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.
11 After he has suffered,
    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.
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.

Following on from the death of Jesus:

  • There will be success: ”…the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand”(10c). An alternative reading of verse 11a says: ”He will see the fruit of his suffering and will be satisfied”;
  • There will be greatness: ”Therefore I will give him a portion among the great…” (12a); ”Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly-the best of everything, the highest honours…” The Message;
  • There will be victory: ”…he will divide the spoils with the strong…” (12a); ”I will give him the honours of a victorious soldier” New Living Translation. The Messiah is pictured as a conquering Hero, returning from battle with the booty. There is no doubt that He is the winner. As I’ve said previously, this totally unanticipated and massive reversal of fortunes explains the consternation of 52:15: ”…kings will shut their mouths because of him…” No-one could foresee this outcome (except, of course, for prophets like Isaiah who did, and who wrote about it for our benefit).

It is an utterly breath-taking ending to a most remarkable prophetic passage. Who of us can truly express how wonderful this is. It surely will cause our hearts to burn.