After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
Parallel Translations
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After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
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He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
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Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant, who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities he did bear.
Cross-references (33)
Passages linked to Isaiah 53:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 5:18-19 So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
- 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.
- Isaiah 53:4-6 Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
- Revelation 5:9-10 They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.”
- John 12:27-32 “Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time?’ But I came to this time for this cause. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Therefore the multitude who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice hasn’t come for my sake, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
- 1 Peter 3:18 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit,
- Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will give him a portion with the great. He will divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death and was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
- John 17:3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
- Romans 4:24–5:1 but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification. Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
- Matthew 20:28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- John 10:14-18 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
- John 16:21 A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world.
- Philippians 3:8-10 Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death,
- Hebrews 9:28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.
- Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
- Isaiah 45:25 All the offspring of Israel will be justified in Yahweh, and will rejoice!
- Isaiah 53:8 He was taken away by oppression and judgment. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people?
- 1 Corinthians 6:11 Some of you were such, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
- Titus 3:6-7 whom he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
- 1 John 2:1 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
- Isaiah 49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
- Luke 22:44 Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.
- John 12:24 Most certainly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
- Romans 3:22-24 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
- Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Galatians 4:19 My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you—
- 2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
- 2 John 1:1 The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all those who know the truth,
- 2 John 1:3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
- Revelation 7:9-17 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?” I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering.They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won’t beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
- 2 Peter 1:2-3 Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, the fruit and effect of his labor,…
That is, the fruit and effect of his labor, which is the salvation of his Church.
Christ shall justify by faith through his word, whereas Moses could not justify by the law.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 53:11 He shall see of the travail of…
Isa 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Ver. 11. He shall see of the travail of his soul.] Or, Because his soul laboureth, he shall see (his seed), and be satisfied. A metaphor from a travailing woman. Compare Act 2:24 Joh 16:21.
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And shall be satisfied.] {a} As a parent is in his dear children, or a rich man in the sight of his large farms and incomes. If therefore we would gratify and satisfy Christ, come by troops to the ordinances.
By his knowledge,] i.e., By the lively light and impression of faith. {as Joh 17:3 Act 25:23; Act 26:18 Joh 6:69} Faith comprehendeth in itself these three acts - knowledge in the understanding, assent of the will, and trust of the heart; so that justifying faith is nothing else but a fiducial assent, presupposing knowledge. The Popish doctors settle the seat of faith in the will, as in its adequate subject, that they meanwhile may do what they will with the heart, and with the understanding. To which purpose they exclude all knowledge; and as for confidence in the promises of Christ, they cry it down to the utmost, and everywhere expunge it by their Indices Expurgatorii; for a bare assent, though without wit or sense, is sufficient, say they; and Bellarmine defendeth it, that faith may better be defined by ignorance than by knowledge.
Shall my righteous servant.] Jesus Christ, "the just one." {1Jn 2:2} "Jehovah our righteousness." {Jer 23:6}
Justify many,] i.e., Discharge them from the guilt of all iniquity by his righteousness imputed unto them. This maketh against justification by works. Cardinal Pighius was against it; so before him was Contarenus, another cardinal. And of Stephen Gardiner it is recorded, that he died a Protestant in the point of man’s justification by the free mercies of God and merits of Christ. {b}
For he shall bear their iniquities.] Baiulabit; that, by nailing them to his cross, he may expiate them.
{a} Saturabitur salute fidelium quam esurivit.
{b} Fuller’s Church Hist.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He shall see, he shall receive or enjoy, as…
He shall see, he shall receive or enjoy, as this word commonly signifies,
of the travail of his soul, the comfortable and blessed fruit of all his hard labours and grievous sufferings,
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and shall be satisfied; he shall esteem his own and his Father’s glory, and the salvation of his people, an abundant recompence for all his sufferings.
By his knowledge; either,
1. Actively, by that knowledge of God’s will, and of the way of salvation, which is in him in its highest perfection, and which by him is revealed unto men, and by his Spirit is imprinted in the minds and hearts of his people, so as to produce faith and obedience in them. Or,
2. Passively, by the knowledge of him, as my fear and thy fear are put for the fear of me and of thee, Psa 5:7; Jer 32:40; knowledge being here, as it is most frequently in Scripture, taken practically, for that kind of knowledge which worketh faith, and love, and obedience to him. So the sense is the same in both cases.
My righteous servant; which title is here given to Christ, partly to vindicate him from those false imputations of wickedness which were fastened upon him by his adversaries, and which found the more belief because of his most grievous and unexampled sufferings both from God and men; and partly to show his fitness for this great work of justifying sinners, because he was exactly
holy, and harmless, and undefiled, Heb 7:26, and
fulfilled all righteousness, according to his duty, Mat 3:15; and therefore his person and performance must needs be acceptable to God, and effectual for the justification of his people, which was the great design of his coming into the world. Justify acquit them from the guilt of their sins, and all the dreadful consequences thereof; for justification is here opposed to condemnation, as appears from the following clause, and from many other passages in this chapter, and as it is used in all places of Scripture, one, or two at most, excepted, where it is mentioned. And Christ is said to justify sinners meritoriously, because he purchaseth and procureth it for us; as God the Father is commonly said to do it authoritatively, because he accepted the price paid by Christ for it, and the pronunciation of the sentence of absolution is referred to him in the gospel dispensation.
Many; which word is seasonably added, partly by way of restriction, to show that Christ will not justify all, but only such as believe in him and obey him; and partly by way of amplification, to declare that this blessed privilege shall not now be, as hitherto it had in a manner been, confined to Judea, and the Jews, but shall be conferred upon an innumerable company of all the nations of the world.
For he shall bear their iniquities; for he shall satisfy the justice and law of God for them, by bearing the punishment due to their sins, and therefore by the principles of reason and justice they must be justified or acquitted, otherwise the same debt should be twice required and paid.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He shall see of the travail of his soul,…
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied,.... "The travail of his soul" is the toil and labour he endured, in working out the salvation of his people; his obedience and death, his sorrows and sufferings; particularly those birth throes of his soul, under a sense of divine wrath, for the allusion is to women in travail; and all the agonies and pains of death which he went through. Now the fruit of all this he sees with inexpressible pleasure, and which gives him an infinite satisfaction; namely, the complete redemption of all the chosen ones, and the glory of the divine perfections displayed therein, as well as his own glory, which follows upon it; particularly this will be true of him as man and Mediator, when he shall have all his children with him in glory; see Heb 12:2. The words are by some rendered, "seeing himself or his soul freed from trouble, he shall be satisfied" (c); so he saw it, and found it, when he rose from the dead, and was justified in the Spirit; ascended to his God and Father, was set down at his right hand, and was made glad with his countenance, enjoying to the full eternal glory and happiness with him: and by others this, "after the travail (d) of his soul, he shall see a seed, and shall be satisfied"; as a woman, after her travail and sharp pains are over, having brought forth a son, looks upon it with joy and pleasure, and is satisfied, and forgets her former pain and anguish; so Christ, after all his sorrows and sufferings, sees a large number of souls regenerated, sanctified, justified, and brought to heaven, in consequence of them, which is a most pleasing and satisfactory sight unto him,
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; Christ is the servant of the Lord; See Gill on Isa 53:1, Isa 49:3, Isa 52:13. He is said to be "righteous", because of the holiness of his nature, and the righteousness of his life as a man; and because of his faithful discharge of his work and office as Mediator; and because he is the author and bringer in of an everlasting righteousness, by which he justifies his people; that is, acquits and absolves them, pronounces them righteous, and frees them from condemnation and death; he is the procuring and meritorious cause of their justification; his righteousness is the matter of it; in him, as their Head, are they justified, and by him the sentence is pronounced: for this is to be understood not of making men holy and righteous inherently, that is sanctification; nor of a teaching men doctrinally the way and method of justifying men, which is no other than ministers do; but it is a forensic act, a pronouncing and declaring men righteous, as opposed to condemnation: and they are many who are so justified; the many who were ordained to eternal life; the many whose sins Christ bore, and gave his life a ransom for; the many sons that are brought by him to glory. This shows that they are not a few, which serves to magnify the grace of God, exalt the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ, and encourage distressed sinners to look to him for justification of life; and yet they are not all men, for all men have not faith, nor are they saved; though all Christ's spiritual seed and offspring shall be justified, and shall glory: and this is "by" or "through his knowledge"; the knowledge of him, of Christ, which is no other than faith in him, by which a man sees and knows him, and believes in him, as the Lord his righteousness; and this agrees with the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith; which is no other than the manifestation, knowledge, sense, and perception of it by faith.
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For he shall bear their iniquities; this is the reason of Christ's justifying many, the ground and foundation of it; he undertook to satisfy for their sins; these, as before observed, were laid on him; being laid on him, he bore them, the whole of them, and all the punishment due to them; whereby he made satisfaction for them, and bore them away, so as they are to be seen no more; and upon this justification proceeds.
(c) "exemptum a molestia se ipsum (vel animam suam, Jun.); videns, satiabitur", Junius & Tremellius. (d) "Post laborem", Forerius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Shall see - He shall enjoy. The travel -…
Shall see - He shall enjoy. The travel - The blessed fruit of all his labours, and sufferings. Satisfied - He shall esteem his own and his father's glory, and the salvation of his people, an abundant recompence. By his knowledge - By the knowledge of him. Justify - Acquit them from the guilt of their sins, and all the dreadful consequences thereof. And Christ is said to justify sinners meritoriously, because he purchases and procures it for us. Many - An innumerable company of all nations. For - For he shall satisfy the justice of God, by bearing the punishment due to their sins.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. Shall be satisfied - "And be satisfied"]…
Verse 11. Shall be satisfied - "And be satisfied"] The Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and a MS. add the conjunction to the verb, וישבע vaigisba.
Shall my righteous servant justify - "Shall my servant justify"] Three MSS., (two of them ancient,) omit the word צדיק tsaddik; it seems to be only an imperfect repetition, by mistake, of the preceding word. It makes a solecism in this place; for according to the constant usage of the Hebrew language, the adjective, in a phrase of this kind, ought to follow the substantive; and צדיק עבדי tsaddik abdi, in Hebrew, would be as absurd as "shall my servant righteous justify," in English. Add to this, that it makes the hemistich too long.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He shall see of the travail of his soul…
He shall see of the travail of his soul - This is the language of Yahweh, who is again introduced as speaking. The sense is, he shall see the fruit, or the result of his sufferings, and shall be satisfied. He shall see so much good resulting from his great sorrows; so much happiness, and so many saved, that the benefit shall be an ample compensation for all that he endured. The word rendered here ‘travail’ (עמל ‛âmâl), denotes properly labor, toil; wearisome labor; labor and toil which produce exhaustion; and hence, sometimes vexation, sorrow, grief, trouble. It is rendered ‘labor’ Psa 90:10; Psa 105:44; Jer 20:18; Ecc 2:11-20; ‘perverseness’ Num 21:21; sorrow’ Job 3:10; ‘wickedness’ Job 4:8; ‘trouble’ Job 5:6-7; Psa 73:5; ‘mischief’ Job 15:35; Psa 7:13; Psa 10:7-14; Psa 94:20; ‘travail,’ meaning labor, or toil Ecc 4:4-6; ‘grievousness’ Isa 10:1; ‘iniquity’ Hab 1:13; ‘toil’ Gen 41:51; ‘pain’ Psa 25:18; and ‘misery’ Pro 31:7. The word ‘travail’ with us has two senses, first, labor with pain, severe toil; and secondly, the pains of childbirth. The word is used here to denote excessive toil, labor, weariness; and refers to the arduous and wearisome labor and trial involved in the work of redemption, as that which exhausted the powers of the Messiah as a man, and sunk him down to the grave.
And shall be satisfied - That is, evidently, he shall be permitted to see so much fruit of his labors and sorrows as to be an ample recompence for all that he has done. It is not improbable that the image here is taken from a farmer who labors in preparing his soil for the seed, and who waits for the harvest; and who, when he sees the rich and yellow field of grain in autumn, or the wain heavily laden with sheaves, is abundantly satisfied for what he has done. He has pleasure in the contemplation of his labor, and of the result; and he does not regret the wearisome days and the deep anxiety with which he made preparation for the harvest. So with the Redeemer. There will be rich and most ample results for all that he has done. And when he shall look on the multitude that shall be saved; when he shall see the true religion spreading over the world; when he shall behold an immense host which no man can number gathered into heaven; and when he shall witness the glory that shall result to God from all that he has done, he shall see enough to be an ample compensation for all that he has endured, and he shall look on his work and its glorious results with pleasure.
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We may remark here that this implies that great and most glorious results will come out of this work. The salvation of a large portion of the race, of multitudes which no man can number, will be necessary to be any suitable remuneration for the sufferings of the Son of God. We may be assured that he will be ‘satisfied,’ only when multitudes are saved; and it is, therefore, morally certain that a large portion of the race, taken as a whole, will enter into heaven. Hitherto the number has been small. The great mass have rejected him, and have been lost. But there are brighter times before the church and the world. The pure gospel of the Redeemer is yet to spread around the globe, and it is yet to become, and to be for ages, the religion of the world. Age after age is to roll on when all shall know him and obey him; and in those future times, what immense multitudes shall enter into heaven! So that it may yet be seen, that the number of those who will be lost from the whole human family, compared with those who will be saved, will be no greater in proportion than the criminals in a well-organized community who are imprisoned are, compared with the number of obedient, virtuous, and peaceful citizens.
By his knowledge - That is, by the knowledge of him. The idea is, by becoming fully acquainted with him and his plan of salvation. The word knowledge here is evidently used in a large sense to denote all that constitutes acquaintance with him. Thus Paul says Phi 3:10, ‘That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.’ It is only by the knowledge of the Messiah; by an acquaintance with his character, doctrines, sufferings, death, and resurrection, that anyone can be justified. Thus the Saviour says Joh 17:3, ‘And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.’ People are to become acquainted with him; with his doctrines, and with his religion, or they can never be regarded and treated as righteous in the sight of a holy God.
Shall my righteous servant - On the meaning of the word ‘servant,’ as applied to the Messiah, see the notes at Isa 52:13. The word ‘righteous’ (צדיק tsadiyq), Lowth supposes should be omitted. His reasons are:
1. That three manuscripts, two of them ancient, omit it.
2. That it makes a solecism in this place, for, according to the constant usage of the Hebrew language, the adjective, in a phrase of this kind, ought to follow the substantive; and,
3. That it makes the hemistich too long.
But none of these reasons are sufficient to justify a change in the text. The phrase literally is, ‘the righteous, my servant;’ and the sense is, evidently, ‘my righteous servant.’ The word righteous, applied to the Messiah, is designed to denote not only his personal holiness, but to have reference to the fact that he would’ make many righteous (יצדיק yitseddiyq). It is applicable to him, because he was eminently holy and pure, and because also he was the source of righteousness to others; and in the work of justification it is important in the highest degree to fix the attention on the fact, that he by whom the sinner was to be justified was himself perfectly holy, and able to secure the justification and salvation of all who entrusted their souls to him. No man could feel secure of salvation unless he could commit his soul to one who was perfectly holy, and able to ‘bring in everlasting righteousness.’
Justify - (יצדיק yatsediyq). The word צדק tsâdaq is of very frequent occurrence in the Bible; and no word is more important to a correct understanding of the plan of salvation than this, and the corresponding Greek word δικαιῶ dikaiō. On the meaning of the Greek word, see the notes at Rom 1:17. The Hebrew word means to be right, straight, as if spoken of a way Psa 23:3. Hence,
1. To be just, righteous, spoken of God in dispensing justice Psa 55:6; and of laws Psa 19:10.
2. To have a just cause, to be in the right;
(a) in a forensic sense Gen 38:26; Job 9:16-20; Job 10:15; Job 13:18;
(b) of disputants, to be in the right Job 23:12;
(c) to gain one’s cause, to be justified Isa. 43:9-26.
In this sense it is now often used in courts of justice, where a man who is charged with crime shows that he did not do the deed, or that having done it he had a right to do it, and the law holds him innocent.
3. To be righteous, upright, good, innocent. In this sense the word is often used in the Bible Job 15:14; Job 23:9; Psa 143:2. But in this sense the Messiah will justify no one. He did not come to declare that men were upright, just, innocent. Nor will he justify them because they can show that they have not committed the offences charged on them, or that they had a right to do what they have done. The whole work of justification through the Redeemer proceeds on the supposition that people are not in fact innocent, and that they cannot vindicate their own conduct.
4. In Hiphil, the word means, to pronounce just, or righteous. In a forensic sense, and as applied to the act of justification before God, it means to declare righteous, or to admit to favor as a righteous person; and in connection with the pardon of sin, to resolve to treat as righteous, or as if the offence had not been committed. It is more than mere pardon; it involves the idea of a purpose to treat as righteous, and to acknowledge as such. It is nor to declare that the person is innocent, or that he is not ill deserving, or that he had a right to do as he had done, or that he has a claim to mercy - for this is not true of any mortal; but it is to pardon, and to accept him as if the offence had not been committed - to regard him in his dealings with him, and treat him ever onward as if he were holy. This sense of the word here is necessary, because the whole passage speaks of his bearing sin, and suffering for others, and thus securing their justification. It does not speak of him as instructing people and thus promoting religion; but it speaks of his dying for them, and thus laying the foundation for their justification. They are justified only in connection with his bearing their iniquities; and this shows that the word is used here in the forensic sense, and denotes that they will be regarded and treated as righteous on account of what he has suffered in their behalf.
For he shall bear - On the meaning of the word bear, see the notes at Isa 53:4.
Their iniquities - Not that he became a sinner, or that sin can be transferred, which is impossible. Guilt and ill desert are personal qualities, and cannot be transferred from one to another. But the consequences of guilt may pass over to another; the sufferings, which would be a proper expression of the evil of sin, may be assumed by another. And this was done by the Redeemer. He stood between the stroke of justice and the sinner, and received the blow himself. He intercepted, so to speak, the descending sword of justice that would have cut the sinner down, and thus saved him. He thus bore their iniquities; that is, he bore in his own person what would have been a proper expression of the evil of sin if he had been himself the sinner, and had been guilty (see the notes at Isa 53:6). It is in connection with this that people become justified; and it is only by the fact that he has thus borne their iniquities that they can be regarded as righteous in the sight of a holy God. They become interested in his merits just as he became interested in their iniquities. There is in neither case any transfer of personal properties; but there is in both cases a participation in the consequences or the results of conduct. He endured the consequences or results of sin; we partake of the consequences or the results of his sufferings and death in our behalf. This is the great cardinal doctrine of justification; the peculiarity of the Christian scheme; the glorious plan by which lost people may be saved, and by which the guilty may become pardoned, and be raised up to endless life and glory; the articulus stantis vel cadentis ecclesia. luther.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Jehovah is still speaking.
Jehovah is still speaking.
see of the travail--He shall see such blessed fruits resulting from His sufferings as amply to repay Him for them (Isa 49:4-5; Isa 50:5, Isa 50:9). The "satisfaction," in seeing the full fruit of His travail of soul in the conversion of Israel and the world, is to be realized in the last days (Isa 2:2-4).
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his knowledge--rather, the knowledge (experimentally) of Him (Joh 17:3; Phi 3:10).
my . . . servant--Messiah (Isa 42:1; Isa 52:13).
righteous--the ground on which He justifies others, His own righteousness (Jo1 2:1).
justify--treat as if righteous; forensically; on the ground of His meritorious suffering, not their righteousness.
bear . . . iniquities-- (Isa 53:4-5), as the sinner's substitute.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. An amplification of the meaning of Isa_53:10. He…
11. An amplification of the meaning of Isa_53:10. He shall see &c.] Lit. Of the travail of his soul he shall see, shall be satisfied. It is doubtful if the preposition “of” can express result, as the E.V. suggests, or can introduce the object of the verb “he shall see.” It may be used in its local sense (“away from,” or “free from”) or causally (“in consequence of”), hardly in a temporal sense (“after”). The asyndetic construction of the two verbs probably indicates that one is to be subordinated to the other: he shall see with satisfaction, sc. the cause of Jehovah prospering in his hand (as Isa_53:10). The LXX. deserves attention: “And it pleased the Lord to deliver (a variant reading of the last clause of Isa_53:10) (him) from the trouble of his soul: to cause him to see light” &c.
by his knowledge] The gen. is not that of the obj. (“by the knowledge of him”) but of the subj.; the knowledge of God and salvation which he possesses, and which he communicates to others. The reference is to the prophetic activity of the Servant (see Isa_42:1 ff., Isa_49:2, Isa_50:4 f.) which had seemed to be cut short by his death, but will be resumed and crowned with success in his exalted state.
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shall my righteous servant justify many] Rather: shall a righteous one, my servant, make the many righteous; but the Hebr. is very peculiar. The ordinary sense of the word for “justify” (“declare righteous”) is here unsuitable, and the only other passage where it bears the ethical sense of “making righteous” is probably based on this verse (Dan_12:3, “they that turn the many to righteousness”). The many contains a reference to Isa_52:14 f. The clause would read more smoothly if we could suppose that the word rendered “a righteous one” has arisen through dittography; but the source of the difficulty probably lies deeper.
he shall bear their iniquities] Cf. Isa_53:4.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) He shall see of the travail . .…
(11) He shall see of the travail . . .—Better, On account of the travail of his soul, he shall see, and be refreshed. We may find the truest explanation in the words, “To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise” (Luk_23:43). The refreshment after travail, because of the travail, was already present to the sufferer’s consciousness.
By his knowledge . . .—The phrase admits of two meanings, objective and subjective: (1) by their knowledge of Him; or (2) by His own knowledge; and each expresses a truth. Men are saved by knowing Christ. To know Him and the Father is eternal life (Joh_17:3). On the other hand, the Christ Himself makes His knowledge of the Father the ground of His power to impart that knowledge to men, and so to justify and save them (Joh_17:25). Without that knowledge He could not have led them to know God as He knew. If we dare not say that the prophet distinctly contemplated both meanings, we may rejoice that he was guided to use a phrase which includes both. Isa_11:2 and Mal_2:7 are in favour of (2).
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For he shall bear.—The conjunction is not necessarily more than and. The importance of the renewal of the assurance given in Isa_53:4 lies in its declaring the perpetuity of the atoning work. The sacrifice of the Servant is “for ever” (Heb_10:12). He “ever liveth to make intercession for us” (Heb_7:25). He taketh away the sin of the world, through the æons of all duration (Joh_1:29).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He shall see of the travail of his soul,…
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; rather, because of the travail of his soul he shall see, and be satisfied Php_2:7-11, "He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a Name which is above every name: that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father"). No cross no crown. First, suffering, then glory. Because Christ suffered, and was bruised, and put to grief, and made a sacrifice for sin; because of all this "travail of his soul," therefore it was given him to see the happy results of his sufferings the formation of that Church which will live with him for ever in heaven, (Rev_7:4-17) and therewith to be satisfied. " By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; i.e. "by his knowledge of the Divine counsels and purpose, which he will impart to his disciples, shall my righteous Servant justify many" (literally, the many), or, in other words, "turn them from sin to righteousness". (Dan_12:3) Nothing is so effectual in turning men to righteousness as teaching them the true knowledge of God his nature, his purposes with regard to them, his feelings towards them. Christ, from his own knowledge, gave men this knowledge, and so did all that could be done to draw them to his Father. And his efforts were not without result. The fruit of his teaching has been the justification of many ay, of "the many," as both Isaiah and St. Paul (Rom_5:19) testify. For he shall bear their iniquities; rather, and their iniquities he himself shall bear. The initial part of the clause is not "causal," but merely connective. There are two main things which Christ does for his people he makes them righteous by infusing into them of his own righteousness; and he bears the burden of their iniquities, taking them upon himself,and by his perpetual intercession obtaining God"s forgiveness of them. As Delitzsch says, "His continued taking of our trespasses upon himself is merely the constant presence and presentation of his atonement, which has been offered once for all. The dead yet living One, because of his one self-sacrifice, is an eternal Priest, who now lives to distribute the blessings which he has acquired" ("Commentary on Isaiah," vol. 2: p. 338).
Satisfied for sore travail.
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When the sufferings of our Lord are spoken of in Scripture, they are usually connected with his exaltation and glory. "When they testified of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow;" "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God;" "Ought not Messias to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory? For the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour! A witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." But the idea of this text is not so much the glory which our Lord himself shall reach through his work, as the benefits and blessings which, through him, shall come to men. Both may be included in the treatment of this theme.
I OUR LORD"S SATISFACTION IN THE PERSONAL RESULTS OF HIS WORK. He has, through it, the "Name which is above every name;" and the power which he can use for larger blessings, "giving repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.
II OUR LORD"S SATISFACTION IN THE RESULTS OF HIS WORK IN ITS RELATION TO GOD. To see the lest, prodigal sons and daughters of God turning yearning eyes homewards, and saying "Abba, Father!" must be satisfaction indeed to him who came that, in his sonship, he might honour the Father.
III OUR LORD"S SATISFACTION IN THE DIRECT RESULTS OF HIS WORK FOR MEN. He came to save. He rejoices in every saved one: every "brand plucked from the burning.
IV OUR LORD"S SATISFACTION IN THE INDIRECT RESULTS OF HIS WORK FOR MAN. To save a man from sin is to raise and ennoble a life, to give new tone to a family, to purify all the relationships of society, and to redeem a nation, and to save the world. Illustrate from what Christianity has done and is doing. But Christianity is an abstraction. The real blessing of humanity is the thousandfold varied influence of the men and women whom Christ has saved from wrath and sin. He has present satisfaction in a heaven full of white-robed saints, in a Church striving to keep its white garments unspotted from the world; and in the expectation of the time when the "creature also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He shall see of the travail of His soul
Isa_53:11
He shall see of the travail of His soul
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Christs soul-travail and its outcome
1.
The word translated travail has not the special force which the English reader might infer from it; it is a word of much more general use, of much less intensity and much greater variety in the notion of sorrow which it conveys. It is used some sixty times in the Old Testament and means trouble of any, kind, as in the following passages: Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward. God made me forget all my toil. If by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow. In all these cases the same word is used as in the text. It denotes strong effort, attended with pain and grief.
2. Again, the clause is usually supposed to mean that the glorious results which would follow, would be so glorious, that when beheld, the Messiah should look on them and be satisfied. This is a truth; but it is one developed by necessary inference from the text. The clearer and more exact rendering would be, He shall look out from his sorrow, and be satisfied: not only satisfied with the results of the sorrow, as if amply rewarded by them; but satisfied in the sufferings, in the fact of having undertaken them, because of the grand reason which was ever present to His view. Even in the midst of the sorrow He could look out above and beyond it. Thus we see in this text a most helpful and gladdening light on those aspects of the atoning work which are set forth in this chapter: we are taught not only that Christ would be satisfied when the outcome of His work was complete, but that He was satisfied with his errand on earth while in the very depths of His sorrow and care. At the same time, this view of the text does not exclude the more usual one. So far from that it intensifies it. For if there was satisfaction even at the very hour of the suffering, much greater must be the joy when the suffering is past and the glory secured. (C. Clemance, D. D.)
The aspect of the Redeemers work which afforded Him satisfaction
I. There must have been a sublime satisfaction in KNOWING THAT THE SUFFERING WAS ON BEHALF OF OTHERS; and that, however unworthy they might be of such entire devotion, they would through it be relieved of a burden which would have crushed them.
II. There must have been a satisfaction in ASSERTING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE OF THE SUPREME GOVERNOR. In the work of the Lord Jesus Christ righteousness and peace kissed each other.
III. The Messiah would experience an intense satisfaction at THE PROSPECT OF THE NEW NAME WHICH HE WOULD ACQUIRE, EVEN THAT OF SAVIOUR.
IV. THE MESSIAH BEHELD FROM AFAR MEN WHO ONCE WERE REBELS, STANDING BY HIS SIDE, AS SONS AND HEIRS OF GOD: and this satisfied Him.
V. OUR SAVIOUR FORESAW THE CLOSE UNION BETWEEN THE SAVED AND HIMSELF, and was satisfied. He knew that after He had died for them, He should live in them, and that there would be such an outgoing of life from Him to them, as to form out of the human race men of finer mould and of higher character than, apart from Himself, would ever have been possible.
VI. The Messiah was satisfied in BEHOLDING FROM AFAR THE RELATION OF SAVED MEN TO EACH OTHER. He saw the Church perfect in One, its discords hushed, its sounds all attuned to perfect harmony. He beheld the believers sharing His glory, all with Him, seated with Him on His throne. (C. Clemance, D. D.)
Christs sufferings fruitful
I. THE ASPECT IN WHICH THAT WORK IS HERE REPRESENTED BY WHICH OUR SAVIOUR ACCOMPLISHED HIS GREAT UNDERTAKING. The sufferings of Christ were--
1. Expiatory and piacular.
2. Voluntary.
3. Most intense and awful.
The travail of His soul. He had a spirit unequalled for sensibility and affection, and keenness of feeling. To form a just conception of His sorrow, we must unite the ideas of compassion for the grief of the distressed, and horror at what was cruel and unjust; of indignation at the oppressor, and pity for the oppressed; of a wish to deliver the guilty, and an abhorrence of their sin. We must connect all the iniquity which He witnessed, and all the knowledge He had of the human heart. We must think of all the wickedness, the hardness of heart, the unbelief of man. We know nothing of the nature of this sacrifice; but this we know, that it was an act of amazing energy, of strenuous labour. It was not submission merely; it was a direct and positive consecration of His whole being; as if He would place Himself on the altar, and become Himself the sacrificing Priest.
II. THE SUBLIME AND HEAVENLY SATISFACTION ARISING TO THE REDEEMER IN CONTEMPLATING THE EFFECT OF HIS SUFFERINGS.
1. It is the pleasure arising from the expectation of success.
2. It is the pleasure of the most pure and exalted benevolence.
3. It is such satisfaction as springs from the great importance and difficulty of the event brought to an accomplishment.
4. It is satisfaction arising from the peculiar relation of His character and work, to the event itself, and all its consequences.
III. THE CERTAINTY THAT THIS SALVATION SHALL BE FINALLY REALIZED.
1. The sufferings of Christ are assumed as the basis of this assurance, and lead us to observe the natural and inherent attraction of this doctrine. But this certainty arises--
2. From the tendency of the Gospel to an unlimited and ceaseless diffusion.
3. From its conferring, wherever it is embraced, the greatest temporal advantages in connection with its spiritual benefits.
4. From its amazing progress.
5. From the promises of final success, and the encouraging appearances in the circumstances of the Church in the present day. (R. S. McAll, M. A.)
The connection between Messiahs sufferings and subsequent triumphs
I. THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST FORMED A PART OF THE PREDETERMINATION OF GOD, IN REFERENCE TO THE SALVATION OF MAN. It became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, etc.
1. Contemplate the character of that purpose, in reference to its objects as manifesting the benevolence of God.
2. The wisdom of God.
3. The holiness of God.
II. THE INDISSOLUBLE CONNECTION THAT SUBSISTS BETWEEN THOSE SUFFERINGS AND THE REDEEMERS SUBSEQUENT TRIUMPHS.
1. The character of the triumphs of Christianity on earth.
2. The certainty of those triumphs.
3. Their extent. (J. W. Etheridge.)
The travail of Christs soul
I. WHEREIN THIS SOUL-SUFFERING DID NOT CONSIST.
1. We are not to suppose any actual separation betwixt His Godhead and His manhood.
2. There was no sinful fretting, no impatience, nor carnal anxiety in our Lord.
3. There was not in him any distrust of Gods love, nor any unbelief of His approbation before God, neither the least diffidence as to the result.
4. Neither are we to conceive that there was any inward confusion, challenge or gnawing of conscience in Him, such as is in desperate sinners, cast under the wrath of God, because there was no inward cause of it, nor anything that could breed it.
II. WHEREIN IT DID CONSIST.
1. It consisted in the Godhead s suspending its comfortable influence for a time from the human nature. Though our Lord had no culpable anxiety, yet He had a sinless fear, considering Him as man. The infinite God was angry, and executing angrily the sentence of the law against Him.
2. He had an inexpressible sense of grief, not only from the outward afflictions that He was under, but also from the current of the wrath flowing in on His soul.
3. It consisted in a sort of wonderful horror which the marching up of so many mighty squadrons of the highly provoked wrath of God, making so furious an assault on His innocent human nature, was necessarily attended with. (J. Durham.)
Christs soul-travail
I. CHRISTS TRVAIL OF SOUL IN THE WORK OF OUR REDEMPTION.
II. THE CERTAINTY OF SUCCESS. He shall see.
III. HIS CONTENTMENT THEREIN. He shall be satisfied. He counts the salvation of lost sinners to be satisfaction enough for all His pains. (T. Manton, D.D.)
Christs soul-sufferings
In Christs soul-sufferings we may take notice of two things--His desertion and agonies. (T. Manton, D.D.)
Christs satisfaction in the salvation of sinners
Jesus Christ taketh an infinite satisfaction in the salvation of sinners.
I. EVIDENCES OF IT.
1. Christ pleased and entertained Himself in the thought of it before the world was (Pro_8:31).
2. This was the end and aim of His coming into the world; and it is pleasant when a man hath attained his end, especially if it be greatly desired and much laboured for. For delight is according to the degree of the desire and labour.
3. Now, in heaven it is His rejoicing to see the work thrive.
4. When He shall come from heaven to judge the world, with what triumph and rejoicing will He come, when He shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father!
II. THE REASONS OF IT. His love was the cause of all--His love to the Father, and His love to the saints. (T. Manton, D.D.)
The satisfaction of the Messiah
Satisfied! Very few can say that word on this side of heaven. There is no satisfaction for those who are self-centred; and we say reverently that God Himself could not have known perfect blessedness unless He had been able to pour Himself forth in blessing upon others. We might put the truth into four sentences. There is no satisfaction apart from love. There cannot be love for sinning suffering souls without travail. There cannot be travail without compensating joy. In proportion to the travail, with its pangs and bitterness, will be the resulting blessedness.
I. THE TRAVAIL OF CHRISTS SOUL. He suffered because of His quick sympathy with the anguish that sin had brought to man. He probably saw, as we cannot, the timid oppressed by the strong; the helpless victim pursued by rapacity and passion. He heard the wall of the world s sorrow, in which cries of little children, the shriek or moan of womanhood, and the deep bass of strong men wrestling with the encircling serpent-folds, mingle in one terrible medley. He sighed over the deaf and dumb, had compassion on the leper, wept at the grave. As the thorn-brake to bare feet, so must this world have been to His compassionate heart. He must also have suffered keenly by the rejection of those whom He would have gathered, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wing, but they would not. But these elements of pain are not to be compared with that more awful sorrow which He experienced as the substitute and sacrifice of human guilt. It could not be otherwise. He could not have loved us perfectly without becoming one with us in the dark heritage of our first parent. Dost thou love Christ? The first duty He will lay on thee will be love to others. And if thou dost truly love, thou too shalt find thy meed of soul-travail.
II. THE CERTAINTY OF INFINITE COMPENSATION. He shall see. It is impossible to suffer voluntarily for others, and not in some way benefit them. Thy pain may sometimes seem abortive--the mighty throes that rend thee for the souls of others appear in vain; but it is not really so. Drop by drop thy tears shall presently turn the scale. Patience shall have her perfect work. The laws of the harvest in this sphere are as certain in their operation as in that of nature.
III. THE NATURE OF CHRISTS COMPENSATION. It will come--
1. In the glory that shall accrue to the Father.
2. In the redemption of untold myriads. Great as the harvest of sin has been, we believe that the saved shall vastly outnumber the lost. Nothing less will satisfy Christ. Remember that in the first age, before mention is made of the latter triumphs of the Gospel, John beheld in heaven a multitude which no man could number.
3. In the character of the redeemed. He shall present them to Himself without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
4. In the destruction of the devil s work. What is involved in the majestic promise that He should destroy the works of the devil, is not yet made manifest. In due time we shall see it all.
IV. THE GREATNESS OF THOSE RESULTS.
1. They must be proportionate to the glory of His nature. It is not difficult to satisfy, at least temporarily, a little child. But as its nature develops, it becomes increasingly hard to content it. But surely there is more difference between the capacity of an angel and that of a man, than between the capacities of a man and a babe But, great as an angel is, his capacity is limited and finite. What then must be the measure of that blessedness, of that harvest of souls, of that result of His travail, which can content the Divine Redeemer?
2. They must be proportionate to the intensity of His suffering. The results of Gods work are always commensurate to the force He puts forth. You cannot imagine the Divine Being going to an immense expenditure without a sure prescience that He would be recouped. Satisfied! We shall hear His sigh of deep content, and see the triumph on His face. And if Christ is satisfied, we shall be. On this let us rest. (F. B. Meyer, B.A.)
Messiah suffering and Messiah satisfied
I. A few thoughts illustrative of THE MEANING of the text.
II. Two or three PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS to show how we ought to be affected who believe that meaning.
1. The satisfaction of Messiah in relation to the present world is yet incomplete. This should promote humility.
2. In spite of all past disappointments, we confidently expect the fulfilment of this prophecy.
3. The subject ought to lead us individually seriously to examine whether we are contributing to the Saviours satisfaction, either by what we are or by what we are doing. (T. Binney D.D.)
The reward of the Redeemers sufferings
He sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied.
1. In the free remission of sins which, through His blood and in His name, has been proclaimed to the children of men.
2. In the actual return of sinners to God. (R. Gordon, D.D.)
Christs travail and satisfaction
The travail is the agony of one Divine as well as human, and that word leads us to the deepest depths of Gethsemane and Calvary--deeper than any plummets of angels sympathetic imagination could ever sound; while on the other hand, the satisfaction spoken of is similarly the satisfaction of one Divine as well as human, and projects before us something higher than the usual serenity of God, something more blissful than the usual gladness of the skies, some harvest home, some exquisite ecstasy that fills and overflows the Father-heart of God.
I. Whatever there may be in this word, there is a lesson of this sort, that WITHOUT SACRED TRAVAIL IN THE SENSE OF LABOUR, SACRIFICE, PATIENCE, THERE IS NEVER ANY ABIDING SATISFACTION. Not even for God. There are, I doubt not, indeed, many things which yield satisfaction to God, which, perhaps, involve no Divine travail of proportionate amount. I dare say it might be the case that creation came easily to Him, to the overflowing energy of Divine omnipotence. That it was easy for His infinite wisdom to adapt every organism to its place, and every creature to its circumstances; and He has satisfaction in that work of His hands. Perhaps providence comes easily to Him. But when He aims at the greater objects that engage His heart, when He would not make but save the world, when He would get back to Him the love of His suspicious and wandering children, when He would fill His house with guests, and when He would make these guests eternally worthy of His fellowship, and capable of communion with Him, then not easily even for Him can that work be done; but between Him and this joy that He sets before Him there is the travail of Bethlehem, with its lowliness, of His lonely pilgrim path of misunderstanding, of the weakness of feeble friends, and the bitterness of hateful foes:--there is Gethsemane, there is Calvary. Do not let us dream of doing anything effective for ourselves, or others cheaply, lightly, easily. If any one will be My disciple, says Christ, let him take up the cross--the gibbet--and follow Me--bidding farewell to dreams of ease, thoughts of self-indulgence, and copying the pattern set upon the Mount of Calvary. There is no sorrow in the world which you and I cannot materially relieve if we will but share it, but there is no sorrow that can be touched till we share it.
II. WHEREVER THERE IS SACRED TRAVAIL THERE IS ALWAYS ABIDING SATISFACTION. There may be travail in other directions without any satisfaction. Travail for wealth often leaves a man in poverty; travail for the sake of honour leaves him still insignificant and unknown. Do not spend your labour for that which will not profit, but aspire to the grand reward, to the noble results of existence, and put forth the sacred travail which, exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, is rewarded and blessed of heaven.
III. Our text suggests a third lesson which it is desirable for all Christian workers to remember--THE SALVATION OF MAN IS THE SATISFACTION OF GOD.
IV. THE SALVATION OF MEN WILL BE ON SUCH A SCALE, AS TO GIVE COMPLETE AND PERFECT SATISFACTION TO GOD. The word satisfaction is a large word. You know it is easy to please a man, but it is hard to satisfy him; and, as some one has said, it is the same with God; He is easily pleased, but hard to satisfy. (R. Glover, D.D.)
Christs soul-travail
I. THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL. Think of the travail of our Lords soul between Bethlehem and Calvary.
1. The travail of waiting during the long years of the life at Nazareth, during the tedious process of training the disciples that followed (Luk_12:50).
2. The travail of His own personal temptation, in the solitude of the wilderness, the protests of Peter, the impulses and the spiritual aloofness of the multitudes, and the actual hostility of their leaders (Joh_1:11).
3. Omitting many other particulars, the travail of Gethsemane and the cry upon the cross (Mat_27:46).
4. The travail with sin. Upon Him was laid the iniquity of us all A pure spirit is alway pained, even at the sight of meanness or vice. Christs spirit was so pure that Satan could find nothing in Him (Joh_14:30); and yetin the loneliness of the passion He suffered the penalty of sins not His own, wrestled with them in prolonged, triumphed over them for ever on the Cross. And if the travail of His soul be measured by the distance between His holiness and the guilt with which He consented to be charged, it will be seen to be absolutely without parallel in human history.
II. THIS TRAVAIL, SO IT IS SOMETIMES STATED, HAS PROVED SHEER WASTE, or at least, has not accomplished, and is not likely to accomplish, anything like what Christ in enduring it expected.
1. Christianity a failure has been the theme of many a critic of our faith; and the failure has been alleged to occur in almost every department of thought and morals and mission. It must be confessed that Christianity has not yet succeeded completely anywhere. Even in places where it has had on its side almost every possible advantage--been supported by governments, illustrated by every kind of genius, in control of the influences of education and public opinion--it has not made society quite pure, or even the average character of its own agents and adherents faultless. And at present there is no part of the earth upon which the Saviour can be imagined to look and to be satisfied with what He sees. The complaint sometimes takes a more personal form. Every Christian is occasionally tempted to think that religion is proving for himself personally something of a failure. After years of sincere trust and service, there are faults of temper, elements of discontent and self-seeking and sin present in the nature, and often apparently even supreme there. And instead of imagining that our Saviour is satisfied with us, the disposition is rather to imagine that we can never satisfy Him, never become perfect and matured, but that we shall have to go on stumbling and faulty to the end.
2. There are two obvious modes of dealing with these complaints and suspicions. It would be possible to plead the intractability of the material, and to imitate natural science in her ceaseless demand for time. Or, we may place ourselves with this prophet at the ultimate end of our Lords career, and see whether there are not, in society and in the heart of man, processes of progress that are tending to success. The conclusion will probably be that the success of Christianity, in relation to everything that concerns morality and religion, has already been so great as even to guarantee the eventual satisfaction concerning which this verse speaks.
(1) In regard to the thoughts, which in reasoning men must underlie and to some extent determine their practice. Think what an incalculable improvement Christianity has effected in the prevalent conception of God. From these new thoughts of God the early Christians deduced their conclusions as to the infusion of a Divine element into the spirit of man, by means of which he may be lifted up to God.
(2) In matters of social progress and the amelioration of the race, is Christianity a failure? The more personal suspicion, that religion is proving a failure as far as we ourselves are concerned, is a natural fear, due sometimes to the ease with which our best aspirations are forgotten, sometimes to the weight of this body of sin. But it is impossible to imagine the Saviour, now expecting until His enemies be made His footstool, ever turning to His Father in tones of protest, After My travail and death, is this penitent sinner to be rejected? this man, struggling with the sin within him and about him, to be worsted? Did He not once actually say to His Father, thereby pledging both to pardon and help us, For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth? And therefore as certain as the Cross of Christ are the pardon of every worst sinner who comes to God through Him, and the perfecting of every believer who with inflexible purpose cleaves in devotion to Him. This word satisfied again, in its Scriptural use, suggests as much. Almost the only place where a man is spoken of as being really satisfied with what he perceives himself to be is in one of the psalms, and even there it is an emotion that is not reached until after death: When I awake, I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness. It seems to imply that, as long as a man lives, he will have some fault to find with himself, weakness or immaturity or aptitude to sin. But, clinging to his Saviour when he dies, all these miseries will fall away from him, and at last the sinner and the Saviour will be satisfied. (Prof. R. W. Moss, D.D.)
The effects of our Lords passion
I. THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR LORD. These sufferings were--
1. Continual.
2. Extreme.
3. Voluntary.
4. Expiatory.
5. Completely effectual.
II. THE SATISFACTION WHICH HE FEELS IN VIEWING THE EFFECTS OF HIS SUFFERINGS.
1. The sight. Our Lord has seen of the travail of His soul
(1) From the beginning He beheld in contemplation all the fruits of His sufferings; this was the joy which was set before Him.
(2) During the various dispensations preceding His actual coming in the flesh He saw the effects of the sacrifice which He had engaged to make.
(3) But it was on the cross itself that the Lord Christ saw with one unerring view the full and splendid results of His undertaking.
(4) After His ascension into heaven, however, the prospect of the salvation of men began to be realized in a more ample manner.
(5) Throughout the succeeding ages of the Church the Saviour has still continued to behold the fruits of His travail.
(6) But not only has our Lord already seen of the travail of His soul, He still does see of it. His arm is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.
(7) But the Saviour shall, see hereafter in a still more ample measure this glorious sight.
2. The satisfaction. We are not merely to consider the salvation of sinners as satisfying the Saviour, but as satisfying Him after all the preceding anguish of His sufferings.
Conclusion:
1. The light which the subject casts on the value of the soul of man. Both the inconceivable agony of our Lords passion, and the satisfaction He derives from its effects, suppose the unspeakable worth of the human soul.
2. The light which this subject reflects on the hope of a penitents acceptance with Christ. Surely, if He endured such a travail, such anguish of soul and body, and that for the redemption of sinners, He will never reject any one who sincerely renounces his sins and flies to Him. Surely His atonement can reach the case of the worst offender.
3. The illustration which this subject supplies of the powerful motive, by which the Christian is constrained to obey his Saviour. What can claim and fix our love and obedience, if such sufferings, voluntarily endured for us, cannot?
4. The light this subject throws on the future propagation of the Gospel throughout the world. For, if the engagement of the Covenant of redemption expressly be that our Lord shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied, then we may go forth in the cause of missions and of the Bible with a humble confidence. (D. Wilson, M.A.)
The salvation of man, the joy of the Redeemer
I. SOME OF THOSE OBJECTS WHICH IT IS DECLARED THE MESSIAH SHALL BEHOLD, AS THE RESULT OF HIS SUFFERINGS.
1. To remove obstructions out of the way of the sinners salvation.
2. The salvation of His own people.
3. To rectify the moral disorders of our nature.
II. THE SATISFACTION WITH WHICH THE SAVIOUR WILL BEHOLD THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HIS PURPOSES.
1. The completion of any great undertaking is accompanied with satisfaction.
2. Another source of satisfaction to the Saviour must be in the consciousness of having accomplished a work of infinite beneficence. (S. Summers.)
The satisfaction of Christs sufferings
I. WHAT WAS THE TRAVAIL OF CHRIST ?
II. WHY HE SUBMITTED TO IT.
III. WHY AND WHEN HE IS SATISFIED THAT HE ENDURED IT.
1. He is satisfied when He sees any penitent transgressor alarmed by His warnings, or touched by His merciful invitations, and turning to the obedience which he owes to God.
2. When He sees those whom He has redeemed walking uprightly before God.
3. The last and fullest recompense of the Redeemer s sufferings is still to come; to come in that great and joyful day, when He shall see the family which He has ransomed with His blood surrounding His throne in glory. (J. B. Sumner, M.A.)
The sympathy and satisfaction of the Redeemer
I. THE DEEP, DIVINE, IMPASSIONED SYMPATHY OF THE REDEEMER.
1. If we analyze the expression, the travail of His soul, we shall find that its meaning is not exhausted, if, indeed, it is illustrated at all, by a reference to the physical sufferings of our Lord. In the writings of the Fathers; in the devotional literature of the Middle Ages; in much of the sacred poetry of ancient, and even of more recent, times; and more specially in the highly realistic conception of sacred and legendary art, the physical sufferings of the Redeemer are treated with an emphasis and detail, which is not authorized by the Inspired record, and which imperils the clearness of our insight into the deeper meaning and mystery of His passion. It is not denied that physical suffering, most acute, most varied in form, and far transcending power of description or of imagination, was the Divinely appointed lot of Him whom it pleased the Lord to bruise. Yet there is a reticence on the part of the inspired writers in relation to the physical sufferings of our Lord which is profoundly suggestive, not only as implying that a too realistic conception of the Passion is prolific of unhealthy and morbid tendencies, but as indicating that it is not within the range of His bodily anguish that we are to discover the true gauge and meaning of His travail
2. If we contemplate the more subjective phases of the Redeemers suffering, we see the impossibility of appreciating, from the standpoint of our human experience and intelligence, the travail of a sinless soul, smitten of God and afflicted.
3. But the travail of His soul involves more than this. It includes that profound and indescribable sympathy, that yearning pity for fallen man, that self-denying and soul-absorbing love of souls, which led the Eternal Son of God to surrender Himself to humiliation and suffering, to empty Himself and become obedient unto death--the death of the Cross--that sympathy which perhaps has told more powerfully upon the human heart than the most picturesque and stirring incidents in His life of lowliness and pain. It was in respect of His sorrow for the fallen and the lost that there was no sorrow like unto His sorrow. I linger on the study of this travail of His soul because of its intimate relation to the success of all truly Christian toil. With many of us the gravest problem of life is the comparative fruitlessness of our work. Does not the secret lie in the feebleness of our sympathy, in the absence of that which has been called a passion for saving souls?
II. THE CALM AND TRANQUIL ASSURANCE WITH WHICH THE DIVINE REDEEMER SURVEYS THE COURSE AND DEVELOPMENT OF HIS TOIL. A single word in the original is responsible for this deduction, which, however, is sustained not only by the highly elliptical character of the passage, but by the general tenor of the references of Holy Scripture to the mediatorial function. These passages more particularly which refer to the session of the Redeemer on the right hand of the Majesty on high, and notably the memorable passage in the Hebrews: But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool, establish the doctrine which the Hebrew original, with characteristic conciseness, enshrines in one word. The same doctrine is reflected in the history of the Christian Church, which, even in its varying cycles and its intermittent fortunes, bears witness to a Divine Headship, calm, patient, and undisturbed. This tranquil survey of the development and fruitage of His past travail in the moral history of the world does not involve the idea of the personal inactivity of the ascended Son. But this ceaseless activity is not fretted by the anxieties which wait upon human toil. Our noblest work is harassed and hampered by conscious weakness, by distrust of our methods, by the precarious conditions under which we labour, by actual failures, or by the dread of prospective defeats. We, too, are baffled by contingencies not calculable by human foresight: and in front of us there looms that inevitable end of all work which comes alike to all. It is not under such conditions that the enthroned Redeemer surveys the fields of His toil. In the calm assurance which these words imply, there lies a tacit rebuke of the recklessness and feverish impatience of the Church in regard to the conversion of the world.
III. THE CERTAINTY OF HIS FINAL AND ETERNAL SATISFACTION. It is obvious that if this passage is to be taken literally, the ultimate issues of redemption will far transcend the loftiest anticipations which the Church has ventured to entertain. For though there be a few passages even in the ministry of our Lord which seem to look towards a less cheering sequel, a study of their surroundings will show that there is no collision between them and the most hopeful interpretation of the words of the text. No conclusions drawn from merely human analogies can be fairly applied in the endeavour to ascertain the limits within which the satisfaction of the Reedemer is to be understood. Human nature is governed by sentiment. Judging of the Divine administration by its own feelings, it has assumed that nothing less than the final restoration of every fallen man can satisfy the travail of the soul of the Redeemer. But the Divine economy is not an economy of sentiment. The infinite love of the Father acts only in harmony with the other attributes of the Divine nature. Law must be satisfied as well as love; and the human will must not be coerced in its acceptance or rejection of the provisions which mercy has devised. But while we decline to indulge even a larger hope, which rests only on sentiment and on the subtle perversion of the Sacred text, no limitations which must necessarily be assigned to its exposition can spoil it of its overpowering significance. No human mind can indicate the sources or measure the depths of that satisfaction. The practical application of this ancient prophecy is furnished by St. Paul (1Co_15:58). (R. N. Young, D.D.)
Christs vision the Cross
It was in the crisis of His mental and spiritual horror, and agony and darkness, that a vision broke on the eyes of Jesus which made even His death on the Cross to be even a satisfaction to Him.
I. HE SAW THE COMPLETION OF THE MOST STUPENDOUS UNDERTAKING OF GOD.
II. THE VISION GAVE HIM THE SATISFACTION OF A CONQUEROR.
III. IN THAT VISION WAS A SIGHT OF THE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL IN WINNING THE HEARTS OF MEN TO GOD. (C. F. Deems, LL.D.)
He shall be satisfied
The satisfaction of which the prophet speaks is not the joy of a sinner in the Saviour who redeems him, but the joy of the Saviour over sinners whom He has redeemed.
I. THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL. We may take note of some of the ingredients that entered into the cup, although we cannot measure the degree of their bitterness.
1. He who was from all eternity the beloved of His Father put His glory off, and put on our nature.
2. He severed Himself from the company of the holy who loved and worshipped Him, for the company of the unholy who in feeble friendship vexed or in open enmity crucified Him.
3. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
4. He met personally with the person of the wicked one in our quarrel.
5. His heart was often sore vexed by ignorance, selfishness, unfaithfulness, even of His own selected disciples.
6. The people for whose sake He came into the world--the Israel among whom he was born and bred--would none of Him.
7. The office of the priesthood, which He loved and honoured as God s institute to hold up the promise of redemption, was by those who held it prostituted to reject the counsel of God.
8. But alone, and above all, incomprehensible to us, yet awful both for the part that we know and the part that we know not, is the desertion by the Father, and the final descent of wrath, due to sin, on the Redeemers soul.
II. THE FRUIT THAT RESULTS FROM THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL. It is not to the sufferings in themselves that the Redeemer looks. Herein appears the greatness of His love. He looks over and past the travail of His soul, and fixes His regards on the results that it secures.
III. THE SATISFACTION WHICH THE SAVIOUR EXPERIENCES IN THE RESULTS OF THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL. How comes it that this new creature is graven more deeply on the heart of the Eternal Son than all His other works? Those other possessions were created by His word, or fashioned by His hand, but this springs from the travail of His soul. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
The travail of His soul:
In dealing with the travail of our Redeemers soul, we are like a child writing down in figures the national debt of the country. The figures are soon written, and they are all correct; but how much of the mighty meaning has entered the mind of that child. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
The fruit of Christs sacrifice
The fruit of Christs sacrifice included three things:--
I. THE GLORY THAT SHOULD ACCRUE TO THE FATHER from the new splendours reflected on all the perfections of His character by the work of human redemption.
II. THE REWARD THAT SHOULD ACCRUE TO THE SAVIOUR HIMSELF, His personal exaltation, mediatorial authority, His Father s approbation, and the blessings of countless millions ransomed by His blood.
III. THE BENEFIT THAT SHOULD ACCRUE TO HIS PEOPLE, the blissful change produced upon their condition, character, and prospects--children of wrath snatched from hell, servants of corruption rescued from their debasing servitude, rebels against God subdued by the sweet influence of His grace, cleansed from all moral defilement, arrayed in the beauties of holiness, purified, refined, ennobled, rendered worthy associates of unfallen angels, and made to people heaven, who, but for Christs interposition, must have been the tenants of hell. This last is the cause of His satisfaction specially referred to in the text. (J. Roxburgh, M.A.)
The success of the Gospel
How few of us are satisfied! The prophet himself seems far from being satisfied; for in the first verse of the chapter he laments, Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And yet so complete shall be the Gospel at last, so entirely shall it fulfil all that God meant it to accomplish, that Jesus Himself shall be satisfied.
I. WHY THIS SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL IS CALLED THE TRAVAIL OF JESUS SOUL. Because Gospel blessings are given us on account of Christs sufferings.
II. If we would see a little more clearly the final success of the Gospel, let us ask, WHEN DID HE SEE THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL, AND WAS SATISFIED? at what time? This chapter, I think, tells us when. When thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, says the tenth verse, He shall see His seed.
III. If we would ask IN WHAT RESPECTS JESUS WAS SATISFIED, we may answer at once, in every respect. All the purposes for which He died will be accomplished. We may hence learn--
1. That the number of those finally saved will be exceedingly great.
2. The complete final sanctification of believers.
3. Another reason for which Christ poured out His soul unto death was, to obtain for us the grace and help of His Holy Spirit. (E. Bradley.)
The promised fruit of Christs sufferings
I. THE PREDICTION BEFORE US HAS ALREADY BEEN PARTIALLY FULFILLED. Already has our Redeemer seen much of the fruit of His sufferings. Our once barren world, watered by His tears and His blood, has already produced a large harvest of righteousness and salvation.
II. DURING THE PERIOD WHICH MUST ELAPSE BEFORE TIME SHALL END, THIS PREDICTION SHALL RECEIVE A MUCH MORE AMPLE ACCOMPLISHMENT.
III. IT IS TO THE FINAL CONSUMMATION OF ALL THINGS, IT IS TO ETERNITY, THAT WE MUST LOOK FOR THE COMPLETE FULFILMENT OF THIS ANIMATING PREDICTION. Our Redeemer will see that spiritual edifice, the foundation of which was laid in His blood, which has been so long erecting, standing before Him finished, resplendent in glory, and perfect in beauty. (E. Payson, D.D.)
The prophecy of the Cross
In fancy we can see the Son of God standing before the world began upon the heights of heaven, His ancestral home, and there with conflicting emotions at work within His heart, and mirrored on His face, He sees the great drama of Calvary unrolled before His eyes.
I. JESUS SAW THE NECESSITY FOR THE CROSS.
1. He knew that God the Father had plans for man. He was a being of order and intelligence. Man was to be created in the image of God. He was to have happiness within his reach. It was to come by a perfect obedience to the will of God. That was all man needed for happiness.
2. Jesus saw that men would go away from the plan of God.
II. JESUS SAW THE REALITY OF THE CROSS. Jesus knew as He looked with prophetic eye that there must be some satisfaction rendered for the law that had been violated. He saw that He must render that satisfaction.
III. JESUS SAW THE FRUIT OF THE CROSS. (A. W. Bealer, D.D.)
The Saviours ultimate joy
May we not safely say that the joy will be as varied as the relationships which our Saviour bears to us? It will be the joy of the Sufferer whose agony is forgotten in the abundance of bliss,--the joy of the Sower in reaping the abundance of the harvest,--the joy of the Shepherd in seeing all the sheep as one flock, safe for ever in the heavenly fold,--the joy of the Friend in seeing all His friends by His side in a union with Him and with each other, that no misapprehension shall ever mar, and no sin shall ever stain,--it will be the joy of the Warrior when the battle is over, when every enemy is still as a stone, and the summons to fight is exchanged for victorious rest,--it will be the joy of the Leader, who has brought all His host into the promised land,--it will be the joy of the Mediator, who has discharged His trust and surrendered it to the Father, saying, Of those whom Thou gavest Me I have lost none,--it will be the joy of the King who is to reign for ever over a kingdom in which revolt has been made impossible through the achievements of almighty grace,--it will be the joy of the Redeemer when the redemption is complete, fulfilling His longings and His prayers,--it will be the joy of the First-born Son at seeing every member of the new-born family safe in a happy home, which no sin can disturb and no death invade,--it will be the joy of the Son of man in witnessing the ideal of human perfection,--it will be the joy of the Son of God, as to principalities and powers in heavenly places He reveals through a glorified Church the manifold wisdom of God, showing to worlds on worlds what Infinite Love devised and Infinite Power achieved! (C. Clemance, D.D.)
Travail of soul and satisfaction
I have known an eminent portrait-painter, who, when the crisis of his picture came at which it was to be determined whether or not he had produced a likeness of the features only, or a picture of the soul and character of his subject, used to fall into perfect paroxysms of excitement, weeping, wringing his hands and grovelling on the ground; but when it was over and the true likeness stood embodied the canvas, gave way to equally extravagant exultation. (J. Stalker, D.D.)
Messiah satisfied
Small things will satisfy a small mind. It requires great things to satisfy a great mind. What must be required to satisfy the mind of an angel? above all, what must be required to satisfy the mind of God? The salvation of ruined mankind does so! (J. R. Macduff, D.D.)
The satisfaction of realized purpose
There is intense joy in work when it is done and well done. The humblest mechanic feels this pleasure when he sees the article he has been making passing out of his hands perfect. The poet surely feels it when he writes Finis at the end of the work into which he has poured the full force of his genius. What must it have been to William Wilberforce to hear on his deathbed that the cause to which he had devoted the toil of a lifetime had triumphed, and to know that, when he died, there would not be a single slave breathing in any of the dependencies of Britain! (J. Stalker, D.D.)
By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many
Justification by the knowledge of Christ
I. THE GREAT BENEFIT THAT FLOWS FROM CHRISTS SUFFERINGS. Justification.
II. THE PARTIES MADE PARTAKERS OF THE BENEFIT. Many.
III. THE FOUNTAIN FROM WHICH THIS BENEFIT FLOWS TO MANY. My righteous Servant.
IV. THE WAY CHRIST JUSTIFIES. Not simply by forgiving, but by His satisfying for them. He shall bear their iniquities.
V. THE MEANS BY WHICH THIS BENEFIT IS DERIVED. By His knowledge. (J. Durham.)
My righteous Servant:
Consider the title that Christ gets in these words.
I. He is called the Lords SERVANT. It looks to Him as Mediator. It imports--
1. A humiliation and inferiority in respect of God (Php_2:1-30).
2. His prerogative as being singularly and eminently Gods Servant.
3. The particular task or work that is laid on Him, and the commission that He hath got to prosecute that work.
4. That our Lord Jesus, in performing the work of redemption, cannot but be acceptable to Jehovah, because it is a performing of that with which He hath entrusted Him.
II. He is called the Lords RIGHTEOUS SERVANT. He is all excellent Servant; not righteous simply as He is God, nor as He is man, but righteous in the administration of His offices, and in the discharge of the great trust committed to Him. He administrates His offices--
1. Wonderfully wisely.
2. Very tenderly.
3. Most diligently and effectually.
4. With all faithfulness. (J. Durham.)
Justification
There are commonly six causes made necessary to concur in justification.
1. The efficient cause--God, the Party that doth justify.
2. The final cause--His own glory.
3. The meritorious cause--Christs merit.
4. The inward instrumental cause--faith.
5. The formal cause, or that wherein justification consists.
6. The external, instrumental cause--the Word of God. (J. Durham.)
Knowledge and faith
Faith, where it is saving, hath always knowledge going along with it.
1. Faith is nothing, but as it lays hold on some object. How can faith lay hold on an object, except it know it?
2. Faith, as justifying, is always holden forth as making use of and giving credit to that which is revealed in the Word.
3. In justification, God would have a sinner proceed as a man doth who defends himself before an earthly tribunal. As it is dangerous in a weighty cause to have an ignorant advocate, who puts in a wrong defence, so is it, in this case, to be ignorant (Rom_10:3).
4. There must be repentance ere a sinner can be justified, which supposeth knowledge. He must needs know his sin, and that his own righteousness will not do his turn.
5. Look forward to the duties of holiness, which are necessary, though not to justify you, yet that ye may live as it becomes justified persons. Now, can any know or do duties, who are ignorant?
6. Consider your own peace, and how, in order to it, there is a necessity of knowledge. (J. Durham.)
Justifying faith
1. The necessity of it.
2. The Object of it.
3. The act of it.
4. The effects that flow from it.
5. The manner of its concurring in the attainment of justification. (J. Durham.)
Justification by the knowledge of Christ
1. It is the privilege of the Gospel to discover a way for the justification of sinners by His knowledge.
2. Faith is knowledge, or an apprehension of Christ. The knowledge of Him.
3. By faith we are justified. He saith by His knowledge, but He meaneth faith; such apprehensions of Christ as cause answerable dispositions in the spirit. (T. Manton, D.D.)
The knowledge of Christ
I. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE KNOWLEDGE TO WHICH THE PROPHET ASCRIBES SUCH EFFICACY? It is well to cultivate the understanding, if, perchance, the Spirit of enlightening grace might employ this faculty as an avenue to the heart. And yet we must beware of substituting the means for the end. Others have acquired a more clear view of the Gospel revelation, who know much, but employ their knowledge to no better purpose than to maintain an empty parade of religious profession. What is the knowledge to which we allude--the knowledge which involves privileges so inestimable? The prophet calls it, the knowledge of the righteous Servant of God. This is no other than the holy Jesus, the righteous Messiah.
1. There must be the knowledge of self.
2. The knowledge which the sinner acquires of his own character, though connected with that to which the prophet alludes, is not the thing itself. It is the knowledge of the Saviour, Christ. To know the Lord Jesus Christ is to renounce all virtue in ourselves, and to look to Him alone for salvation. But there is a further particular comprehended in the knowledge which the believer has of Christ. The Lord Jesus is called the righteous Servant of God. If we love Him, we must love Him as a righteous Saviour.
II. THE BENEFITS WHICH SUCH A KNOWLEDGE IS MADE INSTRUMENTAL IN PROCURING.
1. The believer enjoys justification from sin by the sufferings and death of Christ.
2. As he is united by faith with the Saviour, he partakes in His righteousness.
3. As he is designed for the heavenly inheritance, he must be made meet for its enjoyment; and therefore he has the promise of the Spirit of Christ to sanctify his heart. (W. North, M.A.)
By His knowledge:
That is, either by His own knowledge, or by their knowledge of Him. And, as Dean Plumptre puts it, the prophet may have been directed to an expression which included both. For both are true of Christ. Men are saved by knowing Him; and, on the other hand, it is His knowledge of the Father that enables Him to lead men to the Father. (Expository Times.)
Justifying the many
1. Here is a state supposed with regard to the many--that they would need to be justified. Look at history. Let us look into our own hearts. Let us look at the pure and holy law.
2. The prophet foresees One who would be an exception to the many. While to them iniquities belong, this one would be the righteous Servant.
There has been but One in all history to whom this expression could completely and unreservedly apply.
3. Nor did the prophet foresee this One merely as one Righteous One amid a desolate waste of sin, but he foresees Him taking on Himself the liabilities of the race. He shall bear their iniquities.
4. The knowledge of this Righteous One should have peculiar value. By His knowledge; this and no more will the Hebrew term bear. But we may understand either--by the knowledge He has, or by the knowledge that He imparts, or by the knowledge of Himself that men should gain. Either way a sense is conveyed that is intelligible and true.
5. Where the Righteous One is thus known, He accomplishes a glorious justifying act. By means of the saving acquaintance with Him which believing penitents make, when, confessing their sin, they rely on Him for pardon, He, in the exercise of His own royal rights, absolves them from all their guilt, and releases them from the condemning sentence of the law of God.
6. As the result of this release the penitents are re-set in a position of favour, grace, and love.
7. The ground or reason of His justifying the many, is that He bore their iniquities. The justifying is not only a sequence, but the consequence of His bearing our sins. (C. Clemance, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Isaiah
THE SUFFERING SERVANT-V
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Isa 53:11.
These are all but the closing words of this great prophecy, and are the fitting crown of all that has gone before. We have been listening to the voice of a member of the race to whom the Servant of the Lord belonged, whether we limit that to the Jewish people or include in it all humanity. That voice has been confessing for the speaker and his brethren their common misapprehensions of the Servant, their blindness to the meaning of His sufferings and the mystery of His death. It has been proclaiming the true significance of these as now he had learned them, and has in Isa 53:10 touched the mystery of the reward and triumph of the Servant.
That note of His glory and coronation is caught up in the two closing verses, which, in substance, are the continuation of the idea of Isa 53:10. But this identity of substance makes the variety of form the more emphatic. Observe the ‘My Servant’ of Isa 53:11, and the ‘I will divide’ of Isa 53:12. These oblige us to take this as the voice of God. The confession and belief of earth is hushed, that the recognition and the reward of the Servant may be declared from heaven. An added solemnity is thus given to the words, and the prophecy comes round again to the keynote on which it started in Isa 52:13, ‘My Servant.’ Notice, too, how the same characteristic is here as in Isa 53:10 -that the recapitulation of the sufferings is almost equally prominent with the description of the reward. The two are so woven together that no power can part them. We may take these two verses as setting forth mainly two things-the divine promise that the Servant shall give righteousness to many, and the divine promise that the Servant shall conquer many for Himself.
As to the exposition, ‘of’ here is probably casual, not partitive, as the Authorised Version has it; ‘travail’ is not to be understood in the sense of childbirth, but of toil and suffering; ‘soul’ is equivalent to life. This fruit of His soul’s travail is further defined in the words which follow. The great result which will be beheld by Him and will fill and content His heart is that ‘by His knowledge He shall justify many.’ ‘By His knowledge’ certainly means, by the knowledge of Him on the part of others. The phrase might be taken either objectively or subjectively, but it seems to me that only the former yields an adequate sense. ‘My righteous servant’ is scarcely emphatic enough. The words in the original stand in an unusual order, which might be represented by ‘the righteous one, My servant,’ and is intended to put emphasis on the Servant’s righteousness, as well as to suggest the connection between His righteousness and His ‘justifying,’ in virtue of His being righteous. ‘Justify’ is an unusual form, and means to procure for, or impart righteousness to. ‘The many’ has stress on the article, and is the antithesis not to all, but to few. We might render it ‘the masses,’ an indefinite expression, which if not declaring universality, approaches very near to it, as in Rom 5:19 and Mat 26:28. ‘He shall bear,’ a future referring to the Servant in a state of exaltation, and pointing to His continuous work after death. This bearing is the root of our righteousness.
We may put the thoughts here in a definite order.
I. The great work which the Servant carries on.
It consists in giving or imparting righteousness. It seems to me that it is out of place to be too narrow here in interpreting so as to draw distinctions between righteousness imparted and righteousness bestowed. We should rather take the general idea of making righteous, making, in fact, like Himself. Note that this is the work which is Christ’s characteristic one. All thoughts of His blessings to the world which omit that are imperfect.
II. The preparation for that making of us righteous.
The roots of our being made righteous by the righteous Servant are found in His bearing our sins. His sin-bearing work is basis of our righteousness. Christ justifies men by giving to them His own righteousness, and taking in turn their sins on Himself that He may expiate them.
Not only ‘did He bear our sins in His own body on the tree,’ but He will bear them in His exaltation to the Throne, and only because He continuously and eternally does so are we justified on earth and shall we be sanctified in heaven.
III. The condition on which He imparts righteousness.
‘His knowledge,’ which is to be taken in the profound Biblical sense as including not only understanding but experience also.
Parallels are found in ‘This is life eternal to know Thee’ {Joh 17:3}, and in ‘That I may know Him’ {Php 3:10}. So this prophecy comes very near to the New Testament proclamation of righteousness by faith.
IV. The grand sweep of the Servant’s work.
‘The many’ is indefinite, and its very indefiniteness approximates it to universality. A shadowy vision of a great multitude that no man can number stretches out, as to the horizon, before the prophet. How many they are he knows not. He knows that they are numerous enough to ‘satisfy’ the Servant for all His sufferings. He knows, too, that there is no limit to the happy crowd except that which is set by the necessary condition of joining the bands of ‘the justified’-namely, ‘the knowledge of Him.’ They who receive the benefits which the Servant has died and will live to bring cannot be few; they may be all. If any are shut out, they are self-excluded.
V. The Servant’s satisfaction.
It may be that the word employed means ‘full,’ rather than ‘content,’ but the latter idea can scarcely be altogether absent from it. We have, then, the great hope that the Servant, gazing on the results of His sufferings, will be content, content to have borne them, content with what they have effected.
‘The glory dies not and the grief is past.’
And the ‘grief’ has had for fruit not only ‘glory’ gathering round the thorn-pierced head, but reflected glory shining on the brows of ‘the many,’ whom He has justified and sanctified by their experience of Him and His power. The creative week ended with the ‘rest’ of the Creator, not because His energy was tired and needed repose, but because He had fully carried out His purpose, and saw the perfected idea embodied in a creation that was ‘very good.’ The redemptive work ends with the Servant’s satisfied contemplation of the many whom He has made like Himself, His better creation.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 53:11 his experience (literally his knowledge): This clearly does…
53:11 his experience (literally his knowledge): This clearly does not refer to intellectual knowledge but to all that the servant would experience in his obedience, suffering, and intimate relationship with God. • The servant’s righteous obedience enables people to be put right with God (see Gen 15:6; Rom 5:18-19), for he will bear all their sins.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.