Isaiah 53:11a says, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” This is a prophecy concerning Christ in resurrection seeing the fruit of His labor, the fruit of the travail of His death. The fruit is corporate and includes all the believers. No doubt, this corporate fruit is the church, Christ’s Body. In resurrection Christ saw the church as the fruit of His travail.
The prophecy of Isaiah 53:11a is fulfilled in John 20:17 and Hebrews 2:11. In John 20:17 the Lord Jesus speaks of “My brothers.” Prior to His resurrection the most intimate term the Lord used to call His disciples was “friends” (John 15:14,15). But after His resurrection He began to call them brothers, for through His resurrection His disciples were regenerated (1 Pet. 1:3) with the divine life released by His life-imparting death, as indicated in John 12:24. Christ was the one grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died and then grew up to bring forth many grains for the producing of the one loaf which is His Body (1 Cor. 10:17). He was the Father’s only Son, as the Father’s individual expression. Now through His death and resurrection, the Father’s only begotten Son has become “the Firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29). His many brothers are the many sons of God and the church (Heb. 2:10-12), as the corporate expression of God the Father in the Son. This is God’s ultimate intention. Therefore, the many brothers are the propagation of the Father’s life and the multiplication of the Son in the divine life. Hence, in Christ’s resurrection God’s eternal purpose is fulfilled.
Hebrews 2:11 says, “Both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers.” He who sanctifies is Christ as the firstborn Son of God, and those who are being sanctified are the believers of Christ as the many sons of God. Both the first Son and the many sons of God are born of the same Father God in resurrection (Acts 13:33; 1 Pet. 1:3). Both the firstborn Son and the many sons are the same in the divine life and nature. Hence, He is not ashamed to call them brothers.
As the many sons of God, we are the many brothers of Christ, who is the firstborn Son of God. He was born to be the firstborn Son through His resurrection, and we were produced to be His many brothers in His resurrection. As we have pointed out, this is the reason after His resurrection He called His disciples His brothers. Because we have the life and nature of God, we are God’s many sons. Because we share the same life and nature as the Firstborn, we are His brothers. To God, we are His many sons; to the firstborn Son of God, we are His many brothers.
Isaiah 53:11b says, “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many.” This prophecy indicates that Christ is the resurrected, righteous Servant of Jehovah through whom many are justified. It is through the resurrected Christ that the believers are justified by God.
Isaiah 53:11b is fulfilled in Acts 13:39 and Romans 4:25. Acts 13:39 says, “From all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses, in this One everyone who believes is justified.” Who is “this One”? This is the One who has been resurrected to be God’s firstborn Son, our Savior, and the many holy and trustworthy things (Acts 13:33-34). Through the One who is the holy and trustworthy things as God’s mercies to us we are justified from all the things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. Furthermore, the One through whom we are justified is Himself our justification. Justification is a mercy from God to us, and this mercy is an aspect of the resurrected Christ. Today Christ in resurrection is our justification.
The resurrection of Christ is a proof of our justification by God. Romans 4:25 says that Christ “was delivered because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification.” The death of Christ fully satisfied God’s righteous requirements so that we may be justified by God through Christ’s death (Rom. 3:24). His resurrection is a proof that God is satisfied with His death for us and that we are justified by God because of His death. In Him, the resurrected One, we are accepted by God. Furthermore, as the resurrected One He is also in us to live for us a life that can be justified by God and is always acceptable to God. Therefore, Romans 4:25 says that Christ was raised because of our justification.
Suppose Christ died for us and our sins and was buried in the tomb, but was not resurrected by God. If this were the situation, we could not believe that His death was accepted by God and that it satisfied God’s requirements and fulfilled His desires. However, Christ is not in the tomb. God raised Him up from the dead, and He came back in resurrection. This is a strong proof that God has accepted His death for us, that His death satisfied God’s requirements and fulfilled whatever God wanted Him to do for us. Therefore, the resurrection of Christ is the proof of our justification by God. In Him, the resurrected One, we are justified.