In the Book of Isaiah, God describes His plan for a Savior/Redeemer/Christ for His people and indeed for all people. The Gospel according to Isaiah is the foundation the Jews had at the time when Jesus was ministering to the Apostles and when He was crucified. Just as today we struggle with the concept of election and free will playing into the role of salvation, the Jews struggled to understand how parts of Isaiah’s prophesy fit together. In Isaiah 1 starts with the concept of the redemption for Israel as God says, “Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27 ESV). From the start of God speaking through Isaiah the idea of redemption through justice and righteousness is laid out. This idea continues through the recording of God’s prophesy through Isaiah.
In Isaiah 7 God states that a virgin will give birth and her son will be called Immanuel. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14 ESV). From God’s word through Isaiah, the Jews knew nature would be defied and someone important would be born of a virgin who would be called God with us. In chapter 9 God tells of the coming king,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV)
At this point the Jews understood the Savior would be a ruler, the King. They knew the government would rest upon Him and He would rule on David’s throne. The Jews also knew He would bring peace as the Prince of Peace and He would be called “Might God”. The Jews should have understood God was coming down to rule over them when they heard this coming child described as “Mighty God”. However, the Jews failed to understand that God was coming but thought the Christ would be a regular man that would rule. The term Christ literally means king and the Jews were expecting a king to come and bring a kingdom of peace on David’s throne. To this point into the prophesy of Isaiah the understand of the Jews during Jesus’ time is correct excluding that the Christ would literally be God.
In chapter 11 Isaiah described the coming of the branch of Jesse.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:1-10 ESV)
The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon the Branch, He will have wisdom, strength, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. With righteousness He will judge and He will strike down the wicked. Now we know the coming Christ will be a descendent of Jesse (the father of King David) making Him a descendent of King David and see an illustration of the peace under His rule. Peace will be so great there will be no fear of a cobra.
In chapter 42 God describes His servant/His coming messenger once again,
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:1-4 ESV)
The Spirt of God will be upon this Servant and He will bring justice to all the earth.
Probably the most well known passage in Isaiah and the most confusing for the Jews regarding the coming Christ is chapter 53. Due to it’s importance in the understanding of the coming Christ it is quoted in it’s entirety to be properly represented.
Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 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. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 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. 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. 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? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, 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. (Isaiah 53 ESV)
The coming Servant will be despised and forsaken, have a life of sorrow and grief, and He will bear our griefs. This coming servant will suffer for the sins of others as an intercessor for mankind’s transgressions. In verse five even His scourging (a horrible form of whipping) will heal us. The concept of Isaiah 53 teaches that God’s servant will suffer and by His suffering sinners will be healed.
Isaiah 53 was a stumbling block for the Jews during the time of Jesus. The Jews were right the Savior would come as Christ and He would bring peace and rule a kingdom of peace but they failed to understand He would first come as a suffering servant. Through the Old Testament there are two aspects to the Savior one of ruling as Christ and the other as a Servant coming as a sin offering. Much like election and free will, the Jews did not know how these two ideas could work together and therefore pushed aside the idea of the suffering Servant.
In conclusion, the Gospel according to Isaiah is simple, there is a coming King and that King will be Immanuel (God with us). That King will also suffer and take away the sins of mankind. The Jews waited for the coming Christ but when He came they failed to see He was the Christ because His first mission was to conquer sin as described in Isaiah 53. Praise be to God, He did just that. Now we know in His next coming He will bring a kingdom of peace and rule over all creation as He first intended it. Let us give praise and take joy in the birth of a child who is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace our Savior and King.
References
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.