Holy Week · Good Friday · Year C
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
April 14, 2028
Overview & Insights
“He was pierced for our transgressions… and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
Like 48:20–21, the end of the previous section, 50:4–52:12, both suggested closure and questioned it. The comment about the impossibility of shalom which followed 48:20–21 led into the new twist to the servant motif in chapter 49. The point is less explicit at the end of 50:4–52:12, but the implication is again that not all the prophet’s agenda has been handled. Everything is in place for the restoration of the community to Jerusalem and for the restoration of the city itself—but what of the community’s morale and faith, its commitment and hope, and what of its servant calling that is now long-unmentioned? Once again there is a new twist to the servant motif, and once again its implications are worked out for the city (ch. 54) and the people (ch. 55).
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Commentary
Commentary on Isaiah 52:13—53:12 Working Preacher
Luther Seminary's exegesis of the fourth Servant Song read on Good Friday.
Isaiah 53 Commentary: The Atoning Suffering and Victory Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse by verse evangelical treatment of the suffering servant.
Isaiah 53 Commentary Precept Austin
Deep collation of expositors, cross references, and word notes on the servant's atoning death.
Isaiah 53:1 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentators gathered verse by verse on the report of the arm of the LORD.
Background & Word Study
Isaiah 53 | Sefaria Sefaria
Hebrew text with Jewish translations and traditional commentaries on the servant passage.
Isaiah 52:13 Interlinear BibleHub
Hebrew interlinear with parsing and Strong's numbers from the servant's exaltation.
Isaiah - Enter the Bible Enter the Bible
Introductory background on the composition and message of Isaiah, including Second Isaiah.
Book of Isaiah Summary | Watch an Overview Video (Part 1) BibleProject
Animated overview tracing Isaiah's structure and the servant theme.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
Why is Isaiah 53 the Good Friday reading?
The Suffering Servant, despised and rejected, bears the sin of many and is led like a lamb to the slaughter, the clearest Old Testament portrait of the cross.
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