Who is the suffering servant in Isaiah 53?

By  many Jews Isaiah 53 is believed  to be talking about the whole nation- Israel.  Christians  believe  that the prophet is talking about Christ. Can Isaiah 53 be more clear to us?

From the point of what Jewish people believe lets try to answer the following question;

Would Israel's suffering really  justify the rest of the world?

Such a statement  is  based on Isaiah 53- ' the suffering servant' -Israel  should justify many .

Let's look how is the prophet writing about the 'servant';

v.3“Despised and rejected by mankind,”  

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” 

( you as a Jewish people might admit; that is true; my nation is definitelly familiar with suffering)

v.4“Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,” 

( who  does the fraze ' our pain' relate to....?, the question is; whose pain was taken  if  'he'- the suffering  servant is believed to be the nation of  Israel?) 

v.5”But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. “
( many  Jewish people say the word' pierced' is translated wrong way , but that doesn't change the fact that the whole verse is talking about a person that was ' crushed' , suffered and justified others!)

5. 7”(...)he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
   he did not open his mouth.”
   ( Christians  know from the New Testament that Jesus said He laid His life out of His own will )

v. 8” (...)for the transgression of my people he was punished “

5. 10“ (...)and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin(...)”
6. 11 “(...)my righteous servant will justify many,and he will bear their iniquities. “

5. (...)For he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Before we continue explaing our topic

we will look at an important lesson from Moses;

When Moses asked God if he could be punished for the disobedience of  his people, God said ; 'No'

He said everybody was responsible for his own sin and pays for his own sin.God doesn't accept a sinful person as a sacrifice. There is no ransom either 'you for me' or ' I pay for you'- when it comes to  dealing with sin. That's why many of people of Israel died that time on the desert – anger of God came as a flame and consumed many.

How would  then be possible for the nation of Israel to pay for other people's sin? We will also answer why  then Jesus- as a Son of Man - believed by Christians- was allowed to pay for people' sin.

Looking closely  at the verse 8 we see that  the prophet Isaiah is explaining that his people are the ones for whom 'the servant' was punished:,

 v. 8” (...)for the transgression of my people he was punished “

looking closely at the  following words;

(...) of my people(...)

If the prophet is passing on God's words saying that the servant is punished for the sin 'of my people'

that means he is punished for the  people of  Israel. 
You can see clearly that the servant is not the nation of Israel! Israel is also a nation for whom the servant -from Isaiah 53 -suffered!
 

Nobody is  justified just  because Israel suffered from others for centuries!

Israel didn't make an “intercession for the transgressors.” v.12

The nation can't bear sin of 'many' by being opressed by the 'many.'

If you believe that the 'suffering servant' in Isaiah 53 is the nation of Israel  and that by suffering the nation can justify many; it is like believing that  all the transgressors can be  justified by doing their wicked works on the people including also people of Israel! 

                          For Christians it is very clear the prophet is talking about  Christ.

No nation can redeem other nation from their sin.

The scriptures says there is no just person on the earth.

If you fail even in one, you are guilty of all. We all would be in trouble if not the servant of God , whom He predicted  to send and to deal with the man's mail problem- which is sin!

The suffering that was going to be involved in the redemption process was already mentioned in the book of Genesis.

The first message we find in Genesis 3;15

“And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

That's the first message that dealing with sin would include suffering.

The Messiah that was to come was predicted to go through suffering! 

Christians believe in Jesus' redemption of sin - why?? Why was God going to accept Jesus' payment for sin for us if no other man was allowed?

Because  he was  a perfect sacrifice, as a sinless person with God's spirit living in him!
 

If he was a sinner like us, God would not restore him back to life, as a payment for sin is death!

Yet God restored  him back to life  and he was seen by many. 

 

Things we don't realize about the Messiah;

Christ was not about only bringing peace to the world without first dealing with people' sin.

 

Nobody can live forever just trying to keep the law as we all failed at least once which disqulifies us from being called  righteous  ( on our own) before God!

Christ was never keeping people from the law but was helping them to fullfil it!!! 

God want's you to walk in His ways and keep His word! Because we fail keeping God's word, Christ came to pay for what you failed to do.

Forgiveness of sin is not granted automatically to all the world because Christ payed for people's sin, it is a matter of accepting the forgiveness personally, it is admitting your own failure before God, and accepting His payment, His grace ,accepting the ransom for your sin which was Christ's death for you.

The only sacrifice God accepts is in the death of His son, as His son took your sin on himself and paid for it by dying for you.

If the Messiah -Jesus – was a fals sinful man , God wouldn't accept his payment for sin and wouldn't raise him from the dead!

Understanding the Isaiah 53  -that it is Christ who is the 'suffering servant', is the key to understand why the whole prophecy about Messiah hasn't been yet fulfilled. Then you will understand why in Zachariah 9;9  you read about him as the one ' riding on a donkey; and in Daniel 7;13-as the One coming with clouds.

 "Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,    on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Zechariah 9;9

as the One coming with clouds, Daniel 7 ;13-14

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."