Pain and suffering are part of life. No one likes to suffer. We don’t seek out pain, but when we experience it, we usually cry out to God for relief. We may question God when relief doesn’t come when and how we want it to, but one thing we can’t do is accuse God of being indifferent to suffering. Certainly, I had no idea that I was about to have the major problem that came my way. I was hit with cancer and diabetes 2 at the same time- with no real warning. My response, after a bit of time to try to understand this problem, I turned to God to we will get through this together. All of your prayers were vital and provided the help I needed at that time. Jesus knew suffering to a degree we can’t imagine when He was rejected and crucified. Jesus willingly experienced pain and suffering for our salvation. My suffering and problem were nothing compared to His.

                                        Read Isaiah 53:2-4

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant. The He in this verse is the Messiah -Jesus.
Which springs out of the earth without notice; low in its beginning, slow in its growth, liable to be crushed with the foot, or destroyed with the frost, and no great probability of its coming to any perfection; or rather as a little “sucker”, as the word signifies, which grows out of the root of a tree, at some little distance from it, of which no notice or care is taken, nor anything hoped for from it; and the figure denotes the mean and unpromising appearance of Christ at his incarnation; which is the reason given why the Jews in general disbelieved, rejected, and despised him. For this phrase of “growing up” does not design his exaltation, or rising up from a low to a high estate; but His mean entrance into the world, like that of the springing up of a low and insignificant plant or shrub out of the earth. The phrase “before him” is to be understood of God the Father, by whom he was taken notice of, though not by men; and in whose sight he was precious, though despised by men; or his growing up, and the manner of it, or his mean appearance, were all before the Lord, and according to his will: or else it may be understood of Christ himself, and be rendered “before himself”, who was meek and lowly, and was mean and low in his own eyes.     

         and as a root out of a dry ground;
or rather, “as a branch from a root out of a dry ground”; agreeably to ( Isaiah 11:1 ) , meaning not so much the land of Judea, where he was born; or the country of Galilee, where he was brought up; as the family of David, from whence he sprung, which was reduced to a very low condition when he was born of it. He hath no form nor comeliness; like a poor plant or shrub just crept out of the ground, in a dry and barren soil, ready to wither away as soon as up; has no strength nor straightness, of body; without verdure, leaves, blossom, and fruit things which make plants comely and beautiful. This regards not the countenance of Christ, which probably was comely, as were his types Moses and David; since he is said to be “fairer than the children of men”; and since his human nature was the immediate produce of the Holy Spirit, and without sin: but his outward circumstances; there was no majesty in him, or signs of it; it did not look probable that he would be a tall cedar, or a prince in Israel, much less the Prince Messiah. When we shall see him: as he grows up, and comes into public life and service, declaring himself, or declared by others, to be the Messiah: here the prophet represents the Jews that would live in Christ’s time, who would see his person, hear his doctrines, and be witnesses of his miracles, and yet say,

          There is no beauty, that we should desire him; nothing that looks grand and majestic, or like a king; they not beholding with an eye of faith his glory, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father; only viewing him in his outward circumstances, and so made their estimate of him; they expected the Messiah as a temporal prince, appearing in great pomp and state, to deliver them from the Roman yoke, and restore their nation to its former splendor and glory; and being disappointed herein was the true reason of their unbelief, before complained of, and why they did not desire him, who is the desire of all nations.

         He is despised, and rejected of men
Or, “ceases from men”; was not admitted into the company and conversation of men, especially of figure; or ceased from the class of men, in the opinion of others. He was not reckoned among men, was accounted a worm, and no man; or, if a man, yet not in his senses, a madman, nay, one that had a devil: or “deficient of men”; he had none about him of any rank or figure in life, only some few fishermen, and some women, and publicans, and harlots. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, “the last of men”, the most abject and contemptible of mankind; despised, because of the meanness of his birth, and parentage, and education, and of his outward appearance in public life; because of his apostles and audience; because of his instructions.

         A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: or “known by grief”; he was known by his troubles, notorious for them; these were his constant companions, his familiar acquaintance, with whom he was always conversant; his life was one continued series of sorrow, from the cradle to the cross; in his infancy his life was sought for by Herod, and he was obliged to be taken by his parents, and flee into Egypt. He ate his bread in sorrow, and with the sweat of his brow; he met with much sorrow from the hardness and unbelief of men’s hearts, and from the contradiction of sinners against himself, and even much from the forwardness of his own disciples.  Much from the temptations of Satan, and more from the wrath and justice of God, as the surety of his people; he was exceeding sorrowful in the garden, when his sweat was as it were great drops of blood; and when on the cross, under the hidings of his Father’s face, under a sense of divine displeasure for the sins of his people, and enduring the pains and agonies of a shameful and an accursed death; he was made up of sorrows, and grief was familiar to him. Some render it, “broken with infirmity”, or “grief”.

       And we hid as it were our faces from him; as one loathsome and abominable as having an aversion to him, and abhorrence of him, as scorning to look at him, being unworthy of any notice. Some render it, “he hid as it were his face from us”; as conscious of his deformity and loathsomeness, and of his being a disagreeable object, as they said; but the former is best.

       He was despised, and we esteemed him not; which is repeated to show the great contempt cast upon him, and the disesteem he was had in by all sorts of persons; professors and profane, high and low, rich poor, rulers and common people, priests, Scribes, and Pharisees; no set or order of men had any value for him; and all this disgrace and dishonor he was to undergo, to repair the loss of honor the Lord sustained by the sin of man, whose surety Christ became.

         Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; Or “nevertheless”; notwithstanding the above usage of him; though it is a certain and undoubted truth, that Christ not only assumed a true human nature, capable of sorrow and grief, but he took all the natural sinless infirmities of it; or his human nature was subject to such, as hunger, thirst, weariness. To all the sorrow and pain arising from them; the same sorrows and griefs he was liable to as we are, and therefore called ours and hence he had a sympathy with men under affliction and trouble. To show his sympathizing spirit, he healed all sorts of bodily diseases; and also, to show his power, he healed the diseases of the soul, by bearing the sins of his people, and making satisfaction for them. though the principal meaning of the words is that all the sorrows and griefs which Christ bore were not for any sins of his own, but for the sins of his people; wherefore these griefs and sorrows signify the punishment of sin, and are put for sins, the cause of them and so the apostle interprets them of Christ’s bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, ( 1 Peter 2:24 ).   The Targum is, “wherefore he will entreat for our sins;” these being laid upon him, as is afterwards said, were bore by him as the surety of his people; and satisfaction being made for them by his sufferings and death, they are carried and taken away, never to be seen any more.

        Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted; so indeed he was by the sword of divine justice, which was awaked against him, and with which he was stricken and smitten, as standing in the room of his people; but then it was not for any sin of his own, as the Jews imagined, but for the sins of those for whom he was a substitute; they looked upon all his sorrows and troubles in life, and at death, as the just judgment of God upon him for some gross enormities he had been guilty of; but in this they were mistaken. The Vulgate Latin version is, “we esteemed him as a leprous person”; the unbelieving Jews call the Messiah a leper. They say, “a leper of the house of Rabbi is his name” as it is said, “surely he hath borne our griefs”; which shows that the ancient Jews understood this prophecy of the Messiah, though produced to prove a wrong character of Him. The words are by some rendered, “and we reckoned him the stricken, smitten of God”, and “humbled”; which version of the words proved the conversion of several Jews in Africa, by which they perceived the passage is to be understood not of a mere man, but of God made man, and of his humiliation and sufferings in human nature.

                                     Read Isaiah 53:5-9

      But he was wounded for our transgressions, Not for any sins of his own, but for ours, for our rebellions against God, and transgressions of his law, in order to make atonement and satisfaction for them; these were the procuring and meritorious causes of his sufferings and death, as they were taken upon him by him to answer for them to divine justice, which are meant by his being wounded; for not merely the wounds he received in his hands, feet, and side, made by the nails and spear, are meant, but the whole of his sufferings, and especially his being wounded to death, and which was occasionally by bearing the sins of his people; and hereby he removed the guilt from them, and freed them from the punishment due unto them: he was bruised for our iniquities; as bread corn is bruised by threshing it, or by its being ground in the mill. He was being broken and crushed to pieces under the weight of sin, and the punishment of it. The ancient Jews understood this of the Messiah; in one place they say, “chastisements are divided into three parts, one to David and the fathers, one to our generation, and one to the King Messiah; as it is written, “he was wounded for our transgressions; and bruised for our iniquities”.  and weep over the wicked among them; as it is said, “he was wounded for our transgressions”, the chastisement of our peace was upon him; that is, the punishment of our sins was inflicted on him, whereby our peace and reconciliation with God was made by him. Sin is a disease belonging to all men, a natural, hereditary, nauseous, and incurable one, but by the blood of Christ; forgiving sin is a healing of this disease; and this is to be had, and in no other way, than through the stripes and wounds, the blood and sacrifice, of the Son of God. Christ is a wonderful physician; he heals by taking the sicknesses of his people upon himself, by bearing their sins, and being wounded and bruised for them, and by his enduring blows, and suffering death itself for them. 

         The Iniquity of us all – For “iniquity,” the ancient interpreters read “iniquities,” plural. And the Lord hath caused to meet in him the iniquities of us all. He was the subject on which all the rays collected on the focal point fell. These fiery rays, which should have fallen on all mankind, diverged from Divine justice to the east, west, north, and south, were deflected from them, and converged in him. So, the Lord hath caused to meet in him the punishment due to the iniquities of All.

         He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, He was injuriously treated by the Jews; they used him very ill and handled him very roughly; he was oppressed and afflicted, both in body and mind, with their blows, and with their reproaches. He was afflicted, indeed, both by God and men: or rather it may be rendered, “it was exacted”, required, and demanded, “and he answered”, or “was afflicted”; justice finding the sins of men on him, laid on him by imputation, and voluntarily received by him, as in the preceding verse, demanded satisfaction of him; and he being the surety of his people, was responsible for them, and did answer, and gave the satisfaction demanded: the debt they owed was required, the payment of it was called for, and he accordingly answered, and paid the whole, every farthing, and cancelled the bond; the punishment of the sins of his people was exacted of him, and he submitted to bear it, and did bear it in his own body on the tree; this clearly expresses the doctrine of Christ’s satisfaction.

       Yet he opened not his mouth; against the oppressor that did him the injury, nor murmured at the affliction that was heavy upon him: or, “and he opened not his mouth”; against the justice of God, and the demand that was made upon him, as the surety of his people. He owned the obligation he had laid himself under; he paid the debt, and bore the punishment without any dispute or hesitation: “he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb”; or, “as a sheep to the slaughter, and as an ewe before her shearer”; these figurative phrases are expressive, not only of the harmlessness and innocence of Christ, as considered in himself, but of his meekness and patience in suffering, and of his readiness and willingness to be sacrificed in the room and stead of his people. He went to the cross without any reluctance, which; when there was any in the sacrifice, it was reckoned a bad omen among the Heathens, yea, such were not admitted to be offered; but Christ went as willingly to be sacrificed as a lamb goes to the slaughter house, and was as silent under his sufferings as a sheep while under the hands of its shearers. He was willing to be stripped of all he had, as a shorn sheep, and to be slaughtered and sacrificed as a lamb, for the sins of his people: so he opened not his mouth: not against his enemies, by way of threatening or complaint; nor even in his own defense; nor against the justice of God, as bearing hard upon him, not sparing him.

      He was taken from ^l prison and from judgment: ^m and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off from the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

 From the cross and grave, after that he was condemned. Though he died for sin, yet after his resurrection he will live forever and this his death is to restore life to his members, (Romans 6:9).

                                 Read Isaiah 53:10-12

      Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

     When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.

     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 number with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

      Jesus willingly submitted to death. Second, Jesus was counted among the rebels or sinners. This is a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion. Being considered as one of the rebels might be seen as negative, but it is clarified as positive in the final line of verse 12. Jesus interceded for the rebels by His death on the cross. To intercede means “to intervene” or “to plead” on the behalf of someone. Jesus dis this when He bore the sins of many at Calvary. The many includes all who trust in Him for salvation. He indeed suffered for our benefit and He does really understand our suffering.

                Next: HOW DO I HONOR GOD IN SUFFERING?