Pentecost Season · Proper 24 · Year B
Isaiah 53:4-12
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
October 17, 2027
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
Working Preacher: Commentary on Isaiah 53:4-12 Working Preacher
Lutheran lectionary commentary on the suffering servant who bears the sin of many in Year B.
Enduring Word: Isaiah 53 Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical notes on the suffering servant song.
Precept Austin: Isaiah 53 Commentary Precept Austin
Detailed study gathering many commentators on the servant who was pierced for our transgressions.
BibleHub: Commentaries on Isaiah 53:4 BibleHub
Parallel classic commentaries keyed to the servant bearing our infirmities.
Background & Word Study
Enter the Bible: Isaiah Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's scholarly introduction to the book of Isaiah.
BibleProject: Isaiah Overview BibleProject
Animated overview of the message and structure of Isaiah.
Sefaria: Isaiah 53 (Hebrew) Sefaria
Hebrew text with English and classical Jewish commentary on the chapter.
BibleHub: Isaiah 53 Interlinear BibleHub
Hebrew-English interlinear for word-level study of the chapter.
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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