According to Isaiah 53:7, the Lord did not open His mouth when He was oppressed and afflicted: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” This means that when the Lord was brought to the cross, he was like a sheep dumb before the shearers. When He was oppressed and afflicted, He did not say a word.
Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Then verse 10 goes on to say, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” From these verses we see that God laid on Him the iniquity of us all, bruised Him, put Him to grief, and made His soul a trespass offering.
Isaiah 53:12 says, “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” The Lord poured out His soul as He was dying on the cross. He was crucified in the midst of two thieves and thereby was numbered with the transgressors. The fact that He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors was fulfilled by the Lord’s prayer on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34a).
According to Isaiah 53:8, the Lord Jesus “was cut off out of the land of the living.” For the Lord to be cut off from the land of the living means that He was put to death.
Isaiah 53:11 reveals that the Lord was resurrected to see the fruit of His travail: “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” It is in resurrection that the Lord sees the fruit of His travail. Now after His resurrection He, as the righteous Servant of God, justifies the many, whose iniquities He has borne.
Isaiah 52:13 speaks of the Lord’s exaltation: “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.” After His resurrection, the Lord was exalted and lifted up very high.
Isaiah 42:6 says, “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” After His ascension, the Lord became a covenant of the Jewish people and a light of the Gentiles. This means that in ascension the Lord Jesus Himself became the new covenant, the new testament, to God’s people. He also became a light to the Gentiles, to the heathen, through the preaching of the gospel carried out by His disciples.
In Isaiah 49:6 we see that the Lord is the salvation of God unto the end of the earth: “And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” Christ in His ascension is now the salvation of God to the uttermost part of the earth. This prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus was spoken by Isaiah seven hundred years before the birth of the Lord Jesus.
In the book of Isaiah we have a detailed prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus as the Slave of God. Not even in the New Testament can we find such a record. By considering the prophecies in Isaiah concerning Christ as God’s Slave, we can understand more fully what is recorded in the Gospel of Mark concerning Him as a Slave.