Beyond Sympathy... The Power of Eternal Atonement

The One for the Many

(Isaiah 53:12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 29, 2013)

[12] Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,The passage that we consider now is the concluding verse of the last Suffering Servant Song in Isaiah. The song begins at the end of the prior chapter with the words, “Who has believed what they have heard from us,” and continues with a description of the sufferings of the Messiah that was written many centuries before Jesus was born.

The last three verses of the song end in victory, a victory of the One for the many. Jesus is the One, and we who share in His worship are the many. The language here is of a battle and a victor. The spoils are the spoils of war, the booty, the portion that goes to the warriors. God is giving His Servant the fruits of His labor, but this victory, ultimately the fullness of a resurrection kingdom, is to be shared with the many who have been numbered with Him.

Two questions come to mind:

1. What did the Son do to merit such a great prize as an eternal kingdom?

2. How is it that this great prize came to be shared with us?

The answers to these questions come in the four lines that conclude verse twelve.

because he poured out his soul to deathFirst, the Suffering Servant, Jesus, poured out His soul to death. He gave His all to the warfare that only He could win. His death on the cross was the crowning achievement of His perfect obedience to the Father. He did what the Father told Him to do. Even this. There had never been such an achievement in the history of mankind. Others had given their own sin-storied lives in war, but never before had a sinless life been given in perfect obedience to the Father. This Jesus did. Only God could determine the prize that was won by such an achievement. The resurrection kingdom, not only for Himself, but for the many who would worship Him, was that prize.

But why would we be included in the benefits that He alone won by His solitary warfare?

and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.The remaining phrases tell us, and they inform us further of the extent of His righteous suffering. Others may have been willing to die for those they considered to be worthy. Jesus died for the unworthy, not to leave us in that state, but by the power of the worthiness of His life and death, to translate us from one way of life to another.

Jesus was numbered with the breakers of the Law. This was fulfilled literally at His death where He was crucified between two thieves. But that was only a fitting symbol for a greater truth, that in His life and death, Jesus was identifying Himself forever with those who had broken God's Law.

He did this not only from sympathy. The cross was more than a sympathetic gesture. It was a necessary atonement. He carried the guilt and the punishment for us.

Finally, He makes vigorous intercession for us. Even now. His words match the gravity of His action. He died and now speaks for us, the One for the many.