Jesus was Vicarious Sacrifice (Is. 53:5; ref. Rom. 5:6,8)

The prophet Isaiah, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, devoted the whole chapter of Isaiah 53 to the prophecy concerning the sufferings and afflictions of the Messiah when He came in His first coming. Every verse of this chapter provides excellent descriptions of the Messiah’s sufferings. The gospel writers reveal in their writings that the story of the life of the Messiah reflects what Isaiah had recorded in his book. Isaiah saw that all these things would happen in the Christ.

Isaiah 53:5 in particular is talking about the vicarious sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is to say that the Messiah would be offered to be put to death as a substitute for sinners. As Isaiah said, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” How terrible the afflictions that Christ had borne on our behalf! He was God, willing to take a human form, came to this world to be wounded, bruised and chastised in order to bring salvation and save sinners. Thus Calvin rightly commented, "Here the Prophet draws a contrast between us and Christ; for in us nothing can be found but destruction and death; in Christ alone is life and salvation, he alone brought medicine to us, and even procures health by his weakness, and life by his death; for he alone hath pacified the Father, he alone hath reconciled us to him."

The death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross is medicine for sinners, because without His death, man could not be reconciled to God. Man would not have any hope of having salvation and eternal life. Nevertheless God knew the wretchedness of man. He showed His love toward men through the sending of His Only Begotten Son to die on the cross as our substitute. This has to be done by the Messiah, for man by his own strength cannot save himself but the Lord gives hope through His Son, Jesus Christ, as the apostle Paul said, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6, 8). Thus the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus was well documented in the Old Testament time so that every true believer in the Lord can prepare himself for the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus is hated without reason (Ps. 35:19; ref. John 15:24-25)

Another prophecy concerning the sufferings of the Lord Jesus can be seen in Psalm 35:19 which shows evidence that Christ was hated without reason. The Psalmist said, “Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause” (Ps. 35:19). It is a sad thing when a person is hated without reason. The Messiah in His goodness and grace towards men, was willing to come to this world taking the form of a servant and yet being a servant and God, He was hated.

The context of this passage tells us Psalm 35:19 was actually David’s prayer to the Lord concerning his situation. David’s enemies were actually exulting “in the hope of seeing his overthrow and destruction.” Thus he prayed that “God would not suffer them to realize a desire so wicked.” This was the cruelty of David’s enemies toward him. Nonetheless the cruelty David faced was the picture of the cruelty that would be borne by Jesus Christ when He came in His first coming. For this reason, John the apostle saw that whatever happened to Christ was according to the plan of God. In fact the prophecy of Psalm 35:19 was declared to be fulfilled when John recorded the words of Jesus in John 15:24-25 saying, “If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause.” Truly our God is a True and Living God, the Omnipotent, and Omnipresent God, who knows all things even before He created the world. The suffering, death and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ were all ordained beforehand.

Looking at the ministry of Jesus Christ no one could find any fault in Him in order to prove that He was guilty. When the Jews arrested Him and brought Him before the council, nobody could testify that Jesus was guilty, except those false witnesses. Pilate after his interrogation of Jesus, concluded that he found nothing that caused Him to be guilty. Nevertheless, the Jews, despite their pure conscious spoke the truth, claimed that Jesus must be put to the death. They were ready to take all the blame if only they could nail Jesus on the cross.

When Pilate knew that Jesus was not guilty, he actually desired to release Jesus from the hand of the Jews. Pilate offered them a choice: to choose Jesus to be nailed on the cross or to release Barabbas, a murderer. Nevertheless because of the hatred that the Jews had, they preferred Barabbas to be released from the cross, and allowed him to do whatever he liked rather than see Jesus teaching their people. Whatever reason the Jews might have, they were still accountable for what they have done to Christ. The terrible hatred of the Jews toward Jesus Christ was inexcusable.

Jesus was spat upon and Smitten (Is. 50:6; ref. Matt. 26:67)

When Jesus was found guilty before the council, it showed the cruelty of the Jews toward Him. However, when Isaiah describes further the sufferings that He bore on our behalf, it shows the great love God has for sinners. As the Scriptures describe the details of His sufferings, one should ponder in his heart that Christ died for him. Though Christ was God, He was submissive to the commandments of the Lord: what He had required of Him must be done justly and perfectly.

When making a careful study on the life of Jesus in the gospel, one is compelled to conclude that Christ had faced much suffering. The climax of His sufferings stretched from His arrest to the time He was nailed on the cross. It was during this time that all the prophecies about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ given in the Old Testament were fulfilled for the glory of God.

The prophet Isaiah gave the prophecy of Jews despising and rejecting the Messiah. Isaiah 50:6 says, “I gave my back to the smitters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid no my face from shame and spitting.” This is to say that when the Messiah comes in His first coming, despite His position as a Prophet, Priest and King, He will be despised by His own people. He will be spat upon and smitten. What sorrow Jesus experienced when He received these insults from those whom He loved. Jesus had done nothing wrong to the Jews and yet He was rejected in this manner.

Matthew wrote further about this incident that happened to Jesus in His first coming in Matthew 26:67 “Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands.” All these must be borne by Jesus Christ in order to fulfill the Scriptures. As Lockyer rightly said, "The prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit to testify beforehand minute details of the indignities the coming One was to endure. How else can we explain the most accurate descriptions of the humiliation of Christ, who did not appear until some 700 years after these were prophesied? Note how prediction and performance exactly agree. ‘Jesus was smitten with a rod upon His cheek.’"

During the suffering of Jesus Christ, despite all the trials that He had to face, He was obedient even unto death (Phil. 2:8). Though He was spat upon and smitten by His enemies, He was submissive to what His Father required of Him. What a sad commentary written by Matthew of how the religious leaders of the nation of Israel stooped to such disgraceful acts as spitting at the Messiah’s face, “buffeting Him, and slapping Him.” Nevertheless, despite all these things, the Lord Jesus Christ endured to the end in order to be faithful to His Father’s commandments.

Old Testament books such as the book of Isaiah provide the most wonderful stories of the suffering of the Messiah. Isaiah saw and understood the sorrow and sufferings that would happen to the Holy Prophet of God. Through his prophetic vision, Isaiah “saw God’s suffering Servant battered and bleeding, with a holy face covered with man’s spittle.” He was afflicted, suffered, abused because of the sins of this world. Thus with true faith in the Old Testament one could see from the story of the life of Jesus Christ what the Messiah would have to do to save sinners and fulfill what had been written in the Scriptures.