Isaiah 52:13-14 "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. (14) As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men"
For the past 10 chapters, we have been beholding the servant of the Lord in one
fashion or another. Chapter 42:1 says, "Behold my servant..." Today's
verse says, "Behold, my servant..." At first glance, these words
appear to have the same meaning, but punctuation makes quite the difference.
Notice in chapter 42, there is no comma; whereas, in today's verse there is a
comma after the word "Behold." I don't pretend to be an English
teacher, but I believe that comma makes a very distinct difference in the thoughts
that are given. Chapter 42 speaks of looking at and examining the servant
and his work. Today's verse is an introduction to the person, Himself. That
person happens to be Jesus, the Son of God. Behold, my servant shall come in
person and He shall do these things. He shall deal prudently. He shall be
exalted. and He shall be extolled, or honored. But then, the Prophet begins to
speak of the suffering of the Servant of God. The people exalted Jesus when
they thought He was going to deliver them from Roman oppression. But when they
saw Him as is described in verse 14, they cried out, "Crucify Him!"
"Behold, my servant...." He will deal with people in an
honorable manner. He shall teach them and guide them and yes, He shall deliver
them. But that deliverance was to be a much deeper deliverance than from the
Romans. Jesus came to save, or deliver, us from our sins. This was a much
greater need than to be delivered from manmade oppression. "Behold, my
servant... shall be marred. People shall become astonished when they looked
upon Him that day in the Roman courtyard. He had given His "... back to
the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face
from shame and spitting." (Isaiah 50:6) The word, astonied, means the
people's stomachs were turned when they saw Him; yet, they still cried out
"Crucify Him!" Before Jesus was to be exalted and extolled, He
had to endure the cruelty of mankind and the suffering of the cross. We
exalt Him today because He humbled Himself even to the death of the cross for
us. Let us never forget the work of our Lord in order that we have eternal
life!