Limitless Word

The Suffering Servant

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Isaiah's mysterious servant — wounded for our transgressions — and the one who fulfils him.

Deep in Isaiah a figure appears called simply "my servant" — chosen, gentle, a light to the nations, yet despised, pierced, and crushed for the sins of others, only to be raised and exalted. For centuries readers wondered who he was. The New Testament answers without hesitation: an Ethiopian official reads Isaiah 53 and Philip "told him the good news about Jesus." Follow the servant songs and you are reading the gospel before the gospel.
  1. 1

    Behold my servant

    Isaiah 42:1

    “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.

    The first servant song: chosen, Spirit-anointed, gentle — "a light for the nations."
  2. 2

    A light to the nations

    Isaiah 49:6

    He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the protected ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

    The servant's mission widens beyond Israel to the ends of the earth.
  3. 3

    I gave my back to those who strike

    Isaiah 50:6

    I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard; I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.

    The servant submits to suffering and shame without turning away.
  4. 4

    Pierced for our transgressions

    Isaiah 53:5

    But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.

    The great fourth song: wounded, crushed, and bearing the sin of many.
  5. 5

    Philip tells him the good news

    Acts 8:35

    Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

    An Ethiopian reads Isaiah 53 and asks who it means; Philip answers: Jesus.
  6. 6

    By his wounds you are healed

    1 Peter 2:24

    and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.

    Peter applies the servant song directly to Christ on the tree.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org