1Who has believed our message?
To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed?
2For he grew up before him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of dry ground.
He has no good looks or majesty.
When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3He was despised
and rejected by men,
a man of suffering
and acquainted with disease.
He was despised as one from whom men hide their face;
and we didn’t respect him.
4Surely he has borne our sickness
and carried our suffering;
yet we considered him plagued,
struck by God, and afflicted.
5But he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought our peace was on him;
and by his wounds we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray.
Everyone has turned to his own way;
and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed,
yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth.
As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he didn’t open his mouth.
8He was taken away by oppression and judgment.
As for his generation,
who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living
and stricken for the disobedience of my people?
9They made his grave with the wicked,
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him.
He has caused him to suffer.
When you make his soul an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring.
He will prolong his days
and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.
11After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light and be satisfied.
My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself;
and he will bear their iniquities.
12Therefore I will give him a portion with the great.
He will divide the plunder with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was counted with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sins of many
and made intercession for the transgressors.
"Let Him be crucified!" (Matt 27:22, 23), was the repeated cry of the multitudes in answer to Pilate's question, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" (v. 22). But what did this method of execution involve, and what is its theological significance?
The Romans adopted and perfected the practice of crucifixion that probably originated with the Persians. Its purpose was not to produce death so much as to prolong the agony of dying. It was reserved for slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and those guilty of the most heinous crimes, except Roman citizens who were exempt. The victim's wrists were first nailed to a beam that was then lifted and attached to a vertical pole. His feet were nailed to the pole, and the weight of his body was supported by a peg under his crotch. Shock from the loss of blood, thirst from dehydration, exhaustion from difficulty breathing, and exposure to the elements contributed to the victim's eventual death, which was sometimes hastened by breaking the victim's legs.
The agony of death by crucifixion is described in remarkable detail in Psalms 22:12-18, hundreds of years before its use by the Romans. Jesus' crucifixion was the occasion of his piercing (Isa 53:5; Zech 12:10; John 19:37); his being made a curse for us (Deut 21:23; Gal 3:13); and his death by the shedding of blood (Lev 5:11; 17:11; Heb 9:22). That his legs were not broken is evidence that he laid down his life (John 10:15, 17), voluntarily yielding his spirit (Matt 27:50), and corresponds to a requirement for the Passover lamb (Exod 12:46; John 19:36).