[Sidenote:  Isa. 53:10-11b]
Yet Jehovah was pleased to crush him;
Through giving himself as an offering for guilt,
He shall see posterity and length of days,
And the pleasure of Jehovah will be realized in his hands;
Out of his own suffering he shall see light,
He shall be satisfied with his knowledge.

[Sidenote:  Isa. 53:11c-12]
My righteous servant shall make many righteous,
And himself will bear the burden of their iniquities. 
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
And with the strong shall he divide spoil,
Because he poured out his life-blood,
And was numbered with transgressors,
And himself bore the sins of many,
And interposed for transgressors.

I. The Different Portraits of Jehovah’s Servant.  Isaiah 49-54 contains three distinct portraits of the ideal servant of Jehovah.  Each in turn develops characteristics suggested in the preceding.  These descriptions are interspersed with exhortations addressed to Jehovah’s servant Israel and assurances that God will fully restore Jerusalem and bring back her scattered children.  These three portraits of the type of servant that Jehovah required to realize his purpose in human history, together with the earlier portrait in 42:1-7, supplement each other.  In the first of these four (42:1-7) the prophetic qualities of the servant are especially emphasized.  Like the earlier prophets, he will not fail nor be discouraged until he has established justice in the earth.  His task is to open blind eyes and to deliver prisoners from the darkness of ignorance and sin in which they were sitting.  In the second picture (49:1-9a) the world-wide mission of the servant is emphasized.  He is called not only to gather the outcasts of Israel, but also as an apostle to bring light to all the nations of the earth.  In this passage for the first time appears that note of suffering and ignominy which is the lot of the true servant of Jehovah.  In the third portrait (50:4-10) the servant is pictured as a disciple, attentively listening to the divine teachings, learning the lessons which will fit him in turn to become a teacher of men.  The last and fullest picture (52:13-53:12) describes at length his suffering.  A strong contrast is drawn between his present shame and ignominy and the future glory and victory which he will achieve through his voluntary and complete self-sacrifice.  These pictures embody the prophet’s ideal, and they can be fully understood only in the light of their historical background.

II.  The Prophet’s Purpose.  In his earlier poems this great unknown prophet dealt largely with the interpretation of Israel’s past history and the proclamation of the coming deliverance (40-48).  His chief aims in chapters 49-55 may be briefly epitomized as follows:  (1) to interpret the inner meaning of the period of adversity through which the Jewish race was then passing; (2) to make absolutely clear the character and quality of the service that Jehovah required of his chosen people, if they were to realize his purpose in human history; (3) to inspire them all to make the needed sacrifices and thus to prove themselves true servants of Jehovah; (4) especially to make plain to the innocent and faithful sufferers in the Judean community the real meaning and value of their present shame and suffering, if bravely and voluntarily borne.