Thy Strong Word — Prophecy and Fulfillment: Isaiah 52:13–53:12 (Behold, the Man of Sorrows)

https://kfuo-od.streamguys1.com/recast/thy-strong-word/20251218120902-2025-12-18_TSW.mp3
Download Audio File

“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up.” Yet the Servant Isaiah describes is not adorned in visible splendor but “despised and rejected,” a Man of Sorrows acquainted with grief. In part 9 of our special 12-part series connecting Old Testament prophecy to New Testament fulfillment, we stand before one of the most profound portraits of the Messiah in all of Scripture. Here we see the One who bears our griefs, carries our sorrows, is wounded for our transgressions, and by whose stripes we are healed.

The Rev. Chris Matthis, senior pastor of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Castle Rock, CO, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Isaiah 52:13–53:12.

To learn more about Epiphany Lutheran, visit epiphanylc.org.

This Advent series begins by covering the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, and then spends twelve episodes alternating between Old Testament prophecy and New Testament fulfillment, tracing God’s promises from Isaiah to the birth of Christ. The series explores Emmanuel’s promise, the Davidic King, John the Baptist as forerunner, and reaches its climax with the Nativity. The final episodes examine the Suffering Servant, the shadow of the cross in Christ’s infancy, Isaiah’s Messianic mission statement, and John’s declaration that “the Word became flesh.”

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Isaiah 52:13–53:12

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;[a]
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle[b] many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?[c]
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected[d] by men,
a man of sorrows[e] and acquainted with[f] grief;[g]
and as one from whom men hide their faces[h]
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although[i] he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;[j]
when his soul makes[k] an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see[l] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,[m]
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,[n]
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Footnotes

Isaiah 52:13 Or shall prosper

Isaiah 52:15 Or startle

Isaiah 53:1 Or Who has believed what we have heard?

Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken

Isaiah 53:3 Or pains; also verse 4

Isaiah 53:3 Or and knowing

Isaiah 53:3 Or sickness; also verse 4

Isaiah 53:3 Or as one who hides his face from us

Isaiah 53:9 Or because

Isaiah 53:10 Or he has made him sick

Isaiah 53:10 Or when you make his soul

Isaiah 53:11 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light

Isaiah 53:12 Or with the great

Isaiah 53:12 Or with the numerous