241 Who Killed Jesus according to Isaiah 53?

In this episode of Rediscovering God we take a close look at Isaiah 53 which many use to support the idea that God needed the death of His son to enable Him to forgive sinners. However a close look at this chapter reveals a much different outcome and attributes the killing of Jesus to the people that placed Him on the cross.

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Isaiah 53 and who killed Jesus?

It is startling that one of the most accurate descriptions of the life and death of Jesus Christ is found in Isaiah 53, written around 700 years before his birth in Bethlehem. Jewish thought on this passage is that it describes the history of the Jewish nation. Most Christians recognize it as a prophetic description of the suffering of God in Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53:1Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For God to reveal His arm means we will see Him work for our salvation. This is the message: God has worked out our salvation through His Son but many would never understand or never believe that the man from Nazareth is “the arm of the Lord.” It is still true today. Billions of people might accept Jesus Christ as a positive influence, a prophet, a significant influence, one of the better-known characters of history church pews this year at Easter time still do not get it. They still believe they must be good enough to earn heaven when heaven has been opened by the God who is more than good enough.

Psalm 98:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

While we were yet sinners Romans 5:8

When we were dead in our sins Eph 2:4; Colossians 2:13 God bared his arm.

The carpenter from Nazareth is “the arm of the Lord.”

Do you believe Jesus has accomplished the Lord’s work for you?

53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.

Jesus early life was fragile. He was born in a stable where tetanus spores are prevalent and was probably a premature birth. King Herod wanted Him dead. The trip to Egypt involved risk. Living is another culture and climate would have exposed Him to further risks. The people in Nazareth were suspicious of His conception and certain that he was a carpenter’s son.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was neither short nor tall. The Scriptures notice Goliath as a giant and king Saul as “tall, dark and handsome. From the record we know that Zacchaeus was very short. Jesus was such an ordinary Joe Soap that when Judas betrayed Him, he had to mark Him with a kiss to make sure the right man was arrested. There is not one comment in all of Scripture that even hints at His physical appearance being attractive.

He wanted us attracted by the truth about God he came to share. No ulterior motives.

53:3 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.

“Despised and rejected” we all want to be accepted and honoured, it is a longing of the human heart. When He suffered, we turned away. It was His disciples who: betrayed Him, slept through the crisis of Gethsemane, abandoned Him at His arrest, denied Him when challenged and left others to carry His cross, others to encourage Him on the cross, and others to care for His dead body. Now stop for a moment. We are His disciples. In turning our faces from those around us who need us, we are turning

our faces from Him.“Despised and rejected” we all want to be accepted and honoured. It is a human characteristic.

Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.

Luke 9:22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Luke 10:16 “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Luke 20:17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’?”

Every disciple must expect rejection for righteousness’ sake.

53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

Why did Jesus die? Christian theologians have taught that God was punishing Jesus for our sins. No! No! No! A thousand times No! It was because of our purposed wickedness that He died. Jesus bore our sins, he is our sin bearer. But this is so, not in the sense of God putting our sin on him and then holding him accountable for what he did not do and then punishing him to boot. It is rather the just does suffer for the unjust in the sense that the one who does the forgiving is the one who bears the pain of the offense. The

one who lets go of a spouse’s unfaithfulness bears the pain of suspecting that they were inadequate, that it might happen again?

53:5 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.

Jesus’ death was NOT a legal substitution that fulfills the demands of some cosmic law. That would be unjust. However, it can be true in a voluntary sense. A noble person can voluntarily give up their place in the lifeboat or their parachute for another. Nothing legal is involved, only unselfish, self-sacrificing love. If Jesus had not shown us the love of God, we could not have been changed by love because we would have had no conception of the extent or depth of God’s love. In short, if Jesus did not die, we

would still be lost in our animosity toward God and others. (Smuts van Rooyan)

The preposition “for” rather than “by” makes a huge difference in understanding the cause of Jesus’ death.

The choice of which preposition to use depends on the translator’s picture of God. After considering the statements by Jesus in the gospels and Peter, Stephen and Paul in Acts it is clear that we are the active agents of Jesus’ death. It is thus more accurate to use the preposition “by” in this passage. The record in the epistles that we examine next will amplify this claim. Here is this statement using “by.”

53:5 But he was pierced BY our transgressions, he was crushed BY our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Jesus’ situation was different to ours. He is our sinless creator, and death had no hold on him. However, like a responsible parent who pays for a child’s damage, he took the responsibility of all the pain andsuffering we had created since if he had not made us, it would never have happened. The one responsible for Uriah the Hittite’s death at this moment in time is Jesus Christ. Jesus created king David and had Uriah murdered. The consequence of taking this responsibility upon himself was eternal death.

The good news is that at the end of the millennium the responsibility will be placed where it belongs, on the devil himself. The interesting this about moving responsibility or guilt is that the receiver must be willing to accept it. When Jesus was subjected to our vicious rejection, torture and crucifixion - it was too much emotional stress for his humanity to cope with. Acute depression (My God why have you forsaken me? sucked the life out of him. Furthermore, Jesus believed He was dying forever. This is why He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46) He could not see through the tomb for the horror that had come upon Him. This was the ultimate rejection as it seemed to Jesus that the Father had rejected and abandoned his beloved Son. His choice at that moment was to come down off the cross and continue His eternal life without us or to descend into eternal death so that we might have eternal life

(2 Corinthians 5:21). The author of Hebrews claims that Jesus’ death destroyed death and the devil (Hebrews 2:14).

When the devil finally bows and accepts that he is the cause of all the sin and suffering in the world (Philippians 2:5-8) he will not be able to handle this emotional stress either and it will destroy him too.

He is not more powerful than Jesus Christ. Guilt and shame include self-loathing which accumulates and results in a longing for death in the long run. Suicide is an example of those who cannot wait to die when they are old. Their lives are too painful to continue.

The concept of someone dying for someone else was well known in Greek and Roman circles. It was a common theme in Greek tragedy. Agememnon sacrificed his daughter to avert the wrath of Artemis and secure the success of the Trojan war. Cato (a contemporary of Paul) offers to die for the bloodguilt of the Roman civil war and is executed by Nero in 65 AD. However we are dealing with something totally

different here. Here is not some philosopher dying for a friend or a city; this is God in human form dying for the sins of the whole world (Michael Green, The Empty Cross)

Jesus’ death is a revelation (Rom 3:25,26) of how God’s justice works – we sin and he pays the price. Why?

Because we never chose to be sinners. We were born sinners because of Adam and the devil’s choices.

Many justice loving people are affronted by the idea that God had to engineer the death of Jesus so he could forgive our sins. This is the Penal Substitutionary Atonement theory (PSA). It seems immoral that God should punish someone else instead of us. No legal system in the world allows substitution when it comes to punishment. The argument that God could not forgive us without upsetting the moral order of the universe seems to many to be an exercise in celestial bookkeeping (someone committed a crime so someone must be punished.)

But consider the following: “In the whole drama of Calvary we see God himself taking responsibility in the human flesh of Jesus, for the guilt of a whole world gone awry” (Michael Green).

“At the cross God took responsibility for creating us with the ability to reject him” (Ginn Fourie).

However there is another way of looking at this model. The captain of the ship can stay in command until the last person is rescued or the ship goes down. A mother hen can protect her chicks by covering them with her body and saving them from the grass fire which burns her to a crisp. A mother can rescue her child from a house fire and have her face and hands terribly scarred. This is not legal but a moral substitution.

Jesus died a substitutionary death. It is not a legal substitution that fulfills the demands of a cosmic law. That would be unjust, but it is true in a voluntary sense. Moslems capitalize on the legal argument. A loving person can voluntarily give up his place in the lifeboat for another who does not have a place.

Nothing legal is involved only unselfish, self-sacrificing love. If Jesus had not shown us the love of God we could not have been changed by love because we would have had no conception of what God’s love isreally like. In short, if Jesus did not die, I would still be lost in my animosity toward God.

Jesus’ situation was different to ours. He had not sinned and so for him to die he had to allow us to place the consequence of our sin to be placed on him by our determined rejection of him and the consequence was his death. Not only death but believing he was dying forever. This is why He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46) AS an emotional being he could not see through the tomb for the horror that had come upon Him. His choice at that moment was to come down and continue

His eternal life or to descend into eternal death so that we might have eternal life.

53:6 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.

Sheep are easily led astray. They usually follow the leader but then when they are grazing, they also do not keep track of the other sheep and get separated. It is a wonderful metaphor of how easily we get side tracked and led astray. We have the added opportunity of being led astray by our own arrogant thoughts.

To lay our iniquity on Jesus means that God did not hold our foolishness and wickedness against us (1 Corinthians 13:5) but let Jesus take the consequences so that He could declare us innocent of wrongdoing.

2 Corinthians 5:21(NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

53:7 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.

It is not that Jesus lapsed into some sullen silence because of His suffering. The verse foretells that He would make no complaint about the treatment he received at our hands. He never complained and He never will, never through all eternity. Complainers are forever rebuked by the Saviour of the World, not by His words but by His silence. He is the one person who trusted his father completely.

53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

There was nothing fair or legal about the trial of Jesus. It was illegal for many reasons.

1. It was held at night.

"A capital offense must be tried during the day and suspended at night"

(Mishna in "Sanhedrin" Vol.1) "The morning sacrifice is offered at the dawn of day. The Sanhedrin is not to assembly until the hour after that time." (Mishna, in "Talmud, of the Perpetual Sacrifice." Chapter III)

2. The high priest's private examination of Jesus was illegal. "An accused man must never be subjected to private or secret examination, let in his perplexity, he furnish damaging testimony against himself." (Salvado in, "Institutions de Moise" pp. 365-366).

3. Trials were forbidden on Friday: "No court of justice in Israel was permitted to hold sessions on the Sabbath or any of the seven Biblical holidays. In cases of capital crime, no trial could be commenced on Friday or the day previous to any holiday, because it was not lawful either to adjourn such cases longer than over night, or to continue them on the Sabbath or holiday." (Rabbi Wise in "Martyrdom of Jesus" p.67)

4. Unanimous death verdict was illegal: The Law stated, "A simultaneous and unanimous verdict of guilt rendered on the day of the trial has the effect of an acquittal." (Mendelsohn in "Criminal Juris- prudence of the Ancient Hebrews" p. 141).

5. Self-incrimination was not permitted. "No attempt can be made to lead a man on to self-incrimination. Moreover, a voluntary confession on his part is not admitted in evidence, andtherefore, not competent to convict him, unless a legal number of witnesses minutely corroborate his self-accusation." (Mendelsohn in "Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient Hebrews" p.133).

   The charge of sedition - the threat to destroy the Temple and thus to seduce the people from their ancient allegiance, and (2) the charge of blasphemy preferred by Caiaphas. When the false witnesses failed to agree, their contradictory testimony was rejected and the charge of sedition was abandoned.

6. "A sentence of death can be pronounced only so long as the Sanhedrin holds its

sessions in the appointed place" (Maimonides in "Sanhedrin" XIV). In the trial of capital cases, the Great Sanhedrin was required to meet in an appointed of the National Temple of Jerusalem, known as the Hall of Hewn Stones. Outside of this hall no capital trial could be conducted and no capital sentence could be pronounced in obedience to the Mosaic injunction found in Deuteronomy.

7. There were no two witnesses who agreed.

8. The Roman Procurator declared Him innocent, yet he was executed.

9. He was twice whipped which was illegal by Roman law.

10. He was executed by the Romans over a Jewish religious dispute which was illegal

He died young, without children, the ultimate loss for a man in the culture of His day.

53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Jesus was to be “buried” with the two thieves, on the city dump! To be more precise, in the valley of Gehinnom, the place where the refuse of Jerusalem and the offal from the sacrificial animals ended up. I used to think this verse was also prophesying that He would be buried in Joseph’ new tomb but I now realize that the parallelism of the verse means that he was to be buried where those who had become rich by wickedness were buried.

This verse also makes a very interesting statement. Half of which we readily agree with, “nor was any deceit in His mouth” but the other half we hardly believe, “He had done no violence.” Jesus never resorted to violence. Not in the cleansing of the temple nor in the fig tree which died!

“Beyond Gates of Splendour” 5 men who believed God is non-violent

In the 1950’s five graduates of Wheaton College were led by their missionary dreams to bring the gospel to the Auca Indians of Ecuador. These people were close to exterminating themselves in their own wickedness. They needed to hear of the love of God for them. Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming and Ed McCully committed to bring the gospel to these people. They were joined by their

wives. They were unsuccessful in their efforts and the men decided to fly their plane onto a sandbar on the river in the middle of the tribe. When they were attacked after a few days of communication and although they had guns, they refused to fight back because their own salvation was sure.

Because of their heroic death the tribe became Christian after a few years through the continued ministry of some of the wives who remained.

53:10 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.Was it God’s will to crush Him? The Hebrew mind believed that God made and controlled everything.

There was no appreciation that love does not control the other (1 Corinthians 13:5). This understanding would only emerge 700 years later when Jesus taught us the truth of love. So, Isaiah would have believed that it must have been God’s will to crush His Son. You and I know better. You and I know that it was hard for God to let His Son go to Calvary to watch us crush his beloved son. The suffering of Christ was the suffering of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

53:11 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.

The resurrection is prophesied in this verse. The justification of “many” which means the justification of “all” sinners is predicted (Romans 5:15-19; Colossians 2:13-14). Justification means to declare “innocent,” just as if you had never done anything wrong!

53:12 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.

To make intercession means to argue the case for the salvation of sinners. To want to save those who spat in His face, ripped His back open and nailed Him to a cross is the hallmark of Christian character. He makes intercession for his executioners by praying for them. “Father forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

What will you have to say to Jesus when you meet him at the resurrection?

Mary of Magdala: “I will never let you go!”

Peter: “What about him (John)?” (John 21:21)

Thomas: “My Lord and my God!”

The repentant thief: You remembered me!”

Mary of Nazareth: “My darling Son, at last we are together!”

King David: “You saved me! How wonderful you are my King!”

Adam: “Do I ever owe you for buying it all back!”

Eve: “To think I mistrusted you! You are amazing in your love!”

Abel: “Wow! Just like it was in the beginning! Is Cain here too?”

Lamb of God

Your only Son, no sin to hide, but you have sent Him from Your side,

to walk upon this guilty sod, and to become the Lamb of God.

O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the Holy Lamb of God!

O wash me in His precious blood – my Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Twila Paris

Jesus is King of kings, Lord of lords, Saviour of saviours.So here I am to worship,

here I am to bow down

Here I am to say:

“You’re my God,

You’re altogether lovely!

Altogether worthy!

Altogether wonderful to me. (Here I Am to Worship - Tim Hughes)

Ian Hartley, March 2026

Romans 4: 25 (NIV) Jesus was put to death for our offences.

Romans 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Cor 15:3 (NIV) For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

2 Cor 5:14 (NIV) For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

2 Cor 5:21 (NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 2:20 (NIV) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.