Isaiah 53 is the clearest and fullest description of the death of Christ in the Bible. It is amazing that this vivid portrayal of our Lord’s sufferings on the cross is foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures. How did Christ feel as he experienced the things mentioned in this great chapter?
“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” (Isa. 53:4, 5). If Christ was truly “stricken, smitten, and afflicted” by God in our place, and if he was in reality “wounded, bruised and chastised” because our sins were actually laid on him, then does it not follow that we simply must ultimately “be healed”? Does not justice demand it?
Is it possible to have Christ actually experience, as a vicarious substitute, the things in Isaiah 53:4 and then make the things in verse 5 to be a mere possibility? This is exactly what a hypothetical atonement is proclaiming.
“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” (Isa. 53:6). Are the two alls in verse 6 inclusive of every man without exception, or does it mean the Father has lain the iniquity of “every sheep that has gone astray” upon the shepherd? Who is the “we” and the “us” in this verse? If the first “all” includes you, then the second “all” also includes you. However, if you are not a poor lost sinner that has gone astray and needs to be saved, then you are not included in either “all.” You are not the object of the death designed to save only poor sinners.
“…for the transgression of my people was he stricken” (Isa. 53:8). Who are “my people” in this verse if the atonement is for everyone without exception? Does the term my people include the Egyptians and Canaanites? This verse demands a particular application of the sufferings of Christ.
“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” (Isa. 53:10). This verse contains one of the most amazing statements in all of the Word of God. It “pleased the Lord” to put his only begotten Son to death for sinners. It was the Father who made his Son “an offering for sin.”
Our Savior was pleasing to his Father at the very moment that he cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Paul writes in Philippians 2:5–9 that the height of the obedience of Christ to his Father’s will was the moment when he willingly laid down his life in death under the sword of justice. “He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Our Lord knew the Father would turn his back the moment “he was made to be sin.” God had to turn his back on Christ the instant Christ put on the sin and guilt of his people. The Father turned his back on Christ because holiness could not look on sin. God turned his back on his Son in order that he might turn his face towards us in righteous and holy love.
Our blessed substitute also knew that the Father would raise him from the dead! This was the height of his confidence in his Father’s oath (cf. Acts 2:22-36). His obedience and faith were fully pleasing to his Father at that very moment when he fully trusted his soul into the hands of his Father’s eternal purposes.
This same verse (Isa. 53:10) also contains one of the clearest proofs of particular atonement. At the very moment that Christ was made to be sin and treated as if he were guilty, he was conscious of what was sure to follow as a result of his sufferings. The verse states “when,” or at the exact time his soul was being offered for sin, that he would, at that very moment, “see his seed.” The church is his seed. When Christ was on the cross, he saw his sheep individually. He did not see an indefinable mass of humanity and hope that some of them would be willing to let him save them. He saw his seed being brought to glory! He saw the “many sons,” the “sheep” given to him by the Father, being saved. He saw the elect receiving the benefits of his atoning work. Our Lord knew his work would not be in vain.
This is what Hebrews means when it says, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame…” (Heb. 12:2). That joy was nothing less than seeing his sheep safe and sound in the fold and forever delivered from sin and guilt. That ought to make us shout with joy!
What are the biblical answers to the following questions?
(1) Who are Christ’s seed, and when does he see them? Dare one say, He saw the whole world as potentially saved if they could only somehow be persuaded to believe? No, the Bible does not allow this understanding. The text means that Christ saw the individual and specific people whom he was consciously representing and to whom he would give faith.
(2) Did Christ know for sure that any one person would be saved because he was at that moment purchasing that sinner by a real atonement? Did he see individual people and know he was actually redeeming them for certain, or did he see his death as a universal possibility for an indefinable mass? Was he positive that I would be with him in glory as a specific result of his propitiatory death, or did he see his death as only the down payment of my redemption, and hope that my “free-will” choice would provide the balance of payment that finalized the deal? Again, I leave the reader to answer the questions.
“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” (Isa. 53:11). This raises the following two questions which must be answered from the words in this verse:
(1) Can Christ be satisfied if his travail ends in futility? I have visited hospital rooms where a mother’s travail had ended in the birth of a dead child. I assure you that there were no expressions of great joy in those rooms. There was deep sorrow and a great sense of loss. If our Savior looks into hell and sees there those for whom he travailed unto death itself, how can he possibly be satisfied? No, no, everyone for whom he travailed will be saved. As the hymn writer put it:
Till all the ransomed Church of God,
Be saved to sin no more.
(2) Who are the “many” that are certain of being justified simply because Christ bears their iniquity? It is impossible to separate the certainty of the “many’s” justification from the stated reason for that certainty. “The many,” all of them and only them, will surely be justified because Christ bore their iniquities in his own body. That is particular atonement. It is a real atonement and not merely a hypothetical atonement! In no way do these verses say, “Christ bore the sins of all men but he is only able to justify those who are willing to let him.”
Look at the logic of Romans 8:33. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Not the Father, for “It is God [the Father] that justifieth.” Not the Son, for he will not condemn those for whom he died, and because he died for them, he also makes intercession for them (cf. John 17:9). Isn’t that clear?
“Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12). Carefully follow the logic and truth of this text, and it is impossible to get universal atonement into either this verse or any other verse in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Christ receives a specific reward for his work, and that reward does not depend on the fickle, capricious will of sinful man. Our Lord was identified with specific people in his death (they are “many”). He makes intercession for all those given to him by the Father (cf. John 17:9). It is for these that he “poured out his soul unto death.” All for whom he prays will be saved, and all who are saved are those for whom he died.
There are those who complain that election and particular atonement are narrow and unfair. We ask, “Unfair to whom?” To whom does God owe anything other than condemnation? How can he possibly be unfair to sinners who deserve nothing but wrath? Granted, he gives grace to some who do not deserve it, but the Holy Spirit has already stopped the mouths of all who would say that was unfair as the following passages clearly demonstrate.
But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. (Matthew 20:10-16)
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (Romans 9:13-21)
My questions to the objectors of sovereign grace and particular atonement are these: is God just and fair toward his only begotten Son? Will the Father fulfill every word and expectation of Isaiah 53 to the one who bore those pangs of death, or are those things promised to Christ only hypothetical possibilities, dependent upon the fickle free will of sinners? Will God condemn the sinner after having punished Christ in the sinner’s place? How would you feel if you were the Savior on the cross and you knew that you were being punished (1) for many sinners who were already in hell at that very moment, and (2) for many more who were certain to go there? Is God only just and fair to sinners and not to his Son?
Some may object that these verses are in the Old Testament Scriptures and ask where the New Testament Scriptures teach that Christ died specifically for some men thus making certain their salvation. A few such references are John 10:11, Ephesians 5:25, and Hebrews 9:28.
The study of Romans 5:12–19—see Appendix Two—covers this objection. If you do not have Haldane’s commentary on Romans, buy it at once. His unfolding of these verses is worth ten times the price of the book. Romans 5:12–19 teaches that all men represented by Adam must have imputed to them the consequence of Adam’s disobedience, and likewise all the men represented by Christ must have imputed to them the consequence of his obedience. As “all” represented by Adam are made sinners, so “all” represented by Christ are made righteous.