Nowhere in all the Old Testament is it so plainly and fully prophesied, that Christ ought to suffer, and then to enter into His glory, as in this chapter. But to this day few discern, or will acknowledge, that Divine power which goes with the Word. The authentic and most important report of salvation for sinners, through the Son of God, is disregarded. The low condition He submitted to, and His appearance in the world, were not agreeable to the ideas the Jews had formed of the Messiah. It was expected that He should come in pomp; instead of that, He grew up as a plant, silently, and insensibly. He had nothing of the glory which one might have thought to meet with Him. His whole life was not only humble as to outward condition, but also sorrowful. Being made sin for us, He underwent the sentence sin had exposed us to. Carnal hearts see nothing in the Lord Jesus to desire an interest in Him. Alas! by how many is He still despised in His people, and rejected as to His doctrine and authority!
In these verses is an account of the sufferings of Christ; also of the design of His sufferings. It was for our sins, and in our stead, that our Lord Jesus suffered. We have all sinned, and have come short of the glory of God. Sinners have their beloved sin, their own evil way, of which they are fond. Our sins deserve all griefs and sorrows, even the most severe. We are saved from the ruin, to which by sin we become liable, by laying our sins on Christ. This atonement was to be made for our sins. And this is the only way of salvation. Our sins were the thorns in Christ’s head, the nails in His hands and feet, the spear in His side. He was delivered to death for our offences. By His sufferings He purchased for us the Spirit and grace of God, to mortify our corruptions, which are the distempers of our souls. We may well endure our lighter sufferings, if He has taught us to esteem all things but loss for Him, and to love Him who has first loved us.
Come, and see how Christ loved us! We could not put Him in our stead, but He put Himself. Thus He took away the sin of the world, by taking it on Himself. He made Himself subject to death, which to us is the wages of sin. Observe the graces and glories of His state of exaltation. Christ will not commit the care of His family to any other. God’s purposes shall take effect. And whatever is undertaken according to God’s pleasure shall prosper. He shall see it accomplished in the conversion and salvation of sinners. There are many whom Christ justifies, even as many as He gave his life a ransom for. By faith we are justified; thus God is most glorified, free grace most advanced, self most abased, and our happiness secured. We must know Him, and believe in Him, as one that bore our sins, and saved us from sinking under the load, by taking it upon Himself. Sin and Satan, death and hell, the world and the flesh, are the strong foes He has vanquished. What God designed for the Redeemer He shall certainly possess. When He led captivity captive, He received gifts for men, that He might give gifts to men. While we survey the sufferings of the Son of God, let us remember our long catalogue of transgressions, and consider Him as suffering under the load of our guilt. Here is laid a firm foundation for the trembling sinner to rest his soul upon. We are the purchase of His blood, and the monuments of His grace; for this He continually pleads and prevails, destroying the works of the devil.
Matthew Henry’s concise commentary on Isaiah 53
