Isaiah 52:1

Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem... Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem... For thus saith the Lord, You have sold yourselves for naught; and you shall be redeemed without money... Therefore my people shall know my name... Behold, it is I.

God calls his sinful people to wake from self-inflicted captivity into a redemption that is free to us yet purchased with the precious blood of Christ.

"Awake, Awake" — A Continued Call

The passage we are in tonight, Isaiah 52, is a continuation of where we were last week in Isaiah 51. Remember that the chapter and verse numbers are not divinely inspired; Isaiah did not write "chapter 52" when he reached this passage. They were added much later to help us be on the same page. They are helpful, but sometimes they hinder us by splitting passages that should not have been split.

In Isaiah 51:9 the words "Awake, awake" appear: "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord... Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?" There it was the children of Israel calling out to God. As they faced the coming Babylonian judgment, they cried, "Lord, rise up like you did when you cast off Egypt and wounded that dragon down there in Egypt." The "Rahab" here is not Rahab the harlot of Judges; the word speaks of the proud one—Egypt.

In Isaiah 51:17, God answers their call by turning it back on them: "Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury." He says, "Wake up. The reason you're going through these things is because of your own sin. It's not that I've arbitrarily turned away from you. You are experiencing this judgment because of your own iniquity."

You Have Done This to Yourselves

Now in Isaiah 52:1, "Awake, awake" comes once more. God addresses Jerusalem in their broken condition after waves of judgment—first the Egyptians, then the Assyrians who obliterated the northern ten tribes, and finally the larger waves at the hand of Babylon. He says, "Wake up. Arise from the dust. Clothe yourself in beautiful garments. Turn from your iniquity. Confess your transgressions. Be no longer the captives of Babylon. If you don't want to remain under these harsh taskmasters, you need to repent."

The people continually accused God of unresponsive indifference: "We're crying out, we worship, we keep the feasts, we observe the fasts, we offer our sacrifices—and yet you do not care. Why have you forsaken us?" And God answers clearly: "You've done this to yourselves. I have not forsaken you. I cannot bless you in the midst of your sin. You are receiving the just reward of your doings."

No Ultimate Gain in Sin

"You have sold yourselves for nought" (verse 3). Judah had prostituted themselves to all sorts of false gods, and they had done so for nothing. There is ultimately no true gain in sin. Yes, Scripture reveals there is pleasure in sin for a season—many of you experienced temporary pleasures before you came to the Lord, pleasures that could not satisfy the thirsts of your soul.

In Hebrews 11:25 we read of Moses, who grew up in Pharaoh's household and tasted its pleasures, yet "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." There is no ultimate gain. The enemy loves to whisper that you are missing out, that you could be satisfying your flesh—and yet the flesh is never satisfied.

As God said in Isaiah 50:1, "Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement?... For your iniquities have ye sold yourselves." The reason they were in bondage was their own sin. They had nothing to point to at the end of it. When we give ourselves to sin, we sell ourselves short.

Redeemed Without Money, Yet Not Cheaply

But God gives a great promise at the end of verse 3: "You shall be redeemed without money." Without money does not mean cheap or costless. The redemption they would receive was very costly. The redemption you and I have received, though given freely, is extremely costly—and we see that as the passage moves into chapter 53, which speaks of the Messiah's suffering.

Peter says it plainly: "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18–19). In these difficult economic times, how much emphasis people place on gold and silver—I even saw that a company wants to put gold vending machines, gold ATMs, in America. But our redemption was not purchased with such corruptible things. It was the blood of the Lamb without blemish—the very lamb of chapter 53, led to the slaughter, who opened not his mouth.

Therefore we must never cheapen this grace by thinking we can sin that grace may abound. As Paul says in Romans 6, "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" When God set Israel free from Babylon, it was foolishness for them to stay—yet after their captivity ended, most of the children of Israel stayed in Babylon. Only a fraction returned to Jerusalem. So too, many in the body of Christ today have had the prison doors opened, and yet they choose to remain in the bondage of sin. He has set us free. Why live any longer as slaves?

Redeemed for His Name's Sake

In verses 4–5 God reminds them: "My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause." At the end of Genesis they journeyed willingly to Egypt because of famine, but after 400 years they were no longer free. The allure of the world is just like that—it seems it will satisfy, but once we are there we find ourselves captive. Then the Assyrians oppressed them; in Isaiah 36–37, Sennacherib destroyed forty-six of their walled cities, and only Jerusalem remained. Had it not been for the Lord's mercy, they too would have been destroyed. But God slew 185,000 of the Assyrian army in one night.

So God asks, "What have I here... that my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them make them to howl... and my name continually every day is blasphemed." If you read Ezekiel 20, you'll see the reason God brought them out of Egypt, saved them from Assyria, and would bring them out of Babylon: those nations had blasphemed his name. Four times in Ezekiel 20 we are told he redeemed them for his name's sake. Yes, he loved them—but ultimately it was for his glory.

The result is in verse 6: "Therefore my people shall know my name... Behold, it is I." The result of redemption is a true knowledge of God and the glory of God. The chief end of man is the glory of God. Whether he redeemed lost sinners from Egypt and Babylon, or redeems you and me from sin and death, he is ultimately glorified. He reveals his name and power so that we would know him.

It is awesome that God often works in spite of us to show the greatness of his glory. Did the captives in Babylon deserve grace? No one deserves grace. Did they deserve mercy? Absolutely not. They turned back to sin again and again. How many of us deserved God's wrath? We all did—and yet he freely gave us grace in spite of ourselves, to show how glorious he is.

How Beautiful Are the Feet

Verse 7: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace... that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"

Prophecy should always be considered in its historical, Christological, ecclesiological, and eschatological fulfillment. What does it mean historically, in its near fulfillment? How is it fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah? How is it fulfilled in the church? And how is it fulfilled in the end times? Some prophecies are fulfilled at only one level—Isaiah's word against the Arabians was fulfilled within three years. Some reach further: Isaiah 7:14 had a near fulfillment in Isaiah's own son and an ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. Joel 2 was fulfilled in the church at Pentecost and looks to the last days. We cannot simply assume every passage is about the end times.

Isaiah 52:7 is unique in that it is fulfilled at all four levels. Historically, it looked forward to Judah's redemption from Babylon, when Cyrus of Persia destroyed the Babylonian kingdom and messengers went throughout the region announcing, "You can go home." Christologically, it points to Jesus, the ultimate one bringing glad tidings—and many believe it also speaks of John the Baptist, his forerunner. Ecclesiologically, Paul applies it directly to the church in Romans 10:15: "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace." And eschatologically, commentators like John Gill see its ultimate fulfillment in Revelation 14, when angelic evangelists proclaim the kingdom in the last days.

The Gospel Beautifies What Is Defiled

But why "beautiful feet"? In Middle Eastern culture, feet are considered lowly and defiled. That is why washing feet was the task of the lowest servant—and why none of the disciples wanted to do it at the Last Supper, having just argued about who was greatest. It is a beautiful testimony that Jesus rose to wash their feet.

The shoe and the sole are insults in Arabic culture. When a man threw his shoes at President Bush in Iraq, the London Telegraph explained that showing the sole of your shoe is a deep insult. When Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled in 2003, Iraqis struck it with their shoes. Saddam had even tiled images of President Bush and American flags into his palace floors so people would walk over them. To this day, one of the gravest insults is to call someone "a son of a shoe."

So "beautiful feet" is incongruent with that mindset—which is exactly the point. The best interpretation is this: when the gospel message is carried, it is so marvelous and glorious that it beautifies the most wretched parts of our being. God's good news is so beautiful that it makes beautiful that which is defiled. We have seen this in our own lives, for there are parts of us far dirtier than our feet, and his gospel has transformed us. This brings light to Ephesians 5—washing them with the water of his word—and to Jesus' prayer in John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

Feet are mentioned because they are the instruments of motion: the gospel is to be carried into all the world. And what is that good news? It is summed up in the glorious proclamation, "Thy God reigneth." Where your God reigns, peace reigns; glad tidings reign; salvation reigns.

God Has Comforted, God Has Redeemed

Verses 8–9: "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing... Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people." It was a day of great rejoicing when Israel returned from Babylon, and it will be a day of tremendous rejoicing when the watchmen of Jerusalem see Jesus set foot on the Mount of Olives and walk through the eastern gate—and Scripture declares we shall be with him.

Notice that twice in verse 9, Isaiah speaks in the past tense of something that had not yet happened in his day: "the Lord hath comforted his people... hath redeemed Jerusalem." Why the past tense for a future event? Because it was a foregone conclusion. When God speaks, he will make good on his word; every jot and tittle will be fulfilled. That is what biblical hope is—not "I really hope it happens," but an absolute expectation of coming good, the certain assurance that what God said will come to pass.

Verse 10: "The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." The arm of the Lord is his mighty strength, displayed at the Red Sea, against the Assyrians, and in the fall of Babylon. In 51:9 the people cried, "Awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord." Here God answers that he has bared his holy arm—publicly, in the eyes of all the nations. God's salvation has always been an open affair. He redeemed Israel publicly from Egypt, destroyed the Assyrians openly, and the victory of Jesus on the cross was openly declared on a well-traveled road outside Jerusalem. As Colossians 2:15 says, "having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."

Depart and Be Separate

Verses 11–12: "Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing... be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord." When Israel left Babylon they carried back the gold and silver vessels Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from the temple. God says, "Go out from among them, touch nothing unclean, take none of their false gods—but carry the vessels of the Lord, and be clean."

We too have been redeemed from the filth of this world and called to depart and be separate. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:17, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." To be separate is to be holy, consecrated to God. Paul tells Timothy that if a man purges himself, "he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use" (2 Timothy 2:21).

Notice the sequence. We are not set at liberty because we made ourselves clean; we are first redeemed, and then called to live separate. We often mix this up, thinking we are redeemed because we cleaned ourselves up. No—he has redeemed and set us free; therefore we ought to live holy unto him.

And unlike the exodus from Egypt, this departure would not be in haste. Leaving Egypt they ran, eating unleavened bread, standing with sandals on and staff in hand, because Pharaoh's army pursued them. But leaving Babylon, they went out with the blessing of Cyrus. They did not have to flee. In Christ, our captivity is over; we leave the clutch of the enemy as conquerors—"more than conquerors," Romans 8:37—walking out with a high hand.

Behold My Servant

Verse 13: "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high." How is the ultimate redemption secured? By this one we are told to behold—the servant, the Redeemer, who shall succeed at the work set before him, who shall be victorious and triumphant. Even before we read of his suffering, verse 13 already declares his victory: even in suffering, he is victorious.

Here begins the prophecy the Ethiopian eunuch was reading in Acts 8, on his way home from Jerusalem. Philip ran to his chariot and heard him reading of the servant led as a sheep to the slaughter. "Of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?" Philip seized that opportunity to tell him of the Messiah, the suffering servant.

Why the Jews Read It Differently

Many wonder how a Jewish person could read Isaiah 52:13–53:12 and not be convinced Jesus fulfills it perfectly. First, there is often an immediate bias against Jesus and against Christians—I have had one ask, "Who do you think you are to tell me about my Scriptures?" Second, they have been taught for centuries that the suffering servant is not the Messiah but the nation of Israel. And Israel has indeed suffered—expelled by Rome in 70 AD, by Babylon in 586 BC, nearly destroyed by Assyria, kicked out of Spain in 1492, persecuted in the Russian pogroms, and the Holocaust of the Second World War.

But that was not always the Jewish view. First-century Jews believed Isaiah 53 spoke of the Messiah. From 53:8—"who shall declare his generation?"—they reasoned that when Messiah came, no one would know his origin, which is why in John 7 they said, "We know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is." The view that it speaks of the nation came later. In 248 AD Origen recorded a Jew arguing the prophecy referred to the whole suffering people, and in the eleventh century the rabbi Rashi heavily promoted that interpretation, which is now predominant. Yet when we read the passage, we plainly see Christ.

Marred More Than Any Man

Verse 14: "As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men." Interestingly, this distinguishes the nation of Israel from the servant: people were astonished at Israel for its suffering, but they will be far more astonished at this servant, whose beating would so disfigure his face that one could scarcely recognize him as a man. Verse 15: "So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him." Through his suffering would come the cleansing of many nations. He came as the long-awaited Messiah of his people, but not for them alone.

Who Has Believed Our Report?

Isaiah 53:1: "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" The story of the suffering servant is almost inconceivable; even twenty centuries later many struggle to believe it. And belief is the important response—we are called to believe on him. Right off the bat, the prophecy anticipates that not everyone will receive it. And again the arm of the Lord is revealed—Jesus, the Messiah, the suffering servant, is the very strength of Almighty God.

Verse 2: "He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." The Messiah's coming was one of mystery and obscurity—born to a peasant girl thought scandalous, born in a small town, with very little known of his early years apart from his birth and the one event at age twelve in Jerusalem. He did not grow up under the great structure of Judaism in Jerusalem, but as a small shoot in distant, obscure Galilee.

Notice that the four Gospels never describe what Jesus looked like—no hair color, no eye color. This passage is the most detailed account we have, and it tells us only that there was no form or comeliness that we should desire him. That does not mean Jesus was ugly; it means he looked like the average Jew of his day. Nothing about his appearance attracted people—unlike King Saul, who stood a head taller and looked the part. People were not drawn to Jesus by his looks but by something far deeper. As Alan Redpath said, when we try to attract people to Jesus through form or beauty, we use methods that run counter to the nature of Jesus. When we offer free cars, pizza, and Xboxes to win people, we attract them with the things of this world—and what you win them with, you win them to.

A Man of Sorrows

Verse 3: "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." If you have ever felt despised or rejected, know that Jesus understands it completely—he was rejected by everyone, and is rejected by multitudes to this day. "A man of sorrows" does not mean he walked around melancholy; he bore the sorrows of those around him, weeping with those who wept and rejoicing with those who rejoiced. "We hid as it were our faces from him." We would like to think we would have stood at his side on the day he carried his cross, but the reality is we likely would have hid our faces in disgust.

Verses 4–5: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Standing in the crowd, we would have assumed God struck him for his own sin—but God struck him not for any sin of his own, for he had none. It was for my sin and yours.

The Gospels reveal that before his crucifixion Jesus received a Roman scourging—bound at the wrists with his back exposed, whipped with the flagellum, the cat-of-nine-tails, whose leather straps were embedded with bone, broken clay, and sharp rock. It did not merely strike the back; it embedded and ripped the flesh raw. Most who received it died before it was finished. Jesus did not. By those stripes we are healed.

Verse 6: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." We share the same lost condition. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Led as a Lamb, and Yet Silent

Verse 7: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." The Hebrew word for "oppressed" means to be driven like an animal under a harsh taskmaster. He was driven before Pilate, before Caiaphas, before Herod—browbeaten and cast down—and yet he remained silent. We struggle to hold our tongue over far less.

Twice we are told he did not open his mouth, reminding us he was not forced to die. He did not go to the cross a helpless victim; he went willingly and silently, "for the joy that was set before him" (Hebrews 12:2). Before the high priest he held his peace (Matthew 26:63); before Pilate he answered nothing, and Pilate was amazed (John 18–19).

Verse 8: "He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken." Why did all this happen? Because of the transgression of his people and all people. He did not go for his own sin; he went for ours.

With the Rich in His Death

Verse 9: "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." His executioners intended a common grave for the wicked, as was customary for the capitally punished. But he was with the rich in his death, for Joseph of Arimathea made his own tomb available. He had done nothing deserving death; he died solely for you and me.

Verse 10: "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." That word "bruise" can be translated "crush." It is unimaginable, especially for those of us with children, that God the Father was pleased to crush God the Son. Why? Because through that crushing came the final, ultimate offering for sin. From the cross Jesus cried, "It is finished" (John 19:30).

But "he shall see his seed, and prolong his days" tells us the death and burial were not the end—three days later he rose. And you and I are that seed, the offspring brought forth through his death, burial, and resurrection. He is the first-fruits from the dead, and he has raised us to newness of life in him.

Justifying Many

Verse 11: "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." Some take this to mean the Father sees the suffering of the Son and his wrath is satisfied; others, that Jesus looks back on the cross with satisfaction, knowing the agony was worth it. Either way it is glorious. Jesus said in John 17:3, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." We receive eternal life and justification by the knowledge of the righteous servant.

Verse 12: "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great... because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." He poured out his own soul unto death—no one took his life from him; he laid it down. He was numbered with the transgressors, crucified between two thieves. And he made intercession even there: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Hebrews 7:25 tells us he ever lives to make intercession for us.

He bore the sin of many. Who are the many? Look around the room. He bore our sin and our shame so that you and I would know righteousness and peace. This is the beautiful message we carry with beautiful feet to the world—that God commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We who were dead in trespasses and sins have by grace been saved.

What a glorious gospel: good news, glad tidings of good things, publishing peace, preaching salvation. Yes, many will not believe our report—but that ought never hinder us from declaring its reality. May we continually proclaim to all we meet that Christ, the Messiah, the suffering servant, died for the ungodly, the just for the unjust, that we might live with God eternally.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank you for your word, and I ask that you by your Spirit would hide your word in our hearts. As we go from here tonight and walk with you the rest of this week, may we think upon you, the suffering servant, and be stirred to worship you. But Lord, stir us also to share you with those we come in contact with. Help us to be witnesses, remembering all you have done for us. It is the only reasonable thing for us to proclaim you—even if it embarrasses us, even if it costs us shame, it could never equal the shame and embarrassment you endured for us. God, shine brightly through our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.