Again with Isaiah 53? How many times do you want to be wrong on record?
These are the characteristics and accomplishments of Isaiah's Servant. Beginning with the first Servant Song in chapter 42, here are the following observations of the Servant:
1. He is elected by the Lord, anointed by the Spirit, and promised success in his endeavor (42:1, 4).
2.Justice is a prime concern in his endeavor (42:1, 4).
3.His ministry has an international scope (42:1,6).
4. God predestined him to his calling (49:1).
5. He is a gifted teacher (49:2).
6. He experiences discouragement in his ministry (49:4).
7. His ministry extends to the Gentiles (49:6).
8. The Servant encounters strong opposition and resistance to his teaching, even of a physically violent nature. (50:4-6).
9. He is determined to finish what God called him to do (50:7).
10. The Servant has humble origins with little outward prospects for success (53:1-2).
11. He experiences suffering and affliction. (53:3).
12. The Servant accepts vicarious and substitutionary suffering on behalf of his people (53:4-6, 12).
13. He is put to death after being condemned. (53:7-9).
14. Incredibly, he comes back to life and is exalted above all rulers (53:10-12; 52:13-15).
15. The Servant is sinless. (53:9).
Just a casual reading of the passage should leave little doubt that the Suffering Servant is Jesus. In fact, the traditional Jewish interpretation of the Servant passages was that they predicted the coming Messiah. That is, until Jews began having more contact with Christian apologists about a thousand years ago, at which point they reinterpreted the Suffering Servant to be the Nation of Israel. The first Jew to claim that the Suffering Servant was Israel rather than the Messiah was Shlomo Yitzchaki, better known as Rashi (c. 1040-1105). Today Rashi's view dominates Jewish and rabbinical theology.