Isaiah 53:6

- Popular Bible Verse Series 

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:6

When my wife and I visited Israel last year, we toured the site of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. We also visited the Israel Museum to see the Book of Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Unfortunately, due to the war between Israel and Hamas, the museum had moved the Dead Sea Scrolls to an underground vault for protection. Our tour guide explained that the State of Israel considers the Dead Sea Scrolls its most treasured asset and is willing to pay any cost to safeguard them.

Although we couldn’t see the original Isaiah scroll at the museum, we were able to view a digital copy thanks to modern technology. The digital display was fascinating: when we touched a spot on the scroll, the corresponding verse would appear. It felt as though we were reading directly from the ancient scroll.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls pushed back the dating of Old Testament manuscripts by over a thousand years. Significantly, the scrolls were dated to before the time of Jesus Christ. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain fragments of every Old Testament book except Nehemiah and Esther, but only the Book of Isaiah is preserved in its entirety. When compared to the Masoretic Text, which was compiled a thousand years later, the Isaiah scroll shows virtually no differences.

When I read the Book of Isaiah, I see Jesus clearly in its prophecies, particularly in Isaiah 53:6 and other verses in chapter 53:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The prophet Isaiah revealed this prophecy, and hundreds of years later, Jesus fulfilled it, as recorded in the New Testament.

Paul echoed Isaiah 53:6 and other verses in Isaiah when he wrote to the Corinthian church:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

Peter also elaborated on the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. - 1 Peter 2:24

The preservation of the entire Book of Isaiah in the Dead Sea Scrolls profoundly impacts Christians. Isaiah is the Old Testament book most frequently quoted in the New Testament, and Jesus himself quoted from it more than any other. The first recorded instance of Jesus reading from the Isaiah scroll is found in Luke:

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, - Luke 4:16-17

Considering the Dead Sea Scrolls date back to the 3rd century BCE, the scroll Jesus read in the synagogue was likely of a similar age. He read from Isaiah 61:1-2:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” - Luke 4:18-21

Isaiah’s prophecy pointing to Jesus is not merely my interpretation of the Bible; Jesus himself explicitly declared its fulfillment to the synagogue audience. Moreover, Jesus didn’t just quote the Book of Isaiah, which contains prophecies about his life, suffering, and death on the cross to atone for the sins of all. He also told his followers that all the Old Testament prophecies were about him. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus said to his disciples:

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. - Luke 24:25-27

Isaiah didn’t see in his physical eyes that Jesus was the suffering servant foretold in his prophecies, but he trusted that God’s promise would be fulfilled. For centuries, the Jewish people awaited a messiah to free them from oppression, yet many did not recognize Jesus as the suffering servant described in Isaiah, who died for the sins of all.

As a follower of Jesus, I believe he is the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah—not only because of the detailed prophecies in the Book of Isaiah but, more importantly, because Jesus himself declared that He fulfilled them!