In this message we come to Isaiah 53, a chapter that is very familiar to many Christians.
The last three verses of chapter fifty-two, verses 13-15, and the first verse of chapter fifty-three should be put together. This portion of Isaiah's record is very difficult for people to understand. Such a portion was included in the holy Word because people's knowledge concerning Christ differs. Generally speaking, people either do not know Christ, or they know Christ in a natural way as some kind of great person. This kind of knowledge can be found in the Old Testament. There are a number of Old Testament verses that speak concerning the different aspects of Christ's greatness, such as His majesty, His authority, and His power. In the previous message we mentioned three items in Isaiah 51 and 52 concerning the knowledge of Christ. The first item is to know Christ as the arm of Jehovah, which refers to the strength, the might, and the power of Jehovah. Then, the second item is to know Christ as the reigning God. Surely these two are items of Christ's greatness. At the end of Isaiah 52, verse 13 says, "Behold, My Servant will act wisely and will prosper; / He will be exalted and lifted up and very high." We may think that this refers to Christ's acting wisely to do great things. But if we enter into this portion of the Word, we will realize that this is not the meaning here.
First Corinthians 1:22-24 says, "For indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Thus, in 1 Corinthians wisdom refers to Christ. However, the wisdom mentioned here does not refer to the wisdom exercised in creating the universe. According to the context, the wisdom and power in 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 both refer to Christ as the deep things of God, that is, the depths of God. First Corinthians 2:10-11 says that only the Spirit of God can search the depths of God. The depths of God are the deeper items of Christ.