take place this way?"  (Matthew 26:53, 54) Instead the "Lamb of God"  offered no resistance.    (John 1:29) When the chief priest and the older men falsely accused him before Pilate, Jesus "made no answer."  (Matthew 27:11-14)  He did not want to say anything that might interfere  with the carrying out of God's will for him.  Jesus was willing to die as a sacrificial Lamb, knowing full well  that his death would redeem obedient mankind from sin, sickness, and death. 

Isaiah now gives more details of the Messiah's suffering and humiliation.  The prophet writes:  "Because of restraint and of judgment he was taken away; and who will concern himself even with the details of his generation?  For he was severed from the land of the living ones.  Because of the transgression of my people  he had the stroke."  (Isaiah 53:8)  When Jesus was finally taken by his enemies, these religious  opposers applied "restraint"  in the way they dealt with him.  It was not that they held back from expressing their hatred but that they restrained, or withheld, justice. In its rendering  of Isaiah 53:8, the Greek Septuagint says "humiliation" instead of "restraint."  Jesus' enemies humiliated him by withholding the fair treatment to which even a common criminal was entitled. The trial of Jesus made a mockery of justice.  How so?

In their determination to get rid of Jesus, the Jewish religious leaders broke their own rules.  According to tradition, the Sanhedrin could try a capital case only in the hall of hewn stones in the temple precincts, not in the high priest's house. Such  a trial had to be held during the day, not after sundown. And in a capital case, a guilty verdict had to be announced the day following  the conclusion of  the hearing. Hence, no trials could  be held on the eve of a Sabbath  or a festival.  These rules were all ignored in the case of Jesus' trial. (Matthew 26:57-68)   Even worse, the religious leaders  flagrantly  broke God's Law  as they handled the case.  For example, they resorted to bribery to entrap Jesus.  (Deuteronomy 16:19; Luke 22:2-6)  They gave heed  to bearers of false witness.  (Exodus 20:16; Mark 14:55, 56) And they conspired to release a murderer, thereby bringing bloodguilt upon themselves and their land.  (Numbers 35:31-34; Deuteronomy 19:11-13; Luke 23:16-25)  Hence, there was no "judgment," no fair trial resulting in a correct impartial ruling. 

Did Jesus' enemies investigate to see who the man on trial before them really was?  Isaiah asks a similar question:  "Who will concern himself even with  the details of his generation?"  The word "generation" may refer to one's descent , or background.  When Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin, its members, did not take into account his background-that he fulfilled the requirements for the promised Messiah.  Instead, they accused him of blasphemy  and held him liable to death.  (Mark 14:64)  Later, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate yielded to  pressure  and sentenced Jesus to be impaled.  (Luke 23:13-25) Thus Jesus, at just 33 1/2 years of age, "was severed" or cut off in the midst of his life. 

Concerning the Messiah's death and burial, Isaiah next writes:  "He will make his burial place even with the wicked ones, and with the rich class in his death, despite the fact that he had done no violence and there was no deception in his mouth."  (Isaiah 53:9)  How, in his death and burial, was Jesus  with the wicked as well as with the rich?  On Nisan 14, 33 C.E., he died on the execution stake outside the walls of Jerusalem. Since he was impaled  between two evildoers , in a sense his burial place  was with the wicked ones.  (Luke 23:33)  However, after  Jesus died, Joseph , a wealthy man from Arimathea, mustered up the courage to  ask Pilate for permission to take down Jesus' body and bury it.  Along with Nicodemus, Joseph prepared the body for burial and then place it in a newly excavated tomb that belonged to him.  (Matthew 27:57-60; John 19:38-42)  So Jesus' burial place was also with the rich class.  

Next time: 'Jehovah Took Delight in Crushing Him'

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001