Isaiah 53: Bible Storying for Muslims: Dr. Cashin Lecture
Dr. David Cashin delivered a series of lectures on chronological Bible Storying for Muslims during a CIU course. Here, Cashin presents the fifth lesson on chronological bible storying of Isaiah 53 with Muslims.
Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. David Cashin Lecture:
We now come to our 11th lesson in chronological Bible storying for Muslims. And today, we’re going to look at study number 5 concerning the suffering servant. I’m suggesting that your 5th Bible study with your Muslim friend be focused on Isaiah chapter 53 verses 1 to 12. This passage is perhaps one of the most remarkable passages in the old testament because it shows the degree to which the old testament predicts the coming of Messiah and predicts that Messiah would suffer for the sins of the nation, as a perfect kafara, as Muslims would put it, as a perfect atonement for the sins of the nations. And you remember from our first study that forgiveness means that the one who forgives takes the consequences of the other’s action upon himself.
Now, let me just say a couple of things as we get into this study today. First of all, it is, possible for you, if you want, to, give to your Muslim friends some pictures of the Isaiah 53 scroll in Jerusalem. As you know, in 1948, there was a great discovery of the so called Dead Sea Scrolls in Israel. And one of the scrolls, one of the scrolls that was almost complete, missing nothing, was the so called Isaiah Scroll, dating from about 200 BC. And if you want to use this as an apologetic point, you can probably get some pictures of that scroll, the so called Isaiah Scroll right offline and show it to your Muslim friend and say, the passage that we are about to read, we have a copy of it dating from 200 years before the birth of Jesus.
And this is important because Muslims need to see that the scriptures really hold together and that they really are, not only as old, as they claim to be, but we even have copies, very, very old copies that indicate that these prophecies, were given long before the time of Jesus and long before the time, of, the Christians. So that there’s no way that this was something faked or created at a later time. Let me just mention also that I, in this particular section, I’ve had to remove a number of pictures for copyright issues. So I’ve been just using clip art. Now, that’s been true through all the other studies as well.
But in this one, I felt very much hampered because some of the best pictures, for depicting different aspects of the life of Christ are under copyright. So I just used a clip art here, and I apologize. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t, appropriate some of those pictures and put them into your study materials and then, give them to your Muslim friends as representative. And I’ll talk about that as we go along because there’s some great pictures out there, on the Internet that can be easily imported to any, study materials that you produce. Well, first of all, let’s begin reading through this.
Isaiah 53, We begin at verse 1 of chapter 53. Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Remarkable thing about Jesus is that he was a carpenter with no credentials. In fact, he was criticized by the Jewish leaders. How is it that you come to teach having never really studied in the, advanced seminaries of the day? Jesus was a simple carpenter and there was nothing about him in a physical sense that would make people be attracted to him, as something special. And this is one of the first prophecies about who Jesus would be.
He wouldn’t come as a king. He wouldn’t come as someone who was well known or, received and famous, but simply he came as a servant. And then this passage goes on to describe what kind of a servant this messiah would be. This passage really is talking about what is messiah, and what is messiah going to do? Why do we call him Messiah?
Now it’s interesting that Muslims call Jesus Masih, Esa Masih, Jesus the Messiah. What does it mean to be a Messiah? What does the Messiah do? Well, Isaiah 53 explains that. So he wasn’t anyone special to look at.
And, second, passage goes on to explain he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. The amazing thing is that Jesus was betrayed by one of his own into the hands of the Romans. And his own people didn’t stand by him. He was a man of suffering who was abandoned by all of his friends at the time that he was imprisoned and brought before the Romans.
So no one esteemed him enough to, seek to save or to help him. Remarkable that the Messiah of the world should be abandoned and left in the hands of evil men to do with him what they would please. But the scripture predicted it. This is part of what it means to be Messiah, that he would be re rejected and despised by men, and become a man of sorrows familiar with suffering. So the prophet predicts also one who bears our sorrows as he does this. Isaiah 53
Surely, he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, accepted the plan of God that as, God’s messiah, the prophet has predicted that he would himself, be smitten by God. Now why would God smite Messiah? Well, it’s simple.
The punishment which we deserved is given to Messiah. That’s why he’s Messiah. He’s Messiah because he’s born the punishment that we deserved in himself. And in Gethsemane, Jesus accepted that startling plan of God. The prophet also predicts that this one, this Messiah would bear our iniquities, but he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Basically, this is reflecting back to the whole sacrificial system of the old testament, the Passover lamb, which was a spotless without blemish lamb was killed on the day of atonement in memory of the fact that God, through the blood of that lamb, passed over his people from the judgment that they deserved. Isaiah 53
And Muslims to this day, sacrifice in remembrance of the sacrifice on behalf of Abraham’s son. All of these are merely shadows or pictures of what was to come. For these sacrifices must be offered year after year. And, indeed, the Jews to this day also offer their Passover lambs. But the blood of lambs and goats and rams cannot take away our sin.
So the prophet predicts that there would be someone who would himself, a human person who is messiah, would be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. And the punishment that would give us peace, that is to say, our punishment that we deserved borne by someone else gives us peace, and the option then to return to God in repentance and to receive that forgiveness which he gives. We all like sheep have gone astray. The Lord laid our iniquity upon Messiah. Jesus is the Passover lamb.
The whole book of Hebrews, of course, emphasizes this reality. Also, the prophet predicts that this one would be silent before his accusers. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and who can speak of his descendants for he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people. Isaiah 53
He was stricken by the way. One of the greatest testimonies to innocence is oftentimes silence, isn’t it? And when Jesus was brought before Pilate, he said nothing. There was no need to defend. And Pilate understood by his lack of defense that indeed he was truly innocent.
And so Pilate sought to have Jesus released because he recognized that this was a miscarriage of justice. This man had done nothing wrong. So So he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of God’s people. Those who claimed to be followers of God were not truly followers of God. But indeed, God took their iniquity and laid that iniquity and its punishment upon Messiah, Jesus before Pilate.
Prophet also predicts that Jesus would be buried in a rich man’s tomb. He was assigned a grave with the wicked As an executed criminal, he would have no place to be buried. The Romans would throw such people out in the garbage heaps after they died. And yet, in the end, with the rich in his death, he was buried. Though he’d done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
By the way, this picture is not of the tomb of Nicodemus. I had to take in some clip art that was allowable. I had a much better picture here. But you can look up something like that under, Google search, under tomb of Nicodemus if you want and show some renditions of the rich tomb, in which Jesus was laid. And even this detail is predicted in the book of Isaiah for what would happen with Christ. Isaiah 53
Prophet also predicts the victory of the suffering servant. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer. And though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. My servant will justify many. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.
By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Again, this is a picture of the resurrection. Yes. The Messiah bears the sins of the world and the sins of all who have, rebelled against God. And yet, after his death, after his atonement has been, carried out and his blood has been poured out, he is restored to life.
He will see the light of life and be satisfied. And he will become the one that justifies the many, that justifies the sinner, that justify those who take faith in his finished work on the cross. This was all predicted in the book of Isaiah, and it’s a critical point to show to our Muslim friends. Old and new testaments fit together. Jesus is the resurrected Christ. Isaiah 53
Finally, the prophet predicts the servant who, the servant who forgives this sin. Therefore, I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Even as he was being crucified, Jesus said, father, for transgressors. Even as he was being crucified, Jesus said, father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
And in so saying, he fulfilled exactly what Isaiah 53 said the Messiah would do. He would make intercession for the very people who crucified him. Well, this is an exciting study, and I hope you will have a lot of fun walking your Muslim friend through the reality of the atonement that Jesus has accomplished on the cross and the fact that this was predicted 700 years before the coming of Christ. You can show him in Isaiah some of the historical passages where, various Israelite kings are referred to, kings who are also known from the ancient chronicles, of, Assyria, for instance. And, Hezekiah, who is king in Israel and, is during the reign of, Isaiah.
And this helps our Muslim friend to see that these predictions came long before the time of Christ and can only be fulfilled through what we know of the life of Jesus himself. Well, we’ll stop there. And, thank you, and I trust you’ll have some fun with