Isaiah 52:13

Isaiah 52:13 says, Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.  Isaiah moves from the temporary physical deliverance of the people at that time to the everlasting spiritual deliverance when the Messiah, Jesus Christ came.  Matthew Henry says the prophecy about Jesus Christ that begins here continues to the end of the next chapter.  We know that in His ministry, Jesus Christ did deal with the people prudently and that even though He was rejected and killed, He was resurrected the third day and now is highly exalted as the only Savior that there is.  We just have to accept that fact and put our faith in Him if we want to be restored to a right relationship with God. 

Verse fourteen adds, As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:  Isaiah said that when the Messiah came, He would be so beaten and abused that people would be astonished at how He looked.  I know we now tend to focus on how badly Jesus Christ was beaten before He was crucified, but the emphasis should still be on His resurrection after His abuse and death.  Though what happened to Him was horrible, even if He had been crucified without being beaten, then result would have been the same.  He died to pay the penalty for our sins and rose again to give us victory, and that should be our message to the world today if we are His followers. 

Verse fifteen continues, So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.  Isaiah said that the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, which is the only way to salvation, would go to many nations that had not seen or heard about Him.  Jesus Christ didn’t come just to redeem the nation of Israel but to redeem the whole world.  Today, the people of Israel still refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Messiah, even though He came to them first.  His word went to the rest of the world, which includes us, and many believed, even some rulers.  It is our task to continue to proclaim the gospel to the world, so that all people might hear it and come to Jesus Christ for salvation through faith.