Isaiah 53 "Suffering Messiah"? : A Critical Investigation !!!

“His back would be whipped”

Isaiah 53:5

“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed. “(NIV)

Matthew 27:26

 ^“ Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. “(NIV)

NOTE: Kindly study this Article together with my Isaiah 52”Messenger’s Feets” article. As they are interlinked.

Esteemed Readers,

Today we are going to deal with the most important piece of Christian Prophecy which is the core and coincidently also the soul of this religion. That is Jesus‘s alleged intense agony , the pain and affliction that he went through to redeem the Humanity from their sins inherited from Adam & Eve.
    Christian Apologists no matter who ever they are be it Catholic or Protestants or Methodists or whatever permutation combination of this cult ,univocally agree that the above Isaiah 53 is foreshadowing about Jesus‘s Crucification . For past 2000 years they have been bragging about this so –called Jesus Prophecy to seek converts and consider themselves redeemed from sins and consider the said prophecy as a Passport to sure shot Christian Heaven(Because in Judaism there is no place for such hallucinating objects like Heaven or Hell ).

    Whole Christianity stands on this verse only and I won’t be exaggregating if I say that it is the very Womb of Christianity from which it came out. So, if Christianity has to survive it must stand and fit with a very high degree precision on above prophecy for it to get vindicated and for me to believe it(I mean to revert back).

Also, if it fails then even if so called fictitious Jesus ever existed or got risen from the Dead ,it will not in any way make sense as the thing that make Resurrection special is  not resurrection in itself ,but , Jesus Son Of God died on the cross for the Sins of Humanity to redeemed them from their Eternal Sin Nature and to bring them to Abba(Jewish Gammy Bear God), as an Assurance that: ” If I{Jesus} live so shall you”. In short such a alleged resurrection even if existed (which I doubt) will not make sense as Jesus never died for you at the first place and you are still needing some Saviour for your Sins. Although there are also Jewish legendary figures like Elijah and Enoch who never saw death, their immortal physical state is of little appeal to Christians as they did not died for Christians peoples sins.Resurrection fallacy is a separate topic and I will deal with it a little  later in detail .Let’s all scrutinize the above suffering of Jesus Christ as the Suffering Servent and lets impartially arrive at the conclusion:

A} CONTEXT

Since any portion of Scripture is only understood properly when viewed in the context of God's revelation as a whole, some additional study will be helpful before we "tackle" Isaiah 53.

Looking at the setting in which Isaiah 53 occurs it becomes quite clear that earlier on in Isaiah, God had predicted exile and calamity for the Jewish people. Chapter 53, however, occurs in the midst of Isaiah's "Messages of Consolation", which tell of the restoration of Israel to a position of prominence and a vindication of their status as God's chosen people. In chapter 52, for example, Israel is described as "oppressed without cause" (v.4) and "taken away" (v.5), yet God promises a brighter future ahead, one in which Israel will again prosper and be redeemed in the sight of all the nations (v.1-3, 8-12).

Chapter 54 further elaborates upon the redemption which awaits the nation of Israel. Following immediately after chapter 53's promise of a reward for God's servant in return for all of its suffering (53:10-12), chapter 54 describes an unequivocally joyous fate for the Jewish people. Speaking clearly of the Jewish people and their exalted status (even according to all Christian commentaries), chapter 54 ends as follows: "`This is the heritage of the servants of the L-rd and their vindication is from Me,' declares the L-rd."

B} Investigation   

In the original Hebrew texts, there are no chapter divisions, and Jew and Christian alike agree that chapter 53 is actually a continuation of the prophecy which begins at 52:13. Accordingly, our analysis must begin at that 52:13.

52:13 -"Behold, My servant will prosper." Israel in the singular is called God's servant throughout Isaiah, both explicitly (Isa. 41:8-9; 44:1-2; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3) and implicitly (Isa. 42:19-20; 43:10) -  not the Messiah.

·         Other references to Israel as God's servant include Jer. 30:10 (note that in Jer. 30:17, the servant Israel is regarded by the nations as an outcast, forsaken by God, as in Isa. 53:4)

 52:15 -  "So shall he (the servant) startle many nations, the kings will stand speechless; For that which had not been told them they shall see and that which they had not heard shall they ponder. Who would believe what we have heard?"

     Quite clearly, the nations and their kings will be amazed at what happens to the "servant of the L-rd," and they will say "who would believe what we have heard?". 52:15 tells us explicitly that it is the nations of the world, the gentiles, who are doing the talking in Isaiah 53.

·         See, also, Micah 7:12-17, which speaks of the nations' astonishment when the Jewish people again blossom in the alleged Messianic age.

·         It tells of a people stricken by G-d with famine and disease, and a people who continued on and on without ever abandoning its heritage completely. It is the story of how the nations bruised and scarred that people, for they thought it was right to do so. Yet they were astonished in the end to find out how wrong they were.

53:1 -"And to whom has the arm of the L-rd been revealed?" In Isaiah, and throughout Jewish Scriptures, God's "arm" refers to the physical redemption of the Jewish people from the oppression of other nations (Kindly also Check, e.g., Isa. 52:8-12; Isa. 63:12; Deut. 4:34; Deut. 7:19; Ps. 44:3).

53:3- "Despised and rejected of men." While this is clearly applicable to Israel (see Isa. 60:15; Ps. 44:13-14), it cannot be reconciled with the New Testament account of Jesus, a man who was supposedly "praised by all" (Lk. 4:14-15) and followed by multitudes (Matt. 4:25), who would later acclaim him as a prophet upon his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:9-11). Even as he was taken to be crucified, a multitude bemoaned his fate (Lk. 23:27).

·         Jesus had to be taken by stealth, as the rulers feared "a riot of the people" (Mk. 14:1-2).

·          According to the Gospels of Luke 2:40, 46-47, Jesus was, throughout his entire lifetime, greatly desired .

·        

Jesus' positive attributes are strikingly illustrated in Luke's summation of his formative years: "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and in physical growth [helikia, cf. Luke 19:3], and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52). In this statement, it is asserted that Jesus was wise, tall in stature, and enjoyed popularity even in the years prior to his active ministry. This verse shows that his handsome appearance, charismatic personality.  Wherever he went, crowds flocked about him  

·         Other Christian commentators see Isaiah 53:2 as a reaction to Jesus' physical state at his crucifixion. According to the Gospel of Luke, this notion is without justification. Luke writes that those who followed Jesus to his execution were not turned away by his supposed haggard appearance (Luke 23:27).

·         

According to all the Gospel accounts, those who allegedly ridicule Jesus, prior to his execution and at the crucifixion site itself, do not deride his physical condition but, rather, his messianic pretensions (Matthew 27:41-43; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 22:63-64, 23:35-37).

·         John states that many of the Jews believed in Jesus (John 12:11), and that among them were many of the rulers who secretly believed in him (John 12:42). In Luke 13:31, we are told that even some of the Pharisees warned Jesus that Herod was planning to kill him and urged him to escape. Matthew 21:46 and Mark 12:12, 37, inform us that Jesus taught the crowds in the Temple and that his enemies were afraid to arrest him because they feared the multitudes who listened to him enthusiastically.

·         It was Israel's job to see to it that the world became a place where G-d was welcomed among all. They were to be a light unto the gentiles (Isaiah 42.6, Isaiah 60.3), and when they failed to be that, they were held responsible for the nations' failures.

53:3 -"A man of pains and acquainted with disease ."

·         Israel's adversities are frequently likened to sickness - see, e.g., Isa. 1:5-6; Jer. 10:19; Jer 30:12.

·         Jesus was not said to have been afflicted with any disease, and the only time he could have felt any pain was on the cross. Isaiah 53.3 is referring to pain that is continuous and which spans a lifetime, for the entire chapter speaks of a matter that took place over time, and not an isolated event.

53:4- "Surely our diseases he carried and our pains he bore Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of G- D and afflicted."

·         See Jer. 30:17 - of Israel God's servant (30:10), it is said by the nations, "It is Zion; no one cares for her."

53:5- "But he was wounded from our transgressions, he was crushed from our iniquities." Whereas the nations had thought the Servant (Israel) was undergoing Divine retribution for its sins (53:4), they now realize that the Servant's sufferings stemmed from their actions and sinfulness.

·         This theme is further developed throughout Jewish Scriptures - see, e.g., Jer. 50:7; Jer. 10:25. Also Note that the Messiah "shall not fail nor be crushed till he has set the right in the earth" (Isa. 42:4).

53:7 -"He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth."

·         Note that in the prior chapter (Isa. 52), Israel is said to have been oppressed and taken away without cause (52:4-5).

·         A similar theme is developed in Psalm 44, wherein King David speaks of Israel's faithfulness even in the face of gentile oppression (44:17- 18) and describes Israel as "sheep to be slaughtered" in the midst of the unfaithful gentile nations (44:22,11).

53:8- "From restraint( מֵעֹצֶר) and judgement he was taken away He was cut off out of the land of the living He was cut off out of the land of the living For my peoples' sins, there was injury to them."

·         Christians end up mistranslating Restraint for oppression, since - by Jesus' own testimony - he never had any rights to rulership or judgement, at least not on the "first coming." See, e.g., Jn. 3:17; Jn. 8:15; Jn. 12:47; Jn. 18:36.

·         Link For Isaiah 53 to verify that Literal Meaning means Restrain :http://www.lexilogos.com/english/hebrew_dictionary.htm

·         The Hebrew word "lamoh"( לָמוֹ), when used in Jewish Scriptures, always means "to them" never "to him" and may be found, for example, in Psalm 99:7 - "They kept his testimonies, and the statute that He gave to them."{ מֵעצֶר וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט לֻקָּח וְאֶת דּוֹרוֹ מִי יְשׂוֹחֵחַ כִּי נִגְזַר מֵאֶרֶץ חַיִּים מִפֶּשַׁע עַמִּי נֶגַע לָמוֹ}

·         Link For Lamoh verification:http://www.lexilogos.com/english/hebrew_dictionary.htm

53:9-“He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth”

·         "And his grave was set with the wicked" describes an imposed fate and not something accepted voluntarily by the servant.

·         Christian commentators connect "wicked" with the lestai ("thieves," "brigands") Matthew and Mark (Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27). These two men were put to death for opposing Roman rule of the Land of Israel and not for being "wicked." 

·         Moreover, according to the Gospels, Jesus was not buried with them. In fact, the point is made that he was buried in an empty tomb.

·         Rich- It is only in Matthew's narrative that Joseph of Arimathea is identified as a "rich man" (Matthew 27:57) who laid the corpse of Jesus "in his own new tomb" (Matthew 27:60). In the Gospel of Mark he is described simply as "a prominent member of the Council" (Mark 15:43). The Gospel of Luke describes him as "a member of the Council, a good and righteous man" (Luke 23:50).

·         The character of Joseph of Arimathea was introduced only Matthew's Gospel narrative as a rich man in order to show a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:9, which says that God's servant will be buried with the rich. But the Gospels make it very clear by stating that Jesus alone was buried in the tomb.

·         The phrases "for he was cut off out of the land of the living" (verse 8), "his grave was set" (verse 9), and "in his deaths" (verse 9) are not to be taken literally, Similar metaphorical language is used, for example, in Ezekiel 37 to express the condition preceding relief and rejuvenation following the end of exile. Ezekiel provides the clues needed for understanding the phraseology used by Isaiah.

·         The metaphorical images employed by Isaiah are  also used in Ezekiel's description of the valley of the dry bones, where the bones symbolize the exiled Jewish people. Lost in apparently hopeless exile, the Jewish people exclaim: "we are clean cut off" (Ezekiel 37:11). In reply, God promises: "And I will put My spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land" (Ezekiel 37:14). 

  53:9- "He had done no violence”

Lets see the reality of that in the context of Jesus:

·         Luke 14:26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

·         Matthew 10:35-36  I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

·         Matthew 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace: I came not to send peace but a sword.

·         Luke 19:27  But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

 53:10 -"He shall see his seed." The Hebrew word for "seed", used in this verse, always refers to physical descendants in our Jewish Scriptures. See, e.g., Gen. 12:7; Gen. 15:13; Gen. 46:6; Ex. 28:43. A different word, generally translated as "sons", is used to refer to spiritual descendants (see Deut. 14:1, e.g.).

In short Jesus does not have any children of his own , unless ofcource you are a Great Fan of Dan Brown who believe in Jesus kids from Mary Magdalene.

 53:10 "He will prolong his days." Not only did Jesus die young, but how could the days be prolonged of someone who is alleged to be God ?

"I Will Be Back" For : Judgement day!!

53:12- "Therefore, I will divide a portion to him with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty."

·         Would the Christian god's reward for offering himself to himself be a mere portion among the great? Who were the other "greats" who were to share the reward with him? Were they equal to him?

·         YHWH uses words to address people as per their Job. Since Priests and Levites are sacred duties and they had nothing to do with Portions like that of which will be a gross violation of their pious traditions so Portion division is not applicable to them.

·         Division of Spoil is a little blunt and gives us a sense of sort of booty distribution going on . It can’t be applied to Holy Priests nor Prophets except to nation of Israel.

·         Besides, there are other Great and Mighty onces too as we can deduce from Verse, so nothing is visible to substantiate the Christian claim  about Uniqueness of Jesus as There are other Mighty ones also available who are also destined to get their share share of BOOTY by YHWH.

In The Name Of Humanity,

Robert Mascharan!!!