Verse 15 begins, "So will He surprise many nations; / Kings will shut their mouths because of Him." Jesus not only astonished people, but He also surprised many nations. Kings shut their mouths because of Him, meaning that these kings regarded Jesus in a very positive way. Jesus is high, Jesus is wonderful, and Jesus is glorious, but when the kings met Jesus, they were told many things about Him according to what is recorded in the New Testament. The kings imagined a great Jesus, but eventually they met a little Nazarene. They were surprised that such a great One could be put on the cross and crucified.
Verse 15 continues, "For what had not been recounted to them they will see, / And what they had not heard of they will contemplate." What had not been recounted to them was that Jesus became a man with two natures, the divine nature and the human nature; that He lived the life of a Nazarene; that He was crucified; that He was buried; and that He was resurrected. All these things had never been recounted to them. But now they will see these things, and what they had not heard of they will contemplate, that is, they will understand, they will realize. This means that they will hear the gospel.
Isaiah 53 follows immediately after the end of chapter fifty-two. The things spoken of in Isaiah 53 are the things mentioned in 52:15 that are to be recounted, to be seen, to be heard of, and to be contemplated. The first verse of Isaiah 53 says, "Who has believed our report? / And to whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed?" Verse two continues, "For He grew up like a tender plant before Him, / And like a root out of dry ground." The entire chapter is a recounting, a telling, of the things concerning Christ according to the New Testament gospel.
In the future the returned and restored Israel will read the account in Isaiah 53. After all the Jews have returned to their fathers' land and have been restored there, they will be told, charged, instructed, and directed to know Isaiah 53. They will know Jesus not merely as the arm of Jehovah and the reigning God, but they will know Him as the exalted Christ. That Christ was exalted indicates that He was first humiliated. In His incarnation, and even in His daily living for thirty-three and a half years, He was very much disfigured and marred. Then He was brought to Calvary, a little mount outside of the city of Jerusalem, and He was crucified there for six hours. All these things the Jews need to know.
Today, as New Testament believers, we first know these things concerning Christ, and later we will know the arm of Jehovah in His miraculous power (cf. Heb. 6:5). But today many Pentecostal people have dropped knowing Jesus in the New Testament sense. In its preoccupation with miracles and power, Pentecostalism brings people back to the Old Testament. I thank the Lord that from my youth, for over sixty-five years, He has never led me to know Him in the way of miracles and power, but He has always led me to know Him as a humiliated Jesus. This is the reason that I like to follow Jesus, to take His steps as the One humiliated by people. To be glorified by anyone is a shame. To follow the Lord in His humiliation is to know Jesus Christ in the New Testament sense. Later, when He comes, we will see Him and know Him as the arm of Jehovah and as the reigning God. We all will shout to one another, "Our God reigns!" Then we will be in the time of restoration. This is our Christ, the all-inclusive One, as the Servant of Jehovah in relation to Israel's return and restoration.